Job 17:14 — ExegesisTAB

The verse begins with the fronted prepositional phrase lashakhat {לַשַּׁ֣חַת | laššaḥaṯ} ‘to the pit’, which sets the addressee before the main verb. Qārāʾtî {קָ֭רָאתִי | qārāʾtî} ‘I called’ introduces direct speech personifying death as kin. The verbless clause avi attah {אָ֣בִי אָ֑תָּה | ʾābî ʾattâ} ‘You are my father’ follows a noun–pronoun order for emphasis. The coordinated sequence immi waakhoti {אִמִּי וַ֝אֲחֹתִי | ʾimmî waʾăḥōtî} ‘my mother and my sister’ is delayed until before the final prepositional phrase larimmah {לָֽרִמָּֽה | lārimmâ} ‘to the worm’, creating a climactic close. Because the second address lacks an explicit copula, English supplies “You are” to preserve the parallel structure and maintain the stark metaphor of decay becoming family.