Leviticus 14:17
וּמִיֶּתֶר הַשֶּׁמֶן אֲשֶׁר עַל־כַּפּוֹ יִתֵּן הַכֹּהֵן עַל־תְּנוּךְ אֹזֶן הַמִּטַּהֵר הַיְמָנִית וְעַל־בֹּהֶן יָדוֹ הַיְמָנִית וְעַל־בֹּהֶן רַגְלוֹ הַיְמָנִית עַל דַּם הָאָשָֽׁם׃
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✦ The same verse in five languages
וּמִיֶּ֨תֶר הַשֶּׁ֜מֶן אֲשֶׁ֣ר עַל־כַּפּ֗וֹ יִתֵּ֤ן הַכֹּהֵן֙ עַל־תְּנ֞וּךְ אֹ֤זֶן הַמִּטַּהֵר֙ הַיְמָנִ֔ית וְעַל־בֹּ֤הֶן יָדוֹ֙ הַיְמָנִ֔ית וְעַל־בֹּ֥הֶן רַגְל֖וֹ הַיְמָנִ֑ית עַ֖ל דַּ֥ם הָאָשָֽׁם׃
τὸ δὲ καταλειφθὲν ἔλαιον τὸ ὂν ἐν τῇ χειρὶ ἐπιθήσει ὁ ἱερεὺς ἐπὶ τὸν λοβὸν τοῦ ὠτὸς τοῦ καθαριζομένου τοῦ δεξιοῦ καὶ ἐπὶ τὸ ἄκρον τῆς χειρὸς τῆς δεξιᾶς καὶ ἐπὶ τὸ ἄκρον τοῦ ποδὸς τοῦ δεξιοῦ, ἐπὶ τὸν τόπον τοῦ αἵματος τοῦ τῆς πλημμελίας·
Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0
Latin (Vulgate)
Quod autem reliquum est olei in læva manu, fundet super extremum auriculæ dextræ ejus qui mundatur, et super pollices manus ac pedis dextri, et super sanguinem qui effusus est pro delicto,
Del aceite que le quede en la mano, le untará un poco a la persona en el lóbulo de la oreja derecha, en el pulgar de la mano derecha y en el dedo gordo del pie derecho, exactamente encima de la sangre de la ofrenda por la culpa.
Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)
Y de lo que quedare del aceite que tiene en su mano, pondrá el sacerdote sobre la ternilla de la oreja derecha del que se purifica, y sobre el pulgar de su mano derecha, y sobre el pulgar de su pie derecho, sobre la sangre de la expiación por la culpa:
And the priest is to put some of the oil remaining in his palm on the right earlobe of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, on top of the blood of the guilt offering.
✦ What the text says
Summary
The priest applies the remainder of the oil in his palm to the right earlobe, right thumb, and right big toe of the person being purified, placing it over the blood of the guilt offering already applied there.
Key words
- Ye.ter ("the remainder of", H3499A) — construct noun opening the verse, marking that this is what is left over from a previously described oil application, not a new portion.
- mi.ta.Her ("one purifying himself", H2891) — hithpael participle, reflexive/passive nuance: the person undergoing purification is the grammatical focus, not merely a passive recipient named by another verb.
- te.Nukh ("the lobe of", H8571) construct chained with 'O.zen ("the ear of", H0241G) — a double construct chain ("lobe of ear of the-one-purifying-himself") that in Hebrew builds the anatomical target as one continuous phrase.
- y.ma.Nit ("right", H3233G) — feminine singular adjective repeated three times (v.19, v.26, v.33), agreeing with each feminine noun (ear, hand, foot) it qualifies, confirming "right side" for all three applications.
- yi.Ten ("he will put", H5414H) — qal imperfect, the single main verb governing the whole series of prepositional phrases ('al, "on") that follow.
What the text says
The verse is built around one finite verb, yi.Ten ("he will put", H5414H), with the subject ha.ko.Hen ("the priest", H3548) following it — a verb-subject order typical of Hebrew narrative/instructional prose. Everything before the verb (the u.mi.Ye.ter ha.She.men phrase, "and from the remainder of the oil") is a fronted prepositional/construct complex specifying the source of the substance being applied, and everything after the verb consists of three parallel 'al ("on", H5921A) phrases naming the three body parts, each closed by the adjective y.ma.Nit ("right", H3233G) agreeing in gender with its noun ('O.zen feminine, yad often treated as feminine here, re.gel feminine).
The double genitive chain te.Nukh 'O.zen ha.mi.ta.Her ("lobe of ear of the-one-purifying-himself") stacks three nouns/participle in construct relation without any additional linking words, a compact structure Hebrew allows but which target languages must unpack with prepositions ("lobe of the ear of the one being purified"). The final phrase, 'al dam ha.'a.Sham ("on the blood of the guilt offering", H1818/H0817), specifies that the oil is placed directly over blood from the guilt offering previously applied to the same three spots, linking this application to a prior ritual action not itself narrated in this verse.
Differences between versions
The LXX renders the oil's location as "in the hand" (ἐν τῇ χειρὶ) generally, while the Hebrew specifies ka.P ("palm", H3709G) specifically. The Vulgate adds "læva" ("left"), stating the remaining oil is in the left hand — a detail not present in the Hebrew text, which does not specify which hand holds the remaining oil.
This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.