| 3. Linguistic Exegesis The verse is framed as a rhetorical question, beginning with hocheach {הוֹכֵ֣חַ | hōḵēaḥ}, a participle used predicatively to depict the act of disputing or reproving as an ongoing posture. The prepositional phrase bedavar {בְּ֭דָבָר | bə-ḏāḇār} marks the instrument or medium (“in/with a matter”), and the first clause is closed by the negated imperfect lo yiskon {לֹ֣א יִסְכּ֑וֹן | lōʾ yiskōn}, presenting the outcome as futility (“it will not profit”). The second clause is a parallel reinforcement: umilim {וּ֝מִלִּ֗ים | û-millîm} echoes the communication theme, while lo-yoil {לֹא־יוֹעִ֥יל | lōʾ-yōʿîl} intensifies the verdict with a second negated verb of advantage. The final prepositional pronoun bam {בָּֽם | bām} functions adverbially (“by them/with them”), emphasizing that no benefit is produced through such speech. The English renderings preserve the Hebrew synonymous parallelism (profit // benefit; matter // words) to keep the focus on the emptiness of argumentative rhetoric. |