| 9. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with the noun phrase ish chakham nishpat et ish evil, employing the Niphal participle nishpat {נִשְׁפָּט | niš-pāṭ} ‘goes to judgment’ to establish a legal confrontation. The direct object marker et {אֶת | ʾet} introduces ish evil as the opposing party. The vav-consecutive verbs veragaz {וְרָגַז | wə-rā-ḡaz} ‘and he rages’ and vesachak {וְשָׂחַק | wə-ša-ḥaq} ‘and he laughs’ create a bipartite parallelism illustrating the fool’s alternating emotional responses. The concluding existential clause ve-ein nachat uses the negation ein {אֵין | ʾên} ‘there is not’ with the noun nachat {נָחַת | nā-ḥat} ‘rest’ to underscore the absence of resolution. This coordinated structure links legal dispute to emotional futility and highlights the impossibility of reconciliation. |