| 15. Linguistic Exegesis The law begins with the idiom vekhol nefesh {וְכָל־ נֶפֶשׁ | wə-ḵol nǝp̱ēš} ‘every person’, introducing the legal subject. The restrictive relative clause asher tokhal nevelah trefah {אֲשֶׁר תֹּאכַל נְבֵלָה וּטְרֵפָה | ʾă-šer tōʾ-ḵal nǝ-vê-lāh ū-tᵊ-rê-p̄āh} specifies prohibited substances. The prepositional phrases baezrach uvager {בָּאֶזְרָח וּבַגֵּר | bā-ʾe-zrā-ḥ ū-bə-ḡēr} equally apply the rule to natives and sojourners. A series of vav-consecutive verbs (vekhibbes, verachats, vetamei, vetaher) outlines the cleansing procedure and resultant impurity state, with ad-haerev {עַד־הָעֶרֶב | ʿad-hā-ʿe-rev} marking the temporal limit. English translations preserve this sequence with corresponding conjunctions and temporal markers. |