| 25. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the preposition beterem {בְּטֶרֶם | bə-ṭer-em} ‘before’, establishing temporal priority that is echoed by the preposition lifnei {לִפְנֵי | lî-p̄nē} ‘before’. The Niphal perfect hatbāʿû {הָטְבָּעוּ | hā-ṭə-bā-ʿû} ‘were settled’ depicts the mountains as deeply fixed. The construct sequence lifnei geva‘ôṯ {לִפְנֵי גְבָע֣וֹת | lî-p̄nē ge-vā-ʿôṯ} extends this parallelism to the hills, reinforcing poetic symmetry. Finally, the Pulal perfect ḥōlălîṯî {חוֹלָלְתִּי | ḥō-lā-lə-tî} ‘I was brought forth’ personifies Wisdom with deliberate origin. The English ordering preserves the Hebrew parallel clauses to maintain poetic resonance. |