| 50. Linguistic Exegesis The verb veshachat {וְשָׁחַ֖ט | wə-šā-ḥaṭ}, a vav-consecutive Qal perfect third person masculine singular, indicates the continuation of a prescribed ritual action. The particle et {אֶת־ | ʾeṯ} marks the direct object hatsippor {הַצִּפֹּ֣ר | ha-ṣip-pōr}, further specified by the ordinal haechat {הָאֶחָ֑ת | hā-ʾe-ḥat} ‘the one’. The prepositional phrase el keli-cheres {אֶל־כְּלִי־חֶ֖רֶשׂ | ʾel kə-lî-ḥe-res} structures ‘into a clay vessel’, while al mayim chayim {עַל־מַ֥יִם חַיִּֽים | ʿal ma-yim ḥay-yîm} forms ‘over living water’, a Hebrew idiom for fresh, running water. This sequence underscores the requirement that the bird’s blood be collected in an ordinary vessel above untainted flowing water, preserving the ritual purity laws. The English rendering preserves the Hebrew word order to maintain liturgical specificity. |