Leviticus 15:20ExegesisTAB

Leviticus 15 : 20 Impurity | Separation | Contact
20. Linguistic Exegesis
The passage opens with vekhol {וְכֹל֩ | wə-kol} ‘and all’, establishing a comprehensive scope that is immediately narrowed by the relative pronoun asher {אֲשֶׁ֨ר | ʾa-šer} ‘which’. Two parallel Qal imperfect verbs, tishkav {תִּשְׁכַּ֥ב | ti-škaḇ} ‘lies down’ and teshev {תֵּשֵׁ֥ב | te-šēḇ} ‘sits’, describe ongoing actions during the state of impurity. The phrase beniddatah {בְּנִדָּתָהּ | bə-niddā-tāh} specifically marks the menstrual period as a time of ritual separation, and the repeated verb yitma {יִטְמָ֑א | yiṭ-mā} forms the result clause “becomes unclean.” Hebrew’s condition-then-result ordering and the deliberate parallelism reinforce the legal principle that contact with objects during impurity transmits uncleanness. The balanced structure underscores both actions equally.

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