| 1. Linguistic Exegesis The superscription begins with the prepositional participle lamnatseach {לַמְנַצֵּ֗חַ | la-menatṣēaḥ} ‘for the director’, indicating a liturgical or musical heading, followed by leDavid {לְדָ֫וִ֥ד | lə-dāwîd} ‘of David’, denoting authorship. The main clause opens with amar {אָ֘מַ֤ר | ’āmar} ‘said’, introducing the noun naval {נָבָ֣ל | nāḇāl} ‘fool’, here connoting moral perversity rather than simple ignorance. The phrase belibo {בְּ֭לִבּוֹ | bə-lib-bô} ‘in his heart’ marks the internal, volitional source of the statement. The particle ein {אֵ֣ין | ’ên} expresses absolute negation with the proper noun Elohim {אֱלֹהִ֑ים | ’ĕ-lō-hîm} ‘God’ as its object, framing the fool’s denial as a theological refusal. A shift to plural verbs hishchitu {הִֽשְׁחִיתוּ | hiš-ḥî-tû} ‘they have acted corruptly’ and hitivu {הִֽתְעִיבוּ | hit-ʿî-vû} ‘they have done abominably’ broadens the indictment from individual to collective behavior. The singular noun alilah {עֲלִילָ֗ה | ʿă-lî-lāh} ‘deed’ then summarizes this corruption, followed by a second ein {אֵ֣ין | ’ên} and the compound participle–adjective oseh-tov {עֹשֵׂה־טוֹב | ‘ō-śēh-ṭōv} ‘one who does good’, culminating in a universal negation. This progression from private denial to public immorality underscores the link between inner belief and outward action. Direct speech and plural pronouns are retained to reflect the Hebrew’s emphatic negations and inclusive indictment. |