Leviticus 24:2
צַו אֶת־בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְיִקְחוּ אֵלֶיךָ שֶׁמֶן זַיִת זָךְ כָּתִית לַמָּאוֹר לְהַעֲלֹת נֵר תָּמִֽיד׃
✦ Hebrew interlinear
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✦ The same verse in five languages
צַ֞ו אֶת־בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל וְיִקְח֨וּ אֵלֶ֜יךָ שֶׁ֣מֶן זַ֥יִת זָ֛ךְ כָּתִ֖ית לַמָּא֑וֹר לְהַעֲלֹ֥ת נֵ֖ר תָּמִֽיד׃
Ἔντειλαι τοῖς υἱοῖς ήλ, καὶ λαβέτωσάν μοι ἔλαιον ἐλάινον καθαρὸν κεκομμένον εἰς φῶς, καῦσαι λύχνον διὰ παντός.
Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0
Latin (Vulgate)
Præcipe filiis Israël, ut afferant tibi oleum de olivis purissimum, ac lucidum, ad concinnandas lucernas jugiter,
“Ordénales a los israelitas que te traigan aceite puro de olivas machacadas para el alumbrado, a fin de que las lámparas ardan continuamente.
Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)
Manda á los hijos de Israel que te traigan aceite de olivas claro, molido, para la luminaria, para hacer arder las lámparas de continuo.
“ Command the Israelites to bring you pure oil of pressed olives for the light, to keep the lamps burning continually.
✦ What the text says
Summary
The verse records a command to Moses to instruct the Israelites to bring pure, pressed olive oil for the lampstand, so that a lamp may be kept burning continually.
Key words
- tzav ("command", H6680) — piel imperative, marking a direct, intensified instruction addressed to Moses (the "you" is implied in the verb form).
- yikChu ("they may bring", H3947) — qal imperfect with prefixed ve-, expressing purpose or resulting action ("and let them take/bring") following the initial command.
- Zayit ("olive", H2132) in construct with Shemen ("oil of", H8081) forms the phrase "oil of olive," specifying the substance's source.
- zakh ("pure", H2134) and kaTit ("pressed", H3795) are adjectival/descriptive terms modifying the oil, both masculine singular, agreeing with shemen.
- ha'aLot ("to lift up/cause to go up", H5927) — hiphil infinitive construct, expressing the purpose of the oil's use: causing the lamp's flame to rise or be kept burning.
What the text says
The sentence opens with an imperative verb, tzav ("command," H6680), addressed to an unstated "you" — grammatically embedded in the verb form itself — instructing action toward bene Yisra'el ("the people/sons of Israel," H1121/H3478). The construct chain bene Yisra'el functions as the object of the command via the untranslated marker 'et (H0853). The following clause, introduced by ve-yikchu ("and let them bring," H3947), shifts to a third-person plural imperfect verb with a vav-conjunction expressing sequential or purposive continuation: the Israelites are to "bring" something 'eleicha ("to you," H0413 + H9031), i.e., to the addressee of the initial command.
The object brought is described through a chain of construct and adjectival forms: shemen zayit ("oil of olive," H8081/H2132), further qualified by zakh ("pure," H2134) and katit ("pressed," H3795), both agreeing in gender and number with the noun they modify. The purpose of this oil is given by two prepositional phrases: la-ma'or ("for the light," H3974) and le-ha'alot ner tamid ("to cause a lamp to go up/burn continually," H5927/H5216/H8548). The hiphil infinitive ha'alot denotes a causative action — literally "to cause to ascend" — applied here to the flame of the lamp, and tamid ("continually," H8548) specifies the ongoing, uninterrupted nature of this action.
Differences between versions
The LXX renders the divine command with ἔντειλαι ("command") and shifts the recipient of the oil from "to you" (Hebrew 'eleicha) to μοι ("to me"), differing from the Hebrew's second-person addressee. The Vulgate follows the Hebrew's second person with afferant tibi ("that they bring to you"), aligning more closely with the Masoretic form.
This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.