| 11. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with the fronted adverb saviv {סָ֭בִיב | sāḇîḇ} ‘around’, placing spatial enclosure in an emphatic position. The verb bi'atu-hu {בִּֽעֲתֻהוּ | biʿătûhû} ‘they terrify him’ precedes the agent balahot {בַּלָּהוֹת | ballāhôṯ} ‘terrors’ in a verb-first poetic order, intensifying the sudden onset of fear. The coordinating conjunction introduces the outcome clause with vehepitṣu-hu {וֶהֱפִיצֻהוּ | wəhepitṣûhû} ‘and they scatter him’, indicating disruption and rout. The phrase leraglaw {לְרַגְלָיו | ləraglâw} ‘to his feet’ conveys both literal displacement and an idiom of pursuit; the dynamic rendering uses “hound his steps” to capture the relentlessness of the harassment while preserving the physical imagery. |