| 6. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the fronted imperative deu-efo {דְּֽעוּ־אֵ֭פוֹ | dəʿû-ʾēp̄ô} ‘know then’, serving as an inferential command. The clause introduced by ki-eloah {כִּי־אֱל֣וֹהַּ | kî-ʾĕlôah} ‘that God’ assigns divine agency. The verb ivvetani {עִוְּתָ֑נִי | ʿiwwəṯānî} ‘He has twisted me’ uses the Piel stem to portray a felt perversion of justice. A second clause joined by u-metsudo {וּ֝מְצוּד֗וֹ | û-məṣûdô} ‘and His net’ introduces hunting imagery. The prepositional phrase alai {עָלַ֥י | ʿālây} ‘upon me’ precedes the verb hiqif {הִקִּֽיף | hiqqîp̄} ‘He has surrounded’, emphasizing Job’s entrapment. The translation maintains the imperative force, causal linkage, and dual imagery of legal perversion and enclosure. |