| 21. Linguistic Exegesis The verse constructs a chiastic parallelism centered on the Piel participle u-makkēh {וּמַכֵּ֥ה | u-makkēh} ‘and one who strikes,’ which introduces two parallel legal clauses. Each clause features a definite object—behemah {בְהֵמָ֖ה | behēmah} ‘animal’ in the first and adam {אָדָ֖ם | ʾāḏām} ‘human being’ in the second. The first predicate yeshallmenah {יְשַׁלְּמֶ֑נָּה | yešallēmēnāh}, a Piel imperfect with feminine singular suffix, establishes a restitution obligation tied to property loss. The second predicate yumath {יוּמָֽת | yūmāṯ}, a Hophal imperfect passive, articulates the capital penalty for homicide. The adversative vav before the second clause functions as ‘but’ to contrast economic redress with the severity of taking a human life. |