Leviticus 2:1
וְנֶפֶשׁ כִּֽי־תַקְרִיב קָרְבַּן מִנְחָה לַֽיהוָה סֹלֶת יִהְיֶה קָרְבָּנוֹ וְיָצַק עָלֶיהָ שֶׁמֶן וְנָתַן עָלֶיהָ לְבֹנָֽה׃
✦ Hebrew interlinear
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✦ The same verse in five languages
וְנֶ֗פֶשׁ כִּֽי־תַקְרִ֞יב קָרְבַּ֤ן מִנְחָה֙ לַֽיהוָ֔ה סֹ֖לֶת יִהְיֶ֣ה קָרְבָּנ֑וֹ וְיָצַ֤ק עָלֶ֙יהָ֙ שֶׁ֔מֶן וְנָתַ֥ן עָלֶ֖יהָ לְבֹנָֽה׃
IIτὸ δῶρον αὐτοῦ· καὶ ἐπιχεεῖ ἐπ’ αὐτὸ ἔλαιον, καὶ ἐπιθήσει ἐπ’ αὐτὸ λίβανον· θυσία ἐστίν.
Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0
Latin (Vulgate)
Anima cum obtulerit oblationem sacrificii Domino, simila erit ejus oblatio; fundetque super eam oleum, et ponet thus,
“‘Cuando alguien presente una ofrenda de cereal a Yehová, su ofrenda será de harina fina. Derramará aceite sobre ella y le pondrá incienso.
Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)
Y CUANDO alguna persona ofreciere oblación de presente á Jehová, su ofrenda será flor de harina, sobre la cual echará aceite, y pondrá sobre ella incienso:
“ When anyone brings a grain offering to the LORD, his offering must consist of fine flour. He is to pour olive oil on it, put frankincense on it,
✦ What the text says
Summary
Leviticus 2:1 opens the instructions for the grain offering (minchah), stating that when a person presents this type of offering to Yehovah, it must consist of fine flour, upon which oil is poured and frankincense is placed.
Key words
- Nefesh ("anyone", H5315J) — feminine singular noun literally meaning "soul" or "person," used here as the generic subject of the conditional clause.
- takriv ("it will present", H7126H) — hiphil (causative) imperfect, third feminine singular, agreeing with nefesh; the causative stem indicates the act of "bringing near" or "causing to approach" an offering.
- korban ("a present of", H7133A) — masculine singular construct noun, appearing twice in the verse (once with minchah, once with the pronominal suffix -o, "his"), marking the offering as something brought near.
- solet ("fine flour", H5560) — feminine singular noun, specifying the base material required for this particular offering.
- yatzak ("he will pour", H3332G) and natan ("he will put", H5414H) — both qal sequential perfects, third masculine singular, continuing the narrative sequence of actions performed on the offering.
What the text says
The verse begins with ve-nefesh ki ("and anyone, if/when"), a conditional construction typical of ritual law texts, where nefesh ("soul/person") serves as an indefinite subject for any individual who might bring an offering. The verb takriv is hiphil imperfect, grammatically feminine to agree with the feminine noun nefesh, and expresses the causative sense of "bringing near" a korban ("offering," literally "that which is brought near").
The offering is specified as korban minchah ("an offering of minchah"), a construct chain identifying the type of offering as a minchah, conventionally rendered "grain offering" or "offering of presente." The text then states that this offering's substance, korbano ("his offering," with the third-person masculine suffix referring back to the offerer), yihyeh ("will be") solet ("fine flour") — a qal imperfect establishing the required material.
The following two clauses shift to qal sequential perfect forms, ve-yatzak ("and he will pour") and ve-natan ("and he will put"), both third masculine singular, describing sequential ritual actions: pouring shemen ("oil," H8081) upon the flour, and placing levonah ("frankincense," H3828) upon it. Both actions use the preposition aleha ("upon it/her"), referring back to the feminine noun solet.
Differences between versions
The Vulgate renders nefesh as "anima" ("soul"), closely mirroring the Hebrew's use of a person-designating noun. The LXX (as given) begins mid-verse with "τὸ δῶρον αὐτοῦ" ("his gift"), corresponding to korbano, and adds "θυσία ἐστίν" ("it is a sacrifice") at the end, a phrase not present in the Hebrew text provided.
This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.