| 10. Linguistic Exegesis The verse is built as a rapid series of hostile actions, linked paratactically without an explicit conjunction, creating a piling-up effect typical of Hebrew poetry. The opening perfect verb paaru {פָּעֲר֬וּ | pāʿărû} ‘they have gaped’ is immediately focused by alai {עָלַ֨י | ʿālay} ‘against me,’ and the prepositional phrase befihhem {בְּפִיהֶ֗ם | bə-pî-hem} ‘in their mouth’ paints a vivid image of public derision. A second prepositional phrase, bekherpah {בְּ֭חֶרְפָּה | bə-ḥerpâ} ‘in reproach,’ functions adverbially, specifying the manner of the violence described by hiku {הִכּ֣וּ | hikkû} ‘they have struck.’ The object lekhayay {לְחָיָ֑י | lə-ḥāyay} ‘to my cheeks’ expresses a humiliating assault; the lamed preposition gives the sense of impact directed toward the face. The final line shifts from individual acts to coordinated opposition: yachad {יַ֝֗חַד | yaḥad} ‘together’ front-loads the collective force, alai {עָלַ֥י | ʿālay} reiterates the target for emphasis, and the Hitpael imperfect yitmallaun {יִתְמַלָּאֽוּן | yitmallāʾûn} ‘they gather themselves’ portrays an ongoing, self-mustering movement. The formal rendering preserves the step-by-step sequence; the dynamic rendering expresses the mouth-gaping idiom as jeering while keeping the escalation from ridicule to physical abuse to unified hostility. |