Numbers 15:13

Summary

The verse specifies that every native-born Israelite must perform the preceding regulations "thus," in the context of bringing near a fire offering whose smell is described as soothing to Yehovah. It establishes procedural uniformity for the 'ezrach ("native-born", H0249) in the act of offering.

Key words

• 'ezrach ("native-born", H0249) — masculine singular noun with the definite article (ha., H9009), designating the native-born person as a defined category, distinct from any outsider category discussed in surrounding verses.
• ya'aseh ("he will do", H6213A) — qal imperfect, third person masculine singular; the imperfect aspect conveys an action to be carried out generally or repeatedly, not a single completed act.
• kakhah ("thus", H3602) — adverb pointing back to previously stated instructions, indicating manner of execution rather than content.
• hakriv ("bring near", H7126H) — hiphil infinitive; the hiphil stem is causative, meaning the offerer causes the offering to approach/be brought near, rather than simply "giving" or "placing" it.
• isheh ("a fire offering of", H0801) construct with reiach ("an odor of", H7381) construct with nichoach ("soothing", H5207) — a construct chain building the technical phrase "fire offering of soothing odor," describing the sensory quality attributed to the offering as it relates to Yehovah (H3068G).

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence opens with kol-ha'ezrach ("every the-native-born"), a construct phrase functioning as the subject: "every native-born person." The verb ya'aseh ("he will do") is qal imperfect, which in legal/instructional Hebrew often carries an obligatory or habitual sense — the action is prescribed as standard practice, not a one-time event. The object is marked by 'et (H0853, untranslated) before 'elleh ("these [things]"), pointing back to material discussed earlier in the passage rather than introducing new content in this verse alone.

The clause le-hakriv ("to bring near") uses an infinitive construct with the preposition le, indicating purpose or circumstance: the native-born person acts "in order to bring near" or "when bringing near" the offering. The causative hiphil stem of hakriv frames the offerer as the agent who causes the offering to draw near the altar/Yehovah, a nuance not always distinguishable in translations that simply render it as "presents" or "offers." The final phrase, a three-part construct chain (isheh reiach nichoach, "fire offering of odor of soothing"), stacks nouns in genitive-like relation, a common Hebrew way of building compound technical terms — this chain culminates in la-Yehovah ("to Yehovah"), marking the offering's directional recipient.

Differences between versions

The Vulgate fragment given ("Tam indigenæ quam peregrini") introduces "peregrini" ("foreigners/sojourners"), a comparative term not present in this Hebrew verse, suggesting the Vulgate here merges or anticipates content from an adjacent verse dealing with the ger ("sojourner"). The LXX renders kol-ha'ezrach as pas ho autochthōn ("every autochthonous/native person"), a close semantic match, but translates isheh ("fire offering") as karpōmata ("offerings," plural), a broader term than the specific "fire offering" construct in the Hebrew.