Exodus 30:38

Summary

The verse states that any person ('ish, H0376I) who reproduces a substance like the sacred incense described in the preceding verses, in order to enjoy its scent, will suffer the consequence of being cut off from his people. The Hebrew presents this as a conditional clause followed by a passive verdict.

Key words

• 'ish ("anyone", H0376I) — masculine singular noun opening the clause as an indefinite subject, "any man/person."
• ya'aseh ("he will make", H6213H) — qal imperfect, marking an open, potential future action ("whoever might make").
• khamo + ha ("like it", H3644G + H9034) — preposition with a feminine pronominal suffix, referring back to a feminine antecedent (the incense mixture mentioned earlier in the chapter), not explicitly named in this verse.
• hariach ("to smell", H7306) — hiphil infinitive, a causative form: literally "to cause smelling," i.e., to make oneself smell it or produce its fragrance for enjoyment.
• nikhrat ("he will be cut off", H3772I) — niphal sequential perfect, a passive/reflexive form indicating that the subject undergoes the cutting-off rather than performing it himself; the sequential form links this outcome directly to the preceding condition.

What the text says

The sentence is built as a legal-style conditional: a subject ('ish) is defined by a relative clause ('asher ya'aseh khamoha, "who will make [something] like it") followed by a purpose clause (le-hariach bah, "to smell in it"). The feminine suffix on khamoha ("like it") and on bah ("in it") points to a feminine referent, which in context is the incense formula described earlier in the chapter, though this verse itself does not name it. The hiphil infinitive hariach frames the purpose not merely as passive perception of smell but as an intentional causing of fragrance for personal enjoyment.

The consequence clause uses ve-nikhrat, a niphal (passive) verb, meaning the subject does not cut himself off actively but "is cut off" — the grammar itself removes agency from the person, presenting the outcome as something that happens to him. This is joined to me-'amav ("from his kinspeople," H5971A with third-person suffix), a plural construct noun with a possessive suffix, indicating separation from a collective group identified as belonging to him.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders the consequence with ἀπολεῖται ("he will perish/be destroyed"), a more drastic verb than the Hebrew nikhrat ("will be cut off"), which denotes separation or exclusion rather than necessarily death. The Vulgate's peribit ("he will perish") follows the LXX's stronger sense. Modern translations (BSB, RV1909, SBLIBRE) return to the Hebrew's separative nuance with "cut off" or "expulsado" ("expelled"), closer to the niphal form's meaning of removal from the group rather than annihilation.