Exodus 24:5

Summary

The verse narrates that Moses sent young men of Israel to perform two distinct sacrificial acts: offering burnt offerings and sacrificing peace offerings consisting of young bulls, both directed to Yehovah. The action is presented as a sequence of three consecutive narrative verbs.

Key words

• na'arei ("young men of", H5288) — masculine plural construct, linking directly to benei Yisra'el ("sons of Israel"), forming the phrase "young men of the sons of Israel."
• ya'alu ("they offered up", H5927I) — hiphil (causative) narrative form: the young men "caused to go up" the offerings, the verb regularly used for burnt offerings ascending in smoke.
• zevachim ("sacrifices", H2077) and shelamim ("peace offerings", H8002) — two masculine plural nouns standing in apposition, together naming a specific category of sacrifice.
• la-YHWH ("to Yehovah", H9005 + H3068G) — preposition + divine name marking the recipient of the sacrifices.
• parim ("young bulls", H6499) — masculine plural noun placed at the very end of the verse, after the divine name, specifying the animals used.

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence is built as a chain of three narrative verbs joined by the va- ("and") prefix: va-yishlach ("and he sent"), va-ya'alu ("and they offered up"), va-yizbechu ("and they sacrificed"). This chain structure presents the actions as a sequential unfolding of events rather than simultaneous acts. The subject of the first verb (Moses, understood from context) sends the na'arei benei Yisra'el ("young men of the sons of Israel"), a double construct chain that specifies the agents performing the offerings.

A notable feature is the position of parim ("young bulls") at the very end of the clause, following la-YHWH ("to Yehovah"). In the Hebrew word order, the animal type is stated last, functioning almost as an afterthought or specifying appositive to zevachim shelamim ("sacrifices, peace offerings") named earlier. This creates a structure where the general category of offering (zevachim shelamim) is named before the specific animal (parim) is identified, a sequence that translations often rearrange for fluency.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders la-YHWH ("to Yehovah") as τῷ θεῷ ("to God"), using a generic divine title rather than transliterating or otherwise marking the personal name found in the Hebrew. The Vulgate instead uses Domino ("to the Lord"), also a title rather than a name-form.

The Hebrew zevachim shelamim ("sacrifices, peace offerings") appears as two plural nouns in apposition; the LXX condenses this to a single singular phrase, θυσίαν σωτηρίου ("a sacrifice of salvation/deliverance"), differing in both number and in the semantic range of "peace offering" versus "salvation."

The Hebrew parim ("young bulls") is rendered in the LXX as μοσχάρια, a diminutive form suggesting smaller or young calves, which narrows the animal size compared to the plain plural noun in the Hebrew text.