| 6. Linguistic Exegesis The Hebrew construct chain of siftei {שִׂפְתֵ֣י | ṣifṭê} ‘lips of’ tightly links speech to the character term kesil {כְ֭סִיל | kesîl} ‘fool’. The plural verb yāḇō’ū {יָבֹ֣אֽוּ | yāḇō’ū} agrees with the plural noun and introduces contention marked by bə-rîḇ {בְ֑רִיב | bə-rîḇ} ‘into strife’. The second clause begins with ū-pîw {וּ֝פִיו | ū-pîw} ‘and his mouth’, followed by the purpose clause lə-mahallummōt {לְֽמַהֲלֻמ֥וֹת | lə-mahallummōt} ‘for blows’, forming an asyndetic result relationship that yiqrā’ {יִקְרָֽא | yiqrā’} ‘calls’. This parallelism emphasizes how the fool’s speech provokes both dispute and punishment. |