| 12. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the conjunction u {וּ | û} marking continuity with previous impurity regulations, followed by the construct khli ḥereś {כְּלִי־חֶ֛רֶשׂ | kəlî-ḥereś} ‘clay vessel’ as subject. The relative clause with ʾašer {אֲשֶׁר | ʾăšer} functions as a conditional protasis: yiggaʿ {יִגַּע | yiggaʿ} ‘he touches’ plus bô {בּוֹ | bô} ‘in it’ specifies contact by ha-zāv {הַזָּב | ha-zāv} ‘the man with a discharge’. The apodosis yiššāḇēr {יִשָּׁבֵר | yiššāḇēr} reports inevitable destruction. A parallel protasis-apodosis with wə-kōl khli ʿēṣ {וְכָל־כְּלִי־עֵץ | wə-kōl-kəlî-ʿēṣ} ‘every wooden vessel’ and yiššāṭēp̄ {יִשָּׁטֵף | yiššāṭēp̄} ‘it shall be rinsed’ plus locative ba-māyim {בַּמָּיִם | ba-māyim} ‘in the water’ contrasts breaking with washing, highlighting material-specific impurity procedures. |