| 17. Linguistic Exegesis The proverb starts with the nominal phrase orach lechayyim {אֹרַח לְ֭חַיִּים | ʾo-rā-ḥ lə-ḥay-yīm} ‘path to life’, framing the discourse. This is followed by the participial clause shomer musar {שׁוֹמֵר מוּסָר | šō-mēr mû-sār} ‘one who keeps discipline’, where the qal participle conveys ongoing action. A contrasting clause appears with the distributive waw: ve-ozév tochachat {וְעוֹזֵב תּוֹכַחַת | wə-ō-zēv tō-kha-ḥat} ‘and one who forsakes correction’, and the hifil participle mat’eh {מַתְעֶה | măṯ-ʿê-hê} ‘causes to err’ imparts a causative effect of neglect. The synonymous parallelism links ethical adherence with life and ethical neglect with misguidance, preserving Hebrew word order where possible and adjusting only for English clarity. |