| 36. Linguistic Exegesis The narrative opens with the vav consecutive + Piel perfect verb ve-tsivvah {וְצִוָּ֨ה | wəṣîwwāh} ‘and he commanded,’ establishing priestly authority. The following u-pinnu {וּפִנּ֣וּ | wǝpinnû} ‘and they cleared out’ uses the same construction to depict communal action. The clause be-terem ya-vo ha-kohen lir-ot et-ha-nega {בְּטֶ֨רֶם יָבֹ֤א הַכֹּהֵן֙ לִרְא֣וֹת אֶת־הַנֶּ֔גַע | bəṯerem yāḇōʾ hakkôhēn lirʾôt ʾet-hannegeʿ} employs a prepositional infinitive construct to express the preventative condition (‘before the priest comes to inspect the plague’). The relative clause kol asher ba-bayit {כָּל־אֲשֶׁ֣ר בַּבָּ֑יִת | kol ʾăšer babbāyîṯ} ‘all that is in the house’ functions as the subject of yitma {יִטְמָ֖א | yiṭmāʾ} ‘becomes unclean,’ linked by the negative vav lo. Finally, the phrase ve-a-khar ken ya-vo ha-kohen lir-ot et-ha-bayit {וְאַ֥חַר כֵּ֛ן יָבֹ֥א הַכֹּהֵ֖ן לִרְא֥וֹת אֶת־הַבָּֽיִת | wǝʾaḥar kēn yāḇōʾ hakkôhēn lirʾôt ʾet-habbāyîṯ} ‘and afterward thus the priest comes to inspect the house’ resumes the narrative sequence, marking the ritual’s completion. Translation renders Hebrew infinitive constructs with English finite verbs introduced by explicit temporal conjunctions to mirror the original’s causal and temporal flow. |