Job 16:12 — ExegesisTAB

The verse opens with a verbless‐predicate expression shalev hayiti {שָׁ֘לֵ֤ו הָיִ֨יתִי | šālēw hāyîṯî} ‘at ease I was,’ emphasizing Job’s former state. The disjunctive divider ׀ then introduces a rapid series of wayyiqtol forms: vayefarpereni {וַֽיְפַרְפְּרֵ֗נִי | wayəparpərēnî} ‘and He tore me apart,’ veachaz {וְאָחַ֣ז | wəʾāḥaz} ‘and He seized,’ and bearpi {בְּ֭עָרְפִּי | bəʿārep̄î} ‘by my neck.’ These intensive Piel forms heighten the sense of violence. The subsequent vayefatspetseni {וַֽיְפַצְפְּצֵ֑נִי | wayəpaṣpəṣēnî} ‘and He crushed me’ continues the vivid chain, culminating in vayekimeni lo lemattarah {וַיְקִימֵ֥נִי ל֝֗וֹ לְמַטָּרָֽה | wayəqîmēnî lô ləmaṭṭārâ} ‘and He set me up for him as a target,’ which combines a causative Hiphil with a purpose‐like complement. The coordinated verbs preserve Hebrew momentum and foreground the deliberate exposure conveyed by lemattarah.