Leviticus 23:30

Summary

This verse pronounces a penalty formula: any person who performs work on "the substance of this day" (i.e., this very day) will be cut off by divine action from among their people. The syntax follows a classic Hebrew casuistic pattern: a relative/conditional clause identifying the offender, followed by a vav-consecutive perfect stating the consequence.

Key words

• Nefesh ("person", H5315I/H5315J) — appears twice, first as the subject of the offense, then as the object of destruction; a common term for a living individual, here bearing legal weight.
• ta'aseh ("it will do", H6213A) — qal imperfect, third feminine singular (agreeing with nefesh as feminine), marking an open, iterative or future action: "whoever does/would do."
• 'etzem ("substance of", H6106H) — construct form of a noun literally meaning "bone" or "substance," here used idiomatically with hayom hazeh ("this day") to intensify the reference to the exact day.
• ha'avadti ("I will destroy", H0006) — hiphil (causative) sequential perfect, first person singular; the vav prefix links it to the preceding imperfect clause, producing a future-consequence sense: "then I will destroy."
• qerev ("among", H7130G) — construct noun meaning "midst," combined with 'ammah ("her people", H5971A + H9024) to form the phrase "from the midst of her people."

What the text says

The verse opens with ve-khol-hanefesh ("and every person," H9002+H3605+H5315I), a casuistic construction: "every person who" ('asher, H0834A) sets up a conditional identity, followed by the qal imperfect ta'aseh ("she will do") governing kol-melakhah ("any work," H3605+H4399). The feminine verb form agrees grammatically with nefesh, which is feminine, even though the referent may be male or female. The phrase be'etzem hayom hazeh ("on the substance/bone of this day") uses 'etzem (H6106H) construct with hayom hazeh to stress the specific day rather than a general period — a Hebrew idiom for "this very day."

The consequence clause begins with a narrative vav (H9001) attached to ha'avadti, a hiphil sequential perfect, first-person singular. This grammatical form ties the result directly to the preceding conditional imperfect, producing a future-tense causative: "I will destroy." The object is again hanefesh hahi' ("that person," H5315J + H1931), specified with the demonstrative pronoun hi' ("that," feminine). The final phrase, miqerev 'ammah ("from the midst of her people," H7130G + H5971A + H9024), uses the construct noun qerev with a pronominal suffix on 'am ("people") referring back to the feminine nefesh.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew phrase be'etzem hayom hazeh ("on the substance/bone of this day") is rendered in the LXX as ἐν αὐτῇ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ταύτῃ ("on this same day"), preserving the emphatic sense without the "bone/substance" idiom. The Vulgate (VULCLEM) omits any equivalent to this phrase entirely, reading only "et quae operis quippiam fecerit" ("and whoever has done any work"), without specifying "on this day," differing from both the Hebrew and the LXX in this respect.