| 17. Linguistic Exegesis The sentence begins with the conditional clause ve’im {וְאִם־מֵאֵן | wə-ʾim mê-ʾên} ‘and if’ introducing the protasis. The emphatic infinitive absolute me’en {מֵאֵן | mê-ʾên} pairs with the Piel imperfect yema’en {יִמָאֵן | yim-ma-ʾên} to intensify refusal. The construct noun aviha {אָבִיהָ | ʾā-vi-hā} functions as subject, underscoring paternal decision in marriage. The infinitive construct lə-tit-tāh {לְתִתָּהּ | lə-tit-tāh} with suffix lō {לוֹ | lōw} marks the intended transfer “to give her to him.” The future obligation ke-seph yiš-qōl {כֶסֶף יִשְׁקֹל | ke-seph yiš-qōl} sets out the payment action, and the prepositional phrase kə-mō-hār ha-bə-tu-lōt {כְּמֹהַר הַבְּתוּלֹת | kə-mō-hār ha-bə-tu-lōt} specifies the legal standard fee. English SVO order mirrors Hebrew VSO emphasis on condition and binding obligation. |