| 14. Linguistic Exegesis The proverb begins with the Qal participle poter {פּוֹטֵר | pō·tēr} ‘releasing’, serving as the subject of a simile that parallels reishit madon {רֵאשִׁית מָדוֹן | rê·šît mā·dōn} ‘beginning of strife’. This chiastic parallelism equates the unchecked flow of water with the onset of conflict. The conjunction plus preposition ve-lifnei {וְלִפְנֵי | wə·lî·p̄nê} ‘and before’ introduces a temporal clause headed by the Hitpael infinitive construct hitgalla {הִתְגַּלַּע | hit·gal·lâʿ} ‘burst forth’ and its object ha-riv {הָרִיב | hā·rîḇ} ‘the quarrel’. Finally, the Qal imperative netosh {נְטֹשׁ | ne·ṭōš} ‘abandon’ delivers hortatory advice, emphasizing proactive restraint to avert escalation. |