| 21. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with a vav-consecutive Hiphil verb vehotzi’u {וְהוֹצִ֨יאוּ | wə-hō-ṣî-ʾû} ‘and you shall bring out’, signaling a judicial command. The direct object marker et {אֶת־ | ʾet} marks han-naʿarâ {הַנַּעֲרָה | han-nə-ʿā-rāh} ‘the young woman’ as the patient. Construct chains bêt ʾāvi(h)âh {בֵּית אָבִיהָ | bêṯ ʾā-vi-hāh} ‘house of her father’ and ʾănšê ʿîrâh {אַנְשֵׁי עִירָהּ | ʾăn-šê ʿî-rāh} ‘men of her city’ establish familial and communal relationships. The sequence of Qal perfect forms wə-seqālûhā {וּסְקָלוּהָ֩ | wə-sə-qā-lū-hā} ‘and they shall stone her’ and wā-mēṯā {וָמֵ֔תָה | wā-mē-ṯā} ‘and she shall die’ presents the legal consequence. The conjunction kî {כִּֽי־ | kî} ‘because’ introduces the rationale linked to the infinitive li-znôt {לִזְנ֖וֹת | li-znôt} ‘to act as a prostitute’. Finally, the Piel perfect wə-viʿărtā {וּבִֽעַרְתָּ֥ | wə-vi-ʿăr-tā} ‘and you shall purge’ with the prepositional phrase miqqirbəkā {מִקִּרְבֶּֽךָ | mi-q-qir-bê-kā} ‘from your midst’ underscores communal purification. The English renditions maintain the Hebrew vav sequence while adapting to SVO order and clarifying purpose and result clauses. |