| 16. Linguistic Exegesis The clause begins with the participial verb vegonev {וְגֹנֵב | wə·gōˈnē·ḇ} ‘one who steals’, functioning as a conditional protasis. The noun ish {אִישׁ | ʾîš} ‘man’ serves as the direct object. The action umecharo {וּמְכָרוֹ | ū·mə·ḵā·rō} ‘sells him’ completes the forbidden act. The conjunctive clause venimtsa {וְנִמְצָא | wə·nim·ṣāʾ} ‘and is found’ introduces the apodosis condition. The idiom beyado {בְּיָדוֹ | bə·yā·ḏō} ‘in his hand’ expresses possession. The legal formula mot yumat {מוֹת יוּמָת | mōṯ yū·mat} ‘death, he shall be put to death’ intensifies the capital penalty through parallelism and repetition, underscoring the offense’s gravity in the casuistic covenant code. |