| 16. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with the conditional protasis veʾim {וְאִם | wə-ʾim} ‘and if’, introducing a legal scenario. Two parallel negations, lo yekabbes {לֹא יְכַבֵּס | lōʾ yə-kab-bēs} ‘he does not wash’ and lo yirḥaṣ {לֹא יִרְחָץ | lōʾ yi-rḥāṣ} ‘he does not bathe’, set out dual cleansing requirements. The phrase uvesaro {וּבְשָׂרוֹ | ū-ḇə-sā-rō} ‘and in his flesh’ serves as the object of the immersion mandate. In the apodosis, the vav-consecutive venasa {וְנָשָׂא | wə-nā-sāʾ} ‘and he will bear’ links to avono {עָוֹן | ʿā-wō-n} ‘guilt’ to express the consequence of noncompliance. This parallel structure with a vav-consecutive clause forms a clear conditional–result construction, and the English maintains the ‘if…then’ pattern while distinguishing laundering from immersion. |