| 10. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with the topicalized prepositional phrase alekha {עָלֶיךָ | ʿā-le-kā} ‘upon you’, foregrounding the speaker’s dependence on the divine. The main clause hashlekhti {הָשְׁלַכְתִּי | hā-šleḵ-tî} ‘I was cast’ in the Hifil perfect highlights divine agency. The paired source expressions merechem {מֵרָחֶם | mê-ḥe-rem} ‘from womb’ and mibeten {מִבֶּטֶן | mi-be-ten} ‘from belly’ form a merism intensifying the scope from conception to birth. The construct phrase mibeten immi {מִבֶּטֶן אִמִּי | mi-be-ten ’im-mî} denotes the maternal origin. The concluding clause eli attah {אֵלִי אָתָּה | ’ê-lî ’a-ṯ-ṯāh} ‘You are my God’ asserts a climactic personal relationship. In this translation, the prepositional sources retain “from” to reflect Hebrew emphasis, and the copular clause is rendered in the present tense to preserve its force. |