Proverbs 17:6ExegesisTAB

Proverbs 17 : 6 Legacy | Honor | Kinship
6. Linguistic Exegesis
The verse exhibits antithetical parallelism with two balanced clauses. The subject ateret {עֲטֶרֶת | ʻă-ṭe-ret} ‘crown’ is in construct with zekenim {זְקֵנִים | ze-qē-nim} ‘elders,’ yielding “crown of old men.” The term benei banim {בְּנֵי בָנִים | bə-nē ba-nīm} ‘sons of sons’ functions as the predicate noun ‘grandchildren.’ The vav conjunction {וְ | wə} introduces the second clause ve-tiferet banim avotam {וְתִפְאֶרֶת בָנִים אֲבוֹתָם | wə-ti-pə-ʾer-et ba-nīm ʾa-vō-tām}, where tiferet {תִפְאֶרֶת | ti-pə-ʾer-et} ‘glory’ is the subject and avotam {אֲבוֹתָם | ʾa-vō-tām} ‘their fathers’ is the genitival complement. Hebrew construct syntax places the possessed noun before the possessor, which in English is rendered by reversing the order while preserving the parallel structure.

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