| 8. Linguistic Exegesis The Hebrew construct even-chen {אֶֽבֶן־חֵן | ʾe-ven ḥên} “stone of favor” functions as a metaphor comparing ha-shochad {הַשֹּׁחַד | ha-šô-ḥaḏ} with a treasured object. The definite article on ha-shochad marks specificity. The prepositional phrase be-einei be-alav {בְּעֵינֵי בְּעָלָיו | bə-ʿê-yā-nê bə-ʿā-lā-v} establishes the owner’s viewpoint. The relative clause el-kol-asher yipneh {אֶל־כָּל־אֲשֶׁר יִפְנֶה | ʾel kol ʾa-šer yip-pə-nê} indicates unrestricted scope of action. The Hiphil imperfect yashkil {יַשְׂכִּיל | yaś-ki-l} conveys causative success on the part of the owner. In English the simile is rendered with “is like” (formal) and “looks like” (dynamic), while the semicolon signals the result clause. |