| 35. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the conditional particle veim {וְאִם | wə-ʾim}, marking a protasis. The infinitive absolute pasoh {פָּשֹׂה | pā-sō} preceding the imperfect yifseh {יִפְשֶׂה | yi-sē} serves an intensifying function, expressing repeated or continuous action. The noun phrase hanetek {הַנֶּתֶק | han-né-tek} with the definite article functions as the subject, while the prepositional phrase baor {בָּעוֹר | bā-ʿōr} specifies location. The temporal clause introduced by acharei {אַחֲרֵי | ʾaḥărê} plus the construct noun tahorato {טָהֳרָתֽוֹ | ṭā-hō-rā-tô} indicates occurrence “after his cleansing.” English rendering preserves the Hebrew word order and the infinitive-imperfect sequence with “continues to spread,” and places the time clause at the end to mirror the original emphasis on returning to impurity. |