| 13. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with a participial phrase meshiv davar {מֵשִׁיב דָּבָר | mē-šîv dā-vār} ‘one who answers a matter’, which functions as a general conditional. The temporal clause beterem yishma {בְּטֶרֶם יִשְׁמָע | bə-ṯe-rem yiš-maʿ} ‘before he hears’ sets the sequence of response preceding comprehension. The nouns ivelet {אִוֶּלֶת | ʼi-ve-leṯ} ‘folly’ and kelimah {כְּלִמָּה | ke-lî-mah} ‘disgrace’, joined by the conjunction vav, form a climactic apodosis that emphasizes consequence. English renders the participial structure as a conditional to preserve the warning’s impact while retaining the Hebrew word order’s emphasis. |