Exodus 29:33

Summary

The verse states that those who underwent the ordination ritual are to eat the items by which atonement was made for them, in the process of filling their hands and consecrating them. It then adds a prohibition: a stranger may not eat these things because they are holy.

Key words

• kuppar ("it was atoned", H3722A) — pual perfect, intensive passive: the action of atonement is completed and was done to the subject, not performed by it.
• malle ("to fill", H4390) — piel infinitive, part of the idiom "to fill the hand," an expression tied to installation into priestly service.
• qaddesh ("to consecrate", H6942G) — piel infinitive, parallel to malle, both infinitives depending on the preposition le ("to"), marking purpose or result.
• zar ("a stranger", H2114A) — adjective functioning as a substantive, marking a category of person excluded from the action.
• qodesh ("a holy thing", H6944G) — masculine singular noun used predicatively with the plural pronoun hem ("they", H1992), stating the reason for exclusion.

What the text says

The verse opens with a sequential perfect verb, 'akhlu ("they will eat", H0398), continuing a narrative chain begun earlier in the passage. Its object is marked by the untranslated direct object particle 'et (H0853) plus the suffix -am ("them"), referring back to items mentioned previously. This object is further specified by a relative clause introduced by 'asher ("which", H0834A): "which kuppar ('it was atoned', H3722A) bahem ('by them', H9003+H9038)." The pual form of kuppar indicates that atonement was performed upon these items or upon the persons connected to them, without naming the agent.

Two piel infinitives follow, each governed by the preposition le: malle' 'et-yadam ("to fill their hand", H4390 + H3027R + H9028) and leqaddesh 'otam ("to consecrate them", H6942G + H0853 + H9038). Both infinitives express purpose, linking the eating and the atonement to the completion of an installation process. The construct noun yad ("hand", H3027R) with the suffix "their" forms the idiom "fill their hand," a technical phrase for entering into a role.

The second half of the verse shifts to a general prohibition using the adjective-as-noun zar ("a stranger", H2114A), negated by lo' ("not", H3808) with the qal imperfect yokhal ("he will eat", H0398), indicating an ongoing rule rather than a single event. The causal clause ki-qodesh hem ("for they are a holy thing", H3588A + H6944G + H1992) uses a singular predicate noun with a plural pronoun, a common construction where the noun functions as a class-designation rather than agreeing strictly in number.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders kuppar bahem ("it was atoned by them") as ἐν οἷς ἡγιάσθησαν ("by which they were sanctified"), using a verb of sanctification where the Hebrew uses one of atonement/covering (kaphar). The Vulgate paraphrases the opening clause as "ut sit placabile sacrificium" ("that the sacrifice may be appeasing"), restructuring the relative clause into a purpose clause and omitting a direct equivalent to 'akhlu ("they will eat") at that point, though eating is addressed via the later prohibition clause "non vescetur."