| 21. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the inclusive conditional veish {וְאִישׁ | wê-ʾîš} ‘and/when a man’, where the vav-conjunction marks a protasis. The verb ki-yakriv {כִּי־יַקְרִיב | kî-yaqrîḇ} ‘when he brings near’ in the Hifil imperfect introduces purpose. The compound object zevach-shelamim {זֶבַח־שְׁלָמִים | ze-ḥaḥ-šəlāmîm} denotes a communal sacrifice offered laYHWH {לַיהוָה | lā-yẖ-wāh}. The infinitive lə-pā-lê {לְפַלֵּא | lə-pā-lê} ‘to fulfill’ governs the purpose terms neder {נֶדֶר | nē-der} or linedavah {לִנְדָבָה | lî-nəḏāḇâ}, set in parallel by ʾō {אוֹ | ʾō}. The merism ba-bakar … batson {בַּבָּקָר … בַצֹּאן | bă-bā-qār … baṣ-ṣôwn} specifies acceptable sacrificial sources. The requirement tamîm yihyeh lə-rā-ṣôn {תָּמִים יִֽהְיֶה לְרָצוֹן | tā-mîm yiḥ-yê lə-rā-ṣôn} ‘it shall be perfect for acceptance’ states a deontic necessity, reinforced by the absolute prohibition kol-mūm lō yiḥ-yê-bô {כָּל־מ֖וּם לֹא יִהְיֶה־בּֽוֹ | kol-mūm lō yiḥ-yê-bô} ‘no blemish shall be in it’. This parallelism emphasizes ritual purity and divine approval. The English subordinate clauses mirror the Hebrew conditionals and purposes while preserving legal precision. |