| 14. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with zot {זֹאת | zōṯ} ‘this’ as a demonstrative noun marking a formal declaration, followed by ha-torah {הַתּוֹרָה | hattôrāh} ‘the law’ functioning as the legal subject heading. The clause adam ki-yamut {אָדָם כִּי־יָמוּת | ʾādām kī-yā-mût} ‘a person when he dies’ introduces a protasis for a general legal provision. The two parallel clauses kol-habbāʾ ʾel-hā-ʾōhēl {כָּל־הַבָּא אֶל־הָאֹהֶל | kol-habbāʾ ʾel-hā-ʾōhēl} ‘everyone who enters the tent’ and wǝ-kol-ʾăšer bā-ʾōhēl {וְכָל־אֲשֶׁר בָּאֹהֶל | wǝ-kol-ʾăšer bā-ʾōhēl} ‘and everyone who is in the tent’ distinguish new entrants from those present. The verb yitma {יִטְמָא | yiṭmāʾ} ‘becomes unclean’ in the imperfect conveys the legal verdict, followed by the temporal expression šibʿaṯ yāmîm {שִׁבְעַת יָמִים | šibʿaṯ yāmîm} ‘seven days’ in construct relationship. English translation breaks the parallelism into sequential conditions for readability, preserving the universal scope and temporal duration. |