| 21. Linguistic Exegesis The Hebrew text employs synonymous parallelism in two balanced clauses. The first is verbless, linking ivvelet {אִ֭וֶּלֶת | ʾîwweleṯ} ‘folly’ with simcha {שִׂמְחָה | śimḥāh} ‘joy’ within the locative phrase la-ḥă-sar-lēḇ {לַחֲסַר־לֵב | la-ḥă-sar-lēḇ} ‘to the one lacking heart’, a preposition plus construct chain that connotes absence of moral sense. The second clause begins with the conjunction wə-ʾîš {וְאִישׁ | wə-ʾîš} ‘and a man’, reinforced by the appositional noun teḇûnāh {תְּבוּנָה | teḇûnāh} ‘understanding’. The verb phrase yə-yaššer-lā-keṯ {יְיַשֶׁר־לָכֶת | yə-yaššer-lā-keṯ} combines the Piel imperfect ‘causes to make straight’ with the infinitive construct ‘to walk’, expressing causative moral direction. The structure contrasts a static state in the first half with dynamic ethical action in the second, reflecting the proverb’s movement from internal disposition to outward conduct. This is rendered in English by mirroring the verbless clause and preserving the causative verb-infinitive sequence. |