| 22. Linguistic Exegesis The clause opens with lōʾ-yaʾămîn {לֹא־יַאֲמִ֣ין | lōʾ-yaʾămîn} ‘he does not believe,’ where negation plus an imperfect verb frames an ongoing conviction of hopelessness rather than a single moment of doubt. The infinitive šûḇ {שׁ֭וּב | šûḇ} ‘to return’ functions as the verbal complement, expressing the content of what is not believed: the possibility of coming back. The prepositional phrase min-nî-ḥōšeḵ {מִנִּי־חֹ֑שֶׁךְ | min-nî-ḥōšeḵ} ‘from darkness’ uses an archaic/poetic orthography (minnî) while maintaining the straightforward sense “from,” and it supplies the sphere of peril from which return is doubted. The sequence then turns to a fate statement: wə-ṣāp̄ûy {וְצָפ֖וּי | wə-ṣāp̄ûy} ‘and awaited,’ a passive participle presenting danger as already positioned, with hûʾ {ה֣וּא | hûʾ} ‘he’ inserted for emphasis, spotlighting the doomed subject. The final phrase ʾĕlê-ḥāreḇ {אֱלֵי־חָֽרֶב | ʾĕlê-ḥāreḇ} ‘toward the sword’ expresses direction and inevitability, portraying death as the endpoint to which he is being drawn. The presence of the ketiv form utsfo {וצפו | wṣpw} beside the participle reflects a scribal/reading variation; the participial construction best fits the poem’s terse parallelism and is therefore represented in the English line as an “awaited” fate. |