| 3. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the vav-consecutive verb vera'ah {וְרָאָה | wə-rā-ʼāh} ‘and he shall see’, which establishes sequence. The noun ha-kohen {הַכֹּהֵן | ha-kō-hên} serves as the subject of the diagnostic action. The construct be-or {בְּעֽוֹר־ | bə-ʿōr-} ‘in the skin’ linked to ha-basar {הַבָּשָׂר | ha-bā-śār} ‘the flesh’ specifies the examination site. A coordinated clause se-ar ba-nnega {שֵׂעָר בַּנֶּגַע | se-ʾār ba-nē-ʼāʿ} ‘the hair in the sore’ is followed by hafakh {הָפַךְ | hā-p̄akh} ‘has turned’ and lavan {לָבָן | lā-ḇān} ‘white’. The phrase u-mar-’eh ha-nnega {וּמַרְאֵה הַנֶּגֶע | ū-mar-ʾē ha-nē-geʿ} ‘and the appearance of the sore’ is modified by amok me-or {עָמֹק מֵע֣וֹר | ʿā-mōq mē-ʼōr} ‘deeper than the skin’. The appositional term negaʿ tsara'at {נֶגַע צָרַעַת | ne-ḡaʿ ṣā-rā-ʿaṯ} ‘a sore of leprosy’ classifies the condition. Sequential vav-consecutive forms ve-ra'ahu {וְרָאָהוּ | wə-rā-ʼē-hū} ‘and he shall see it’ and ve-timme {וְטִמֵּא | wə-ṭimmē-ʼ} ‘and he shall pronounce unclean’ mirror the procedural structure of the Hebrew ritual narrative. |