| 14. Linguistic Exegesis The proverb employs a parallel structure of two cause-and-effect statements. The first clause uses the construct phrase mipri {מִפְּרִי | mî-prî} ‘from the fruit’ linked to pi-ʾiš {פִי־אִישׁ | pî-ʾîš} ‘mouth of a man’ to indicate that speech yields results. The imperfect verb yiś-baʿ {יִשְׂבַּע | yiś-baʿ} ‘he will be satisfied’ takes the noun tôv {טוֹב | tôv} ‘good’ as its complement. The second clause begins with u-ḡe-mûl {וּגְמוּל | u-ḡe-mûl} ‘and recompense’, followed by the construct chain ye-de-ʾā-ḏâm {יְדֵי־אָדָם | ye-de-ʾā-ḏâm} ‘hands of a person’, and the Hiphil verb yā-šîv {יָשִׁיב | yā-šîv} ‘he will return’, illustrating that deeds bear consequences. The balanced use of imperfect stems and repeated construct relationships underscores personal accountability for words and actions in a concise didactic parallelism. |