Numbers 29:9
וּמִנְחָתָם סֹלֶת בְּלוּלָה בַשָּׁמֶן שְׁלֹשָׁה עֶשְׂרֹנִים לַפָּר שְׁנֵי עֶשְׂרֹנִים לָאַיִל הָאֶחָֽד׃
✦ Hebrew interlinear
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✦ The same verse in five languages
וּמִנְחָתָ֔ם סֹ֖לֶת בְּלוּלָ֣ה בַשָּׁ֑מֶן שְׁלֹשָׁ֤ה עֶשְׂרֹנִים֙ לַפָּ֔ר שְׁנֵי֙ עֶשְׂרֹנִ֔ים לָאַ֖יִל הָאֶחָֽד׃
ἡ θυσία αὐτῶν σεμίδαλις ἀναπεποιημένη ἐν ἐλαίῳ, τρία δέκατα τῷ μόσχῳ τῷ ἑνὶ καὶ δύο δέκατα τῷ κριῷ τῷ ἐν,
Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0
Latin (Vulgate)
et in sacrificiis eorum similæ oleo conspersæ tres decimas per singulos vitulos, duas decimas per arietem,
junto con su ofrenda de grano de harina fina mezclada con aceite: tres décimos de efa por el toro, dos décimos por el carnero,
Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)
Y sus presentes, flor de harina amasada con aceite, tres décimas con cada becerro, dos décimas con cada carnero,
together with their grain offerings of fine flour mixed with oil — three-tenths of an ephah with the bull, two-tenths of an ephah with the ram,
✦ What the text says
Summary
Numbers 29:9 specifies the grain offering (minchah) that accompanies the burnt offerings: fine flour mixed with oil, measured in fixed quantities according to the animal — three-tenths for the bull and two-tenths for the ram.
Key words
- minchatam ("their grain offering", H4503G) — feminine singular construct noun with third-person plural suffix ("their"), linking the offering to the animals previously mentioned in the chapter.
- solet ("fine flour", H5560) — feminine singular noun, the base substance of the offering.
- belulah ("mixed", H1101A) — qal passive participle, feminine singular, describing solet as a substance that has been mixed (with oil), not an action currently being performed.
- esronim ("tenths [of an ephah]", H6241) — masculine plural noun, appearing twice with different numbers (sheloshah, "three", H7969; shenei, "two", H8147 construct) to indicate the exact measure required per animal.
- la-par ("for the young bull", H6499 with preposition-article H9005) — the measure of three-tenths is grammatically tied to this specific animal via the preposition la- ("for/to").
What the text says
The Hebrew sentence structure places minchatam ("their grain offering") first as the subject, followed by an appositional description: solet belulah va-shamen — literally "fine flour, mixed, in the oil." The participle belulah functions adjectivally, modifying solet, and describes a completed state of mixing rather than an ongoing process. This participial construction is common in Levitical offering formulas.
The remainder of the verse distributes specific quantities using construct and prepositional phrases: sheloshah esronim la-par ("three tenths for the bull") and shenei esronim la-ayil ha-echad ("two tenths for the one ram"). The numeral shenei appears in construct form, grammatically binding it to esronim. The phrase ha-ayil ha-echad ("the ram, the one") uses the article twice, emphasizing a single ram as distinct from a larger group, which matches the ritual context of multiple rams offered across the festival days described in this chapter.
The repetition of esronim with different numerals for each animal reflects a proportional system: larger animals (the bull) receive a larger measure of flour than smaller ones (the ram), a pattern consistent elsewhere in Numbers' sacrificial instructions.
Differences between versions
The Vulgate renders la-par ("for the bull") as "per singulos vitulos" ("for each calf/bull"), introducing distributive language ("singulos") not explicitly present in the Hebrew singular noun par. The LXX uses τῷ μόσχῳ τῷ ἑνὶ ("for the one calf"), explicitly adding "one" (ἑνὶ) to par, a specification not present in the Hebrew for the bull, though the Hebrew does specify "the one" (ha-echad) for the ram later in the verse.
This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.