| 21. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the participle yoled {יֹלֵד | yō-lēḏ} ‘one who begets’, followed by kesil {כְּסִיל | kə-sîl} ‘fool’ in direct apposition to highlight the resultant subject. The clause letugah lo {לְת֣וּגָה ל֑וֹ | lə-tū-gāh lōw} is a prepositional phrase indicating the consequence of grief experienced by the parent. The vav-conjunction velo {וְלֹא־ | wə-lōʾ} introduces the parallel clause yismach avi naval {יִשְׂמַ֗ח אֲבִ֣י נָבָֽל | yiś-mă-ḥ ʾă-vî nā-wāl}, preserving the Hebrew antithetic parallelism. The construct chain avi naval links parent to child. In English, the participial clause is rendered with a finite subject to satisfy English SVO requirements, and the parallel structure is maintained for rhetorical impact. |