| 10. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the exclamation formula oy {אֽוֹי | ʾôy} 'woe' + li {לִי | lî} 'to me' + the vocative immi {אִמִּי | ʾimmî} 'my mother', forming a lament. The conjunction ki {כִּי | kî} 'because' introduces yelidtîni {יְלִדְתִּנִי | yə-lid-tî-nî} 'you have borne me'. A paired coordinate structure of ish riv {אִישׁ רִיב | ʾîš rîḇ} 'man of strife' and ve-ish madon {וְאִישׁ מָדוֹן | wə-ʾîš mā·ḏôn} 'and man of contention' intensifies the identity. The prepositional phrase le-kol ha-aretz {לְכָל־הָאָרֶץ | lə·ḵōl-hā·ʾāreṣ} 'to all the land' marks universal scope. Two negative Qal perfect clauses lo nashîti {לֹא־נָשִׁיתִי | lōʾ nā·šî·tî} 'I have not lent' and we-lo nashû bi {וְלֹא־נָשׁוּ־בִי | wə·lōʾ nā·šū·bî} 'and they have not lent to me' stress innocence, while the final participle kullô mekallelûnî {כֻּלֹּה מְקַלְּלַונִי | kullô mə·qalləlû·nî} 'all of them are cursing me' conveys ongoing hostility. The lament employs parallelism, vocative address, and a cause-result sequence. |