Leviticus 23:25

Summary

The verse prohibits any work classified as avodah ("servitude", H5656I) and commands that a fire offering be presented to Yehovah. It forms part of a legal instruction addressed to a plural audience ("you all").

Key words

• kol ("any", H3605) — construct form meaning "all of" or "any of," governing the noun that follows and setting the scope of the prohibition.
• melekhet ("work of", H4399) — feminine singular construct, linked to avodah to form the compound phrase "work of servitude."
• avodah ("servitude", H5656I) — feminine singular noun specifying the type of work forbidden; it qualifies melekhet rather than standing alone.
• ta'asu ("you will do", H6213A) — qal imperfect, second person masculine plural, expressing an ongoing or future prohibition when combined with the negation lo' ("not", H3808).
• hikravtem ("you will present", H7126H) — hiphil (causative) sequential perfect, second person masculine plural, continuing the instruction begun by the imperfect verb and indicating causative action ("cause to draw near," i.e., bring an offering).

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence divides into two clauses joined by the vav (H9001) that functions here as a sequential connector. The first clause, kol-melekhet avodah lo' ta'asu, places the compound construct phrase melekhet avodah at the front of the sentence, before the negation and verb — a word order that gives emphasis to the object being prohibited. The construct chain melekhet + avodah ("work of servitude") is a technical legal phrase distinct from general labor terms found elsewhere in the same legal corpus; it names a specific category of restricted activity rather than all labor whatsoever.

The second clause shifts verbal form from the qal imperfect ta'asu to the hiphil sequential perfect hikravtem. This grammatical shift is typical of Hebrew legal instruction: the imperfect states the general prohibition, and the sequential perfect that follows it indicates the resulting or accompanying obligation, here rendered as causative ("you shall cause to be brought near," i.e., present). The object of this second verb is isheh ("a fire offering", H0801), directed la-Yehovah ("to Yehovah", H3068G) — the preposition la (H9005) marking the recipient.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders isheh ("a fire offering") as ὁλοκαύτωμα ("whole burnt offering"), a more specific term than the Hebrew isheh, which designates offerings consumed by fire generally rather than specifying the whole-burnt type. The Vulgate's holocaustum follows the LXX's specification rather than the broader Hebrew term. The Vulgate also adds "in eo" ("in it/on it"), a temporal specification not present in the Hebrew clause as given.