Leviticus 16:13

Summary

Leviticus 16:13 describes the high priest placing incense on fire before Yehovah, so that the resulting cloud of incense covers the kapporet ("atonement cover") above the edut ("testimony"). The verse closes with a stated consequence: he will not die.

Key words

ketoret ("incense", H7004) — feminine singular noun, appears twice (positions 5 and 16), naming the substance placed on the fire and later specified as the source of the covering cloud ('anan ha-ketoret, "cloud of the incense").

kissah ("it will cover", H3680) — piel stem, sequential perfect. The piel (intensive) form marks a completed covering action, continuing the narrative sequence begun with natan ("he will put", H5414H). The piel stem here conveys thorough or effective covering, distinct from a simple qal action.

kapporet ("atonement cover", H3727) — feminine singular noun, the object being covered by the cloud of incense; grammatically the direct object marked by 'et (H0853).

'edut ("testimony", H5715) — feminine singular noun, identifies what lies beneath the kapporet; introduced by the relative particle 'asher ("which", H0834A) plus the preposition 'al ("on", H5921A), forming the phrase "which is on the testimony."

yamut ("he will die", H4191) — qal imperfect, denoting non-completed or potential action, here negated by lo' ("not", H3808), forming the concluding clause of consequence.

What the text says

The verse is built as a chain of three sequential-perfect clauses connected by the narrative vav (H9001): natan ("he will put"), kissah ("it will cover"), and the final negated imperfect lo' yamut ("he will not die"). This verbal chain presents the actions as a continuous, ordered sequence rather than isolated events — first the incense is placed on the fire, then the cloud produced by it covers the kapporet, and only then follows the stated outcome.

The phrase 'anan ha-ketoret ("cloud of the incense", H6051 construct + H7004) uses a construct chain, literally "cloud of incense," making the cloud itself — not the priest — the grammatical subject of kissah ("it will cover"). The text specifies precisely what is covered: ha-kapporet ("the atonement cover", H3727), further located by the relative clause 'asher 'al ha-'edut ("which is on the testimony", H0834A + H5921A + H5715), anchoring the action spatially above the 'edut.

The location lifnei Yehovah ("before Yehovah", H6440G + H3068G) uses the construct noun panim ("face/before") to situate the entire action in relation to the divine presence, a spatial-relational expression rather than a literal reference to a face.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders kapporet (H3727) as hilastērion ("the propitiatory/mercy-related instrument"), a term with judicial-cultic connotations differing from the Hebrew's more physical "cover" sense. The Vulgate uses oraculum ("oracle") for the same term, introducing a distinct nuance tied to divine speech rather than covering. Where the Hebrew names the covering agent specifically as 'anan ha-ketoret ("cloud of the incense"), the Vulgate expands this to "nebula eorum et vapor" ("their mist and vapor"), adding a term (vapor) not present as a separate word in the Hebrew construct phrase.