| 11. Linguistic Exegesis The proverb employs antithetical parallelism to contrast impulsive and measured speech. The phrase kol rūḥō {כָּל־ר֭וּחוֹ | rūḥō} ‘all his spirit’ is a construct expressing total venting of emotion, while yōṣî {יוֹצִ֣יא | yōṣî} in the Hiphil conveys causative release. The adversative conjunction wə-ḥāḵām {וְ֝חָכָ֗ם | wə-ḥāḵām} introduces the contrasting clause. The temporal preposition bə-ʾākhôr {בְּאָח֥וֹר | bə-ʾākhôr} signals delay before the Piel imperfect yəšabbḥenāh {יְשַׁבְּחֶֽנָּה | yəšabbḥenāh} ‘he restrains it,’ where the Piel stem emphasizes intensive self-restraint. |