| 19. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with the adversative conjunction ve-attah {וְאַתָּה | wə-’attā} ‘and you’, which introduces a sharp contrastive address. The vocative Yahweh {יְהוָה | Yə-hō-wāh} ‘LORD’ directs the plea to the divine. The prohibitory imperfect al-tirchaq {אַל־תִּרְחָק | ’al-tir-ḥāq} ‘do not be far’ issues a petition for nearness. The paired noun constructs eyluti {אֵיל֑וּתִי | ʾêlûti} ‘my strength’ and le-ezrati {לְעֶזְרָתִי | lə-ʿez-rā-tî} ‘to my help’ form synonymous parallelism that heightens dependence. Finally, the imperative khushah {חוּשָׁה | ḥûšāh} ‘hasten’ delivers a climactic call for swift assistance. The English rendering follows this structural flow—contrastive address, parallel petition, urgent command—to mirror the Hebrew’s poetic intensity. |