Exodus 29:20
וְשָׁחַטְתָּ אֶת־הָאַיִל וְלָקַחְתָּ מִדָּמוֹ וְנָֽתַתָּה עַל־תְּנוּךְ אֹזֶן אַהֲרֹן וְעַל־תְּנוּךְ אֹזֶן בָּנָיו הַיְמָנִית וְעַל־בֹּהֶן יָדָם הַיְמָנִית וְעַל־בֹּהֶן רַגְלָם הַיְמָנִית וְזָרַקְתָּ אֶת־הַדָּם עַל־הַמִּזְבֵּחַ סָבִֽיב׃
✦ Hebrew interlinear
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✦ The same verse in five languages
וְשָׁחַטְתָּ֣ אֶת־הָאַ֗יִל וְלָקַחְתָּ֤ מִדָּמוֹ֙ וְנָֽתַתָּ֡ה עַל־תְּנוּךְ֩ אֹ֨זֶן אַהֲרֹ֜ן וְעַל־תְּנ֨וּךְ אֹ֤זֶן בָּנָיו֙ הַיְמָנִ֔ית וְעַל־בֹּ֤הֶן יָדָם֙ הַיְמָנִ֔ית וְעַל־בֹּ֥הֶן רַגְלָ֖ם הַיְמָנִ֑ית וְזָרַקְתָּ֧ אֶת־הַדָּ֛ם עַל־הַמִּזְבֵּ֖חַ סָבִֽיב׃
καὶ σφάξεις αὐτόν, καὶ λήμψῃ τοῦ αἵματος αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐπιθήσεις ἐπὶ τὸν λοβὸν τοῦ ὠτὸς Ἀαρὼν τοῦ δεξιοῦ καὶ ἐπὶ τὸ ἄκρον τῆς δεξιᾶς χειρὸς καὶ ἐπὶ τὸ ἄκρον τοῦ ποδὸς τοῦ δεξιοῦ καὶ ἐπί τοὺς λοβοὺς τῶν ὤτων τῶν υἱῶν αὐτοῦ τῶν δεξιῶν καὶ ἐπὶ τά ἄκρα τῶν χειρῶν αὐτῶν τῶν δεξιῶν καὶ ἐπὶ τὰ ἄκρα τῶν ποδῶν αὐτῶν τῶν δεξιῶν.
Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0
Latin (Vulgate)
Quem cum immolaveris, sumes de sanguine ejus, et pones super extremum auriculæ dextræ Aaron et filiorum ejus, et super pollices manus eorum ac pedis dextri, fundesque sanguinem super altare per circuitum.
Matarás el carnero, tomarás un poco de su sangre y se la untarás a Aarón y a sus hijos en el lóbulo de la oreja derecha, en el pulgar de la mano derecha y en el dedo gordo del pie derecho. Rociarás el resto de la sangre por todos los lados del altar.
Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)
Y matarás el carnero, y tomarás de su sangre, y pondrás sobre la ternilla de la oreja derecha de Aarón, y sobre la ternilla de las orejas de sus hijos, y sobre el dedo pulgar de las manos derechas de ellos, y sobre el dedo pulgar de los pies derechos de ellos, y esparcirás la sangre sobre el altar alrededor.
Slaughter the ram, take some of its blood, and put it on the right earlobes of Aaron and his sons, on the thumbs of their right hands, and on the big toes of their right feet. Sprinkle the remaining blood on all sides of the altar.
✦ What the text says
Summary
The verse instructs the slaughter of the ram used in the ordination ceremony, the collection of its blood, its application to specific body parts of Aaron and his sons (right earlobe, right thumb, right big toe), and the sprinkling of the remaining blood around the altar.
Key words
- sha.chaT ("you will slaughter", H7819A) — qal sequential perfect, continuing the chain of prescribed actions begun earlier in the passage; second person masculine singular, addressing Moses.
- te.nuKh ("[the] lobe of", H8571) — masculine singular construct noun, grammatically bound to 'O.zen ("ear") to form the phrase "lobe of the ear."
- bo.hen ("[the] thumb/big toe of", H0931) — feminine singular construct, used twice (for hand and for foot), each time bound to the following noun (yad, "hand"; regel, "foot").
- y.ma.Nit ("right", H3233G) — feminine singular adjective, repeated three times to specify that each body part treated (ear, hand, foot) is the right one.
- za.rak.Ta ("you will sprinkle", H2236) — qal sequential perfect, marking the final action of the sequence, distinct from na.ta.Tah ("you will put", H5414H) used for the localized application of blood.
What the text says
The verse is built as a chain of sequential perfect verbs — sha.chaT ("slaughter"), la.kach ("take"), na.tan ("put"), and za.raq ("sprinkle") — each introduced by the narrative ve ("and"). This verbal chain marks a continuous sequence of ritual actions performed by the addressee (second person masculine singular), without specifying a subject noun since the verb form itself encodes "you."
The body-part phrases follow a repeated construct pattern: te.nuKh 'O.zen ("lobe of ear"), bo.hen yad ("thumb of hand"), bo.hen regel ("big toe of foot"). Each of these construct chains is followed by the adjective y.ma.Nit ("right"), which in Hebrew grammatically modifies the construct phrase as a whole rather than only the last word — hence "the right lobe of the ear," "the right thumb of the hand," etc. The Hebrew lists Aaron and his sons together only for the ear application ('a.ha.Ron... u.va.NAV, "Aaron... and his sons"), then continues with plural suffixes (yadam, "their hand"; raglam, "their foot") for hand and foot, without repeating both names — the plural suffix covers both Aaron and his sons collectively.
The final action, za.rak ("sprinkle", H2236), differs from na.tan ("put", H5414H): the text distinguishes a targeted application of blood to specific body parts from a broader sprinkling (sa.Viv, "all around", H5439H) of the remaining blood on the altar's four sides.
Differences between versions
The LXX applies "right" (δεξιοῦ/δεξιῶν) more elaborately, specifying "right ear," "right hand," and "right foot" separately for Aaron and then for his sons, whereas the Hebrew groups Aaron and his sons together for the ear phrase before switching to plural suffixes for hand and foot. The Vulgate renders bo.hen as "pollices" ("thumbs") for both hands and feet, using one term where the Hebrew uses the same noun bo.hen for both thumb and big toe without lexical distinction. The Vulgate also renders za.rak ("sprinkle") as "fundes" ("you shall pour"), a broader verb than the Hebrew's specific term for scattering/sprinkling.
This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.