| 8. Linguistic Exegesis The opening hapanav {הֲפָנָיו | hă-pānāyw} frames a rhetorical question by combining the interrogative with “his face,” and the verb tissaun {תִּשָּׂא֑וּן | tiśśāʾûn} completes the idiom “lift up the face,” a courtroom and social-image expression for showing favoritism. The second clause begins with im-lael {אִם־לָאֵ֥ל | ʾim-lāʾēl}, where ʾim can function within questioning to press the issue (“whether/if indeed”) rather than merely setting a neutral condition. The verb terivun {תְּרִיבֽוּן | tə-rîḇûn} carries legal overtones of disputing a case, so the parallel questions expose the friends’ posture: they are acting as if they must defend God, while their very method involves partiality. The verse uses tight parallelism (favoritism toward Him // litigation on behalf of God) to indict pious-sounding advocacy that undermines justice. |