| 9. Linguistic Exegesis The conjunction ki {כִּי | kî} ‘for/because’ introduces a causal legal declaration. The doubled noun ish {אִישׁ | ʾîš} ‘man’ expresses universality. The relative pronoun asher {אֲשֶׁר | ’ăšer} ‘who’ connects the subject to the Piel imperfect yeqallel {יְקַלֵּל | yeqallel} ‘curses’, conveying an intensified action. The particle et {אֶת | ʾet} marks both aviyv {אָבִיו | ’ăvîyw} ‘his father’ and immo {אִמּוֹ | ’immôw} ‘his mother’ as direct objects. The noun mot {מוֹת | mōṯ} ‘death’ plus yumath {יוּמָת | yûmāṯ} ‘he shall surely be put to death’ pairs noun and verb to enact a judicial decree of execution. The Piel perfect qillel {קִלֵּל | qillēl} ‘he cursed’ restates the offense for emphasis. The idiom damav bo {דָּמָיו בּוֹ | dāmāv bū} ‘his blood is upon him’ denotes full personal liability. The English rendering preserves this parallel legal syntax. |