Leviticus 8:11

Summary

Moses sprinkles some of the anointing oil on the altar seven times, then anoints the altar, all its utensils, the laver, and its base, in order to consecrate them. The verse describes two ritual actions — sprinkling and anointing — applied to the sanctuary furnishings.

Key words

• va-i.Yaz ("he spattered", H5137A) — hiphil narrative verb, causative form indicating Moses caused the oil to scatter onto the altar.
• pe.'a.Mim ("times", H6471) — masculine plural noun paired with She.va' ("seven", H7651), marking the repeated ritual count of the sprinkling.
• va-i.yim.Shach ("he anointed", H4886) — qal narrative verb, a simple (non-intensive) action verb describing the act of anointing itself.
• ke.La ("utensils", H3627) — masculine plural noun in construct form ("utensils of..."), governing the following pronominal suffix "its," linking the vessels to the altar.
• ka.de.Sha-m ("to set apart as holy... them", H6942G) — piel infinitive with 3rd person plural suffix, expressing purpose ("in order to consecrate them") and using the intensive stem for the act of sanctifying.

What the text says

The verse is built on two chained narrative verbs, va-i.Yaz ("he spattered") and va-i.yim.Shach ("he anointed"), both connected by the narrative va ("and"), which in Biblical Hebrew signals sequential action: first the sprinkling, then the anointing. The sprinkling is done mi.Me.nu ("some of it", H4480A + H9033), indicating a portion of a substance (previously identified in context as oil) is applied 'al-ha.miz.Be.ach ("on the altar", H5921A + H4196), repeated She.va' pe.'a.Mim ("seven times").

The second clause lists objects of the anointing using the direct object marker 'et (H0853) repeated before each item: the altar, "all its utensils" (kol-ke.La-v, construct chain meaning "all of the utensils of it"), "the laver" (ha.ki.Yor), and "its base" (ka.N-o). This repetition of 'et before each noun phrase, joined by ve. ("and"), gives a list structure typical of ritual enumeration, treating each item as a distinct object receiving the same action.

The final infinitive le.ka.de.Sha-m ("to set apart as holy them") expresses purpose: the anointing and sprinkling are done in order to consecrate these objects, using the piel stem, which in this verbal system marks an intensive or effective action — rendering the objects holy rather than merely describing them as holy.

Differences between versions

The LXX splits the material differently across verses (labeling part as "10b") and adds ἡγίασεν αὐτό / ἡγίασεν αὐτά ("and he sanctified it/them") as separate finite verbs after each anointing, where the Hebrew instead uses a single final infinitive le.ka.de.Sha-m covering all objects at once. The Vulgate's sanctificans ("sanctifying") appears as a participle preceding the sprinkling, differing in placement from the Hebrew infinitive of purpose that comes only at the end of the verse.