| 10. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the conjunction ki {כִּ֤י | kî} ‘for/because’, introducing a causal affirmation. Two parallel clauses employ the negator lo {לֹא־ | lōʾ} with the Qal imperfect verbs taʿăzov {תַעֲזֹ֣ב | ta-ʿă-zōḇ} ‘you will abandon’ and titten {תִתֵּ֥ן | tit-ten} ‘you will permit’, forming a symmetric structure of divine assurances. The pronominal suffixes on nafshi {נַפְשִׁ֣י | nap̄-šî} ‘my soul’ and ḥasidkha {חֲ֝סִידְךָ֗ | ḥă-sîd-ḵā} ‘your faithful one’ underscore personal covenant intimacy. The infinitive construct lishʾol {לִשְׁא֑וֹל | li-šə-ʾōl} functions as a directional complement ‘to Sheol’, while lirʾot {לִרְא֥וֹת | lir-ʾōṯ} governs the object shachat {שָֽׁחַת | šā-ḥaṯ} ‘decay’. This chiastic parallelism accentuates God’s preserving activity by restating what He will not allow, and the English rendering preserves the Hebrew rhetorical symmetry and focused negative constructions. |