| 9. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the vav-consecutive uv’kutsr’khem {וּבְקֻצְרְכֶם֙ | ū̆-bə-quṯ-ṣər-ḵêm} ‘and when you reap’, functioning as a temporal conditional clause. The direct object marker et-k’tsir {אֶת־קְצִיר | ʾet-qǝ-ṣîr} ‘the harvest’ marks קְצִיר as the object of the infinitive. The negative particle lo {לֹא | lōʾ} ‘not’ precedes the qal imperfect t’khalleh {תְכַלֶּה | tə-ḵallêh} ‘you shall finish’, creating a prohibition against exhaustive harvesting. The construct chain p’eat sadkha {פְּאַת שָׂדְךָ | pə-ʾāṯ śā-day-kha} ‘edge of your field’ identifies the specific portion to be left. The infinitive lik’tsor {לִקְצֹר | liq-ṣôr} ‘to reap’ links to the manner of cutting. In the second clause the vav-conjunction ve-leket {וְלֶקֶט | wə-leq-eṭ} ‘and gleanings’ with construct k’tsir-kha {קְצִירְךָ | qǝ-ṣîr-ḵā} ‘of your harvest’, followed by lo t’laket {לֹא תְלַקֵּט | lōʾ tə-lak-kēṭ} ‘you shall not gather’, employs a piel imperfect to emphasize deliberate collection. The parallel negatives reinforce the injunction, and English renderings preserve the conditional ‘when you reap’ and the paired imperatives ‘shall not finish’ … ‘shall not gather’. |