| 43. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the vav-consecutive Qal perfect vera’ah {וְרָאָה | wə-rā-ʾā} ‘and he shall see’, marking the priest’s inspection, followed by the object marker oto {אֹתוֹ | ʾō-ṯō} ‘him’. The interjection vehineh {וְהִנֵּה | wə-hin-nēh} ‘and behold’ signals the observation. The construct se’et hanega {שְׂאֵת־הַנֶּגַע | sə-ʾêṯ ha-ne-ḡaʿ} ‘swelling of the affliction’ integrates symptom and disease. The color adjectives levanah adamdemet {לְבָנָה אֲדַמְדֶּמֶת | lə-va-nā ʾa-da-mə-ḏe-met} specify the appearance. The paired prepositional phrases bekarachto and vegabachto {בְּקָרַחְתּוֹ אוֹ בְּגַבַּחְתּוֹ | bə-qā-raḥ-tō ʾō bə-ḡa-baḥ-tō} locate the swelling on the scalp and forehead. Finally, the simile kemar’eh tsara’at or basar {כְּמַרְאֵה צָרַעַת עוֹר בָּשָׂר | kə-mar-ʾê ṣā-ra-ʿaṯ ʿôr ba-sār} ‘like the appearance of leprosy on the skin of the flesh’ establishes the impurity benchmark in the ritual purity code. |