| 6. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the conjunctive participle vehayoshev {וְהַיֹּשֵׁב֙ | wə-ha-yo-šêḇ} ‘the one who sits’, introducing a protasis clause typical of purity laws. The locative phrase al hakeli {עַֽל־הַכְּלִ֔י | ʿal-hā-ke-lî} ‘on the vessel’ specifies the locus of contamination with a definite article marking a particular object. The relative conjunction asher {אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾă-šer} links to the participle yeshev {יֵשֵׁב֙ | yē-šêḇ} in a relative clause naming the contaminator, hazav {הַזָּב | ha-zāḇ}. The imperatives yechabbes {יְכַבֵּס | yə-ḥap-pēs} ‘shall wash’ and verachats {וְרָחַץ | wə-ra-ḥaṣ} ‘shall bathe’ coordinate garment and body purification. The predicate adjective vetame {וְטָמֵא | wə-ṭā-mē} ‘and he is unclean’ states the resulting status, and the temporal phrase ad-haarev {עַד־הָעָֽרֶב | ʿad-hā-ʿā-rēḇ} ‘until the evening’ sets the duration of impurity. The English translation renders the protasis as an if-clause, preserves the sequence of purification actions, and retains the temporal boundary for legal precision. |