Numbers 28:15

Summary

Numbers 28:15 specifies that one male goat must be offered as a sin offering to Yehovah, presented in addition to the continual burnt offering and its accompanying drink offering. The verse closes the description of the daily/monthly offering cycle by adding this goat as a supplementary sacrifice.

Key words

• se'ir ("a male goat of", H8163B) — construct form linked to 'izzim, together meaning "a goat of the goats," i.e., a male goat from the flock.
• chattat ("a sin offering", H2403H) — feminine singular noun; the goat's designated purpose, introduced by the preposition le- ("to/as").
• 'olat ("[the] burnt offering of", H5930A) — construct form governing ha-tamid, forming the fixed phrase "the continual burnt offering."
• ye'aseh ("it will be offered", H6213I) — niphal (passive) imperfect, third person masculine singular; the passive voice removes the human agent, framing the offering as a required, ongoing procedure rather than naming who performs it.
• nisko ("its drink offering", H5262 + H9023) — construct noun with pronominal suffix "its," linking the libation directly to the continual burnt offering mentioned just before.

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence places the goat (se'ir 'izzim 'echad, "one male goat") as the grammatical subject at the front, followed by its purpose (le-chattat la-YHWH, "as a sin offering to Yehovah"). The phrase 'al-'olat ha-tamid ("upon/alongside the continual burnt offering") specifies the relationship between this goat offering and the standing daily sacrifice described earlier in the chapter — the goat is not a replacement but an addition. The verb ye'aseh, appearing near the end of the clause, is niphal (passive) imperfect, meaning "it shall be made/offered," and its passive form allows the sentence to describe the ritual action without specifying an individual performer, consistent with legal-cultic style. The final clause, ve-nisko ("and its drink offering"), uses a construct noun with a suffix that refers back to the continual burnt offering, indicating that the goat's sin offering is accompanied by (or added onto) the already-established drink offering, not a separate one of its own.

Differences between versions

The Vulgate renders chattat (singular, "a sin offering") as "pro peccatis" (plural, "for sins"), shifting from a single offering-type designation to a plural reference to sins. The Vulgate also restructures the clause, stating the goat is offered "in holocaustum sempiternum cum libamentis suis," merging the goat offering and the continual burnt offering into one construction, where the Hebrew keeps them as two distinct but juxtaposed offerings via 'al. The Septuagint's clause "καὶ ἡ αὐτοῦ" lacks an explicit noun for "drink offering," leaving the reference elliptical compared to the Hebrew ve-nisko, which explicitly states "and its drink offering."