| 14. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with the conditional introducer vav-ki {וְכִי־ | wə-kî} ‘if’, framing a casuistic statute. The imperfect verb yish’al {יִשְׁאַל־ | yiš-ʾal} ‘he borrows’ takes the indefinite subject ish {אִישׁ | ʾîš} ‘a man’ and the construct phrase me-ʿim reʿ-ē-hû {מֵעִם רֵעֵהוּ | mē-ʿim reʿ-ē-hû} ‘from his neighbor’, underscoring social obligation. The coordinated perfect verbs ve-nish-bar {וְנִשְׁבַּר | wə-niš-bar} ‘it is broken’ and ō-mēyt {אוֹ־מֵת | ʾō-mēyt} ‘or it dies’ present alternative outcomes. The verbless clause b-ʿă-lāv ʾên ʿim-mô {בְּעַלָּיו אֵין עִמּוֹ | bə-ʿă-lāv ʾên ʿim-mô} ‘when its owner is not present’ sets the liability condition. The sequence šā-lēm yeš-šal-ēm {שַׁלֵּם יְשַׁלֵּם | šā-lēm yeš-šal-ēm}, an infinitive absolute plus imperfect, intensifies the obligation of full payment. The translation preserves the Hebrew paratactic structure and emphatic repetition within a clear SVO framework. |