Job 15:18 — ExegesisTAB

The line is introduced by the relative marker asher {אֲשֶׁר | ʾăšer} “what/which,” signaling a dependent clause that points back to an implied antecedent in the surrounding discourse. The maqqef-bound opening (אֲשֶׁר־חֲכָמִים) tightly links the relative to its subject, foregrounding the authority of “wise men” as the source of the testimony. The imperfect yagidu {יַגִּידוּ | yaggîdû} presents their speech as characteristic or repeatedly attested instruction rather than a single momentary utterance. The coordination velo {וְלֹא | wə-lōʾ} followed by the perfect in the intensive stem, kichadu {כִֽ֝חֲד֗וּ | kiḥădû}, forms a strong antithetical pairing: proclamation is matched by non-concealment, emphasizing transparency. The prepositional phrase meavotam {מֵאֲבוֹתָם | mē-ʾăḇōṯām} marks source and lineage, framing the content as tradition transmitted within an ancestral chain. English rendering keeps the relative-clause feel (“What…”) and preserves the parallelism between “declare” and “not hide,” while supplying a minimal implied object (“it”) only where English requires it for coherence.