| 26. Linguistic Exegesis The verse employs a protasis–apodosis structure introduced by the conditional conjunction vechi {וְכִי | wə-ḵî} ‘and if’, presenting a hypothetical legal case. The Qal imperfect verb yakeh {יַכֶּה | ya-qeh} ‘he strikes’ forms the protasis. The parallel accusative phrases et eye of his male slave and et eye of his female slave underscore equal liability across genders. The apodosis begins with the Hiphil perfect weshikhatah {וְשִׁחֲתָהּ | wə-šiḥ-tāh} ‘he destroys it’, indicating irreversible harm. The infinitive construct le-chofshi {לְחָפְשִׁי | lə-ḥōp-šî} ‘to freedom’ with the Piel imperfect ye-shal-che-nu {יְשַׁלְּחֶנּוּ | yə-šal-che-nnû} ‘he shall let him go’ establishes the obligation to release the slave. Finally, the preposition tachat {תַּחַת | ṭa-ḥat} ‘instead of’ introduces the substitutionary principle linking the release to the injured eye. The English rendering shifts to subject–verb–object order and adds conjunctions for clarity while preserving the casuistic clause structure and legal parallelism of the Hebrew. |