| 9. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with a construct chain ervat akhotkha {עֶרְוַת | ʿer·wāṯ} ‘nakedness’ + ‘your sister’ indicating the legal subject. The disjunction o {אוֹ | ʾō} ‘or’ links bat-avikha {בַת־אָבִיךָ | baṯ-ʾā·vî-kha} and bat-ammikha {בַת־אִמֶּךָ | baṯ-ʾim·mē-kha}, specifying paternal versus maternal descent. The meristic pairing moledet {מוֹלֶדֶת | mō·le·ḏeṯ} ‘born’ … moledet {מוֹלֶדֶת | mō·le·ḏeṯ} ‘born’ frames a comprehensive scope of birth: inside bayit {בַיִת | ba·yîṯ} and outside khuts {חוּץ | ḥûṣ}. The prohibitive command utilizes lo tegalleh {לֹא תְגַלֶּה | lō tə·gal·le(h)} ‘you shall not uncover’ in the Piel imperfect for emphasis. The construct ervatan {עֶרְוָתָן | ʿer·wā·ṯān} ‘their nakedness’ generalizes the forbidden exposure across both cases. |