| 10. Linguistic Exegesis The verse employs the comparative preposition tehat {תֵּ֣חַת | tē-ḥat} “better than” to establish contrast. The noun gearah {גְּעָרָ֣ה | ge-‘ā-rāh} “rebuke” with the participle be-mevin {בְמֵבִין | mē-vîn} “in a discerning person” forms the first member. The second member combines the preposition min prefixed to the hifil infinitive hakot {הַכּ֖וֹת | ha-kôṯ} “striking” and the noun kesil {כְּסִיל | ke-sîl} “fool”, scoped by the numeral meah {מֵאָֽה | mē-’āh} “hundred”. This antithetical parallelism highlights that verbal correction has greater effect on the wise than physical punishment on the foolish. English renders retain the comparative framework while smoothing word order for clarity. |