| 24. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with the conditional ve-im {וְאִם | wə-ʾim} ‘and if’, introducing a protasis. The infinitive absolute shakhov {שָׁכֹב | šā-ḵōw} paired with the imperfect yishkav {יִשְׁכַּב | yiš-kav} intensifies the action. The direct object marker otah {אֹתָהּ | ʾō-ṯāh} ‘her’ marks the patient, while utehi {וּתְהִי | wə-təhî} ‘and it becomes’ signals a resultant state. Niddatah {נִדָּתָהּ | nid-dā-ṯāh} ‘impurity’ becoming alav {עָלָיו | ʿā-lāw} ‘upon him’ marks the causal effect. The vav consecutive vetame {וְטָמֵא | wə-ṭā-mēʾ} ‘and he shall be unclean’ delivers the legal verdict, followed by the temporal phrase shiv'at yamim {שִׁבְעַת יָמִים | šiv-ʿāṯ yā-mîm} ‘seven days’. The parallel clause ve-kol-ha-mishkav-asher-yishkav-alav {וְכָל־הַמִּשְׁכָּב אֲשֶׁר־יִשְׁכַּב עָלָיו | wə-ḵāl ham-miš-kāv ʾă-šer-yiš-kav-ʿā-lāw} ‘and every bed on which he lies’ concludes with yitma {יִטְמָא | yiṯ-māʾ} ‘shall be unclean’. This structure preserves the formal legal progression, highlighting the intensification by the infinitive absolute and the sequential nature of Hebrew judicial pronouncements. |