| 28. Linguistic Exegesis The adversative conjunction ki {כִּי | ki} ‘for/because’ frames the objection introduced by tomeru {תֹאמְרוּ | tomeru} ‘you will say’. The question mah-nirdaf-lo {מַה־נִּרְדָּף־ל֑וֹ | mah-nirdaf-lo} employs a Niphal participle to express reciprocal pursuit and a suffix marking “him”. The vav in ve-shoresh {וְשֹׁ֥רֶשׁ | ve-shoresh} launches the metaphorical construct shoresh davar {שֹׁרֶשׁ דָּבָר | shoresh davar} ‘root of the matter’, indicating underlying cause. Finally, the perfect nimtsa-bi {נִמְצָא־בִֽי | nimtsa-bi} ‘is found in me’ places responsibility on the speaker. The coordination of questions and metaphor heightens the rhetorical impact of the friends’ accusation. |