Verses 4-12 give instructions concerning which offerings of produce from the three main crops of Canaan (grain, olives, and grapes) should accompany the ritual sacrifice of animals, beginning with the smallest. Verses 4-5 deal with the sacrifices of lambs.

Then he who brings his offering shall offer to the LORD a cereal offering of a tenth of an ephah of fine flour: Good News Translation renders the pronoun he as “Whoever.” However, normally only adult males offered the sacrifices in view here, so Good News Translation‘s rendering may be misleading in some languages. The Hebrew word for offering is qorban is the vaguest and most common expression for a sacrificial gift to the LORD (see 5.15). Here it refers to any of the offerings or sacrifices mentioned in verses 2-3. For cereal offering (“grain offering” in Good News Translation), see 4.16; for a tenth of an ephah (“2 pounds” in Good News Translation and “three kilos” in Bible en français courant), see 5.15; and for fine flour, 6.15.

Mixed with a fourth of a hin of oil: The hin was the standard liquid measure, equal approximately to 4 liters or 4 quarts. So a fourth of a hin equals about one liter or “one quart” (New Living Translation). Good News Translation renders oil as “olive oil,” which makes explicit what kind of oil is to be mixed with the grain offering.

And wine for the drink offering, a fourth of a hin: For wine, which is fermented grape juice, see 6.3. For drink offering (“libation” in New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh), see 4.7. The Hebrew word for drink offering comes from a verb meaning “to pour.” The wine was poured out as an offering, probably at the base of the altar.

You shall prepare with the burnt offering, or for the sacrifice, for each lamb: The Hebrew pronoun for you is singular, referring to each Israelite who sacrifices a lamb. This pronoun may be rendered “he” as in verse 4. For burnt offering and sacrifice, see verse 3. The Hebrew word for lamb (kebes) refers to a young male sheep (see 6.12). Good News Translation renders each lamb as “a sheep or a goat.” This rendering is misleading since it suggests that two adult animals are in view here, which is not the case. The phrase for each lamb comes at the end of verse 5 in the Hebrew text. In many languages it will be helpful to place it near the beginning of verse 4 by saying “then for one lamb, he who brings…” or “then for one young sheep, he who presents….”

Other animals, increasing in size and hence requiring more offerings, are mentioned in the verses that follow (rams in verse 6-7; bulls in verses 8-10). Bible en français courant includes a general instruction at the beginning of verse 4, before the specific instructions concerning the various animals, saying “He who will present the animal to me will have it accompanied by vegetational offerings” (similarly De Nieuwe Bijbelvertaling).

Quoted with permission from de Regt, Lénart J. and Wendland, Ernst R. A Handbook on Numbers. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .