| 21. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with velo {וְלֹא | wə-lōʾ} ‘and not’, marking a prohibitive command. The verb tachos {תָח֖וֹס | tā-ḥōs} ‘you shall have pity’ in the Qal imperfect second person masculine singular conveys ongoing restraint. The subject einekha {עֵינֶ֑ךָ | ʿê-nê-kā} ‘your eye’ personifies individual judgment. What follows is a lex talionis pattern of parallel noun–prepositional noun phrases: nefesh be-nefesh {נֶ֣פֶשׁ בְּנֶ֗פֶשׁ | ne-fēš bə-ne-fēš} ‘life for life’, ayin be-ayin {עַ֤יִן בְּעַ֙יִן֙ | ʿă-yîn bə-ʿă-yîn} ‘eye for eye’, shen be-shen {שֵׁ֣ן בְּשֵׁ֔ן | šên bə-šên} ‘tooth for tooth’, yad be-yad {יָ֥ד בְּיָ֖ד | yād bə-yād} ‘hand for hand’, regel be-ragel {רֶ֥גֶל בְּרָֽגֶל | re-gēl bə-rā-gēl} ‘foot for foot’. The preposition בְּ (bə) marks equivalence, enforcing precise reciprocity. The repeated structure creates poetic parallelism, and the single English clause uses a semicolon to reflect the Hebrew disjunction. |