| 20. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the conjunction ki {כִּי | kî} ‘for’ introducing a reason clause, followed by the negation lo {לֹא | lō} ‘not’ preceding the imperfect tihyêh {תִהְיֶה | tihyêh} ‘there will be.’ The subject akharit {אַחֲרִית | ʾaḥărîṯ} ‘end’ is governed by the prepositional phrase lara {לָרָע | lārāʿ} ‘for the evil one.’ In the second clause, the noun phrase ner resha·ʿîm {נֵר רְשָׁעִים | nêr rəša·ʿîm} ‘lamp of the wicked ones’ is followed by the verb yidakh {יִדְעָךְ | yîḏaḵ} ‘will go out,’ creating a climactic parallelism characteristic of wisdom poetry. The construct ner resha·ʿîm highlights the tenuous nature of the wicked, and the shift from singular to plural broadens the warning from individual to collective. |