| 10. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the interrogative pronoun mi {מִי | mî} ‘who’ to introduce a rhetorical question emphasizing the impossibility of counting a people. The parallel phrases afar Ya‘ăqōv {עֲפַר יַעֲקֹב | ʿăpar Ya‘ăqōv} ‘dust of Jacob’ and ū-miśpār ʾet-rōbāʿ Yiśrāʾēl {וּמִסְפָּר אֶת־רֹבַע יִשְׂרָאֵל | ū-miśpār ʾet-rōbāʿ Yiśrāʾēl} ‘or number the fourth part of Israel’ form synonymous parallelism that underscores the metaphor of endless descendants. The Qal cohortatives tāmōt nap̄šî {תָּמֹת נַפְשִׁי | tāmōt nap̄šî} ‘let my soul die’ and ū-tᵊhî ʾaḥărîtî {וּתְהִי אַחֲרִיתִי | ū-tᵊhî ʾaḥărîtî} ‘and let my end be’ express the speaker’s earnest wish. Construct chains nap̄šî mōṯ yešārîm {נַפְשִׁי מוֹת יְשָׁרִים | nap̄šî mōṯ yešārîm} ‘my soul (let die) the death of the upright’ and ʾaḥărîtî kāmōhū {אַחֲרִיתִי כָּמֹהוּ | ʾaḥărîtî kāmōhū} ‘my end like his’ place key nouns in focus positions, highlighting aspiration to share the fate of the righteous. The translation renders Qal cohortatives with “let” (formal) or “I wish that” (dynamic) to reflect the Hebrew mood. |