| 25. Linguistic Exegesis The proverb employs antithetic parallelism by pairing the substantive participle tsaddiq {צַדִּיק | ṣaddîq} ‘righteous one’ with the construct phrase beten reshaʿim {בֶּטֶן רְשָׁעִים | ḇeṭen re-šāʿîm} ‘belly of the wicked’. The Qal active participle ochel {אֹכֵל | ʾōḵēl} functions as a nominal agent (‘one who eats’) and combines with the prepositional phrase lesova {לְשֹׂבַע | lə-sō-ḇāʿ} ‘to satiety’—the lamed conveying result or purpose—and the genitive nafsho {נַפְשׁוֹ | nap̄šô} ‘his soul’ to denote inner satisfaction. The adversative vav in ubeten {וּבֶטֶן | wə-ḇeṭen} introduces contrast, and the construct relation marks reshaʿim as possessor. The Qal imperfect teḥsar {תֶּחְסָר | teḥsar} expresses ongoing deficiency or projected lack. This balanced structure underscores moral outcome through satisfaction versus want. |