| 17. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the Hifil verb yatzileni {יַּצִּילֵנִּי | yaṣ-ṣî-lê-nî} indicating divine causative rescue. The construct phrase meoyvi az {מֵאֹיְבִּי עָז | mē-ʾō-ye-ḇî ʿāz} specifies “my strong enemy,” intensifying the adversary’s threat. The parallel umishəna'ai {וּמִשְּׂנָאַי | û-miś-śə-na-ʾāy} expands the danger to include haters as a collective plural construct with suffix. The conjunction ki {כִּי | kî} introduces the comparative justification, followed by the perfect amtsu mimeni {אָמְצוּ מִמֶּנִּי | ʾāməṣû mim-mennî}, “they were stronger than me,” forming a comparative clause that highlights the foes’ dominance. Hebrew paratactic parallelism emphasizes escalating threats, and the English coordinate structure with “for” preserves the causal link, underscoring the magnitude of divine deliverance. |