Leviticus 10:17
מַדּוּעַ לֹֽא־אֲכַלְתֶּם אֶת־הַֽחַטָּאת בִּמְקוֹם הַקֹּדֶשׁ כִּי קֹדֶשׁ קָֽדָשִׁים הִוא וְאֹתָהּ׀ נָתַן לָכֶם לָשֵׂאת אֶת־עֲוֹן הָעֵדָה לְכַפֵּר עֲלֵיהֶם לִפְנֵי יְהוָֽה׃
✦ Hebrew interlinear
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✦ The same verse in five languages
מַדּ֗וּעַ לֹֽא־אֲכַלְתֶּ֤ם אֶת־הַֽחַטָּאת֙ בִּמְק֣וֹם הַקֹּ֔דֶשׁ כִּ֛י קֹ֥דֶשׁ קָֽדָשִׁ֖ים הִ֑וא וְאֹתָ֣הּ׀ נָתַ֣ן לָכֶ֗ם לָשֵׂאת֙ אֶת־עֲוֹ֣ן הָעֵדָ֔ה לְכַפֵּ֥ר עֲלֵיהֶ֖ם לִפְנֵ֥י יְהוָֽה׃
Διὰ τί οὐκ ἐφάγετε τὸ περὶ τῆς ἁμαρτίας ἐν τόπῳ ἁγίῳ; ὅτι γὰρ ἅγια ἁγίων ἐστίν, τοῦτο ἔδωκεν ὑμῖν φαγεῖν, ἵνα ἀφέλητε τὴν ἁμαρτίαν τῆς συναγωγῆς καὶ ἐξιλάσησθε περὶ αὐτῶν ἔναντι Κυρίου.
Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0
Latin (Vulgate)
Cur non comedistis hostiam pro peccato in loco sancto, quæ Sancta sanctorum est, et data vobis ut portetis iniquitatem multitudinis, et rogetis pro ea in conspectu Domini,
“¿Por qué no se comieron la ofrenda por el pecado en el área del santuario? Es una ofrenda muy santa, y se les dio a ustedes para quitar la culpa de la comunidad, haciendo expiación por ellos ante Yehová.
Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)
¿ Por qué no comisteis la expiación en el lugar santo? porque es muy santa, y dióla él á vosotros para llevar la iniquidad de la congregación, para que sean reconciliados delante de Jehová.
“ Why didn’t you eat the sin offering in the holy place? For it is most holy; it was given to you to take away the guilt of the congregation by making atonement for them before the LORD.
✦ What the text says
Summary
Moses questions why Aaron's remaining sons did not eat the sin offering within the sanctuary area, explaining that this offering held "holy of holies" status and had been assigned to them specifically so they could bear the congregation's guilt and make atonement before Yehovah.
Key words
- akhalTem ("you ate", H0398) — qal perfect, 2nd person masculine plural, negated by lo to form the rhetorical question "why did you not eat."
- chaTat ("sin offering", H2403) — feminine singular noun with definite article, the object under discussion.
- qodesh qadashim ("holy of holies," H6944) — a construct chain doubling the same root in singular governing plural, producing an intensified/superlative sense.
- laseit ("to bear", H5375) — qal infinitive construct, expressing purpose: the offering was given "in order to bear [iniquity]."
- lekhaper ("to atone", H3722) — piel infinitive construct, a parallel purpose clause: "in order to atone."
What the text says
The verse opens with the interrogative ma.Duua ("why?", H4069) followed by the negated perfect lo-akhalTem, producing a question about a completed action not performed: "why did you not eat." The object is marked by the untranslated particle 'et before ha-chaTat, and the location is expressed as bi-mekom ha-qodesh, a construct phrase literally "in the place of the holiness," rather than a simple adjective-noun pairing.
The causal clause introduced by ki ("for", H3588A) supplies the reasoning: the offering is qodesh qadashim, a construct doubling of the same root in singular and plural that intensifies its status. The pronoun hi' ("she/it", H1931) agrees with the feminine chaTat.
The next clause shows marked word order: the object pronoun otah ("it") is placed before the verb natan ("he gave", H5414), fronting the pronoun for emphasis on what was given rather than on the act of giving. Two parallel infinitive-construct purpose clauses follow: laseit ("to bear") the avon ("iniquity", H5771) of the edah ("congregation", H5712), and lekhaper ("to atone") — stating why the offering was entrusted to them — closing with lifnei Yehovah ("before Yehovah").
Differences between versions
The Hebrew laseit ("to bear/carry") is rendered in the LXX as ἀφέλητε ("that you might remove/take away"), a distinct verbal concept from physically bearing. The Vulgate's portetis ("that you might carry") stays closer to the Hebrew sense of bearing. Additionally, the Hebrew construct phrase bi-mekom ha-qodesh ("in the place of the holiness") appears in the LXX as ἐν τόπῳ ἁγίῳ ("in a holy place"), using an adjective where the Hebrew text uses a noun in construct relation.
This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.