| 10. Linguistic Exegesis This verse employs synonymous parallelism characteristic of Hebrew wisdom literature, using the metaphor of prophetic speech. The noun qesem {קֶ֤סֶם | qĕ-sēm} ‘divination, oracle’ functions as the figurative subject, highlighting authoritative speech. The construct chain siftei-melekh {שִׂפְתֵי־מֶ֑לֶךְ | sif-tê-ʼ me-lekh} ‘lips of the king’ identifies the royal speaker. The prepositional phrase bə-mishpat {בְּמִשְׁפָּט | bə-miš-pāṭ} ‘in judgment’ confines the claim to legal settings. The imperfect verb yimʿal {יִמְעַל־ | yĭm-ʿāl} denotes a habitual action; the negative particle lō {לֹ֣א | lō} expresses absolute negation. The formal rendering mirrors Hebrew word order to emphasize judicial integrity, whereas the dynamic rendering shifts the imagery into modern evaluative language. |