וְאִם־אֵ֨ין לָאִ֜ישׁ גֹּאֵ֗ל לְהָשִׁ֤יב הָאָשָׁם֙ אֵלָ֔יו הָאָשָׁ֛ם הַמּוּשָׁ֥ב לַיהֹוָ֖ה לַכֹּהֵ֑ן מִלְּבַ֗ד אֵ֚יל הַכִּפֻּרִ֔ים אֲשֶׁ֥ר יְכַפֶּר־בּ֖וֹ עָלָֽיו׃
If that party [is deceased and] has no kin to whom restitution can be made, the amount repaid shall go to GOD for the priest—in addition to the ram of expiation with which expiation is made on their behalf.
(The above rendering comes from the RJPS translation, an adaptation of the NJPS translation. Before accounting for this rendering, I will analyze the plain sense of the Hebrew term אִישׁ, by employing a situation-oriented construal as outlined in this introduction, pp. 11–16.)
Depicting a situation schematically (as here) is a prototypical usage of אִישׁ as a situating noun. The victim had previously been labeled as אָדָם (verse 6). Now that aforementioned party serves as a point of reference for describing the new subcase schematically. The noun אִישׁ when combined with a definite article is the characteristic term for indicating a point of reference (e.g., Exod. 2:21).
Gender is not at issue in this passage. Women are in view as per the topic: this participant is someone who has been wronged by another person (man or woman).
As for rendering into English, there is no warrant for rendering in gendered terms. However, the NJPS “If the man has no kinsman” nowadays sounds unduly masculine. The revised rendering employs a gender-neutral term, while recognizing the demonstrative force of the Hebrew article, as English idiom warrants. (A social-role term like party is a typical substitute for the Hebrew situating noun, in contexts like this where man is not idiomatic.)
(Meanwhile, the subcase presupposes that the victim has since died. For clarity, the revised rendering inserts this implication into the translation, as NJPS did in Lev. 21:1: “None shall defile himself for any [dead] person among his kin…”)
Depicting a situation schematically (as here) is a prototypical usage of אִישׁ as a situating noun. The victim had previously been labeled as אָדָם (verse 6). Now that aforementioned party serves as a point of reference for describing the new subcase schematically. The noun אִישׁ when combined with a definite article is the characteristic term for indicating a point of reference (e.g., Exod. 2:21).
Gender is not at issue in this passage. Women are in view as per the topic: this participant is someone who has been wronged by another person (man or woman).
As for rendering into English, there is no warrant for rendering in gendered terms. However, the NJPS “If the man has no kinsman” nowadays sounds unduly masculine. The revised rendering employs a gender-neutral term, while recognizing the demonstrative force of the Hebrew article, as English idiom warrants. (A social-role term like party is a typical substitute for the Hebrew situating noun, in contexts like this where man is not idiomatic.)
(Meanwhile, the subcase presupposes that the victim has since died. For clarity, the revised rendering inserts this implication into the translation, as NJPS did in Lev. 21:1: “None shall defile himself for any [dead] person among his kin…”)