| 18. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with the conditional conjunction veki {וְכִי | wə-ḵî} ‘and if’ introducing a protasis. Yirivun {יְרִיבֻן | yî-rî-vun} ‘they quarrel’ (qal imperfect) takes anashim {אֲנָשִׁים | ʾă-nā-šîm} ‘men’ as its subject. The vav-consecutive vehikka {וְהִכָּה | wə-ḥik-kā} ‘and strikes’ (hifil perfect) leads into the verb phrase with the particle et {אֶת | ʾet} marking re’eihu {רֵעֵהוּ | re-ʿê-hû} ‘his companion’ as the direct object. The instruments be-even {בְּאֶבֶן | bə-ʾe-ven} ‘with a stone’ or be-agrof {בְּאֶגְרֹף | bə-ʾa-grof} ‘with a fist’ specify means. The negative phrase velo yamot {וְלֹא יָמוּת | wə-lō yā-mût} ‘and not he dies’ indicates survival. The result clause venafal le-mishkav {וְנָפַל לְמִשְׁכָּב | wə-nā-pal lə-miš-kāv} ‘and he falls to bed’ uses a perfect verb + noun idiom to denote incapacitation. The sequential vav forms maintain aspectual flow from condition to outcome. |