| 10. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with the conditional ki {כִּי | ki} ‘if’, introducing a protasis. The imperfect yitten {יִתֵּן | yitten} ‘he gives’ marks the transfer to re’ehu {רֵעֵהוּ | re’ehu} ‘his neighbor’. The infinitive lishmor {לִשְׁמֹר | lishmor} ‘to keep’ conveys purpose. A series of disjunctive o {אוֹ | o} ‘or’ links the Nifal perfect verbs umet {וּמֵת | umet} ‘it died’, nishbar {נִשְׁבַּר | nishbar} ‘it was broken’, and nishbah {נִשְׁבָּה | nishbah} ‘it was taken away’, enumerating adverse outcomes. The clause ein ro’eh {אֵין רֹאֶה | ein ro’eh} ‘no one is seeing’ functions as a circumstantial qualifier, limiting liability in the absence of a witness. English renders the infinitive with “for safekeeping” and mirrors the passive series and negative qualifier in natural English. |