| 9. Linguistic Exegesis Hebrew syntax foregrounds the subject phrase uvat ish kohen {וּבַת אִישׁ כֹּהֵן | wə-baṯ ʾîš kō-hēn} ‘a priest’s daughter’ with an introductory vav. The protasis is marked by the conditional conjunction ki {כִּי | kî} ‘if’, which governs the verb techel {תֵחֵל | tē-ḥêl} ‘begins’ plus infinitive construct liznot {לִזְנוֹת | liz-nōṯ} ‘to prostitute’ as a single verbal complex. The direct object marker et {אֶת־ | ʾet-} attaches to aviha {אָבִ֙יהָ֙ | ʾā-ḇî-hā} ‘her father’, then the independent pronoun hi {הִיא | hî} ‘she’ provides emphasis before the participle mechallelet {מְחַלֶּלֶת | mə-ḥal-le-LEṯ} ‘profane’, linking offense and object. The result clause opens with the prepositional phrase ba-esh {בָּאֵשׁ | bā-ʾēš} ‘with fire’ followed by the niphal imperfect tissaref {תִּשָּׂרֵף | tiš-ṣā-rēp̄} ‘she shall be burned’, expressing passive judgment. This structure highlights the conditional cause-and-effect pattern, framing the defilement as ongoing breach (piel participle) and the future punitive response (niphal imperfect). |