| 3. Linguistic Exegesis The verse employs a parallel antithetical structure centered on two participial clauses: notzer {נֹצֵ֣ר | nō-ṣēr} ‘guarding’ piv {פִּ֭יו | pîw} ‘his mouth’ contrasts with posek {פֹּשֵׂ֥ק | pō-śēq} ‘opening wide’ sefataiv {שְׂפָתָ֗יו | sə-p̄ā-tāyw} ‘his lips.’ In the first clause, shomer {שֹׁמֵ֣ר | šō-mēr} ‘keeping’ with nafsho {נַפְשׁ֑וֹ | nap̄-šô} ‘his life’ forms a result sequence of preservation. The second clause links excessive speech to personal disaster via mechittah-lo {מְחִתָּה־לֽוֹ | mə-ḥîṯ-ṭāh-lō} ‘ruin for him.’ The balanced syntax and construct chains emphasize the mouth as the source of either life or destruction, which English renders with corresponding idiomatic expressions. |