דַּבֵּ֨ר אֶֽל־אַהֲרֹ֜ן וְאֶל־בָּנָ֗יו וְאֶל֙ כׇּל־בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל וְאָמַרְתָּ֖ אֲלֵהֶ֑ם אִ֣ישׁ אִישׁ֩ מִבֵּ֨ית יִשְׂרָאֵ֜ל וּמִן־הַגֵּ֣ר בְּיִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל אֲשֶׁ֨ר יַקְרִ֤יב קׇרְבָּנוֹ֙ לְכׇל־נִדְרֵיהֶם֙ וּלְכׇל־נִדְבוֹתָ֔ם אֲשֶׁר־יַקְרִ֥יבוּ לַיהֹוָ֖ה לְעֹלָֽה׃

Speak to Aaron and his sons, and to all the Israelite people, and say to them:
When anyone* of the house of Israel, or of the strangers in Israel, presents a burnt offering as their offering for any of the votive or any of the freewill offerings that are offered to GOD,…

*anyone See note at 17.3.

(The above rendering comes from the RJPS translation, an adaptation of the NJPS translation. Before accounting for this rendering, I will analyze the plain sense of the Hebrew term אִישׁ, by employing a situation-oriented construal as outlined in this introduction, pp. 11–16.)


The word אִישׁ is repeated in 20 biblical verses; many of them occur in Leviticus, as here. Such repetition אִישׁ אִישׁ imparts a “no exceptions” meaning to the situation that is being depicted, as I explained in my comment to Exod 36:4. For application to constructions like this one, see my comment to Lev 17:3.

Gender is not at issue in this passage. Women are not excluded from view by either grammar, referential gender assignment, or unspoken mores.


As for rendering into English, there is no warrant for a gendered rendering. The NJPS “When any man of the house of Israel…” comes across nowadays as unduly gendered. The revised rendering employs gender-neutral pronouns.

A new footnote then addresses the intensified nuance, which cannot be expressed as elegantly in English as in Hebrew.