Leviticus 22:27

Summary

Leviticus 22:27 sets a temporal condition on newborn animals — ox, ram, or goat — that must remain with their mother for seven days before they can be considered valid for sacrificial use. From the eighth day onward, the animal becomes acceptable as an korban ("offering", H7133A) of the isheh type ("fire offering", H0801) for Yehovah.

Key words

• yivvaLed ("it will be born", H3205) — niphal (passive) imperfect, framing the animal's birth as the triggering condition of the clause introduced by ki ("if", H3588A).
• hayah ("it will be", H1961) — qal sequential perfect, continuing the narrative chain after the niphal imperfect; this vav-consecutive pattern (imperfect → sequential perfect) is typical of casuistic (case) law formulation in Hebrew.
• tachat ("under", H8478G) — construct noun functioning prepositionally, here paired with immo ("its mother", H0517 + suffix H9023) to express "under its mother," i.e., in her care/nursing.
• shemini ("eighth", H8066) — ordinal number marking the threshold day after which the seven-day waiting period ends.
• yeratzeh ("it will be accepted", H7521) — niphal (passive) imperfect, indicating the animal's acceptability is a state conferred upon it, not an action it performs.

What the text says

The verse opens with three animal terms — shor ("an ox", H7794), khesev ("a young ram", H3775), ez ("a goat", H5795) — joined by the conjunction 'o ("or", H0176A), establishing the scope of the law to bovine, ovine, and caprine offspring. The conditional particle ki ("if", H3588A) introduces the case: "if it is born" (yivvaLed). The sequential perfect hayah ("it will be", H1961) then states the consequence within the same legal frame: the animal "will be... under its mother" for shiv'at yamim ("seven of days", H7651 construct + H3117G), using the construct-genitive pattern common for counting days.

The phrase tachat immo ("under its mother", H8478G + H0517) places the young animal in a state of dependency, expressed spatially. The second half of the verse shifts the temporal marker: miyyom hashemini vahal'ah ("from the day, the eighth, and onwards", H3117G + H8066 + H1973) marks the point after which the passive verb yeratzeh ("it will be accepted", H7521) applies — grammatically parallel to yivvaLed, both niphal imperfects, framing birth and acceptance as two passively-experienced states bracketing the seven-day period. The final clause, le-korban isheh la-YHWH ("to an offering of a fire-offering, to Yehovah", H7133A + H0801 + H3068G), specifies the offering's classification and recipient through a construct chain.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders khesev ("a young ram", H3775) as πρόβατον ("sheep"), a broader term than the Hebrew's more specific young-ram designation. The Vulgate's sub ubere matris suæ ("under the udder of its mother") makes explicit the nursing sense that the Hebrew tachat immo ("under its mother") leaves implicit through the preposition tachat alone.