| 4. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with u-moledotayikh {וּמוֹלְדוֹתַיִךְ | û-mōl-də-ṯā-yiḵ} ‘and your births,’ establishing the subject. The temporal clause be-yom hûlledet ʾōṯāḵ {בְּיוֹם הוּלֶּדֶת אֹתָךְ | bə-yōm hûl-le-ḏeṯ ʾō-ṯāḵ} ‘on the day you were born’ frames the timeframe. A series of four negated perfect verbs—lo-kārat {לֹא־כָרַת | lō-kār-rat}, lo-ru-ḥaṣ-tet {לֹא־רֻחַצְתְּ | lō-ru-ḥaṣ-tet}, lo-hum-la-ḥat-tet {לֹא הֻמְלַחַתְּ | lō-hum-la-ḥat-tet}, lo-ḥuṭ-tal-tet {לֹא חֻתָּלְתְּ | lō-ḥuṭ-tal-tet}—underscores the absence of customary postnatal care. Šārēkh {שָׁרֵךְ | šārēkh} functions as the object of lo-kārat, referring to the umbilical cord, while the purpose phrase lə-miš-ʿî {לְמִשְׁעִי | lə-miš-ʿî} ‘for cleansing’ complements the washing clause. The nouns hām-lē-aḥ {הָמְלֵחַ | hām-lē-aḥ} and hā-ḥ-tēl {הָחְתֵּל | hā-ḥ-tēl} denote salt and swaddling cloths, reflecting ritual newborn care. The preserved sequence of actions in English maintains the Hebrew rhetorical progression toward intensified neglect. |