Numbers 7:70

Summary

This fragment lists one item within a larger inventory of offerings: se'ir-'izzim 'echad ("one male goat of the goats") designated le-chattat ("for a sin offering"). The clause simply names the animal and its cultic purpose.

Key words

• se'ir ("a male goat of", H8163B) — masculine singular noun in construct state, meaning it must be joined to the following noun to complete its sense ("goat of goats," i.e., a male goat from the flock of goats).
• 'izzim ("goats", H5795) — masculine plural noun, the absolute form completing the construct chain begun by se'ir, specifying the species.
• 'echad ("one", H0259) — cardinal number; the data marks it as feminine singular, functioning here as a numeral modifying the animal count.
• le ("to", H9005) — prefixed preposition attached directly to the following noun, indicating purpose or destination ("for," "toward").
• chattat ("a sin offering", H2403H) — feminine singular noun naming the category of sacrifice for which the goat is designated.

What the text says

The Hebrew phrase is built as a construct chain: se'ir-'izzim, literally "goat of goats," where the first noun (se'ir) is bound to the second ('izzim) without an intervening preposition, a standard way in Biblical Hebrew to specify a subtype within a category — here, the male goat as a specific animal drawn from the general class of goats. The numeral 'echad ("one") follows to quantify the animal, confirming that a single goat is in view.

The final element, le-chattat, attaches the preposition le directly to chattat ("sin offering"), producing a phrase of purpose: "for a sin offering." This construction does not use a verb; the entire clause is nominal, simply naming the object (one male goat) and its designated cultic function (a sin offering), consistent with the listing style of the surrounding material, which catalogs offering items in sequence rather than narrating an action.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders the construct chain se'ir-'izzim as χίμαρον ἐξ αἰγῶν ("a young goat from goats"), using a prepositional phrase (ἐξ, "from") rather than reproducing the Hebrew construct structure directly. The Vulgate condenses the phrase to hircum ("a male goat"), omitting an explicit rendering of the "of goats" specification found in both the Hebrew and the LXX, and reduces 'echad ("one") to the implied singular of hircumque without a separate numeral word.