Leviticus 14:21
וְאִם־דַּל הוּא וְאֵין יָדוֹ מַשֶּׂגֶת וְלָקַח כֶּבֶשׂ אֶחָד אָשָׁם לִתְנוּפָה לְכַפֵּר עָלָיו וְעִשָּׂרוֹן סֹלֶת אֶחָד בָּלוּל בַּשֶּׁמֶן לְמִנְחָה וְלֹג שָֽׁמֶן׃
✦ Hebrew interlinear
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✦ The same verse in five languages
וְאִם־דַּ֣ל ה֗וּא וְאֵ֣ין יָדוֹ֮ מַשֶּׂגֶת֒ וְ֠לָקַח כֶּ֣בֶשׂ אֶחָ֥ד אָשָׁ֛ם לִתְנוּפָ֖ה לְכַפֵּ֣ר עָלָ֑יו וְעִשָּׂר֨וֹן סֹ֜לֶת אֶחָ֨ד בָּל֥וּל בַּשֶּׁ֛מֶן לְמִנְחָ֖ה וְלֹ֥ג שָֽׁמֶן׃
Ἐὰν δὲ πένηται ἡ χεὶρ αὐτοῦ καὶ μὴ εὑρίσκῃ, λήμψεται ἀμνὸν ἕνα εἰς ὃ ἐπλημμέλησεν εἰς ἀφαίρεμα ὥστε ἐξιλάσασθαι περὶ αὐτοῦ, καὶ δέκατον σεμιδάλεως πεφυραμένης ἐν ἐλαίῳ εἰς θυσίαν, καὶ κοτύλην ἐλαίου μίαν,
Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0
Latin (Vulgate)
Quod si pauper est, et non potest manus ejus invenire quæ dicta sunt pro delicto, assumet agnum ad oblationem, ut roget pro eo sacerdos, decimamque partem similæ conspersæ oleo in sacrificium, et olei sextarium,
“Pero si la persona es pobre y no le alcanza para tanto, tomará solo un cordero como ofrenda por la culpa. El cordero se presentará como ofrenda mecida para hacer expiación por ella. Además, llevará un kilo de harina fina amasada con aceite como ofrenda de cereal, un log de aceite,
Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)
Mas si fuere pobre, que no alcanzare su mano á tanto, entonces tomará un cordero para ser ofrecido como ofrenda agitada por la culpa, para reconciliarse, y una décima de flor de harina amasada con aceite para presente, y un log de aceite;
If, however, the person is poor and cannot afford these offerings, he is to take one male lamb as a guilt offering to be waved to make atonement for him, along with a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with olive oil for a grain offering, a log of olive oil,
✦ What the text says
Summary
This verse introduces a provision for a poor person who cannot afford the standard purification offerings described earlier in Leviticus 14. Instead of the full set, he brings a single male lamb as a guilt offering, plus a smaller quantity of flour and oil.
Key words
- dal ("poor", H1800) — masculine singular adjective describing the subject's economic condition, paired with the pronoun Hu' ("he", H1931) to form the clause "if he is poor."
- ma.se.Get ("reaching", H5381) — hiphil (causative) participle, feminine singular, agreeing with yad ("hand", H3027I); the construction "his hand is not reaching" is an idiom for lacking sufficient means.
- la.kach ("he will take", H3947G) — qal sequential perfect, continuing the narrative sequence begun by the conditional clause; marks the main action that follows once the condition ("if poor") is established.
- kha.Per ("make atonement", H3722A) — piel infinitive construct, expressing purpose ("in order to atone"), attached to the preceding clause about waving the lamb.
- ba.Lul ("mixed", H1101A) — qal passive participle, masculine singular, describing the state of the flour as already combined with oil at the time it is brought.
What the text says
The verse opens with a conditional construction: ve-'im ("and if", H9002+H0518A) followed by dal Hu' ("poor he"), a nominal clause without a verb "to be," typical of Hebrew stative description. This is reinforced by a second conditional element, ve-'ein yado maseget ("and there is not his hand reaching"), where 'ein (H0369) negates existence and yad stands in construct with the participle maseget, producing the idiom for insufficient resources.
The apodosis begins with ve-lakach (H3947G), a sequential perfect that in narrative Hebrew carries the force of a future/instructive action following the stated condition — "then he shall take." The object is kEves 'eChad ("one male lamb", H3532+H0259), designated 'aSham ("guilt offering", H0817) and further specified li-tnuFah ("for a wave-offering", H8573), indicating the ritual gesture accompanying its presentation. The purpose clause le-khaPer 'alav ("to make atonement for/on him", H3722A+H5921A+suffix) uses the piel infinitive of khaPer, the same root used elsewhere in Leviticus for atonement procedures.
The second part of the verse lists accompanying offerings: 'issaRon Solet 'eChad ("one tenth of fine flour", H6241+H5560+H0259), described as baLul ba-Shemen ("mixed with the oil", H1101A+H8081), intended le-minChah ("for a grain offering", H4503G), plus log Shamen ("a log of oil", H3849+H8081) — a fixed liquid measure distinct from the larger quantities implied in the wealthier person's offering earlier in the chapter.
Differences between versions
The LXX renders dal ("poor") with the phrase "if his hand is poor" (πένηται ἡ χεὶρ αὐτοῦ), shifting the adjective from the person to "the hand," slightly altering the grammatical subject compared to the Hebrew, which applies dal directly to "he" and treats the hand's insufficiency as a separate clause. The Vulgate similarly attributes the inability to "his hand" (manus ejus), paralleling the LXX's phrasing rather than the two-part Hebrew structure.
This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.