Numbers 6:17

Summary

The verse instructs that the ram is to be offered as a zevach shelamim ("sacrifice of peace offerings", H2077+H8002) to Yehovah, presented together with the basket of unleavened bread. The priest then also offers the accompanying grain offering and drink offering that belong to the ritual.

Key words

• 'ayil ("ram", H0352A) — definite noun, fronted with the direct-object marker 'et before the verb, placing the sacrificial animal at the head of the clause rather than in its normal post-verbal position.
• zevach ("sacrifice of", H2077) — construct noun governing shelamim, forming the technical phrase "sacrifice of peace offerings"; the construct chain links the general term for slaughtered offering to its specific category.
• shelamim ("peace offerings", H8002) — plural noun, the specific category of offering associated with communal or well-being sacrifices.
• ya'aseh ("he will offer", H6213I) — qal imperfect, expressing the action as ongoing/future within the ritual instruction (referring to the Nazirite performing the offering).
• 'asah ("he will offer", H6213I) — qal sequential (vav-consecutive) perfect, marking the next step in the ritual sequence, here shifting the subject to the priest.
• minchato / nisko ("his grain offering" / "his drink offering", H4503G + H9023 / H5262 + H9023) — construct nouns with 3ms pronominal suffixes, indicating these offerings belong to and accompany the ram offering just described.

What the text says

The clause begins with the object 'et-ha'ayil ("the ram") placed before its verb ya'aseh ("he will offer"), a fronted word order that gives prominence to the ram as the item under discussion, continuing the topic from the preceding verses. The verb itself is an imperfect, describing the offering as the action to be carried out. The phrase zevach shelamim is a construct chain — "sacrifice of peace-offerings" — specifying the category of sacrifice, followed by la-Yehovah ("to Yehovah") indicating the recipient, and 'al sal ha-matzot ("with/upon the basket of unleavened bread") linking it to the basket mentioned earlier in the chapter.

The second half of the verse shifts subject and aspect: ve-'asah ha-kohen uses a vav-consecutive perfect, a grammatical form that in narrative and legal sequences functions to continue the action chain — here handing the ritual task from the Nazirite to ha-kohen ("the priest", H3548). The priest's actions are described with two more construct nouns carrying 3ms suffixes, minchato ("his grain offering") and nisko ("his drink offering"), both governed by the object marker 'et, indicating these are offerings belonging to the ram-offering just performed, not new independent items.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders zevach shelamim as θυσίαν σωτηρίου ("sacrifice of salvation/deliverance"), while the Vulgate uses hostiam pacificam ("peaceful sacrifice"), both differing somewhat from the Hebrew's specific technical term "peace offerings." In the final clause, the LXX translates minchato ("his grain offering") with the generic term θυσίαν ("his sacrifice") rather than a term specific to grain offerings, whereas the Hebrew distinguishes minchah (grain offering) from zevach (sacrifice) as separate categories.