| 18. Linguistic Exegesis The verse consists of two parallel participial clauses. The first clause, lev choresh machshevot aven, employs choresh {חֹרֵשׁ | ḥō-rēš} ‘one who devises’ to depict the heart {לֵב | lēv} ‘heart’ engaging in machshevot {מַחְשְׁבוֹת | maḥ-šă-vōṯ} ‘plans’ with aven {אָוֶן | ā-ven} ‘wickedness’. The second clause begins with raglayim {רַגְלַיִם | raḡ-la-yim} ‘feet’, followed by the participle memaharot {מְמַהֲרוֹת | mə-ma-hă-rôṯ} ‘hastening’ and the infinitival clause larutz lara‘ah {לָרוּץ לָרָעָה | lā-rûṣ lā-rā-‘ā} ‘to run to evil’, indicating purpose. This parallelism connects inner intent and outward action. The formal translation retains syntactic balance to reflect the Hebrew structure, while the dynamic translation uses vivid English to convey motion and intent. |