| 8. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the imperative Piel verb salesleha {סַלְסְלֶ֥הָ | sal-sə-le-hā} ‘cherish her’, introducing a directive for valuing wisdom. It continues with the vav-consecutive Piel imperfect u-terommeka {וּתְרוֹמְמֶ֑ךָּ | u·tə-rō-mə-mē-kā} ‘and she will exalt you’ and the Piel imperfect tekabbedkha {תְּ֝כַבֵּדְךָ | tək-ḵab-bê-de-kā} ‘she will honor you’, presenting the outcomes. The conjunction ki {כִּ֣י | kî} signals a temporal/conditional clause, leading to the Piel imperfect energic form tehabbeqenna {תְחַבְּקֶֽנָּה | tə-ḥab-bə-qên-nā} ‘you embrace her’, emphasizing that the benefits occur when one actively embraces wisdom. This structure exemplifies the cause-and-effect pattern of Hebrew wisdom literature. |