| 11. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the noun kore {קֹרֵא | qō-rēʾ} ‘partridge’ introducing a simulational image. The Qal perfect of deram, dagar {דָגַר | dā-gar} ‘broods’ followed by the negated perfect yalad {יָלָד | yā-lād} ‘does not hatch’ establishes a scene of fruitless effort. This is mirrored by oseh osher ve-lo be-mishpat {עֹשֶׂה עֹשֶׁר וְלֹא בְּמִשְּׁפָט | ʿō-šē ʿō-šer wə-lōʾ bə-miš-pāṭ} ‘one who gains riches without justice’, where the participle plus noun and a negated noun phrase create a moral contrast. The temporal construct ba-chatzi yamav yaʿazvenu {בַּחֲצִ֤י יָמָיו֙ יַעַזְבֶ֔נּוּ | ba-ḥa-ṣî yā-māy-wô yā-ʿaz-ve-nû} ‘when half his days are gone they will leave him’ uses the prepositional construct and pronominal suffix to mark timing and the displaced object. The concluding clause u-ve-acharito yihyeh naval {וּבְאַחֲרִית֖וֹ יִהְיֶ֥ה נָבָֽל | ū-bə-ʾa-ḥa-rî-ṯô yi-hyêh nā-vāl} ‘and at his end he will be a fool’ employs the Qal imperfect to predict the final state. The Hebrew parallelism links the image of unproductive nesting with unjust wealth accumulation and their shared fruitlessness. |