| 17. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with inclusive parallelism vekol beged ve-kol ʿor {וְכָל־בֶּגֶד וְכָל־ע֔וֹר | wə-kol be-ḡed wə-kol ʿōr} ‘and every garment and every leather,’ ensuring all types of apparel are covered. The relative clause ašer yihyēh ʿalayv šikhvat-zāraʿ {אֲשֶׁר־יִהְיֶה עָלָיו שִׁכְבַת־זָרַע | ʾa-šer yiḥ-yēh ʿa-lāv šikh-vat-zā-raʿ} ‘which has an emission of seed upon it’ sets the condition for defilement, with the Qal imperfect yihyēh indicating a resultant state. The Piel passive ve-kub-bas {וְכֻבַּ֥ס | wə-kub-bas} ‘and shall be washed’ conveys a mandatory purification step, preserved in English passive voice to retain legal formality. The instrumental phrase ba-mayim {בַּמַּיִם | ba-ma-yim} ‘in the water’ denotes the cleansing medium, reflecting water’s ritual function. Finally, the temporal marker ʿad-ha-ʿārev {עַד־הָעָֽרֶב | ʿad-ha-ʿā-ʾreḇ} ‘until the evening’ establishes the duration of impurity in alignment with other Levitical purification cycles. |