| 8. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the conditional protasis marked by im {אִם | ʾim} ‘if’ plus the negation lo {לֹא | lō} ‘not’, setting a legal hypothetical. The Nifal imperfect yimmatse {יִמָּצֵא | yim-mā-ṣēʾ} impersonalizes the search for the thief. The vav-consecutive ve-nikrav {וְנִקְרָב | və-nik-rāv} introduces the apodosis with the baal-habbayit {בַּעַל־הַבַּיִת | ba-ʿal-hab-bā-yit} as actor. The prepositional phrase el-haelohim {אֶל־הָאֱלֹהִים | ʾel-hā-ʾĕ-lō-hîm} indicates the destination; Elohim here functions as an authoritative tribunal. The second protasis repeats im-lo, leading to the idiom shalach yado {שָׁלַח יָדוֹ | šā-lāḥ yā-dō} ‘to stretch out a hand’, signifying wrongful appropriation. The construct bimelekhet reaehu {בִּמְלֶאכֶת רֵעֵהוּ | bi-mə-le-ḵet rē-ʿē-hū} frames ownership. The parallel conditionals ensure procedural fairness in the covenant community. |