Leviticus 3:14

Summary

The verse describes the offerer presenting part of his offering as a fire offering to Yehovah: specifically the fat covering the entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails. It specifies which portions of the animal are designated for this purpose.

Key words

• hikRiv ("he will present", H7126) — hiphil (causative) sequential perfect; the subject causes the offering to come near/be brought, continuing the narrative sequence from the preceding verses.
• qorbanO ("his offering", H7133A) — construct noun with pronominal suffix "his," marking the offering as belonging to the offerer, the material from which the specified portion is taken.
• 'isheh ("a fire offering", H0801) — masculine singular noun designating the category of offering consumed by fire.
• Chelev ("fat", H2459) — masculine singular noun, repeated twice in the verse (lines 12 and 22) to identify the specific fatty portions singled out.
• mekhaSeh ("covers", H3680) — piel participle, masculine singular, describing the fat's position as an ongoing action/state ("the one covering"), used adjectivally to modify Chelev.

What the text says

The verse opens with the narrative ve-hikRiv ("and he will present"), a sequential form that continues the procedural sequence describing the offering ritual. The verb is hiphil, marking a causative sense: the offerer causes his portion to be brought near or presented. The phrase mimenu qorbanO ("from it, his offering") uses the preposition min ("from") plus a pronominal suffix referring back to the whole offering, followed by the construct noun qorbanO ("his offering"), indicating that what follows is drawn out from the larger offering already mentioned.

The object of the presentation is introduced by the direct object marker 'et, followed by ha-Chelev ha-mekhaSeh 'et-ha-Kerev — "the fat that covers the entrails." Here mekhaSeh is a piel participle, a verbal form functioning as a substantive-like modifier, literally "the one covering," attached to Chelev ("fat") to specify its location. A second object clause follows with ve-'et kol-ha-Chelev 'asher 'al-ha-Kerev ("and all the fat that is on the entrails"), using the relative particle 'asher ("which") plus the preposition 'al ("on") to describe a second layer or portion of fat, distinct from but adjacent to the first. The repetition of Chelev ("fat") and Kerev ("entrails") in both clauses creates a parallel structure identifying two specified fatty portions associated with the entrails.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders 'isheh ("fire offering", H0801) as κάρπωμα ("fruit offering" or "offering"), a term differing in imagery from the Hebrew's fire-related root. The Vulgate renders the phrase with "in pastum ignis dominici" ("as food for the divine fire"), making explicit the burning function implied but not stated verbally in the Hebrew 'isheh. The Vulgate also translates ha-Kerev ("the entrails", H7130H) in the second instance as "universa vitalia" ("all the vital organs"), a broader term than the Hebrew's repeated Kerev.