| 2. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with a nominal clause featuring Yahweh {יְהוָה | Yə-hō-wāh} followed by parallel appositional constructs sal‘i {סַֽלְעִי | sal-ʿî} ‘rock’, ū-mə-ṣû-dă-ṯî {וּמְצוּדָתִי | ū-mə-ṣû-dă-ṯî} ‘fortress’, and ū-mə-pal-ṭî {וּמְפַלְטִי | ū-mə-pal-ṭî} ‘deliverer’ that portray divine protection. The second clause begins with ʾê-lî {אֵלִי | ʾê-lî} ‘my God’ and continues with the construct chain ṣû-rî ʾe-ḥe-sê-ḇô {צֽוּרִי אֶחֱסֶה־בּוֹ | ṣû-rî ʾe-ḥe-sê-ḇô} ‘rock; I will take refuge in Him’, followed by mā-gi-nî {מָגִנִּי | mā-gi-nî} ‘shield’, wə-qer-en yiš-ʿî {וְקֶרֶן־יִשְׁעִי | wə-qer-en yiš-ʿî} ‘horn of salvation’, and miś-gab-bî {מִשְׂגַּבִּי | miś-gab-bî} ‘stronghold’. The cumulative parallelism emphasizes God’s multifaceted defense. English renders the construct nouns as possessive phrases and sequences them for literary flow while retaining poetic parallelism. |