| 18. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with the conditional locative phrase be'en {בְּאֵין | bə-ʾên} ‘in absence’ plus the noun chazon {חָזוֹן | ḥā-zôn} ‘vision’, forming the protasis. The verb yippar'a {יִפָּרַע | yip-pā-raʿ} ‘becomes unrestrained’ completes this clause, yielding a negative outcome for the people {am {עָם | ʿām} ‘people’}. A contrasting apodosis starts with the conjunctive participle ve-shomer {וְשׁוֹמֵר | wə-šō-mēr} ‘but the one who keeps’, followed by the object torah {תּוֹרָה | tôrā} ‘law’. The evaluative conclusion ashrehu {אַשְׁרֵהוּ | ʾaś-rê-hū} ‘blessed is he’ provides the promise. This antithetic parallelism contrasts the lack of guidance with the reward for observance. |