| 17. Linguistic Exegesis The verse features parallelism contrasting two character types. The participle gomel {גֹּמֵל | go-mel} ‘one who deals’ combines with ish {אִישׁ | īš} ‘man’ and chased {חָסֶד | ḥā-sed} ‘kindness’ in a construct phrase to express “man of kindness.” The adversative vav wə {וְ | wə} introduces the second clause with the participle veoker {וְעֹכֵר | wə-’ō-ḵer} ‘one who troubles.’ Each participle phrase directs action to a possessive object: gomel affects nafsho {נַפְשׁוֹ | naf-sho} ‘his soul,’ while o’ker acts on she’ero {שְׁאֵר֗וֹ | šə-’ē-rō} ‘his own flesh.’ The adjective participle akhzari {אַכְזָרִי | ’akh-za-rī} ‘cruel’ modifies the second subject. English translation uses subject–verb–object order to maintain the proverb’s contrast. |