| 21. Linguistic Exegesis The verse employs synonymous parallelism between mavet {מָ֣וֶת | mă-wet} ‘death’ and vechayyim {וְ֭חַיִּים | wə-ḥay-yim} ‘life’, highlighting antithetical outcomes. The construct chain beyad-lashon {בְּיַד־לָשׁוֹן | bə-yad lā-shōn} ‘in the hand of the tongue’ uses metonymy to portray the tongue as an instrument of agency. The participle ve-ohaveha {וְ֝אֹהֲבֶ֗יהָ | wə-’ō-hă-‘ê-hā} ‘and those who love it’ narrows the focus to devoted speakers, while the Qal imperfect yokhal {יֹאכַל | yō-’a-ḵal} plus noun pirya {פִּרְיָהּ | pir-yāh} forms a result clause emphasizing inevitable consequence. The translation preserves this structure and imagery by reflecting both the antithetical pair and the cause-and-effect motif in English. |