| 6. Linguistic Exegesis The construction opens with the direct-object marker et {אֶת | ʾeṯ} ‘direct object marker’, signaling the three-item series governed by the Qal imperfect yiqqāḥ {יִקַּח | yiqqāḥ} ‘he shall take’. Each noun in the list is reintroduced by the conjunction wǝ-ʾeṯ {וְאֶת | wǝ-ʾeṯ} ‘and’ plus the direct-object marker (ha-ṣippōr {הַצִּפֹּר | ha-ṣippōr} ‘the bird’, ʿēṣ hā-ʾerez {עֵץ הָאֶרֶז | ʿēṣ hā-ʾerez} ‘the cedar wood’, šənî hā-tōlāʿāṯ {שְׁנִי הַתּוֹלַעַת | šənî hā-tōlāʿāṯ} ‘two of the scarlet’, hā-ʾēzōḇ {הָאֵזֹב | hā-ʾēzōḇ} ‘the hyssop’). The vav-consecutive in wǝ-ṭābal {וְטָבַל | wə-ṭābal} ‘and he shall dip’ marks the shift to the immersion rite. The pronominal suffix in ʾōṯām {אוֹתָם | ʾōṯām} ‘them’ refers back to all listed items plus the living bird. Finally, the phrases bǝ-damm {בְּדַם | bə-damm} ‘in blood’ and ʿal hammayim ha-ḥayyīm {עַל הַמַּיִם הַחַיִּים | ʿal hammayim ha-ḥayyīm} ‘over the living water’ establish the ceremonial medium and location for purification. |