The Divine Cross-Examination — Ellipsis and Echo in Biblical Hebrew
כִּֽי־תֹאמַ֗ר הֵן֮ לֹא־יָדַ֪עְנ֫וּ זֶ֥ה הֲֽלֹא־תֹ֘כֵ֤ן לִבֹּ֨ות הֽוּא־יָבִ֗ין וְנֹצֵ֣ר נַ֭פְשְׁךָ ה֣וּא יֵדָ֑ע וְהֵשִׁ֖יב לְאָדָ֣ם כְּפָעֳלֹֽו׃ Opening the Text Like a flash of lightning in a courtroom, Proverbs 24:12 interrupts human excuse-making with a divine retort. “If you say: Behold, we didn’t know this…” — but the verse doesn’t finish the sentence. Instead, it erupts into a…