| 7. Linguistic Exegesis Hebrew employs a double parallel prohibition by repeating lo tegalleh {לֹ֣א תְגַלֵּ֑ה | lōʾ tə-ḡal-leh} ‘you shall not uncover’ with the noun ervat {עֶרְוַ֥ת | ʿer-wāṯ} ‘nakedness’ first attached to avikha {אָבִ֛יךָ | ʾă-ḇî-kā} ‘your father’ and then to immekha {אִמְּךָ֖ | ʾim-mə-ḵā} ‘your mother’. The resumptive pronoun hi {הִ֔וא | hîʾ} ‘she’ clarifies referent, creating a chiastic emphasis that underscores the command’s severity. The explicit addition of “that is” in the translations renders the appositional relationship in English, preserving the clarifying function of the pronoun. |