Hebrew word · H3508

יֹתֶ֫רֶת

yoteret

lobe

From the root ytr, 'to be left over, to exceed'. So 'the extra thing, the projection'. In the Bible it appears only in the phrase 'the yoteret on/of the liver', and only in the sacrificial laws (Exod 29:13, 22; Lev 3–9).

Appears 11 times in 11 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

appendage, overhang, protrusion, the caudate lobe of the liver of a sacrificial animal

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Leviticus 3:15

Range of meaning

From the root ytr, 'to be left over, to exceed'. So 'the extra thing, the projection'. In the Bible it appears only in the phrase 'the yoteret on/of the liver', and only in the sacrificial laws (Exod 29:13, 22; Lev 3–9).

Against the English

BSB and NASB: 'lobe of the liver'. Several modern versions: 'long lobe'. KJV: 'caul above the liver'. WEB: 'cover on the liver'. YLT: 'redundance' (that is, 'what is extra'). The disagreement reflects real uncertainty in antiquity about which piece of tissue was meant.

How it drifted

'Caul' (a membrane, such as the fatty membrane around the gut) comes from the Latin tradition. Jerome's Vulgate is commonly cited as rendering it reticulum, 'little net'. That fixed a 'membrane' reading in English Bibles for centuries. Today most interpreters, for example Milgrom, identify it as the processus caudatus, the small finger-like lobe that projects from the liver.

Used elsewhere in the period

The Septuagint has lobos tou hēpatos, 'lobe of the liver'. Mesopotamian liver-reading manuals, used to foretell the future from a sacrificed sheep's liver, name the same projection the 'finger' (ubānu) and treat it as a key omen zone. Some ancient and medieval Jewish interpreters thought of a membrane or the diaphragm instead.

From the study of Exodus 29:13

Range of meaning

From the root ytr, 'to remain over, be in excess, project'. It appears only in the formula 'the yōteret on/of the liver' (Exod 29:13, 22; Lev 3–9 repeatedly). It means 'the projecting part / the extra piece' of the liver.

Against the English

KJV 'caul' and WEB 'cover' make it a membrane. BSB 'lobe', with some other versions' 'long lobe', make it part of the liver itself. YLT's 'redundance' is a literal rendering of the root ('that which is over and above').

How it drifted

The membrane reading comes from the Latin Vulgate ('reticulum iecoris', 'the little net of the liver'), which shaped the English Bibles of the 16th–17th centuries. Today 'caul' usually means the membrane sometimes covering a newborn's head, which is a different picture again.

Used elsewhere in the period

The LXX translates it λοβὸς τοῦ ἥπατος, 'lobe of the liver', which supports the anatomical reading. Rabbinic tradition (followed by Rashi) understood a membrane-like tissue taken off together with some of the liver. Many modern commentators (e.g., Milgrom on Lev 3:4) identify it as the caudate lobe (processus caudatus), a finger-like projection on sheep and cattle livers.

From the study of Leviticus 3:4

Range of meaning

From yatar, 'to remain, be in excess, project'. So 'the excess, the protruding part'. It appears only in the sacrificial texts of Exodus and Leviticus, always as 'the yoteret on/of the liver'.

Against the English

BSB/NASB 'lobe of the liver'. NIV/ESV 'long lobe'. KJV 'caul above the liver'. WEB 'cover on the liver'. YLT 'redundance above the liver'. These split into two identifications: an actual part of the liver, or a membrane or fatty net over it.

How it drifted

KJV's 'caul' follows the Vulgate's reticulum ('little net'), meaning the net-like omentum, a fatty membrane. Today 'caul' usually means the membrane sometimes covering a newborn's head, which misleads modern readers.

Used elsewhere in the period

The LXX has lobos tou hēpatos, 'lobe of the liver'. The Vulgate has reticulum iecoris ('net of the liver'). Targum Onkelos has chitsra dekavda. Rashi took the word to mean the diaphragm, with a little of the liver attached. Mesopotamian liver-divination texts give close attention to a projecting liver part called the 'finger' (Akkadian ubānu), which many identify with the caudate lobe.

Where it appears

Exodus · 2

  1. Exodus 29:13 הַיֹּתֶ֙רֶת֙ the lobe

    Take all the fat that covers the entrails and the lobe of the liver, and both kidneys with the fat on them, and burn them on the altar.

    Here: From a root meaning 'to be left over, project, be in excess': the piece that sticks out from the liver. Most modern scholars take it as the caudate lobe, a small finger-like projection of the liver; older tradition took it as a membrane.

  2. Exodus 29:22 יֹתֶ֤רֶת [the] lobe of

    Take the fat from the ram, the fat tail, the fat covering the entrails, the lobe of the liver, both kidneys with the fat on them, and the right thigh (since this is a ram for ordination),

Leviticus · 9

  1. Leviticus 3:4 הַיֹּתֶ֙רֶת֙ the lobe

    both kidneys with the fat on them near the loins, and the lobe of the liver, which he is to remove with the kidneys.

    Here: Literally 'the extra / the thing that sticks out', from the root 'to be left over, to project'. It most likely means the small finger-shaped lobe that juts out from the liver. KJV's 'caul' reflects an older view that it was a fatty membrane.

  2. Leviticus 3:10 הַיֹּתֶ֙רֶת֙ the lobe

    both kidneys with the fat on them near the loins, and the lobe of the liver, which he is to remove with the kidneys.

  3. Leviticus 3:15 הַיֹּתֶ֙רֶת֙ the lobe

    both kidneys with the fat on them near the loins, and the lobe of the liver, which he is to remove with the kidneys.

    Here: Literally 'the extra' or 'what sticks out'. Most likely the small finger-shaped lobe that juts from the liver. Ancient translators were not sure, which is why the KJV has 'caul'.

  4. Leviticus 4:9 הַיֹּתֶ֙רֶת֙ the lobe

    both kidneys with the fat on them near the loins, and the lobe of the liver, which he is to remove with the kidneys—

  5. Leviticus 7:4 הַיֹּתֶ֙רֶת֙ the lobe

    both kidneys with the fat on them near the loins, and the lobe of the liver, which is to be removed with the kidneys.

  6. Leviticus 8:16 יֹתֶ֣רֶת [the] lobe of

    Moses also took all the fat that was on the entrails, the lobe of the liver, and both kidneys and their fat, and burned it all on the altar.

  7. Leviticus 8:25 יֹתֶ֣רֶת [the] lobe of

    And Moses took the fat—the fat tail, all the fat that was on the entrails, the lobe of the liver, and both kidneys with their fat—as well as the right thigh.

    Here: Comes from a root meaning 'to be left over, project, be in excess': something that sticks out from the liver. It is most likely the small finger-like lobe of the liver (the caudate lobe), though some take it as the fatty membrane over the liver. Only this part goes on the altar, not the whole liver.

  8. Leviticus 9:10 הַיֹּתֶ֤רֶת the lobe

    On the altar he burned the fat, the kidneys, and the lobe of the liver from the sin offering, as the LORD had commanded Moses.

  9. Leviticus 9:19 וְיֹתֶ֖רֶת and [the] lobe of

    They also brought the fat portions from the ox and the ram—the fat tail, the fat covering the entrails, the kidneys, and the lobe of the liver—

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.