Leviticus 15:12

Summary

The verse distinguishes two types of vessels that come into contact with ha-zav ("the one discharging", H2100H): an earthenware vessel must be broken, while a wooden vessel is to be rinsed with water. The grammar sets up a conditional-relative structure defining the object by what touches it.

Key words

• kheli ("vessel of", H3627) — construct form, appearing twice (v.12a with kheres, v.12b with 'etz), meaning it must be followed by another noun to complete its sense ("vessel of X").
• 'asher ("which", H0834A) — relative particle introducing the clause that defines the vessel by the action of touching.
• yiga' ("he will touch", H5060) — qal imperfect, describing a simple, undefined future/habitual action performed by the subject ha-zav.
• ha-zav ("the one discharging", H2100H) — qal participle with definite article, functioning as a substantive ("the discharger"), naming the agent whose touch triggers the vessel's status.
• yishaver ("it will be broken", H7665) and yishatef ("it will be rinsed", H7857) — both niphal imperfect, the passive/reflexive stem indicating the vessel undergoes the action rather than performing it.

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence is built in two parallel halves joined by ve- ("and", H9002). The first half opens with u-kheli-kheres ("and a vessel of earthenware", H3627 + H2789), a construct chain meaning "a clay vessel." This noun phrase is immediately qualified by the relative clause 'asher-yiga'-bo ha-zav ("which the one discharging will touch in it"), where the preposition be- ("in", H9003) plus the suffix -o ("it", H9033) refers back to the vessel itself. The main verb of the clause, yishaver (H7665), is niphal — the vessel does not break itself; it is acted upon, and no explicit agent is named for the breaking.

The second half repeats the construct pattern with kol-keli-'etz ("every vessel of wood", H3605 + H3627 + H6086G), but here there is no repeated relative clause specifying that this vessel too was touched by ha-zav; the connection to the same contact is carried over from the first clause. Its verb, yishatef (H7857), is also niphal, "it will be rinsed," using ba-mayim ("with the water", H4325G) to specify the means. The contrast in verbs — breaking versus rinsing — is built entirely on the material named in each construct phrase, kheres ("earthenware", H2789) against 'etz ("wood", H6086G).

Differences between versions

The LXXSWETE adds a phrase not present in the Hebrew or the Vulgate: καὶ καθαρὸν ἱστᾶι ("and it stands clean"), appended after the instruction to rinse the wooden vessel with water. Neither the Hebrew yishatef bammayim nor the Vulgate's lavabitur aqua contains any statement about the vessel's resulting purity — they describe only the rinsing action itself.