Leviticus 7:4

Summary

Leviticus 7:4 lists the specific fatty and organ portions that must be removed from a sacrificial animal: the two kidneys, the fat surrounding them near the loins, and the lobe attached to the liver. The verse ends with a single verb governing the entire list, indicating this removal is done as one act.

Key words

• shetei ("[the] two", H8147) — feminine dual construct, grammatically binding "kidneys" as a pair rather than treating them as separate items.
• kelayot ("kidneys", H3629) — feminine plural, appears twice in the verse (as object and as reference point for the final verb).
• yoteret ("lobe", H3508) — feminine singular, the appendage attached to the liver; its feminine gender matches the suffix on the final verb.
• yesirennah ("he will remove it", H5493G) — hiphil (causative) imperfect verb with a 3rd person feminine singular pronominal suffix (-nah, H9034), summarizing the entire preceding list of items into one grammatical action.
• chelev ("fat", H2459) — masculine singular, marked by its own direct object marker 'et (H0853), separating it as a distinct item within the list.

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence is built as a chain of items, each introduced by the direct object marker 'et (H0853): "the two kidneys," "the fat," and "the lobe," each specified further by relative clauses using asher ("which", H0834A) — "which is on them," "which is on the loins," "on the liver," "on the kidneys." This creates a layered description where each fatty part is anchored spatially to an organ (kidneys, loins, liver) before the verb appears.

The verb yesirennah (H5493G) appears only once, at the very end of the verse, governing the whole preceding list. Its feminine singular suffix (-nah) grammatically agrees with the nearest feminine noun, yoteret ("lobe," H3508), though it functions as a collective reference to the entire set of removed parts. This is a common feature of Biblical Hebrew syntax: a single verb at the close of a list can carry the semantic weight of all preceding objects, something not naturally reproducible in English or Spanish translations, which must either repeat "and remove" or use a plural pronoun.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew text names the yoteret ("lobe", H3508) as being al-hakkaved ("on the liver"). The Vulgate renders this as "reticulumque jecoris" ("the little net of the liver"), using an image of a netted membrane rather than a single lobe. Similarly, RV1909 translates yoteret as "redaño" (a caul or fatty membrane), while SBLIBRE uses "parte superior" ("upper part"), showing a range of interpretive choices for this term among translations, though all agree it is attached to the liver and removed together with the kidneys.

The LXX text supplied does not correspond in content to the Hebrew of this verse; it describes a heave offering being brought to the priest, rather than listing kidneys, fat, and liver lobe, reflecting a differing verse arrangement in the Greek textual tradition for this chapter.