Leviticus 4:7
וְנָתַן הַכֹּהֵן מִן־הַדָּם עַל־קַרְנוֹת מִזְבַּח קְטֹרֶת הַסַּמִּים לִפְנֵי יְהוָה אֲשֶׁר בְּאֹהֶל מוֹעֵד וְאֵת׀ כָּל־דַּם הַפָּר יִשְׁפֹּךְ אֶל־יְסוֹד מִזְבַּח הָעֹלָה אֲשֶׁר־פֶּתַח אֹהֶל מוֹעֵֽד׃
✦ Hebrew interlinear
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✦ The same verse in five languages
וְנָתַן֩ הַכֹּהֵ֨ן מִן־הַדָּ֜ם עַל־קַ֠רְנוֹת מִזְבַּ֨ח קְטֹ֤רֶת הַסַּמִּים֙ לִפְנֵ֣י יְהוָ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֖ר בְּאֹ֣הֶל מוֹעֵ֑ד וְאֵ֣ת׀ כָּל־דַּ֣ם הַפָּ֗ר יִשְׁפֹּךְ֙ אֶל־יְסוֹד֙ מִזְבַּ֣ח הָעֹלָ֔ה אֲשֶׁר־פֶּ֖תַח אֹ֥הֶל מוֹעֵֽד׃
καὶ ἐπιθήσει ὁ ἱερεὺς ἀπὸ τοῦ αἵματος τοῦ μόσχου ἐπὶ τὰ κέρατα τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου τοῦ θυ μιάματος τῆς συνθέσεως τοῦ ἐναντίον κυρίου, ὅ ἐστιν ἐν τῇ σκηνῇ τοῦ μαρτυρίου· καὶ πᾶν τὸ αἷμα τοῦ μόσχου ἐκχεεῖ παρὰ τὴν βάσιν τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου τῶν ὁλοκαυτωμάτων, ὅ ἐστιν παρὰ τὰς θύρας τῆς σκηνῆς τοῦ μαρτυρίου.
Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0
Latin (Vulgate)
Ponetque de eodem sanguine super cornua altaris thymiamatis gratissimi Domino, quod est in tabernaculo testimonii: omnem autem reliquum sanguinem fundet in basim altaris holocausti in introitu tabernaculi.
El sacerdote pondrá también un poco de la sangre en los cuernos del altar del incienso aromático que está en la Tienda del Encuentro, delante de Yehová, y derramará el resto de la sangre del becerro al pie del altar del holocausto, que está a la entrada de la Tienda del Encuentro.
Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)
Y pondrá el sacerdote de la sangre sobre los cuernos del altar del perfume aromático, que está en el tabernáculo del testimonio delante de Jehová: y echará toda la sangre del becerro al pie del altar del holocausto, que está á la puerta del tabernáculo del testimonio.
The priest must then put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of fragrant incense that is before the LORD in the Tent of Meeting. And he is to pour out the rest of the bull ’s blood at the base of the altar of burnt offering at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.
✦ What the text says
Summary
Leviticus 4:7 describes the priest applying some of the bull's blood to the horns of the incense altar located in the tent of meeting, then pouring the remainder of the blood at the base of the burnt offering altar situated at the entrance of that same tent.
Key words
- na.Tan ("he will put", H5414H) — qal sequential perfect; continues the ritual sequence begun in prior verses, indicating a required next action by the priest.
- Kar.not ("horns of", H7161A) — feminine plural construct; links to mizbach ("altar of") forming the phrase "horns of the altar."
- ke.To.ret ha.sa.Mim ("incense of the perfumes", H7004 + H5561) — construct chain specifying which altar is meant: the one associated with aromatic incense, distinguishing it from the burnt-offering altar mentioned later.
- li.f.Nei Yah.weh ("before Yehovah", H9005+H6440G+H3068G) — construct phrase f.Nei ("face of") governing the divine name, situating the incense altar spatially relative to Yehovah's presence.
- yish.poKh ("he will pour out", H8210G) — qal imperfect, marking a distinct verbal aspect from the preceding sequential perfect na.Tan, describing the disposal of the remaining blood.
What the text says
The verse divides into two parallel actions, each built around a verb governing blood (dam, H1818) and a destination marked by prepositions ('al, H5921A, "on"; 'el, H0413, "to"). The first clause uses na.Tan ("he will put") with the partitive preposition min ("some of", H4480A) before ha.Dam ("the blood"), indicating that only a portion of the blood is applied to the horns of the incense altar. The location of this altar is specified through a chain of construct nouns — mizbach qetoret ha.sammim — followed by the phrase li.fnei Yehovah ("before Yehovah") and a relative clause 'asher be'ohel mo'ed ("which is in the tent of meeting"), anchoring the incense altar's position within the sacred tent.
The second clause shifts to yish.poKh ("he will pour out"), an imperfect verb, applied to kol dam ha.par ("all the blood of the bull"), marked by the direct object particle 'et (H0853). This blood goes to the yesod ("base", H3247H) of the burnt-offering altar, again located through a relative clause: 'asher petach 'ohel mo'ed ("which is at the entrance of the tent of meeting"). The construct chains throughout (qarnot mizbach, petach 'ohel mo'ed) compress spatial relationships without additional prepositions, a feature not always visible in translation.
Differences between versions
The LXX specifies tou moschou ("of the calf") after "blood" in the first clause, an explicit noun not present in the Hebrew at that point, where the Hebrew simply has min-ha.dam ("some of the blood") without repeating "bull" until the second clause (dam ha.par). The Vulgate's gratissimi Domino ("most pleasing to the Lord") expands the construct phrase qetoret ha.sammim with an interpretive qualifier not present as a separate lexical item in the Hebrew construct chain.
This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.