Job 16:3 — ExegesisTAB

The verse is built as a paired rhetorical challenge framed by two interrogatives. The opening haqets {הֲקֵ֥ץ | hă-qēṣ} sets the first question, and the prepositional phrase ledivrei-ruach {לְדִבְרֵי־ר֑וּחַ | lə-ḏiḇ-rê-rû-aḥ} functions as its complement, characterizing the speech as insubstantial (“words” qualified by “wind”). The conjunction o {א֥וֹ | ʾô} introduces an alternative question rather than a new topic, intensifying the rebuke: instead of merely asking whether the talk will stop, Job asks what inner stimulus accounts for the continued reply. The clause mah-yamritsekha {מַה־יַּ֝מְרִֽיצְךָ֗ | mah-yam-rî-ṣə-ḵā} places the interrogative “what” first for focus, highlighting the supposed cause. The conjunction ki {כִּ֣י | kî} links that cause to the resulting action taaneh {תַעֲנֶֽה׃ | ta-ʿă-neh}, where the imperfect form in context conveys continued engagement (“you keep answering”). English renders the Hebrew’s compact, parallel questioning with two coordinated questions joined by “or,” preserving the escalating tone of protest typical of Job’s poetic disputation.