| 12. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with veha’ish {וְהָאִ֞ישׁ | wə-hā-’îš} ‘and the man,’ introducing a casuistic law case. The relative clause asher ya‘ăšeh bezāḏōn lə-biltî šimōa‘ {אֲשֶׁר־יַעֲשֶׂ֣ה בְזָד֗וֹן לְבִלְתִּ֨י שְׁמֹ֤עַ} ‘who acts presumptuously in order not to listen’ uses bezāḏōn to stress defiance. The obligations to obey both ha-kōhēn ha-‘ōmēd lə-šārêṯ šām {הַכֹּהֵן הָעֹמֵד לְשָׁרֶת שָׁם} ‘the priest who stands to minister there’ and ha-šōp̄ēṭ {הַשֹּׁפֵט} ‘the judge’ establish spiritual and civil authority. The vav-consecutive ū-mēṯ {וּמֵת} ‘and shall die’ enacts the penalty, and ū-vi‘ārtā hā-rā‘ mi-yisrā’ēl {וּבִעַרְתָּ הָרָע מִיִּשְׂרָאֵל} ‘you shall purge the evil from Israel’ uses the piel stem for decisive removal. |