| 17. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with hat {הַט | haṭ} ‘incline’, a Hiphil imperative expressing volitional urging, followed by oznekha {אָזְנְךָ | ’ōzənəḵā} ‘your ear’, an idiom for attentive listening. The conjunction ūšməʿ {וּשְׁמַע | ūšməʿ} ‘and hear’ parallels the first command, creating synonymous parallelism. The construct phrase dibre ḥaḵāmīm {דִּבְרֵי חֲכָמִים | dibre ḥaḵāmīm} ‘words of the wise ones’ links the content to be received. The coordinated sequence wəlibbᵉḵā tāšīt {וְלִבְּךָ תָּשִׁית | wəlibbᵉḵā tāšīt} ‘and your heart you shall set’ combines a conjunction with a jussive imperfect to express volitional placement of the inner disposition. The final infinitive construct ledaʿtî {לְדַעְתִּי | ledaʿtî} ‘to my knowledge’ conveys purpose and result, tying the hearer’s orientation to the speaker’s insight. English renderings preserve the Hebrew imperative structure and parallelism while smoothing for readability. |