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 in 27c the infinitive construction is restored” (Fl.). The alliterating words צרה וצוּקה, cf. Isa 30:6; Zep 1:15, are related to each other as narrowness and distress (Hitzig); the Mashal is fond of the stave-rhyme.

Verses 28-31
Then - this sublime preacher in the streets continues - distress shall teach them to pray: 28 Then shall they call on me, and I will not answer;     They shall early seek after me, and not find me; 29 Because that they hated knowledge,      And did not choose the fear of Jahve. 30 They have not yielded to my counsel,     Despised all my reproof: 31 Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their way,      And satiate themselves with their own counsels. In the full emphatic forms, יקראנני, they shall call on me, ישׁחרנני, they shall seek me, and ימצאנני, they shall find me, the suffix ני may be joined to the old plur. ending ûn (Gesenius, Olshausen, Böttcher); but open forms like יברכנהוּ, He will bless him,יכבּדנני, He will honour me (from יכבּדנּי), and the like, rather favour the conclusion that נ is epenthetic (Ew. §250, b). The address