| 34. Linguistic Exegesis The fronted imperfect uva {וּבָא | ū-vā} ‘and will come’ followed by the Hitpael participle mithallekh {מִתְהַלֵּךְ | miṯ-hallēḵ} ‘wandering’ personifies poverty as approaching imminently. The construct nouns reishekha {רֵישֶׁךָ | rē-še-kha} ‘your poverty’ and u-machsorekha {וּמַחְסֹרֶיךָ | u-maḥ-sō-rē-kha} ‘and your lack’ address the reader’s condition. The simile ke-ish {כְּאִישׁ | kə-ʾîš} ‘as a man’ introduces the metaphor with magen {מָגֵן | mā-ḡên} ‘shield,’ framing lack as a hostile combatant. English renderings preserve the Hebrew order’s emphasis on inevitability and threat while adapting the similes for clarity. |