| 11. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with a fronted adjective in Hebrew, as chakham {חָכָם | ḥā-kām} ‘wise’ precedes its subject to emphasize self-assured judgment. The idiomatic phrase be’einav {בְּעֵינָיו | bə-ʿê-nāv} ‘in his own eyes’ functions as a circumstantial prepositional phrase indicating perspective. The compound noun phrase ish ashir {אִישׁ עָשִׁיר | ʾîš ʿā-šîr} ‘man rich’ serves as the subject. The vav-conjunction ve-dal {וְדַל | wə-ḏăl} ‘and poor’ introduces an antithetic counterpart, with the participle mevin {מֵבִין | me-vîn} ‘understanding’ qualifying this second subject. The final verb yachqerennu {יַחְקְרֶנּוּ | yaḥ-qə-rēn-nû}, a qal imperfect with a third person masculine singular suffix, returns to the rich man, completing a chiastic structure that contrasts perceived wisdom with evaluative scrutiny. English rendering preserves the inversion and antithesis by using “but” for the Hebrew vav. |