Leviticus 8:13
וַיַּקְרֵב מֹשֶׁה אֶת־בְּנֵי אַהֲרֹן וַיַּלְבִּשֵׁם כֻּתֳּנֹת וַיַּחְגֹּר אֹתָם אַבְנֵט וַיַּחֲבֹשׁ לָהֶם מִגְבָּעוֹת כַּאֲשֶׁר צִוָּה יְהוָה אֶת־מֹשֶֽׁה׃
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✦ The same verse in five languages
וַיַּקְרֵ֨ב מֹשֶׁ֜ה אֶת־בְּנֵ֣י אַהֲרֹ֗ן וַיַּלְבִּשֵׁ֤ם כֻּתֳּנֹת֙ וַיַּחְגֹּ֤ר אֹתָם֙ אַבְנֵ֔ט וַיַּחֲבֹ֥שׁ לָהֶ֖ם מִגְבָּע֑וֹת כַּאֲשֶׁ֛ר צִוָּ֥ה יְהוָ֖ה אֶת־מֹשֶֽׁה׃
καὶ π ροσήγαγεν Μωυσῆς τοὺς υἱοὺς καὶ ἐνέδυσεν αὐτοὺς χιτῶνας καὶ ἔζωσεν αὐτοὺς ζώνας καὶ περιέθηκεν αὐτοῖς κιδάρεις, καθάπερ συνέταξεν Κύριος τῷ Μωυσῇ.
Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0
Latin (Vulgate)
filios quoque ejus oblatos vestivit tunicis lineis, et cinxit balteis, imposuitque mitras, ut jusserat Dominus.
Moisés hizo acercarse a los hijos de Aarón, los vistió con túnicas, les puso cinturones y les ajustó los turbantes, tal como Yehová se lo había ordenado.
Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)
Después Moisés hizo llegar los hijos de Aarón, y vistióles las túnicas, y ciñólos con cintos, y ajustóles los chapeos ( tiaras), como Jehová lo había mandado á Moisés.
Then Moses presented Aaron’s sons, put tunics on them, wrapped sashes around them, and tied headbands on them, just as the LORD had commanded him. The Priests’ Sin Offering
✦ What the text says
Summary
Leviticus 8:13 describes Moses dressing Aaron's sons in the priestly garments — tunics, sashes, and headdresses — during the ordination ceremony. The verse closes by noting that this act followed the specific command Yehovah had given to Moses.
Key words
- yaqrev ("he presented", H7126) — hiphil causative form of the verb "to draw near," indicating Moses actively brought the sons forward, not that they came on their own.
- yalbishem ("he clothed them", H3847) — hiphil causative, "he caused them to be clothed"; the suffix -m ("them", H9038) marks the sons of Aaron as direct recipients of the action.
- yachagor ("he girded", H2296) — qal (simple) verb describing the plain act of binding the sash around them, contrasting with the causative forms used for clothing and headdress-binding.
- yachavosh ("he bound on", H2280) — qal verb specifically used for winding or wrapping headgear, distinct from general "putting on" verbs.
- tzivah ("he had commanded", H6680) — piel perfect, denoting a completed, authoritative command; anchors the whole sequence of actions as compliance with a prior instruction.
What the text says
The verse is built as a chain of four narrative verbs joined by the vav consecutive (וַ, H9001), each headed by Moses as subject: he "presented" (yaqrev), "clothed" (yalbishem), "girded" (yachagor), and "bound on" (yachavosh). This chain structure in Hebrew narrative typically marks sequential, discrete actions rather than simultaneous ones — first the sons are brought forward, then each garment is applied in turn (tunic, sash, headdress). The alternation between hiphil forms (yaqrev, yalbishem — causative, "cause to come/be clothed") and qal forms (yachagor, yachavosh — direct action) reflects a grammatical distinction not fully preserved in translation: some acts are framed as Moses causing a state, others as Moses directly performing a manual action.
The final clause employs ka'asher ("just as", H0834D) with tzivah ("he had commanded", H6680), a piel perfect verb. The piel intensifies the verbal action of command, and the perfect aspect marks it as a completed act prior to the narrated events — the command had already been given, and this verse narrates its execution point by point.
Differences between versions
The Vulgate adds lineis ("linen") describing the tunics, a detail not present in the Hebrew kutonot ("tunics", H3801) nor reflected in the LXX's chitōnas. The LXX also renders the Hebrew migba'ot ("headdresses", H4021) with the specific Greek term kidareis, a transliteration/loanword for a particular type of headgear, differing stylistically from the more generic Hebrew noun.
This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.