Leviticus 14:24

Summary

The priest takes the male lamb designated for the guilt offering together with the log-measure of oil, and performs the waving gesture with them as a wave-offering in the presence of Yehovah. The verse describes a ritual action performed by the priest using two specific items.

Key words

• la.Kach ("he will take", H3947) — qal sequential perfect; continues the narrative sequence of priestly actions, indicating the priest's act of taking hold of the offering materials.
• Ke.ves ("male lamb of", H3532) — construct form, linking the lamb directly to what follows (ha'asham), marking it as "the lamb of the guilt offering" rather than a generic lamb.
• he.Nif ("he will wave", H5130) — hiphil (causative) sequential perfect; the causative stem indicates the priest actively causes the motion of waving, a technical ritual gesture.
• te.nu.Fah ("a wave-offering", H8573) — feminine singular noun, functioning adverbially here to specify the manner/category of the action (waving as a wave-offering).
• li-f.Nei ("before", H6440) — construct plural noun with preposition, literally "to the face of," marking the spatial/ceremonial orientation of the act toward Yehovah.

What the text says

The verse is built on two sequential perfect verbs joined by the narrative vav (H9001): ve-laKach ("and he will take") and ve-heNif ("and he will wave"), both continuing a chain of priestly actions established earlier in the chapter. The subject, ha-koHen ("the priest", H3548), is repeated with each verb (positions 4 and 19), which in Biblical Hebrew narrative syntax reinforces the identity of the agent performing each discrete step rather than merely resuming the subject.

The object of the first verb is compound, joined by ve- (H9002): Kevas ha'asham ("the lamb of the guilt offering") and log ha-shamen ("the log of the oil"), both marked by the object marker 'et (H0853). Both nouns are in construct chains, showing that the lamb and the oil-measure are defined by their function (guilt offering) and by their quantity unit (the log-measure) respectively. In the second clause, the pronominal suffix -m ("them", H9038) on 'oTam refers back to this same pair of objects, showing that both lamb and oil are waved together as a single ritual unit. The noun tenuFah (H8573) stands here without a preposition, functioning as an accusative of manner specifying what kind of gesture heNif performs. The phrase closes with lifNei Yehovah (H6440 + H3068), positioning the action spatially "before the face of" Yehovah.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders the divine name Yehovah (H3068) as Τυρίου according to the provided Greek text, differing from the Hebrew's explicit divine name. The Vulgate's levabit ("he will lift") corresponds to the Hebrew heNif ("he will wave", H5130), using a lifting verb rather than one specifying the waving/oscillating gesture implied by the Hebrew root.