| 5. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with ki {כִּי | kî} ‘for/because’, marking a causal explanation that supports the preceding accusation. The verbal clause begins with yeallef {יְאַלֵּף | yəʾallēp̄} ‘instructs/trains’, and the following noun avonekha {עֲוֺנְךָ | ʿăwōneḵā} functions as the effective subject: “your iniquity” is personified as a teacher that shapes pikhah {פִיךָ | pîḵā} ‘your mouth’, linking inner moral fault to outward speech. The second clause, introduced by the coordinating ve- {וְ | wə} within ve-tivchar {וְתִבְחַר | wəṯiḇḥar} ‘and you choose’, shifts from involuntary formation (sin “teaching”) to deliberate agency (you “choose”), intensifying culpability. The phrase leshon arumim {לְשׁוֹן עֲרוּמִים | ləšôn ʿărûmîm} ‘tongue of the crafty’ is a genitive relationship that characterizes the speaker’s adopted mode of communication as aligned with deceitful people; rendering it as “tongue” (formal) or “speech” (dynamic) preserves the Hebrew metaphor for verbal behavior while keeping the parallelism between mouth/tongue and sin/craftiness. |