Numbers 5:8

Summary

This verse addresses the legal situation where a wronged person has died without a go'el ("kinsman-redeemer", H1350I) to receive restitution. In that case, the compensation payment is transferred to Yehovah via the priest, in addition to the ram used for atonement.

Key words

• go'el ("a kinsman-redeemer", H1350I) — qal participle, masculine singular. As a participle it denotes an ongoing role or function ("the one who redeems/reclaims"), here naming the family member legally entitled to receive restitution on behalf of a wronged relative.
• ha.Shiv ("to repay", H7725H) — hiphil infinitive. The hiphil (causative) stem frames this as "causing return/repayment," and the infinitive form expresses purpose: repayment as the goal of the transaction.
• mu.Shav ("is repaid", H7725H) — hophal passive participle, masculine singular. This is the same root as ha.Shiv but in the hophal (causative-passive) stem, marking the compensation as something that "is caused to be returned" — i.e., the restitution itself considered as returned property, now the grammatical subject.
• ye.kha.per ("he will make atonement", H3722A) — piel imperfect. The piel (intensive) stem with imperfect aspect describes the ram's ongoing or future atoning function, distinguishing the atonement ritual from the separate restitution payment.
• 'ein ("not", H0369) — construct noun functioning as a negator of existence ("there is no..."), governing la.'Ish ("to the person", H9005+H0376G) to state the absence of an heir.

What the text says

The verse opens with a conditional construction, ve-'im... 'ein ("and if there is no..."), which sets up a legal contingency: the absence of a go'el for the wronged party. The phrase 'ein la.'Ish go'el uses the existential negator 'ein in construct with an implied noun, followed by la.'Ish ("to the man") — a possessive construction meaning "the man has no redeemer." The purpose clause le-hashiv ha-'asham 'elav ("to repay the compensation to him") uses the hiphil infinitive to specify what the missing go'el would have done: receive repayment.

The second half shifts grammatical subject to ha-'asham itself ("the compensation," H0817), now described by the hophal passive participle ha-mushav ("that which is repaid") — the passive voice removes the human recipient (since none exists) and reassigns the payment la-YHWH la-kohen ("to Yehovah, to the priest"). The final clause, introduced by mi-levad ("besides," H0905J construct), clarifies that this restitution payment is distinct from and additional to 'eil ha-kippurim ("the ram of atonement/atonements," H0352A construct + H3725), whose atoning function is expressed by the piel imperfect yekhapper ("he will make atonement") — a separate ritual act performed "by it, on behalf of him" (bo 'alav).

Differences between versions

The LXX renders go'el (H1350I) as ὁ ἀγχιστεύων ("the one who has right of next-of-kin"), matching the participial sense of an ongoing familial role. The Vulgate simplifies to qui recipiat ("one who might receive"), omitting the specific kinship terminology present in the Hebrew go'el and the Greek ἀγχιστεύων. The Vulgate also adds ut sit placabilis hostia ("that it may be a propitiating sacrifice"), an interpretive phrase not present in the Hebrew clause structure, which instead ends with the piel imperfect yekhapper describing the ram's atoning action rather than naming it a "sacrifice."