| 28. Linguistic Exegesis The Hebrew verse consists of two parallel independent clauses joined by the conjunction vav. The first clause begins with the noun phrase ed {עֵד | ʿêd} ‘witness’ and the construct modifier beliya'al {בְּלִיַּעַל | bə-li-ya-ʿal} ‘worthlessness,’ forming a nominal subject that is followed by the verb yalitz {יָלִץ | yā-lîṣ} ‘mocks’ governing the direct object mishpat {מִשְׁפָּט | miš-pāṭ} ‘justice.’ The second clause mirrors this structure with the prepositional phrase ufi {וּפִי | u-fî} ‘and mouth’ as the agent, modified by resha'im {רְשָׁעִים | re-šā-ʿîm} ‘wicked,’ and the verb yevalla {יְבַלַּע | yə-bal-lāʿ} ‘swallows’ taking aven {אָוֶן | ā-ven} ‘iniquity’ as its object. The use of synonymous parallelism highlights the moral corruption of both speaker and subject matter, and the maqqef in yevalla-aven underscores the unified force of the action and its object. |