| 15. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the construct phrase sekhel tov, where sekhel {שֵֽׂכֶל | śĕ-ḵel} ‘understanding’ in construct with tov {טוֹב | ṭôv} ‘good’ forms the subject. The Qal imperfect verb yiten {יִתֶּן | yiṯ-ṭēn} ‘gives’ takes chen {חֵן | ḥên} ‘favor’ as its object. The conjunction wə {וְ | wə} introduces an adversative clause with derekh {דֶרֶךְ | dĕ-reḵ} ‘way’ qualified by the participle bogdim {בֹּגְדִים | bôg-dîm} ‘transgressors’, and the adjective eitan {אֵיתָן | ʾêy-ṭān} ‘hard’ serves as the predicate. This antithetical parallelism, common in Hebrew wisdom literature, contrasts the positive outcome of wisdom with the difficult fate of the faithless. The English “but” conveys the adversative sense of the Hebrew vav without overbearing the cadence. |