Leviticus 1:14

Summary

Leviticus 1:14 opens a new case within the burnt-offering instructions, specifying that when the offering to Yehovah is a burnt offering "from the birds" (min ha'of, H4480A + H5775), the offerer must present it from turtledoves or from young pigeons. The verse sets the category (birds) before naming the two acceptable species.

Key words

• 'oPh ("bird[s]", H5775) — masculine singular noun with the definite article, functioning here as a general category ("the birds") from which the specific offering is drawn via the partitive preposition min ("from", H4480A).
• 'oLah ("burnt offering", H5930A) — feminine singular noun naming the offering type, placed right after the min-phrase, clarifying that this bird is specifically a burnt offering, not another sacrifice category.
• hikRiv ("he will present", H7126H) — Hiphil (causative) verb in the sequential perfect, meaning the offerer causes the bird to be brought near; the Hiphil stem underlines the offerer's active role in bringing the animal to the altar area.
• toRim ("turtle-doves", H8449) — common gender plural noun, the first of two permitted bird species, introduced by min again.
• beNei ha-yoNah ("young ones of the dove", H1121H + H3123) — a construct chain literally "sons of the dove," designating young pigeons as the second permitted alternative.

What the text says

The verse is structured as a conditional clause (ve'Im, "and if", H0518A) followed by a main clause. The condition specifies the source category: min ha'of ("from the bird[s]"), and states that the korBano ("his offering", H7133A + H9023 possessive suffix) directed la-Yehovah ("to Yehovah") is an 'oLah ("burnt offering"). The construct noun korban appears twice, both times with the third-person singular possessive suffix -o ("his"), tying the offering back to the individual offerer named earlier in the chapter's sequence.

The main clause then narrows the general category "bird" into two specific licit species using min twice: min ha-toRim ("from the turtledoves") 'o ("or", H0176A) min beNei ha-yoNah ("from the young ones of the dove"). The construct phrase beNei ha-yoNah ("sons of the dove") is a Hebrew idiom for young pigeons, distinct from the plural toRim which refers to turtledoves generally without an age qualifier. The direct object marker 'et (H0853) before the second occurrence of korbano signals that this noun phrase is the grammatical object of the verb hikRiv, formally identifying what is being brought near.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders korban ("offering", H7133A) as both kárpōma ("offering-portion") and dōron ("gift") in different clauses, whereas the Hebrew uses the same noun korban both times. The Vulgate condenses the two-clause Hebrew structure (condition + presenting clause) into a single sentence, omitting a separate verb corresponding to hikRiv ("he will present", H7126H) and instead listing the bird species directly.