| 27. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with a temporal infinitive clause introduced by bahachino {בַּהֲכִינ֣וֹ | bə-ḥă-ḵî-nō} ‘when he established,’ which sets the time frame for Wisdom’s presence. The locative adverb sham {שָׁ֣ם | šam} placed before the pronoun ani {אָ֑נִי | ’ā-nî} emphasizes the speaker’s immediate participation. A parallel infinitive clause bechuko {בְּח֥וּקוֹ | bə-ḥû-qō} ‘in his inscribing’ replicates the temporal structure, creating a balanced biclausal pattern. The noun chug {ח֝֗וּג | ḥûg} ‘circle’ introduces a cosmic boundary motif, and the prepositional phrase al-penei {עַל־פְּנֵ֥י | ʿal-pə-nê} ‘upon the face of’ links it to tehom {תְהֽוֹם | tə-ḥôm} ‘the deep.’ This parallelism between heavens and deep yields a chiastic universe framed by upper and lower limits. |