| 20. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with two coordinated imperatives shema {שְׁמַע | šəmāʿ} ‘hear’ and veqabel {וְקַבֵּל | wə-qabbēl} ‘and receive’, which intensifies the exhortation to responsiveness. The objects ‘etsah {עֵצָה | ʿēṣāh} ‘counsel’ and musar {מוּסָר | mūsār} ‘discipline’ form a semantic parallelism specifying forms of guidance. The purpose marker lema‘an {לְמַעַן | lə-maʿăn} ‘in order that’ introduces the result clause teḥkām {תֶּחְכַּם | tə-ḥ-kām} ‘you may become wise’, a Qal imperfect indicating a prospective outcome. The final phrase be’aḥaritkha {בְּאַחֲרִיתֶֽךָ | bə-ʾă-ḥă-rî-ṯê-kha} ‘in your latter end’ narrows the scope to the ultimate conclusion of the addressee’s circumstances. English employs parallel structure and purpose-result syntax to reflect the Hebrew paratactic style and logical progression. |