Leviticus 8:28

Summary

Moses takes the portions from the hands of Aaron and his sons and burns them on the altar, on top of the burnt offering. The text then classifies this act with three nominal statements: it was an installation offering, a soothing odor, and a fire offering to Yehovah.

Key words

• va-yi.Kach ("and he took", H3947G) — qal narrative verb; the vav-consecutive marks this as the next event in the sequence following the preceding actions in the ordination ritual.
• ka.pei-Hem ("palms of them", H3709G + H9028) — dual construct noun with pronominal suffix; the dual form specifically indicates the two palms/hands, from which the items are removed (me'al, "from on").
• va-yak.Ter ("and he made [it] smoke", H6999A) — hiphil narrative verb, causative stem; Moses causes the material to go up in smoke, distinct from a simple burning.
• mi.lu.'Im ("installation offerings", H4394) — masculine plural noun functioning as predicate nominative to hem ("they", H1992); a plural abstract/technical term without a preceding copula.
• 'i.Sheh ("a fire offering", H0801) — singular noun in a second nominal clause with hu' ("it", H1931), paralleling the mi.lu.'im clause structurally.

What the text says

The verse divides into two parts. The first part is a narrative sequence built on two vav-consecutive verbs: va-yi.Kach ("and he took") and va-yak.Ter ("and he made smoke"). Moses is the subject of both actions. The object marker 'oTam ("them", H0853+H9038) refers back to items taken me'al kappeihem ("from on their palms", H3709G), the dual noun specifying the two open hands of Aaron and sons. The verb yak.Ter is in the hiphil stem, indicating that Moses causes the material to ascend as smoke on ha-mizbeChah ("the altar", H4196) with the directional -ah ending marking motion toward the altar, positioned 'al ha-'oLah ("on the burnt offering", H5930A).

The second part consists of two short nominal clauses without a verb of being, characteristic of Hebrew verbless predication. The first, milu'im hem ("installation offerings [are] they"), places the plural noun milu'im before the pronoun hem, giving it emphatic, defining force — the smoke offering just described is identified as belonging to the category of milu'im, offerings tied to installation into priestly service. The second clause, 'isheh hu' ("a fire offering [is] it"), repeats the same construction with a singular predicate. Between these two identifications sits the construct phrase le-re'ach niCho.ach ("to an odor of soothing", H7381+H5207), describing the effect or quality of the smoke rather than a separate action. The final phrase la-Yehovah attaches the fire offering to Yehovah as recipient.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders milu'im ("installation offerings") with the genitive phrase τῆς τελειώσεως ("of completion/perfection"), describing the burnt offering as one "of completion" rather than using a separate technical noun as the Hebrew does. The LXX also uses κάρπωμα ("offering/fruit-offering") for 'isheh ("fire offering", H0801), a term not tied to the imagery of fire in the way 'isheh is related to 'esh ("fire"). The Vulgate similarly renders milu'im as "consecrationis... oblatio" ("offering of consecration") and 'isheh as "sacrificii" ("of sacrifice"), both shifting the Hebrew's twofold nominal identification into descriptive genitive constructions.