Leviticus 18:16:5Lev.18.16.W5TAB
עֶרְוַ֥ת
ervat
“nakedness of”
- Transliteration
- er-VAT
- Extended
- ehr-VAHT
- IPA
- /ʕɛrˈvat/
Meaning by language
- English
- nakedness of
Hebrew · tap a syllable to hear it
Alphabet Analysis
| Ayin | deep guttural stop, voiced pharyngeal | |
| Seghol | short 'eh' as in met | |
| Resh | r guttural, like the French r | |
| Sheva | silent sheva — no sound; closes the syllable | |
| Vav | v as in vine; marks long ō / ū | |
| Patach | short 'ah' as in father | |
| Tav | t as in top |
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The word
Word in context
- word
er-VAT
- phraseyour reading level
er-VAT a-KHI-kha
- clause
er-VAT a-KHI-kha hi-U
- sentence
er-VAT e-SHET-a-KHI-kha LO te-gal-LEH er-VAT a-KHI-kha hi-U
Exegesis
The verse begins with the construct chain ervat {עֶרְוַ֥ת | ʿer-vat} ‘nakedness’ joined to eshet-akhikha {אֵֽשֶׁת־אָחִ֖יךָ | ʾe-šet-ʾă-ḥî-kha} ‘wife of your brother’ to form the legal subject.
In the second clause, ervat akhicha {עֶרְוַ֥ת אָחִ֖יךָ | ʿer-vat ʾa-ḥî-kha} ‘the nakedness of your brother’ is followed by the pronoun hi {הִֽוא | hîʾ} ‘it is’, establishing equivalence and underscoring the offense against familial integrity. The repetition of ervat highlights the seriousness of the boundary, while the Piel stem of tegalleh emphasizes deliberate action within the holiness code.
Root and etymology
ע־ר־הayin–resh–heh
“to be exposed, lay bare”
In context — Leviticus 18:16
You shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother’s wife; it is the nakedness of your brother.
About this coordinate
Leviticus 18:16:5 is a BCV:P reference — Book · Chapter · Verse · Word Position. It addresses word 5 of Leviticus 18:16, so the Hebrew word עֶרְוַ֥ת (ervat) can be cited, linked and studied at exactly this position rather than somewhere in the verse. In the Biblical Knowledge Coordinate System the same position is written Lev.18.16.W5, which extends further down to each syllable (Lev.18.16.W5.S1) and character.