| 4. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with latet {לָתֵ֣ת | lā-têṯ} ‘to give’, marking an infinitive of purpose. The prepositional phrases lifetaim {לִפְתָאיִ֣ם | lip̄-tā-’îm} ‘to the simple’ and lenaʿar {לְ֝נַ֗עַר | lə-nā-ʿar} ‘to the youth’ form a parallel asyndeton. This structure places armah {עָרְמָ֑ה | ʿār-māh} ‘prudence’, daʿat {דַּ֣עַת | da-ʿaṯ} ‘knowledge’, and umezimmah {וּמְזִמָּֽה | ū-me-zim-māh} ‘discretion’ without conjunctions to underscore a successive accumulation of moral gifts. English uses commas and the conjunction and to reflect the Hebrew series naturally. The progression from practical shrewdness to intellectual insight and evaluative planning supports the didactic goal of equipping both the naive and the youth for wise decision-making. |