| 13. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with the Qal-participle otem {אֹטֵם | ʼōtēm} ‘one who shuts’, forming the protasis of a conditional. The construct phrase ʼaznô {אָ֭זְנוֹ | ʼaznô} ‘his ear’ plus min {מִ | min} ‘from’ and zaʿaqat {זַּעֲקַת | zaʿāqat} ‘cry’ of dāl {דָּל | dāl} ‘poor’ specifies the refused appeal. The conjunction gam {גַּם | gam} ‘also’ with pronoun hūʼ {ה֥וּא | hūʼ} ‘he’ introduces the apodosis. The verbs yiqrāʼ {יִקְרָא | yiqrāʾ} ‘he will call’ (Qal imperfect) and yēʿănēh {יֵעָנֶה | yēʿănēh} ‘he will be answered’ (Nifal imperfect), linked by wĕ-lōʾ {וְלֹא | wĕ-lōʾ} ‘and not’, present a future action and its negation, highlighting moral reciprocity. |