| 22. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with the negative interrogative halo {הֲלוֹא | hâ-lôʾ} ‘is it not’, forming a rhetorical question. The verb yitʿu {יִתְעוּ | yiṯ-ʿû} ‘they wander’ follows with choreshei ra {חֹרְשֵׁי רָע | ḥôr-šê râʿ} ‘those who plot evil’ as its subject. The coordinating conjunction vechesed {וְחֶסֶד | wə-ḥe-seḏ} ‘and kindness’ pairs with veemet {וֶאֱמֶת | wə-ʾe-meṯ} ‘and truth’ to introduce the positive outcome for choreshei tov {חֹרְשֵׁי טוֹב | ḥôr-šê ṭôḇ} ‘those who plot good’. This antithetic parallelism contrasts moral rebellion with covenant faithfulness. The formal translation retains the Hebrew interrogative inversion, while the dynamic version adopts a declarative style to emphasize certainty. |