Leviticus 4:31

Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex)

English Translation

All its fat he shall take away, like the fat is taken away from off of the sacrifice of peace offerings; and the priest shall burn it on the altar for a sweet savor to Yahweh; and the priest shall make atonement for him, and he will be forgiven.

World English Bible · Public Domain

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נִיחֹ֖חַ

nîychôwach

H5207

“soothing”

Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute

Appears 43× in the Hebrew Bible
First appears at Genesis 8:21

Full BDB Definition

Origin: from H5117

TWOT: 1323c

soothing, quieting, tranquillising

About this verse

These counts appear in no published source. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged text and Lemma’s own curated glosses. What Lemma adds →

21: words
16: distinct lemmas
Pentateuch: section

Shared distinctive vocabulary

נִיחֹ֖חַ soothing H5207 occurs in 43 verses of the Hebrew Bible. Also found in:

Grammatical profile

5 verbs
11 nouns
3 prepositions
2 particles

Verb forms

יָסִ֗יר Hiphil · Imperfect
הוּסַ֣ר Hophal · Perfect
וְהִקְטִ֤יר Hiphil · Sequential Perfect
וְכִפֶּ֥ר Piel · Sequential Perfect
וְנִסְלַ֥ח Niphal · Sequential Perfect

Repetition

Words recur within this verse — often emphatic in Hebrew:

חֶלְבָּ֣הּ fat H2459 ×2
יָסִ֗יר to turn aside H5493 ×2
מֵעַ֣ל upon H5921 ×2
הַכֹּהֵן֙ priest H3548 ×2

Hebrew & Septuagint length

In English translation the verse runs 49 words from the Hebrew and 52 from the Septuagint (LXX English) — closely comparable.

A rough comparison of the two English renderings, which tokenize alike — not a word-level alignment.

Word counts can differ between the Hebrew and the Greek without any difference in meaning — e.g. the Hebrew direct-object marker אֵת has no separate Greek word, and Greek often adds the article ὁ.

In the original languages it is 21 Hebrew tokens and 32 Greek tokens — but the two are counted differently (Hebrew bundles its prefixes and suffixes into one token; the Greek is in lemma form), so that isn’t a like-for-like length.

Cross-references

Topical passages linked to Leviticus 4:31 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

Leviticus 4:26 All its fat he shall burn on the altar, like the fat of the sacrifice of peace offerings; and the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin, and he will be forgiven.
Leviticus 4:35 All its fat he shall take away, like the fat of the lamb is taken away from the sacrifice of peace offerings; and the priest shall burn them on the altar, on the offerings of Yahweh made by fire; and the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin that he has sinned, and he will be forgiven.
Genesis 8:21 Yahweh smelled the sweet savor. Yahweh said in his heart, "I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake, because the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I ever again strike everything living, as I have done.
Leviticus 1:9 but its innards and its legs he shall wash with water. The priest shall burn the whole on the altar, for a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor to Yahweh.
Exodus 29:18 You shall burn the whole ram on the altar: it is a burnt offering to Yahweh; it is a sweet savor, an offering made by fire to Yahweh.
Leviticus 1:13 but the innards and the legs he shall wash with water. The priest shall offer the whole, and burn it on the altar. It is a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor to Yahweh.
1 John 4:9–10 By this was God's love revealed in us, that God has sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.
Leviticus 1:17 He shall tear it by its wings, but shall not divide it apart. The priest shall burn it on the altar, on the wood that is on the fire. It is a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor to Yahweh.

Leviticus 3:3–5 He shall offer of the sacrifice of peace offerings an offering made by fire to Yahweh; the fat that covers the innards, and all the fat that is on the innards,
Leviticus 3:9–11 He shall offer from the sacrifice of peace offerings an offering made by fire to Yahweh; its fat, the entire tail fat, he shall take away close to the backbone; and the fat that covers the inwards, and all the fat that is on the inwards,
Leviticus 3:14–16 He shall offer from it as his offering, an offering made by fire to Yahweh; the fat that covers the innards, and all the fat that is on the innards,
Leviticus 4:8–10 He shall take all the fat of the bull of the sin offering off of it; the fat that covers the innards, and all the fat that is on the innards,
Leviticus 4:19 All its fat he shall take from it, and burn it on the altar.
Leviticus 8:21 He washed the innards and the legs with water; and Moses burned the whole ram on the altar. It was a burnt offering for a sweet savor. It was an offering made by fire to Yahweh; as Yahweh commanded Moses.
Ezra 6:10 that they may offer sacrifices of sweet savor to the God of heaven, and pray for the life of the king, and of his sons.
Job 42:8 Now therefore, take to yourselves seven bulls and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and my servant Job shall pray for you, for I will accept him, that I not deal with you according to your folly. For you have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job has."

Psalms 40:6–7 Sacrifice and offering you didn't desire. You have opened my ears: Burnt offering and sin offering you have not required.
Psalms 51:16–17 For you don't delight in sacrifice, or else I would give it. You have no pleasure in burnt offering.
Psalms 69:30–31 I will praise the name of God with a song, And will magnify him with thanksgiving.
Isaiah 42:21 It pleased Yahweh, for his righteousness' sake, to magnify the law, and make it honorable.
Isaiah 53:10 Yet it pleased Yahweh to bruise him; he has put him to grief: when you shall make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see [his] seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of Yahweh shall prosper in his hand.
Matthew 3:17 Behold, a voice out of the heavens said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."
Ephesians 5:2 Walk in love, even as Christ also loved you, and gave himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling fragrance.
Hebrews 1:3 His Son is the radiance of his glory, the very image of his substance, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself made purification for our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;

Hebrews 9:12 nor yet through the blood of goats and calves, but through his own blood, entered in once for all into the Holy Place, having obtained eternal redemption.
Hebrews 9:14–15 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
Hebrews 10:12 but he, when he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;
Hebrews 10:14 For by one offering he has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.
1 Peter 2:4–5 coming to him, a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God, precious.
Revelation 5:9 They sang a new song, saying, "You are worthy to take the book, And to open its seals: For you were killed, And bought us for God with your blood, Out of every tribe, language, people, and nation,
1 John 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.

Cross-references courtesy of OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

Hebrew and Greek witnesses Masoretic Hebrew ↔ Greek Septuagint

The same verse in the two great witnesses to the Old Testament, shown verse-for-verse.

These are two independent witnesses, not word-aligned to each other, and the Septuagint is shown in lemma (dictionary) form.

Hebrew Leviticus 4:31 Masoretic · Westminster Leningrad Codex

וְאֶת כָּל חֶלְבָּ֣הּ יָסִ֗יר כַּאֲשֶׁ֨ר הוּסַ֣ר חֵלֶב֮ מֵעַ֣ל זֶ֣בַח הַשְּׁלָמִים֒ וְהִקְטִ֤יר הַכֹּהֵן֙ הַמִּזְבֵּ֔חָה לְרֵ֥יחַ נִיחֹ֖חַ לַיהוָ֑ה וְכִפֶּ֥ר עָלָ֛יו הַכֹּהֵ֖ן וְנִסְלַ֥ח לֽוֹ

All its fat he shall take away, like the fat is taken away from off of the sacrifice of peace offerings; and the priest shall burn it on the altar for a sweet savor to Yahweh; and the priest shall make atonement for him, and he will be forgiven.

World English Bible · Public Domain

Greek LXX Leviticus 4:31 Septuagint · lemma form

καί πᾶς ὁ στέαρ περιαἱρέω ὅς τρόπος περιαἱρέω στέαρ ἀπό θυσία σωτήριον καί ἀναφέρω ὁ ἱερεύς ἐπί ὁ θυσιαστήριον εἰς ὀσμή εὐωδία κύριος καί ἐκἱλάσκομαι περί αὐτός ὁ ἱερεύς καί ἀποἵημι αὐτός

And he shall take away all the fat, as the fat is taken away from the sacrifice of peace-offering, and the priest shall offer it on the altar for a smell of sweet savor to the Lord; and the priest shall make atonement for him, and his sin shall be forgiven him.

LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) · Public Domain

Hebrew: Westminster Leningrad Codex (CC BY 4.0). Greek: Septuagint (public domain); English from LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) (Public Domain). How the Septuagint differs from the Hebrew →

Targum (Aramaic paraphrase)

The Targum is the ancient Jewish Aramaic paraphrase of the Hebrew Scriptures — an interpretive translation, not the Hebrew text itself. Onkelos (literal) and Pseudo-Jonathan (expansive) render the Torah, and Jonathan the Prophets. Coverage is partial: where no permissively-licensed English translation exists for a verse, only the Aramaic is shown. This is verse-level text, not a word-by-word alignment to the Hebrew.

Targum Onkelos Torah (Genesis–Deuteronomy)

וְיָת כָּל תַּרְבַּהּ יֶעְדֵי כְּמָא דִי מִתַּעְדָא תְרַב מֵעַל נִכְסַת קוּדְשַׁיָא וְיַסֵק כַּהֲנָא לְמַדְבְּחָא לְאִתְקַבָּלָא בְּרַעֲוָא קֳדָם יְיָ וִיכַפֵּר עֲלוֹהִי כַּהֲנָא וְיִשְׁתְּבֵק לֵהּ

(no public-domain English translation for this verse)

Targum Onkelos — Aramaic: “Onkelos Genesis” (public domain); “Onkelos Exodus” (public domain); “Onkelos Leviticus” (public domain); “Onkelos Numbers” (public domain); “Onkelos Deuteronomy” (public domain). English: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “J.W. Etheridge. The Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan Ben Uzziel on the Pentateuch. London: Longmans, Green, 1862” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.
Targum Pseudo-Jonathan Torah (Genesis–Deuteronomy)

וְיַת כָּל תַּרְבֵּיהּ יַעֲדֵי הֵיכְמָא דְאִיתְעָדָא תְּרֵיב מֵעִלַוֵי נִכְסַת קוּדְשַׁיָא וְיִסַק כַּהֲנָא לְמַדְבְּחָא לְאִתְקַבָּלָא בְּרַעֲוָא קֳדָם יְיָ וִיכַפֵּר עֲלוֹי כַּהֲנָא וְיִשְׁתְּבֵיק לֵיהּ

And he shall remove all her fat, as the fat of the consecrated sacrifices was taken off, and the priest shall burn it at the altar, to be received with acceptance before the Lord; and the priest shall atone for him, and he shall be forgiven.

Targum Pseudo-Jonathan — Aramaic: “Targum Jonathan on Genesis” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Exodus” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Leviticus” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Numbers” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Deuteronomy” (public domain). English: “The Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel, trans. J. W. Etheridge, London, 1862” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.

Commentary

Notes on Leviticus 4:31 from classic Christian and Jewish commentators (each source and its license shown beneath its notes). The classic Christian expositions comment on the surrounding passage and are grouped to its opening verse, so a note may address several verses; the Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh (Rashi and others) are per-verse, so they appear only where the commentator wrote on this verse.

Lemma curates 59 commentaries, every one of them public domain or Creative Commons licensed, each selected and text-cleaned for this edition rather than reprinted as found. About our sources →

Trapp's Complete Commentary

John Trapp

Lev 4:31 And he shall take away all the fat thereof, as the fat is taken away from off the sacrifice of peace offerings; and the priest shall burn [it] upon the altar for a sweet savour unto the LORD; and the priest shall make an atonement for him, and it shall be forgiven him.

Ver. 31. For a sweet savour.] {See Trapp on "Lev 1:9"} The death of Christ is ever in the sight of his heavenly Father: and hence it was that those typical sacrifices and all our performances are still accepted.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne

31. for a sweet savour unto the Lord] This expression occurs only here in connexion with Sin-Offerings.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

unfoldingWord translationNotes

Door43 World Missions Community

He will cut away

Here "He" refers to the person offering the sacrifice.

just as the fat is cut away

This can be stated in active form. AT: "just as a person cuts away the fat" (See: Active or Passive)

will burn it

"will burn the fat"

to produce a sweet aroma for Yahweh

Yahweh being pleased with the sincere worshiper who offered the sacrifice is spoken of as if God were pleased with the aroma of the burning sacrifice. See how you translated this in Leviticus 1:9. (See: Metaphor)

The priest will make atonement for the man

The abstract noun "atonement" can be stated as a verb. AT: "The priest will atone for the man's sins" (See: Abstract Nouns)

he will be forgiven

This can be stated in active form. AT: "Yahweh will forgive the man's sins" (See: Active or Passive)

translationWords

peace offering

priest

altar

Yahweh

atonement

forgive

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

Rashi

Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki (Rashi)

כאשר הוסר הלב מעל זבח השלמים [AND HE SHALL REMOVE ALL THE FAT] AS THE FAT IS REMOVED FROM OFF THE SACRIFICE OF PEACE OFFERINGS — i.e. as the fat portions of the goat which are mentioned in the case of peace offerings (cf. previous verse).

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

Lesson kit

Teaching starters — assembled from the data on this page, not authored interpretation. Every prompt links to the verse data it draws on. Edit before teaching.

Leviticus, in the Pentateuch, opens this verse with 21 words (16 distinct Hebrew lemmas). Its most distinctive word is nîychôwach (“soothing”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

How does “soothing” (nîychôwach) shape what this verse is saying?
Genesis 8:21 shares the word «soothing» with this verse. How do the two illuminate each other?
“fat” occurs 2× in this one verse. What is the effect of the repetition?
The translations on this page render this verse differently — a whole-verse word diff, not a word-by-word alignment. What might account for the different wordings?
The verb «יָסִ֗יר» is Hiphil Imperfect. How does its form color the action?
Reading how Trapp's Complete Commentary and The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges read this verse, where do the two commentators agree and where do they part?

Things to notice

This verse counts 21 Hebrew ↔ 32 Greek words.
These translations choose different wording for 21 words in this verse.
“fat” occurs 2× in this single verse.
16 distinct Hebrew lemmas span 21 words in this verse.