| 17. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the coordinating phrase vekhol adam {וְכָל־אָדָם | və-ḵāl ʾā-dām} ‘and all humanity’, where the conjunction waw fused with kol ‘all’ establishes universal exclusion. The negative particle lo yihyeh {לֹא־יִהְיֶה | lō yi-hyēh} ‘shall not be’ imposes an absolute prohibition. The locative be’ohel moed {בְּאֹהֶל־מוֹעֵד | bə-ʾō-hel mō-ʿēd} ‘in the tent of meeting’ specifies the cultic setting. The temporal-purpose clause be-bo’o lə-khap-pēr ba-qō-ḏeš {בְּבֹאוֹ לְכַפֵּר בַּקֹּדֶשׁ | bə-bā-ʾō lə-ḵap-pēr ba-qō-ḏeš} ‘when he enters to make atonement in the holy place’, with the infinitive construct lə-ḵap-pēr ‘to atone’, outlines the high priest’s ritual action. The preposition ad tse’ato {עַד־צֵאתוֹ | ʿad ṯṣē-ʾō-tō} ‘until his going out’ frames the duration of exclusivity. The clause vechipper ba’ado ū-bə-ʿad bēto ū-bə-ʿad kol-kehal yisra’el {וְכִפֵּר בַּעֲדוֹ וּבְעַד בֵּיתוֹ וּבְעַד כָּל־קְהַ֥ל יִשְׂרָאֵל | və-ḵip-pēr ba-ʿa-ḏō ū-bə-ʿad bēṯō ū-bə-ʿad kāl-qə-hāl yiś-rā-ʾēl} ‘and he shall make atonement for himself, his household, and all the congregation of Israel’ uses the repeated preposition be-‘ad to mark distributive scope, emphasizing movement from individual to corporate atonement. The English rendering preserves this sequence and distributive repetition to convey the ritual’s legal structure and theological emphasis on representative atonement. |