| 11. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with the participle ohev {אֹהֵב | ʾō-hēḇ} ‘one who loves’, forming a protasis in a conditional sense. The construct chain ṭehar-lev {טְהַר־לֵב | ṭə-har-lêḇ} ‘purity of heart’ serves as the object of love. The absolute phrase ḥên səphātav {חֵן שְׂפָתָיו | ḥên sə-ṗā-ṯāyw} ‘grace of his lips’ qualifies his speech. Finally, the verbless clause consisting of the predicate rêʿêhû {רֵעֵהוּ | rê-ʿê-hû} ‘his friend’ and the subject mêlekh {מֶֽלֶךְ | mê-leḵ} ‘king’ conveys the outcome. The maqqef in ṭehar-lev binds the nouns into a tight semantic unit emphasizing inner integrity. Hebrew proverbs frequently use verbless clauses to express pithy conditional statements; English translations introduce copular verbs (“will be,” “will become”) to render the implied relationship. |