| 13. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with the locative phrase besiftei {בְּשִׂפְתֵ֣י | bə-śip̄-ṯê} ‘on the lips of,’ combining the preposition lamed with a feminine plural construct to mark the source of speech. The participle navon {נָ֭בוֹן | nā-ḇôn} ‘discerning’ serves as the agent in this locative construction. The main verb timmatze {תִּמָּצֵ֣א | tim-mā-ṣê} in the Niphal imperfect conveys the passive appearance of wisdom. The adversative conjunction introduces veshevet {וְ֝שֵׁ֗בֶט | wə-šê-vet} ‘and a rod,’ setting up a contrastive parallel. The phrase legev {לְגֵ֣ו | lə-ḡēv} ‘to the back’ specifies the locus of discipline, and the construct khasarlev {חֲסַר־לֵֽב | ḥă-sar-lēv} ‘lacking heart’ identifies the recipient as devoid of understanding. This parallelism underscores that insight yields wisdom while its absence invites corrective discipline. |