| 5. Linguistic Exegesis The verse is structured as two coordinated cola presenting parallel actions of verbal support. The imperfect a'ammitskhem {אֲאַמִּצְכֶ֥ם | ʾăʾammîṣḵem} ‘I would’ carries a modal sense, positing a hypothetical response in contrast to Job’s actual experience. The prepositional phrase bemo-fi {בְּמוֹ־פִ֑י | bə-mō-pî} ‘by means of my mouth’ functions instrumentally, emphasizing rhetorical agency. In the second colon, ve-nid sefatay {וְנִ֖יד שְׂפָתַ֣י | wə-nîḏ śəp̄āṯay} ‘the motion of my lips’ forms a compact nominal phrase, where nid, literally “motion,” implies a comforting utterance. The verb yakhsoch {יַחְשֹֽׂךְ | yaḥšōḵ} ‘withhold’, Qal imperfect third masculine singular, lexically denotes withholding but in context suggests alleviation of distress, which translators capture by rendering it in terms of comfort and relief. |