Leviticus 3:13

Summary

The verse describes three sequential ritual actions performed on an animal offering: the offerer lays his hand on its head, slaughters it before the Tent of Meeting, and Aaron's sons sprinkle its blood on the altar all around.

Key words

• sa.Makh ("he will lean", H5564) — qal sequential perfect; describes the act of pressing/leaning the hand onto the animal's head, continuing the ritual sequence begun earlier in the chapter.
• sha.Chat ("he will cut [the] throat of", H7819A) — qal sequential perfect; a specific verb for ritual slaughter by cutting the throat, distinct from general killing verbs.
• za.re.ku ("they will sprinkle", H2236) — qal sequential perfect, plural subject; the action shifts from singular "he" (the offerer) to plural "they" (Aaron's sons).
• ro.Sh ("head", H7218A) with suffix o ("his/its", H9023) — construct form + pronominal suffix, meaning "its head," referring back to the animal.
• sa.Viv ("all around", H5439H) — common gender singular noun functioning adverbially, indicating the blood is applied to the entire circumference of the altar.

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence chains four actions using the narrative vav (H9001) attached to sequential perfect verbs, a construction that marks continuation of a procedural sequence rather than isolated events. The grammatical subject shifts partway through the verse: the first two verbs, sa.Makh ("he will lean", H5564) and sha.Chat ("he will cut [the] throat of", H7819A), have an unstated singular "he" as subject — the person bringing the offering — while the third verb, za.re.ku ("they will sprinkle", H2236), shifts to a plural subject explicitly named as be.Nei 'a.ha.Ron ("sons of Aaron", H1121A + H0175).

The phrase yad ("hand", H3027G) plus suffix, in construct with ro.Sh ("head", H7218A) plus suffix, forms "his hand... its head," where the possessive suffixes track different referents — the offerer's hand and the animal's head. The location li-f.nei 'O.hel mo.'Ed ("before the tent of meeting", H6440G + H0168G + H4150I) uses a construct chain literally meaning "to the face of the tent of meeting," specifying where the slaughter occurs. The final phrase 'al ha-miz.Be.ach sa.Viv ("on the altar all around", H5921A + H4196 + H5439H) places sa.Viv after the noun to indicate the blood is applied around the altar's perimeter, not just at one point.

Differences between versions

The LXX adds ἔναντι κυρίου ("before the Lord") and specifies παρὰ τὰς θύρας τῆς σκηνῆς ("by the doors of the tent"), phrases not present in the Hebrew text, which only reads li-f.nei 'O.hel mo.'Ed ("before the tent of meeting"). The LXX also adds οἱ ἱερεῖς ("the priests") after "sons of Aaron," a clarifying title absent from the Hebrew be.Nei 'a.ha.Ron ("sons of Aaron", H1121A + H0175). The Vulgate follows the Hebrew more closely on location, rendering "in introitu tabernaculi testimonii" without the LXX's added divine-name phrase.