| 15. Linguistic Exegesis The relative clause begins with asher {אֲשֶׁר | ʾăšer} ‘who’, modifying ve-ish {וְאִישׁ | və·ʾîš} ‘a man’. The imperfect yittēn {יִתֵּן | yittēn} pairs with the construct shekhavto {שְׁכָבְתוֹ | šəḵāḇtô} to express intercourse. The phrase bivehema {בִּבְהֵמָה | bivhēmâh} designates the illicit partner. The infinitive absolute mot {מוֹת | mōṯ} intensifies the subsequent Niphal imperfect yūmat {יוּמָת | yūmat} ‘he shall be put to death’. Coordination with ve-et-habbehema {וְאֶת־הַבְּהֵמָה | wəʾet-habbēmâh} and taḥăregû {תַּהֲרֹגוּ | taḥăregû} assigns communal responsibility to execute both offender and beast. Hebrew verb-final order and the infinitive absolute convey legal emphasis, rendered in English with modal auxiliaries for clarity. |