Leviticus 2:15

Summary

Leviticus 2:15 gives instructions for a grain offering: oil is to be poured on it and frankincense placed on it. The verse closes by identifying the prepared item as a minchah ("grain offering", H4503G).

Key words

• natatta ("you will put", H5414H) — qal sequential perfect, 2nd person masculine singular; continues a chain of prior instructions, indicating a required future action by the offerer.
• samta ("you will place", H7760H) — qal sequential perfect, 2nd person masculine singular; parallel in form to natatta, marking a second, distinct action in the same procedural sequence.
• shemen ("oil", H8081) — masculine singular noun; the substance poured onto the offering.
• levonah ("frankincense", H3828) — feminine singular noun; the substance placed onto the offering, distinct from the oil.
• hi' ("it/she", H1931) — feminine personal pronoun; serves as the grammatical subject completing the identifying clause "minchah hi'" ("a grain offering it [is]").

What the text says

The verse is built from two parallel clauses joined by the narrative vav (H9001), each following the pattern verb + preposition 'aleiha ("on it/her", H5921A + H9034) + object noun. The first clause, ve-natatta 'aleiha shemen, uses the verb natatta ("you will put") with "oil" as object. The second clause, ve-samta 'aleiha levonah, uses a different verb, samta ("you will place"), with "frankincense" as object. Both verbs are qal sequential perfects continuing the instructional chain begun earlier in the passage, and both carry a second-person masculine singular subject, addressing an unnamed "you" who performs the ritual actions.

The pronominal suffix -ha ("her/it", H9034) attached to the preposition in both clauses refers back to the grain offering itself (grammatically feminine in Hebrew), which is why the closing pronoun hi' ("it/she", H1931) is feminine as well. The final clause, minchah hi' ("a grain offering it [is]"), lacks a copula verb, as is typical in Hebrew nominal sentences — the pronoun hi' functions to link the subject "it" with the predicate noun minchah ("grain offering", H4503G), stating what the item, now prepared with oil and frankincense, formally is.

Differences between versions

The Vulgate renders the closing identification differently from the Hebrew: where the Hebrew simply states minchah hi' ("a grain offering it [is]"), the Vulgate reads "quia oblatio Domini est" ("because it is an offering of the Lord"), adding a causal conjunction and specifying "of the Lord," elements not present in the Hebrew clause. The LXX (Swete) renders this final clause as "θυσία ἐστίν" ("it is a sacrifice"), using θυσία rather than a term specific to grain offerings, which the Hebrew minchah (H4503G) denotes.