| 14. Linguistic Exegesis The verse is a single clause describing internal reversal: the subject lakhmo {לַ֭חְמוֹ | laḥ-mô} ‘his food’ is followed immediately by the locative prepositional phrase bemeav {בְּמֵעָ֣יו | bə-mē-ʿāw} ‘in his inward parts,’ placing the transformation inside the person rather than in the external food itself. The predicate nehpak {נֶהְפָּ֑ךְ | neh-pākh} ‘is turned’ (Niphal perfect) presents the change as a settled, resultant condition, fitting the poetic depiction of inevitable judgment. The construct expression merorat petanim {מְרוֹרַ֖ת פְּתָנִ֣ים | mərō-raṯ pə-ṯā-nîm} ‘bitterness of serpents’ functions as the outcome of the turning, using vivid metaphor to equate pleasurable gain with lethal poison. The final phrase bekerbo {בְּקִרְבּֽוֹ | bə-qir-bô} ‘within him’ reinforces internality and intensifies the image through near-synonymous repetition with bemeav, a compact poetic parallelism that drives home the hidden, inward ruin. |