| 21. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with the conditional protasis introduced by veki-yihyeh {וְכִֽי־יִהְיֶ֨ה | wə-ḵî-yih·yêh} ‘and if it is’. The prepositional pronoun vo {ב֜וֹ | bô} specifies the animal under consideration. A triad of disqualifying conditions follows: pisseach {פִּסֵּ֙חַ֙ | pis·sêaḥ} ‘lame’, linked by o {אוֹ | ’ō} ‘or’ to ivver {עִوֵּ֔ר | ’î·wêr} ‘blind’, and then kol mum ra {כֹּ֖ל מ֣וּם רָ֑ע | kōl mūm rā‘} ‘any bad defect’, creating a cumulative effect. The prohibition appears in the apodosis with lo tizbakhennu {לֹ֣א תִזְבָּחֶ֔נּוּ | lō tiz·bə·ḥén·nû} ‘you must not sacrifice it’, followed by la-Yahweh {לַיהוָה | la·Yahweh} ‘to the LORD’ and eloheikha {אֱלֹהֶיךָ | ’ĕ·lō·hê·kā} ‘your God’, framing the rule within the covenant relationship. |