Numbers 5:15

וְהֵבִיא הָאִישׁ אֶת־אִשְׁתּוֹ אֶל־הַכֹּהֵן וְהֵבִיא אֶת־קָרְבָּנָהּ עָלֶיהָ עֲשִׂירִת הָאֵיפָה קֶמַח שְׂעֹרִים לֹֽא־יִצֹק עָלָיו שֶׁמֶן וְלֹֽא־יִתֵּן עָלָיו לְבֹנָה כִּֽי־מִנְחַת קְנָאֹת הוּא מִנְחַת זִכָּרוֹן מַזְכֶּרֶת עָוֹֽן׃

Hebrew interlinear

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The same verse in five languages

Hebrew

וְהֵבִ֨יא הָאִ֣ישׁ אֶת־אִשְׁתּוֹ֮ אֶל־הַכֹּהֵן֒ וְהֵבִ֤יא אֶת־קָרְבָּנָהּ֙ עָלֶ֔יהָ עֲשִׂירִ֥ת הָאֵיפָ֖ה קֶ֣מַח שְׂעֹרִ֑ים לֹֽא־יִצֹ֨ק עָלָ֜יו שֶׁ֗מֶן וְלֹֽא־יִתֵּ֤ן עָלָיו֙ לְבֹנָ֔ה כִּֽי־מִנְחַ֤ת קְנָאֹת֙ ה֔וּא מִנְחַ֥ת זִכָּר֖וֹן מַזְכֶּ֥רֶת עָוֹֽן׃

Greek (Septuagint)

καὶ καὶ ἄξει ὁ ἄνθρωπος τὴν γυναῖκα αὐτοῦ πρὸς τὸν ἴε ῥέα, καὶ προσοίσει τὸ δῶρον περὶ αὐτῆς, τὸ δέκατον τοῦ οἰφί, ἄλευρον κρίθινον· οὐκ ἐπιχεεῖ ἐπ’ αὐτὸ ἔλαιον οὐδὲ ἐπιθήσει ἐπ’ αὐτὸ λίβανον, ἔστιν γὰρ θυσία ζηλοτυπίας, θυσία μνημοσύνου ἀναμιμνήσκουσα ἁμαρτίαν.

Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0

Latin (Vulgate)

adducet eam ad sacerdotem, et offeret oblationem pro illa, decimam partem sati farinæ hordeaceæ: non fundet super eam oleum, nec imponet thus: quia sacrificium zelotypiæ est, et oblatio investigans adulterium.

Spanish

entonces el hombre llevará a su mujer ante el sacerdote, y presentará su ofrenda por ella: la décima parte de un efa de harina de cebada. No derramará aceite ni le pondrá incienso encima, porque es una ofrenda de celos, una ofrenda de recordatorio, que trae a la memoria el pecado.

Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)

Entonces el marido traerá su mujer al sacerdote, y traerá su ofrenda con ella, la décima de un epha de harina de cebada; no echará sobre ella aceite, ni pondrá sobre ella incienso: porque es presente de celos, presente de recordación, que trae en memoria pecado.

English

then he is to bring his wife to the priest. He must also bring for her an offering of a tenth of an ephah of barley flour. He is not to pour oil over it or put frankincense on it, because it is a grain offering for jealousy, an offering of memorial as a reminder of iniquity.

What the text says

Summary

The verse describes the procedure a husband must follow when bringing his wife to the priest under suspicion of infidelity: he presents a specific grain offering of barley flour without oil or frankincense, explicitly identified as a "grain offering of jealousies" meant to bring iniquity to remembrance.

Key words

  • he.Vi' ("he will bring", H0935P) — hiphil causative form, repeated twice (words 2 and 12), showing the husband as the active agent who causes both his wife and the offering to come before the priest.
  • ka.re.ba.Na ("offering of", H7133A) — construct noun with the pronominal suffix -ah ("her"), literally "her offering," tying the grain offering directly to the woman under suspicion.
  • ke.na.'Ot ("jealousies", H7068) — plural noun, part of the construct phrase minchat qena'ot ("grain offering of jealousies"), the technical designation for this specific ritual offering.
  • maz.Ke.ret ("[which] brings to remembrance", H2142) — hiphil participle, feminine singular, functioning as a description of the offering's purpose: it actively causes remembrance.
  • 'a.Von ("iniquity", H5771G) — the object being remembered, paired with zikkaron ("remembrance", H2146) to form a double designation of the offering's function.

What the text says

The verse opens with two sequential perfect verbs, both he.Vi' ("he will bring", H0935P), forming a narrative chain: the husband first brings his wife to the priest, then brings her offering. The repetition of the same verb root for both actions in Hebrew creates a parallel structure not always preserved in translation — the man's act of "bringing" applies equally to the woman and to the grain offering, both introduced by the same causative verb.

The offering itself is specified in construct chains: 'asirit ha'eifah ("tenth of the ephah", H6224 + H0374) qemach se'orim ("flour of barleys", H7058 + H8184) — a precise quantity of a specific grain type. Two prohibitions follow, both using the negation lo' ("not", H3808) with qal imperfect verbs (yitzoq, "he will pour out", H3332G; yiten, "he will put", H5414H): no oil is poured on it, no frankincense is placed on it. These verbs are third-person masculine singular, referring back to the husband as the one who withholds these usual additions.

The closing clause uses the particle ki ("for/that", H3588A) to introduce the rationale, built on two construct phrases with minchat ("grain offering of", H4503G): first minchat qena'ot ("grain offering of jealousies"), then minchat zikkaron ("grain offering of remembrance"). The final word, the hiphil participle maz.Ke.ret ("bringing to remembrance", H2142), grammatically extends this second phrase, describing the offering as one that causes 'avon ("iniquity", H5771G) to be remembered.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders qemach se'orim ("flour of barleys") as ἄλευρον κρίθινον ("barley flour"), collapsing the Hebrew construct chain into a single adjectival phrase. The Vulgate translates the final phrase maz.Ke.ret 'avon as "oblatio investigans adulterium" ("an offering investigating adultery"), introducing the specific term "adultery" where the Hebrew has the more general 'avon ("iniquity", H5771G), and rendering the participle maz.Ke.ret ("bringing to remembrance") as "investigans" ("investigating") rather than as a remembrance-function.

This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.