| 10. Linguistic Exegesis The verse is arranged as two balanced cola joined by waw, creating a tight parallelism that highlights reversal. The first colon places banav {בָּנָיו | bānāyw} as subject and the Piel imperfect yerattsu {יְרַצּוּ | yərattsû} as a future-oriented action of placating, with dallim {דַלִּים | dallîm} as the object; the irony is that the powerful household now must court the favor of “the poor.” The second colon mirrors the first: veyadav {וְיָדָיו | wə-yāḏāyw} stands as the subject, and the Hiphil imperfect tashavnah {תָּשֵׁבְנָה | tāšēḇnāh} expresses compelled restitution (“cause to return”). The feminine plural verb form coheres with the grammatical gender of “hands,” underscoring that the repayment is not abstract but enacted. The closing ono {אוֹנוֹ | ʾônô} functions as what is relinquished—his “strength,” expressed concretely as wealth or resources—so the English keeps a parallel future sense (“will…will” / “must…must”) to preserve the proverb-like certainty of outcome. |