Leviticus 16:19

Summary

The verse describes a ritual action performed on an altar: blood is sprinkled on it seven times with a finger, after which the altar is declared purified and consecrated. The final phrase specifies that this purification removes the uncleanness attributed to the people of Israel.

Key words

• hizzah ("he will spatter", H5137A) — hiphil (causative) verb in sequential perfect, indicating an action performed by the subject that causes blood to scatter onto the object; continues the narrative chain begun in the preceding verses.
• 'etsba'o ("his finger", H0676) — feminine singular noun in construct form with a possessive suffix, specifying the instrument used for the sprinkling as belonging to the officiant.
• tiharo ("he will purify it", H2891) — piel (intensive) verb, sequential perfect, with a 3rd person object suffix built into the form; the piel stem marks an intensive or effective purification process rather than a simple state.
• qiddesho ("he will set it apart as holy", H6942G) — piel sequential perfect, paired with tiharo; the two piel verbs together mark a two-stage ritual outcome — first removal of impurity, then consecration.
• tum'ot ("uncleannesses of", H2932) — feminine plural noun in construct form, linked directly to benei Yisra'el ("sons/people of Israel", H1121G + H3478), forming a construct chain that attributes the impurity to the Israelites collectively.

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence is built as a chain of three sequential perfect verbs — hizzah, tiharo, qiddesho — each carrying the narrative vav (H9001) that links this action to the ongoing ritual sequence. The first verb, hizzah, is causative (hiphil), describing the priest causing blood to be scattered onto the object marked by the pronominal suffix on 'alav ("on it", H5921A + H9033). The instrument of the action, 'etsba'o ("his finger"), is marked as a construct noun bound to the possessive suffix, and the repetition count sheva' pe'amim ("seven times", H7651 + H6471) quantifies the ritual gesture without further elaboration in the Hebrew.

The two following verbs, tiharo and qiddesho, are both piel stems, which in Biblical Hebrew typically denote an intensive or resultative action — here, the effecting of a purified and consecrated state rather than merely describing one. Both verbs carry the same 3rd person masculine singular object suffix (-o, H9033), referring back to the same object sprinkled with blood. The clause concludes with a construct chain, tum'ot benei Yisra'el ("uncleannesses of the sons of Israel"), a plural noun bound to a plural proper-name construct, indicating that the impurity being addressed is defined in relation to the Israelite community as a collective source.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew object of the verbs hizzah, tiharo, and qiddesho is marked only by pronominal suffixes ("on it," "purify it," "consecrate it") without an explicit noun for what is being sprinkled, purified, and consecrated. The LXX (Swete) and Vulgate follow this same pattern, using pronouns (αὐτό, illud) rather than naming the object. Modern renderings such as the BSB and SBLIBRE (Spanish) supply an explicit referent ("it" as the altar, or "el altar" respectively) that is not present as a distinct lexical item in the Hebrew text itself, making explicit what the Hebrew leaves to be inferred from context.