Leviticus 24:7

Summary

The verse instructs that pure frankincense be placed on the row (of bread) so that it becomes, for the bread, a memorial portion — a fire offering to Yehovah. The syntax links three actions in sequence: placing the frankincense, its resulting status as a memorial, and its classification as a fire offering.

Key words

• na.ta.Ta ("you will put", H5414H) — qal sequential perfect, second person masculine singular; continues a chain of prior instructions with a future/consequential sense ("and you shall put").
• ma.'a.Re.khet ("row", H4635) — feminine singular noun with definite article, referring to the arranged setting of bread mentioned earlier in the chapter.
• za.Kah ("pure", H2134) — feminine singular adjective agreeing with levonah ("frankincense", H3828), specifying its quality.
• hay.Tah ("it will belong", H1961) — qal sequential perfect, third person feminine singular, referring back to the frankincense (feminine noun) and marking its designated function.
• 'az.ka.Rah ("a memorial offering", H0234) — feminine singular noun, naming the category of offering the frankincense becomes.

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence is built as two linked clauses using the sequential perfect (ve-qatal) construction: ve-natatta ("and you will put") followed by ve-hayetah ("and it will be/belong"). This grammatical chain presents the placing of the frankincense and its resulting status as a memorial portion as connected steps in a single procedural instruction, typical of legal/ritual Hebrew prose. The subject of hayetah is feminine, matching levonah ("frankincense"), so the clause states that the frankincense itself becomes the memorial (azkarah), not the bread. The phrase la-lechem ("to the bread", H3899H with preposition) indicates the frankincense's function is in relation to the bread — it serves as the portion offered in the bread's stead. The final noun isheh ("fire offering", H0801) classifies the whole act, followed by la-YHWH, naming the recipient.

Differences between versions

The LXX adds καὶ ἅλα ("and salt"), an element not present in the Hebrew text, which mentions only levonah zakah ("pure frankincense"). The LXX also uses a plural verb (ἐπιθήσετε, "you [pl.] will place") where the Hebrew natatta is singular. The Vulgate's super eos ("over them," plural) diverges from the Hebrew singular al-hamma'arekhet ("on the row"), suggesting the Vulgate construes the phrase as referring to the loaves rather than the single row structure named in the Hebrew.