| 38. Linguistic Exegesis The clause begins with ve’ish {וְאִישׁ֙ | wə-ʾîš} ‘and a man’ followed by o-ishah {אוֹ־אִשָּׁ֔ה | ʾō-ʾiš-šâ} ‘or a woman,’ marking inclusion of both genders. The conditional particle ki {כִּֽי־ | kî} ‘if’ introduces the protasis. The verb yihyeh {יִהְיֶ֥ה | yi-hyə-hê} in the Qal imperfect sets a general condition. The locative construct be-or-besarom {בְעוֹר־בְּשָׂרָ֖ם | bə-ʾôr bə-sār-ām} ‘in the skin of their flesh’ uses a dual construct chain to specify location. The noun beharot {בֶּהָרֹ֑ת | bə-hā-rōṯ} ‘bright spots’ is repeated for rhetorical emphasis, followed by the adjective levanot {לְבָנֹֽת׃ | lə-van-ōṯ} ‘white.’ English employs em dashes to reflect the emphatic repetition and renders the construct chain as “on the skin of their flesh” for precision. |