Leviticus 4:23

Summary

This verse continues the case of a ruler's inadvertent sin, describing the moment his sin is made known to him and the resulting obligation to bring an unblemished male goat as an offering. The verse moves from a passive disclosure of guilt to an active response of bringing a sacrifice.

Key words

• ho.Da' ("it has been made known", H3045) — hophal (causative passive) perfect; the sin is not something the man discovers on his own but something brought to his awareness by an outside cause, expressed grammatically as an action done to him.
• cha.ta.T ("sin of", H2403B) — feminine singular construct with the suffix "his," forming "his sin," tying the abstract noun directly to the person who committed it.
• cha.Ta' ("he has sinned", H2398) — qal perfect, a simple completed action, contrasting with the causative-passive verb used for the disclosure of that same sin.
• he.Vi' ("he will bring", H0935P) — hiphil sequential perfect, continuing the narrative chain from the previous clause and marking the main consequence: causing the offering to be brought.
• se.'Ir ("male goat of", H8163B) + 'i.Zim ("goats", H5795) — construct chain meaning "a goat of the goats," i.e., a male goat specifically from that animal category, further specified by za.Khar ("a male", H2145) and ta.Mim ("unblemished", H8549G).

What the text says

The clause opens with 'ov- ("or", H0176A), linking this verse to the preceding condition about a ruler's sin, presenting an alternative circumstance under which the obligation applies. The verbal pair ho.Da' (hophal) and cha.Ta' (qal) creates a grammatical contrast: the sinning itself (cha.Ta') is a simple, direct action performed by the subject, while the becoming-known of that sin (ho.Da') is grammatically passive and causative, meaning the knowledge is caused to reach him rather than something he actively seeks out. The relative clause 'a.Sher cha.Ta' Bah ("which he sinned in it/her") specifies the sin already introduced by the construct chattato ("his sin"), using the feminine pronominal suffix referring back to chatta't ("sin"), a feminine noun.

The main clause begins with the sequential ve.he.Vi' ("and he will bring"), a hiphil form continuing the narrative sequence and indicating the required response once the sin is known. The object is introduced by the untranslated marker 'et (H0853), followed by korbano ("his offering") in construct form, further defined by the triple qualifier se.'ir 'izzim zachar tamim — "a male goat of the goats, a male, unblemished" — stacking three descriptors to specify the exact animal required.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew 'ov- ("or", H0176A) linking this verse to the prior condition is rendered in the LXX as καὶ ("and"), presenting a continuous connection rather than an alternative case. The Vulgate's et postea intellexerit peccatum suum ("and afterward he understands his sin") uses an active verb of understanding, differing from the Hebrew's passive-causative ho.Da', where the knowledge is caused to reach him rather than being an act of his own understanding. The Vulgate also adds Domino ("to the Lord") when describing the offering, a specification not present in the Hebrew text at this point.