| 15. Linguistic Exegesis The protasis begins with the conditional particle im {אִם | ʾim} ‘if,’ followed by the prepositional phrase bealav {בְּעָלָיו | bə-ʿā-lā-yōw} ‘its owner’ with immo {עִמּוֹ | ʿim-mô} ‘with him,’ specifying owner presence. The negative particle lo {לֹא | lōʾ} introduces the apodosis with the Piel imperfect yishalem {יְשַׁלֵּם | ye-šal-lêm} ‘he will pay.’ The second protasis uses im {אִם | ʾim} to present the alternative case sakhir hu {שָׂכִיר הוּא | šā-ḵîr hûʾ} ‘it is a hired animal.’ The verbless result besakhro ba {בְּשַׂכְרוֹ בָּא | bə-šā-ḵôrô bāʾ} ‘its hire has come’ implies sufficiency of payment. This succinct coordination of conditional clauses and the verbless apodosis reflects the style of Hebrew legal discourse. |