| 21. Linguistic Exegesis The verse employs a protasis–apodosis conditional introduced by ve'im {וְאִם | wə-ʾim} ‘and if,’ with yire'nah {יִרְאֶנָּה | yirʾēnnāh} ‘he sees it’ marking the inspection. The particle vehinneh {וְהִנֵּה | wə-hinnēh} ‘and behold’ shifts focus to the diagnostic criteria: ein-bah {אֵין־בָּהּ | ʾēn-bāh} ‘there is none in it’ with se'ar lavan {שֵׂעָר לָבָן | sēʿār lāḇān} ‘white hair,’ followed by u-shefaḷah einenah {וּשְׁפָלָה אֵינֶנָּה | ū-šep̄ālāh ʾēnennāh} ‘and depressed it is not’ setting a spatial limit (min-haor {מִן־הָעוֹר | min-hāʿôr} ‘than the skin’), and vehi kehah {וְהִיא כֵּהָה | wə-hîʾāh kēhāh} ‘and it is faded’ adding a chromatic description. The apodosis begins with ve-hisgiro {וְהִסְגִּירוֹ | wə-hisgīrôw} ‘and he shall isolate him,’ followed by shivat yamim {שִׁבְעַת יָמִים | šivʿat yāmmîm} ‘seven days.’ This series of coordinate clauses reflects the halakhic precision of the Levitical quarantine law. |