Leviticus 23:27

Summary

The verse designates the tenth day of the seventh month as Yom haKippurim ("Day of Atonement/s"), a day marked by a sacred convocation, self-affliction, and a fire offering to Yehovah. The clause structure emphasizes exclusivity and obligation through a sequence of verb forms.

Key words

• 'akh ("surely", H0389) — an emphatic restrictive adverb opening the verse, marking a contrast or singling out this day from what precedes (the preceding verses concern the seventh month's other observances).
• Kippurim ("atonements", H3725) — masculine plural noun in construct with Yom ("day"), literally "day of atonements/coverings," giving the day its formal designation.
• mikra' qodesh ("convocation of holiness", H4744/H6944G) — construct chain meaning "a holy convocation," describing the assembly's sacred status.
• 'initem ("you will afflict", H6031B) — piel (intensive) sequential perfect, second person plural, describing an intensified action directed at "yourselves" (nafshoteikhem, H5315I/H9026), the essential ritual command of the day.
• hiqravtem ("you will present", H7126H) — hiphil (causative) sequential perfect, indicating the people cause an offering ('isheh, "fire offering", H0801) to be brought near to Yehovah.

What the text says

The verse opens with 'akh ("surely," H0389), an adverb of restriction that sets this day apart, followed by a temporal phrase specifying "the tenth (of the) month, the seventh, this one" — a chain of construct and demonstrative elements pinpointing the exact date. The main clause structure is a nominal sentence: "day of the atonements it (is)" (yom hakippurim hu'), using the independent pronoun hu' ("it", H1931) to reinforce identification, followed by a second nominal-verbal clause: "a convocation of holiness it will be for you" (mikra' qodesh yihyeh lakhem), where yihyeh (H1961, qal imperfect) projects the state into ongoing applicability.

The two following clauses use sequential perfects (wə- + perfect), a verbal pattern that continues on from the preceding imperfect/nominal clauses, expressing commands that follow logically: wə-'initem ("and you will afflict," piel) and wə-hiqravtem ("and you will present," hiphil). The piel stem of 'initem intensifies the root's basic sense, while the hiphil of hiqravtem marks a causative action — the people cause the offering to draw near. The object marker 'et (H0853) before nafshoteikhem ("your selves/persons", H5315I) marks this noun phrase as the direct object of the affliction.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders 'isheh ("fire offering", H0801) as holokautōma ("whole burnt offering"), a more specific term than the Hebrew's general "fire offering." The LXX also translates 'initem ("you will afflict") as tapeinōsete ("you will humble"), and the Vulgate similarly uses affligetis ("you will afflict"), both preserving the affliction/humbling sense, while SBLIBRE renders it as "ayunarán" ("you will fast"), interpreting the action rather than translating it literally.