| 8. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with the construct chain chokhmat arum {חָכְמַת עָרוּם | ḥāḵ-māṯ ʻā-rūm} ‘wisdom of the prudent,’ linking the construct noun and adjective. The Hiphil perfect havin {הָבִין | hā-vîn} ‘discerns’ takes darko {דַּרְכּוֹ | dar-kô} ‘his way’ as its direct object. The adversative conjunction wə introduces wə-ʼiwəleṯ kesilim {וְאִוֶּלֶת כְּסִילִים | wə-ʼiwəleṯ ke-sîlîm} ‘but folly of fools,’ with ʼiwəleṯ functioning as a construct noun. The verse concludes with the predicate mirmah {מִרְמָה | mir-mah} ‘deceit.’ This balanced parallelism underscores the contrast between prudent understanding and foolish deception. |