| 1. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the superscription tefillah {תְּפִלָּה | tĕ-p̄î-lāh} “prayer” and le-David {לְדָוִד | lə-ḏā-wid} “of David,” marking authorship and liturgical genre. It then issues the imperatives shim‘ah {שִׁמְעָה | šim-‘āh} “listen,” haqqəšîḇâ {הַקְשִׁיבָה | haqqə-šî-ḇā(h)} “pay attention,” and haʾăzînâh {הַאֲזִינָה | ha-’ă-zî-nā(h)} “give ear” in a tricolon, heightening urgency. The petition for ṣedeq {צֶדֶק | ṣê-ḏeq} “plea” leads the requests, framing a judicial metaphor. The construct pair rînnā-tî…tə-p̄î-lā-tî {רִנָּתִי…תְפִלָּתִי | rînnā-tî…tə-p̄î-lā-tî} “my cry, my prayer” underscores personal sincerity. The negative clause bĕ-lōʾ sip̄-tê mir-māh {בְּלֹא שִׂפְתֵי מִרְמָה | bĕ-lōʾ sip̄-tê mir-māh} “without deceitful lips” qualifies the plea, reinforcing integrity. The asyndetic imperatives and parallelism contribute to a qinah motif, conveying both urgency and moral earnestness. |