| 8. Linguistic Exegesis The clause begins with hasoref {וְהַשֹּׂרֵ֣ף | wə-ha-šō-rêp} ‘the one who burns’, a Hiphil participle with vav-conjunction indicating a procedural continuation. The direct object marker otah {אֹתָהּ | ʾō-ṯāh} ‘her’ refers to the heifer previously mentioned. The Piel imperfect yechabes {יְכַבֵּ֤ס | yə-ḥabbêṣ} ‘he shall wash’ expresses obligation and governs begadav {בְּגָדָיו֙ | bə-gā-ḏāyw} ‘his clothes’ in a possessive construct. The prepositional bamayim {בַּמַּ֔יִם | ba-ˈmayyim} ‘in water’ specifies the medium for washing. The sequence of vav-conjoined perfect verbs verachatz {וְרָחַ֥ץ | wə-rā-ḥaṣ} ‘and he shall bathe’ and vetame {וְטָמֵ֖א | wə-ṭāmêʾ} ‘and he shall be unclean’ outlines the ritual steps. The noun besaroh {בְּשָׂר֖וֹ | bə-šārô} ‘his flesh’ parallels the cleansing of clothes, again with bamayim {בַּמָּ֑יִם | ba-ˈmayyim}. Finally, adhaarev {עַד־הָעָֽרֶב | ʿad-hā-ʿā-raḇ} ‘until evening’ marks the duration of impurity in line with Levitical regulations. |