| 21. Linguistic Exegesis The Hebrew opens with the prohibitive particle lo {לֹא | lōʾ} ‘not’ followed by an imperfect verb to form a negative command “you shall not eat.” The direct object is nevelah {נְבֵלָה | nə·vē·lā} ‘carcass,’ specifying animals that died apart from ritual slaughter. A relative clause introduced by ’ašer {אֲשֶׁר | ’a·šer} ‘which’ and marked in bišʿāreḵā {בִּשְׁעָרֶיךָ | bi·šā·’ā·re·ḵā} ‘in your gates’ allows the ger {גֵּר | gēr} ‘resident alien’ to receive it. The vav-consecutive form va-’āḵālāh {וַאֲכָלָהּ | va·’a·ḵā·lāh} ‘and he may eat it’ contrasts with an alternate exception through the infinitive construct māḵōr {מָכֹר | mā·ḵōr} ‘selling’ plus le-nōḵrī {לְנָכְרִי | le·nō·ḵrī} ‘to a foreigner.’ The conjunction kī {כִּי | kî} introduces the identity clause “for you are a holy people,” linking ʿam {עַם | ʿam} ‘people’ and qā·dôš {קָדוֹשׁ | qā·dôš} ‘holy’ to the pronoun ’attāh {אַתָּה | ’attāה}, while la-Yahweh ’ĕlōheḵā {לַיהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ | la·Yahweh ’ĕ·lō·he·ḵā} grounds their covenant status. The verse concludes with the parallel prohibition lō-te-vāšēl {לֹא־תְבַשֵּׁל | lō·te·vā·šēl} ‘you shall not boil’ + ḡə·dî {גְּדִי | ḡə·dî} ‘kid’ + ba-ḥă·lēḇ ’immō {בַּחֲלֵב אִמּוֹ | ba·ḥă·lēḇ ’im·mō} ‘in its mother’s milk,’ reinforcing ritual purity and communal identity. |