Leviticus 24:5
וְלָקַחְתָּ סֹלֶת וְאָפִיתָ אֹתָהּ שְׁתֵּים עֶשְׂרֵה חַלּוֹת שְׁנֵי עֶשְׂרֹנִים יִהְיֶה הַֽחַלָּה הָאֶחָֽת׃
✦ Hebrew interlinear
Tap a word to see its entry
✦ The same verse in five languages
וְלָקַחְתָּ֣ סֹ֔לֶת וְאָפִיתָ֣ אֹתָ֔הּ שְׁתֵּ֥ים עֶשְׂרֵ֖ה חַלּ֑וֹת שְׁנֵי֙ עֶשְׂרֹנִ֔ים יִהְיֶ֖ה הַֽחַלָּ֥ה הָאֶחָֽת׃
καὶ λήμψεσθε σεμίδαλιν καὶ αὐτὴν δώδεκα ἄρτους, δύο δεκάτων ἔσται ὁ ἄρτος ὁ εἷς.
Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0
Latin (Vulgate)
Accipies quoque similam, et coques ex ea duodecim panes, qui singuli habebunt duas decimas:
“Tomarás harina fina y hornearás doce panes, usando alrededor de dos kilos de harina para cada pan.
Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)
Y tomarás flor de harina, y cocerás de ella doce tortas: cada torta será de dos décimas.
You are also to take fine flour and bake twelve loaves, using two-tenths of an ephah for each loaf,
✦ What the text says
Leviticus 24:5
Summary
The verse instructs the taking of fine flour to bake twelve breads, each composed of a fixed measure of two-tenths. The sentence specifies both the total number of loaves and the quantity of flour required for each individual loaf.
Key words
- So.let ("fine flour", H5560) — feminine singular noun designating the specific type of flour used, distinct from ordinary flour.
- cha.Lot ("round perforated breads", H2471) — feminine plural noun; the specific baked item to be produced, twelve in total.
- 'es.ro.Nim ("tenths", H6241) — masculine plural noun indicating the unit of measure allotted per loaf.
- yih.Yeh ("it will be", H1961) — qal imperfect, expressing an ongoing or standing requirement rather than a one-time action, applied to the measure of each loaf.
- ha.Chalah ha.'eChat ("the one bread/loaf", H2471 + H0259) — the noun with the definite article combined with the numeral "one," singling out each individual loaf for the measurement statement.
What the text says
The verse opens with two sequential perfect verbs, la.kach.Ta ("you will take", H3947G) and 'a.fi.Ta ("you will bake", H0644), both second person masculine singular, continuing a narrative chain begun with the vav conjunction (H9001). This grammatical form presents the actions as a continuous sequence: first taking the So.let ("fine flour", H5560), then baking it. The object suffix on 'o.Tah ("it", H0853+H9034) refers back to the flour, confirming that the flour itself is what is baked into the loaves.
The number of loaves is given by the compound cardinal she.Teim 'es.Reh ("two [plus] ten", H8147+H6240), literally "two-ten," the standard Hebrew construction for "twelve," modifying cha.Lot ("round perforated breads", H2471). The text then shifts to specify the measure per loaf using a construct phrase: she.Nei 'es.ro.Nim ("two of tenths", H8147+H6241), where the dual construct form she.Nei ties directly to the following plural noun. The clause concludes with yih.Yeh ("it will be", H1961), an imperfect verb governing the singular subject ha.Chalah ha.'eChat ("the one loaf", H2471+H9009+H0259+H9009), a phrase using two definite articles with the numeral "one" to isolate and describe each individual loaf's required quantity of flour.
This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.