| 3. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the conditional particle im {אִם | ʾim} marking a protasis. The Qal perfect zorcha {זָרְחָה | zārəḥā} “has shone” with haššāmeš {הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ | haš-šā-meš} “the sun” establishes a dawn timeframe. The prepositional phrase alav {עָלָיו | ʿālāv} “upon him” introduces the involved person. Dāmîm {דָּמִם | dā-mîm} “bloodguilt” combined with that clause assigns legal liability to the person denoted by “the one who struck him.” The infinitive absolute šallēm {שַׁלֵּם | šal-lēm} plus the intensive Piel imperfect yəšallem {יְשַׁלֵּם | yə-ša-lem} emphasize the requirement of full restitution. The second im {אִם | ʾim} introduces the apodosis with the existential negation ʾēn {אֵין | ʾēn} “there is not,” followed by the vav-consecutive Nifal wə-nimmakkār {וְנִמְכַּר | wə-nim-ma-kkār} “and he shall be sold,” indicating forced servitude for bi-gnevatō {בִּגְנֵבָתוֹ | bi-gne-va-tō} “theft.” This conditional sequence contrasts nighttime self-defense (v.2) with accountability at dawn. |