לְאִמּ֣וֹ

Alphabet Analysis

The word

1. word🔊 לְאִמּ֣וֹ

   leh-im-MO

   to his mother
2. phraseyour reading level🔊 לְאִמּ֣וֹ וּלְאָבִ֔יו

   leh-im-MO oo-leh-ah-VIV

   to his mother and to his father
3. clause🔊 לְאִמּ֣וֹ וּלְאָבִ֔יו וְלִבְנ֥וֹ וּלְבִתּ֖וֹ וּלְאָחִֽיו׃

   leh-im-MO oo-leh-ah-VIV veh-liv-NO oo-leh-bit-TO oo-leh-ah-KHIV

   to his mother and to his father and to his son and to his daughter and to his brother
4. sentence🔊 כִּ֚י אִם־לִשְׁאֵר֔וֹ הַקָּרֹ֖ב אֵלָ֑יו לְאִמּ֣וֹ וּלְאָבִ֔יו וְלִבְנ֥וֹ וּלְבִתּ֖וֹ וּלְאָחִֽיו׃

   KI im-li-she-RO ha-ka-ROV e-LAV leh-im-MO oo-leh-ah-VIV veh-liv-NO oo-leh-bit-TO oo-leh-ah-KHIV

   for except for his kin the close one to him to his mother and to his father and to his son and to his daughter and to his brother

Exegesis

A series of coordinated lamed-prefixed prepositional phrases (ləʾimmô {לְאִמּוֹ | lə-ʾimmô} ‘to his mother’; ūləʾāḇîw {וּלְאָבִיו | ulə-ʾā-ḇîw} ‘and to his father’; wə-lībənô {וְלִבְנ֥וֹ | wə-lī-bənô} ‘and to his son’; ūləḇitō {וּלְבִתּ֖וֹ | ulə-bittō} ‘and to his daughter’; ūləʾāḥîw {וּלְאָחִֽיו | ulə-ʾā-ḥîw} ‘and to his brother’) enumerates permissible kin in an emphatic, repetitive legal style. The repeated vav with lamed preserves the priestly enumeration, and the English translation mirrors this by repeating “to” and “and” to maintain emphasis.