Leviticus 22:3
אֱמֹר אֲלֵהֶם לְדֹרֹתֵיכֶם כָּל־אִישׁ׀ אֲשֶׁר־יִקְרַב מִכָּל־זַרְעֲכֶם אֶל־הַקֳּדָשִׁים אֲשֶׁר יַקְדִּישׁוּ בְנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵל לַֽיהוָה וְטֻמְאָתוֹ עָלָיו וְנִכְרְתָה הַנֶּפֶשׁ הַהִוא מִלְּפָנַי אֲנִי יְהוָֽה׃
✦ Hebrew interlinear
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✦ The same verse in five languages
אֱמֹ֣ר אֲלֵהֶ֗ם לְדֹרֹ֨תֵיכֶ֜ם כָּל־אִ֣ישׁ׀ אֲשֶׁר־יִקְרַ֣ב מִכָּל־זַרְעֲכֶ֗ם אֶל־הַקֳּדָשִׁים֙ אֲשֶׁ֨ר יַקְדִּ֤ישׁוּ בְנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ לַֽיהוָ֔ה וְטֻמְאָת֖וֹ עָלָ֑יו וְנִכְרְתָ֞ה הַנֶּ֧פֶשׁ הַהִ֛וא מִלְּפָנַ֖י אֲנִ֥י יְהוָֽה׃
εἰπὸν αὐτοῖς Εἰς τὰς γενεὰς ὑμῶν πᾶς ἄνθρωπος ὃς ἂν προσέλθῃ ἀπὸ τοῦ σπέρματος ὑμῶν πρὸς τὰ ἅγια ὅσα ἂν ἁγιάζωσιν οἱ υἱοὶ Ἰσραὴλ τῷ κυρίῳ, καὶ ἡ ἀκαθαρσία αὐτοῦ ἐπ’ αὐτῷ ἦ, ἐξολεθρευθήσεται ἡ ψυχὴ ἐκείνη ἀπ’ ἐμοῦ· ἐγὼ κύριος ὁ θεὸς ὑμῶν.
Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0
Latin (Vulgate)
Dic ad eos, et ad posteros eorum: Omnis homo qui accesserit de stirpe vestra ad ea quæ consecrata sunt, et quæ obtulerunt filii Israël Domino, in quo est immunditia, peribit coram Domino. Ego sum Dominus.
“Diles: ‘Cualquiera de sus descendientes, de cualquier generación, que estando en estado de impureza se acerque a las ofrendas sagradas que los israelitas consagran a Yehová, será eliminado de mi presencia. Yo soy Yehová.
Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)
Diles: Todo varón de toda vuestra simiente en vuestras generaciones que llegare á las cosas sagradas, que los hijos de Israel consagran á Jehová, teniendo inmundicia sobre sí, de delante de mí será cortada su alma: Yo Jehová.
Tell them that for the generations to come, if any of their descendants in a state of uncleanness approaches the sacred offerings that the Israelites consecrate to the LORD, that person must be cut off from My presence. I am the LORD.
✦ What the text says
Summary
Leviticus 22:3 instructs that any descendant of Aaron who approaches the sacred offerings while in a state of ritual impurity must be "cut off" from the presence of Yehovah. The verse frames this as a perpetual law for all future generations and closes with the self-identifying formula "I am Yehovah."
Key words
- 'e.Mor ("say", H0559) — qal imperative, opening the verse as a direct command to speak to a designated audience (the priests, per surrounding context).
- yik.Rav ("he will draw near", H7126G) — qal imperfect, expresses a hypothetical/future action introduced by the relative particle 'a.Sher ("who", H0834A), setting up the conditional case.
- yak.Di.shu ("they will set apart as holy", H6942G) — hiphil imperfect, causative form: the Israelites cause the offerings to become holy, distinguishing this from a simple qal "to be holy."
- tum.'a.T...o ("his uncleanness", H2932 + H9023) — construct noun with pronominal suffix, tying the state of impurity directly to the individual described.
- nikh.re.Tah ("it will be cut off", H3772I) — niphal (passive) verb in the sequential perfect (vav-consecutive), marking the consequence that follows grammatically from the preceding conditional clause; the subject is feminine ha.Ne.fesh ("the person/soul", H5315J).
What the text says
The verse is built as a legal conditional sentence. The imperative 'e.Mor opens direct speech, followed by a relative clause introduced twice by 'a.Sher — first defining the offender ("who draws near," yik.Rav) and second defining the offerings ("which they set apart as holy," yak.Di.shu, hiphil). The hiphil stem here is significant: the holiness of the offerings results from an action performed by "the people of Israel," not fromtheir inherent nature.
The apodosis begins with ve.tum.'a.To 'a.Lav ("and his uncleanness is upon him"), a nominal clause stating the condition of the offender, followed by the narrative ve attached to nikh.re.Tah, a niphal sequential perfect. The niphal stem marks the action as passive — the person "is cut off" rather than someone actively cutting them off — and the sequential perfect continues the logical chain begun by the conditional clause. The phrase mi.le.fa.Nai ("from before me/my face") specifies the cutting off as separation from the presence of Yehovah, reinforced by the closing self-declaration 'a.Ni Yah.weh ("I am Yehovah").
Differences between versions
The Hebrew mi.le.fa.Nai ("from before me," literally "from my face") is rendered in the LXX as ἀπ’ ἐμοῦ ("from me"), omitting the "face" nuance. The Vulgate diverges further, using peribit coram Domino ("he will perish before the Lord") — a different verb concept ("perish") than the niphal nikh.re.Tah ("cut off"), and inverting the spatial relation ("before" rather than "from"). The LXX also adds ὁ θεὸς ὑμῶν ("your God") to the closing formula, which has no counterpart in the Hebrew 'a.Ni Yah.weh ("I am Yehovah").
This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.