| 30. Linguistic Exegesis The phrase chayyei {חַיֵּ֣י | ḥay-yē} be-sarim {בְ֭שָׂרִים | bĕ-sā-rîm} ‘life of flesh’ establishes the topic. The nominal clause lev marpe {לֵ֣ב מַרְפֵּ֑א | lēv mar-pê} ‘heart of healing’ functions as the positive predicate. The adversative ū-rə-qāḇ ʿă-ṣā-mōṯ {וּרְקַ֖ב עֲצָמ֣וֹת | ū-rə-qāḇ ʿă-ṣā-mōṯ} ‘and decay of bones’ introduces the contrasting predicate with kinah {קִנְאָֽה | qi-nə-ʾāh} ‘envy’, forming a chiastic parallelism (A: heart/healing // B: envy/decay) that underscores moral and physical consequences. |