| 22. Linguistic Exegesis The verse consists of two parallel nominal clauses joined by the conjunction ve {וְ | wə} ‘and’. The first clause is the construct chain taavat adam {תַּאֲוַת אָדָם | taʾă-vat ʾā-dām} ‘desire of a man’, with the noun chasdo {חַסְדּוֹ | ḥa-səd-dō} ‘his kindness’ functioning as the predicate nominative, emphasizing lovingkindness as a defining trait. The second clause employs the comparative construction tov–rash {טוֹב־רָשׁ | ṯōv-rāš} ‘better is the poor’, where the maqaf binds tov {טוֹב | ṯōv} ‘good’ and rash {רָשׁ | rāš} ‘poor’, followed by the preposition min in its contract form mē-ʾīš {מֵאִישׁ | mē-ʾîš} ‘than a man’ and the substantive kazav {כָּזָב | kā-zāḇ} ‘liar’. The chiastic parallel between preferring kindness over desire and poverty over falsehood guides the translation strategy to retain the Hebrew’s nominal focus and comparative emphasis in English. |