| 29. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with the prohibitive particle al {אַל־ | ʾal-} ‘do not’ followed by the jussive verb tishmechi {תִּשְׂמְחִי | tišməḥî} ‘rejoice’, addressing feleshet {פְּלֶשֶׁת | pəlešeṯ} ‘Philistia’ and the collective kulekh {כֻּלֵּךְ | kulleḵ} ‘all of you’. The conjunction ki {כִּי | kî} introduces the cause clause, where the niphal perfect nishbar {נִשְׁבַּר | nišbar} ‘was broken’ signifies the end of the oppressive shevet {שֵׁבֶט | šeḇeṭ} ‘rod’. A second ki {כִּי־ | kî-} with maqqef marks a result clause: miššōreš {מִשֹּׁרֶשׁ | miššōreš} ‘from root’ of the nachash {נָחָשׁ | nāḥāš} ‘serpent’ yields yetze {יֵצֵא | yēṣēʾ} ‘come forth’ a tsepa {צֶפַע | ṣepaʿ} ‘viper’, and upiryo {וּפִרְיוֹ | upiryō} ‘its fruit’ culminates in the piel participle meʿop̄ēp {מְעוֹפֵף | məʿop̄ēp} ‘flying’ saraf {שָׂרָף | śārāp} ‘fiery serpent’. The parallelism and construct chains heighten the progression of threats from rod to viper to flying serpent. |