| 26. Linguistic Exegesis The verse employs two parallel simile clauses introduced by the preposition kaph {כַּ | ka} ‘as’. The first clause kachometz lashinnayim {כַּחֹמֶץ לַשִּׁנַּיִם | ka-ḥōmeṣ la-šinnāyim} ‘as vinegar to the teeth’ places the effect before the recipient, mirroring Hebrew order. The second clause vecheashan laeinayim {וְכֶעָשָׁן לָעֵינָיִם | wə-ḵe-ʿāšān lā-ʿēnayim} ‘and as smoke to the eyes’ parallels this structure. The particle ken {כֵּן | kēn} ‘so’ serves as a pivot marking the result clause. Heatzel lesholchav {הֶעָצֵל לְשֹלְחָיו | he-ʿāṣēl lə-šōl-ḥāyw} ‘the sluggard to those who send him’ replicates the simile’s effect-recipient pattern to emphasize social inconvenience. English rendering preserves the balanced parallelism and shifts to SVO order for readability. |