Leviticus 3:6

Summary

The verse continues the regulations for the "peace offering" (zevach shelamim, H2077 + H8002) by addressing the case where the offering comes from the flock (tzon, H6629G) rather than from cattle. It specifies that the animal, whether male (zakhar, H2145) or female (neqevah, H5347), must be unblemished (tamim, H8549G) when presented to Yehovah.

Key words

• Tzon ("flock", H6629G) — common gender singular noun, governed by the preposition min ("from/one of", H4480A), marking the source category of the offering (small livestock, as opposed to herd animals treated in the previous verses).
• korbano ("his offering/present", H7133A) — masculine singular construct noun with 3ms suffix (-o, H9023), meaning "his offering," linking the offerer to the sacrificial object.
• zevach shelamim ("sacrifice of peace offerings", H2077 + H8002) — construct chain: zevach ("sacrifice of") governs shelamim (plural noun), naming the specific sacrificial category.
• zakhar... neqevah ("male... female", H2145, H5347) — paired masculine/feminine singular adjectives joined by 'o ("or", H0176A), showing that sex of the animal is not restricted.
• tamim ("unblemished", H8549G) — masculine singular adjective describing the required physical condition of the animal, positioned before the verb.
• yaqrivennu ("he will present it", H7126H) — hiphil imperfect verb with 3ms object suffix (-nu, H9033), a causative form indicating the offerer actively brings/causes the animal to be brought near.

What the text says

The verse opens with the conditional construction ve'im ("and if", H9002 + H0518A), marking this as a subordinate clause parallel to a preceding condition (concerning herd animals, treated earlier in the chapter). The phrase min-hatzon ("from the flock") specifies the source of the offering, using the preposition min in its partitive sense ("one of the flock").

The core noun phrase korbano le-zevach shelamim la-YHWH stacks three construct/prepositional relationships: "his offering," "for a sacrifice of peace offerings," "to Yehovah." This chain identifies the offering's owner, its ritual category, and its recipient before any animal is even named. Only after this framework is established does the text specify zakhar 'o neqevah ("male or female"), indicating that the peace offering from the flock — unlike some other offering types — admits either sex.

The adjective tamim ("unblemished") is placed before the verb yaqrivennu ("he will present it"), a hiphil imperfect form built on the root meaning "to draw near," here causative: the offerer causes the animal to be brought near/presented. The pronominal suffix -nu ("it") refers back to the animal just specified, closing the sentence by tying the condition (male or female, unblemished) directly to the act of presentation.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders min-hatzon ("from the flock") as apo tōn probatōn ("from the sheep"), narrowing the Hebrew's more general term tzon (which can include both sheep and goats) to "sheep" specifically. The SBLIBRE Spanish translation reflects this broader sense by rendering it as "del rebaño de ovejas o cabras" ("from the flock of sheep or goats"), making explicit what tzon implies but does not state lexically. The Vulgate's de ovibus ("from the sheep") parallels the LXX's narrower rendering rather than the Hebrew's broader term.