| 29. Linguistic Exegesis The verse uses parallel nominal clauses centered on tifʾeret bachurim {תִּפְאֶרֶת בַּחוּרִים | tifʾeret baḥûrîm} ‘glory of young men’ and wa-ḥădar zekenim {וַהֲדַר זְקֵנִים | wa-ḥădar zəqēnîm} ‘and beauty of old men’. The affixed pronominal suffix in kōḥām {כֹּחָם | kōḥām} ‘their strength’ parallels the independent noun sēḇā {שֵׂיבָה | sēḇā} ‘gray hair’, linking attributes to each group. The prefixed conjunction vav {וַ | wa} marks coordination without a verb, yielding a nominal sentence structure. English translation supplies “is” to render the implicit copula and maintains the Hebrew’s balanced parallelism and contrast between youth and age. |