| 6. Linguistic Exegesis The verse is built as a paired conditional dilemma: im-adabberah {אִֽם־אֲ֭דַבְּרָה | ʾim-ʾădabberāh} sets the first protasis (“if I speak”), followed by the negated result lo-yechasekh {לֹא־יֵחָשֵׂ֣ךְ | lō-yeḥāśēk} stating that the outcome does not change. The Niphal verb frames the pain as something not “withheld” or “held back,” so Job portrays suffering as unaffected by his action. The second half parallels the first with ve'akhdlah {וְ֝אַחְדְּלָ֗ה | wəʾaḥdəlāh} (“and if I refrain/cease”), forming a balanced alternative response to suffering. The closing question mah-minni {מַה־מִנִּ֥י | mah-minnî} + yahalokh {יַהֲלֹֽךְ | yăhălōk} functions rhetorically: “what will go away from me?” meaning no portion of his misery actually departs. Because the Hebrew ends with an interrogative clause, the English keeps the question to preserve the emotional force and the sense of futility produced by the parallel structure. |