| 13. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with holekh {הוֹלֵךְ | hô-lēḳ} ‘goes about’ paired with rakhil {רָכִיל | rā-ḵîl} ‘talebearer’ to form an agentive participle phrase. The participle megalleh {מְגַלֶּה | mə-gallē-ʾê} ‘revealing’ governs sod {סּוֹד | sōḏ} ‘secret’ as its object. The conjunction ve {וְ | wə} introduces an antithesis with neʾeman {נֶאֱמַן | neʾemān} ‘faithful’ modifying ruakh {רוּחַ | rū-akḥ} ‘spirit,’ highlighting character. The participle mekhaseh {מְכַסֶּה | mə-kha-sē-eh} ‘concealing’ then takes davar {דָבָר | dā-var} ‘matter.’ This parallelism contrasts public disclosure of confidences with protective discretion. In English translation, Hebrew participles become finite verbs to maintain readability while preserving the poetic antithesis marked by the vav-conjunction. |