| 7. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with akh-attah {אַךְ־עַתָּ֥ה | ʾaḵ-ʿattāh} ‘surely now’, combining an adversative particle with a temporal marker to heighten immediacy. Two causative perfect verbs in sequence—helani {הֶלְאָ֑נִי | helʾānî} ‘you have wearied me’ and hashimota {הֲשִׁמּוֹתָ | haššimmôtā} ‘you have made desolate’—form a parallel progression from personal exhaustion to communal ruin. In context the addressee is God, although no divine name appears. The final phrase kol-adati {כָּל־עֲדָתִֽי | kāl-ʿăḏāṯî} ‘all my company’ gathers Job’s remaining associates into a comprehensive totality. English preserves the Hebrew fronting of “You” and the two-part structure to reflect the intensifying accusation. |