| 16. Linguistic Exegesis The verse employs a protasis–apodosis sequence. It opens with the subject ish {אִישׁ | ʾîš} ‘man’ followed by the conditional clause ki tetse mimmennu shikhbat-zera {כִּי־תֵצֵא מִמֶּנּוּ שִׁכְבַת־זָרַע | kî-tē-ṣēʾ mim-men-nû šikh-bat zā-rāʿ} ‘when emission of semen goes out from him’, with the verb agreeing in feminine singular. The apodosis begins with the vav-consecutive verb verachats {וְרָחַץ | wə-rā-ḥaṣ} ‘and he shall wash’, followed by the prepositional phrase bammayim {בַּמַּיִם | ba-ma-yim} ‘in the water’ and the object cluster etkolbesaro {אֶת־כָּל־בְּשָׂרוֹ | et kol bə-sārô} ‘all his flesh’. The final clause vetame adhaarev {וְטָמֵא עַד־הָעָרֶב | wə-ṭā-mēʾ ʿad hā-ʿā-reḇ} ‘and he shall be unclean until the evening’ uses the perfect to indicate a resultant state. This linear verb-phrase progression underlines the cause-and-effect of emission, purification, and impurity. |