| 23. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the imperative keneh {קְנֵה | kə-nē} ‘acquire; buy’ directed at emet {אֱמֶת | ʾe-meṯ} ‘truth’. This is followed by the prohibitive ve-al-timkor {וְאַל־תִּמְכֹּר | wə-ʾal-tim-kôr} ‘do not sell’, combining the conjunctive vav with the negative particle al and a Qal imperfect to signal refusal to relinquish. The asyndetic triad chokhmah {חָכְמָה | ḥākh-māh} ‘wisdom’, musar {וּמוּסָר | ū-mū-sār} ‘instruction’, and binah {וּבִינָה | ū-bî-nā} ‘understanding’ forms parallelism that intensifies the imperative command, characteristic of Hebrew wisdom poetry. |