| 4. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the demonstrative zot {זֹאת | zôṯ} ‘this’, introducing a legal category headed by ha-behemah {הַבְּהֵמָה | ha-bə-hēmāh} ‘the animal’. The relative marker asher {אֲשֶׁר | ʾăšer} ‘which’ links to the Qal imperfect verb tokhelu {תֹּאכֵלוּ | tô-ʾkē-lû} ‘you shall eat’, indicating second-person plural instruction. A coordinated series enumerates shor {שׁוֹר | šôr} ‘ox’, followed by a generic seh {שֵ̇ה | sē} ‘small livestock’, specified by kəsavim {כְשָׂבִים | kə-sā-vîm} ‘of sheep’, and then repeated with ve-seh {וְשֵׂה | wə-sē} ‘and small livestock’, specified by izzim {עִזִּים | ʿiz-zîm} ‘of goats’. The parallel repetition emphasizes inclusivity across small livestock categories. |