| 18. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with gam {גַּם | gam} ‘even,’ an intensifier that broadens the circle of contempt to the least socially significant group, heightening Job’s humiliation. The subject avilim {עֲוִילִים | ʿăwîlîm} is fronted, creating a sharp contrast: not only peers but even “youths/children” treat him with disdain. The perfect maasu {מָאֲסוּ | māʾăsû} presents their rejection as an established reality rather than a momentary reaction. The prepositional object bi {בִי | bî} is repeated (once independently, once attached to the final verb), underscoring that the contempt is personally directed at Job. The cohortative-form aqumah {אָקוּמָה | ʾāqûmāh} introduces a temporal setting (“whenever I rise” or “when I get up”), and the following wayyiqtol vayedabru-vi {וַיְדַבְּרוּ־בִי | wayədabbərû-bî} marks the consequent action that follows his movement: verbal assault. Because bet {ב | b} can mark speech “in/at/about” someone and can carry an adversative sense in context, rendering “against me” fits the hostile discourse implied by parallelism with “despised,” while “ridicule” expresses the same antagonism idiomatically. |