Imamat 23:1--25:55
Konteks23:1 The Lord spoke to Moses: 23:2 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘These are the Lord’s appointed times which you must proclaim as holy assemblies – my appointed times: 1
23:3 “‘Six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there must be a Sabbath of complete rest, 2 a holy assembly. You must not do any work; it is a Sabbath to the Lord in all the places where you live.
23:4 “‘These are the Lord’s appointed times, holy assemblies, which you must proclaim at their appointed time. 23:5 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at twilight, 3 is a Passover offering to the Lord. 23:6 Then on the fifteenth day of the same month 4 will be the festival of unleavened bread to the Lord; seven days you must eat unleavened bread. 23:7 On the first day there will be a holy assembly for you; you must not do any regular work. 5 23:8 You must present a gift to the Lord for seven days, and the seventh day is a holy assembly; you must not do any regular work.’”
23:9 The Lord spoke to Moses: 23:10 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘When you enter the land that I am about to give to you and you gather in its harvest, 6 then you must bring the sheaf of the first portion of your harvest 7 to the priest, 23:11 and he must wave the sheaf before the Lord to be accepted for your benefit 8 – on the day after the Sabbath the priest is to wave it. 9 23:12 On the day you wave the sheaf you must also offer 10 a flawless yearling lamb 11 for a burnt offering to the Lord, 23:13 along with its grain offering, two tenths of an ephah of 12 choice wheat flour 13 mixed with olive oil, as a gift to the Lord, a soothing aroma, 14 and its drink offering, one fourth of a hin of wine. 15 23:14 You must not eat bread, roasted grain, or fresh grain until this very day, 16 until you bring the offering of your God. This is a perpetual statute throughout your generations 17 in all the places where you live.
23:15 “‘You must count for yourselves seven weeks from the day after the Sabbath, from the day you bring the wave offering sheaf; they must be complete weeks. 18 23:16 You must count fifty days – until the day after the seventh Sabbath – and then 19 you must present a new grain offering to the Lord. 23:17 From the places where you live you must bring two loaves of 20 bread for a wave offering; they must be made from two tenths of an ephah of fine wheat flour, baked with yeast, 21 as first fruits to the Lord. 23:18 Along with the loaves of bread, 22 you must also present seven flawless yearling lambs, 23 one young bull, 24 and two rams. 25 They are to be a burnt offering to the Lord along with their grain offering 26 and drink offerings, a gift of a soothing aroma to the Lord. 27 23:19 You must also offer 28 one male goat 29 for a sin offering and two yearling lambs for a peace offering sacrifice, 23:20 and the priest is to wave them – the two lambs 30 – along with the bread of the first fruits, as a wave offering before the Lord; they will be holy to the Lord for the priest.
23:21 “‘On this very day you must proclaim an assembly; it is to be a holy assembly for you. 31 You must not do any regular work. This is a perpetual statute in all the places where you live throughout your generations. 32 23:22 When you gather in the harvest 33 of your land, you must not completely harvest the corner of your field, 34 and you must not gather up the gleanings of your harvest. You must leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the Lord your God.’” 35
23:23 The Lord spoke to Moses: 23:24 “Tell the Israelites, ‘In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you must have a complete rest, a memorial announced by loud horn blasts, 36 a holy assembly. 23:25 You must not do any regular work, but 37 you must present a gift to the Lord.’”
23:26 The Lord spoke to Moses: 23:27 “The 38 tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. 39 It is to be a holy assembly for you, and you must humble yourselves 40 and present a gift to the Lord. 23:28 You must not do any work on this particular day, 41 because it is a day of atonement to make atonement for yourselves 42 before the Lord your God. 23:29 Indeed, 43 any person who does not behave with humility on this particular day will be cut off from his people. 44 23:30 As for any person 45 who does any work on this particular day, I will exterminate 46 that person from the midst of his people! 47 23:31 You must not do any work. This is a perpetual statute throughout your generations 48 in all the places where you live. 23:32 It is a Sabbath of complete rest for you, and you must humble yourselves on the ninth day of the month in the evening, from evening until evening you must observe your Sabbath.” 49
23:33 The Lord spoke to Moses: 23:34 “Tell the Israelites, ‘On the fifteenth day of this seventh month is the Festival of Temporary Shelters 50 for seven days to the Lord. 23:35 On the first day is a holy assembly; you must do no regular work. 51 23:36 For seven days you must present a gift to the Lord. On the eighth day there is to be a holy assembly for you, and you must present a gift to the Lord. It is a solemn assembly day; 52 you must not do any regular work.
23:37 “‘These are the appointed times of the Lord that you must proclaim as holy assemblies to present a gift to the Lord – burnt offering, grain offering, sacrifice, and drink offerings, 53 each day according to its regulation, 54 23:38 besides 55 the Sabbaths of the Lord and all your gifts, votive offerings, and freewill offerings which you must give to the Lord.
23:39 “‘On 56 the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you gather in the produce of the land, you must celebrate a pilgrim festival of the Lord for seven days. On the first day is a complete rest and on the eighth day is complete rest. 23:40 On the first day you must take for yourselves branches from majestic trees 57 – palm branches, branches of leafy trees, and willows of the brook – and you must rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days. 23:41 You must celebrate it as a pilgrim festival to the Lord for seven days in the year. This is a perpetual statute throughout your generations; 58 you must celebrate it in the seventh month. 23:42 You must live in temporary shelters 59 for seven days; every native citizen in Israel must live in temporary shelters, 23:43 so that your future generations may know that I made the Israelites live in temporary shelters when I brought them out from the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.’”
23:44 So Moses spoke to the Israelites about the appointed times of the Lord. 60
24:1 The Lord spoke to Moses: 24:2 “Command the Israelites to bring 61 to you pure oil of beaten olives for the light, to make a lamp burn continually. 62 24:3 Outside the veil-canopy 63 of the congregation in the Meeting Tent Aaron 64 must arrange it from evening until morning before the Lord continually. This is a perpetual statute throughout your generations. 65 24:4 On the ceremonially pure lampstand 66 he must arrange the lamps before the Lord continually.
24:5 “You must take choice wheat flour 67 and bake twelve loaves; 68 there must be two tenths of an ephah of flour in 69 each loaf, 24:6 and you must set them in two rows, six in a row, 70 on the ceremonially pure table before the Lord. 24:7 You must put pure frankincense 71 on each row, 72 and it will become a memorial portion 73 for the bread, a gift 74 to the Lord. 24:8 Each Sabbath day 75 Aaron 76 must arrange it before the Lord continually; this portion 77 is from the Israelites as a perpetual covenant. 24:9 It will belong to Aaron and his sons, and they must eat it in a holy place because it is most holy to him, a perpetual allotted portion 78 from the gifts of the Lord.”
24:10 Now 79 an Israelite woman’s son whose father was an Egyptian went out among the Israelites, and the Israelite woman’s son and an Israelite man 80 had a fight in the camp. 24:11 The Israelite woman’s son misused the Name and cursed, 81 so they brought him to Moses. (Now his mother’s name was Shelomith daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan.) 24:12 So they placed him in custody until they were able 82 to make a clear legal decision for themselves based on words from the mouth of the Lord. 83
24:13 Then the Lord spoke to Moses: 24:14 “Bring the one who cursed outside the camp, and all who heard him are to lay their hands on his head, and the whole congregation is to stone him to death. 84 24:15 Moreover, 85 you are to tell the Israelites, ‘If any man curses his God 86 he will bear responsibility for his sin, 24:16 and one who misuses 87 the name of the Lord must surely be put to death. The whole congregation must surely stone him, whether he is a foreigner or a native citizen; when he misuses the Name he must be put to death.
24:17 “‘If a man beats any person to death, 88 he must be put to death. 24:18 One who beats an animal to death 89 must make restitution for it, life for life. 90 24:19 If a man inflicts an injury on 91 his fellow citizen, 92 just as he has done it must be done to him – 24:20 fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth – just as he inflicts an injury on another person 93 that same injury 94 must be inflicted on him. 24:21 One who beats an animal to death 95 must make restitution for it, but 96 one who beats a person to death must be put to death. 24:22 There will be one regulation 97 for you, whether a foreigner or a native citizen, for I am the Lord your God.’”
24:23 Then Moses spoke to the Israelites and they brought the one who cursed outside the camp and stoned him with stones. So the Israelites did just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
25:1 The Lord spoke to Moses at Mount Sinai: 25:2 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘When you enter the land that I am giving you, the land must observe a Sabbath 98 to the Lord. 25:3 Six years you may sow your field, and six years you may prune your vineyard and gather the produce, 99 25:4 but in the seventh year the land must have a Sabbath of complete rest 100 – a Sabbath to the Lord. You must not sow your field or 101 prune your vineyard. 25:5 You must not gather in the aftergrowth of your harvest and you must not pick the grapes of your unpruned 102 vines; the land must have a year of complete rest. 25:6 You may have the Sabbath produce 103 of the land to eat – you, your male servant, your female servant, your hired worker, the resident foreigner who stays with you, 104 25:7 your cattle, and the wild animals that are in your land – all its produce will be for you 105 to eat.
25:8 “‘You must count off 106 seven weeks of years, seven times seven years, 107 and the days of the seven weeks of years will amount to forty-nine years. 108 25:9 You must sound loud horn blasts 109 – in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, on the Day of Atonement – you must sound the horn in your entire land. 25:10 So you must consecrate the fiftieth year, 110 and you must proclaim a release 111 in the land for all its inhabitants. That year will be your jubilee; 112 each one of you must return 113 to his property and each one of you must return to his clan. 25:11 That fiftieth year will be your jubilee; you must not sow the land, harvest its aftergrowth, or pick the grapes of its unpruned vines. 114 25:12 Because that year is a jubilee, it will be holy to you – you may eat its produce 115 from the field.
25:13 “‘In this year of jubilee you must each return 116 to your property. 25:14 If you make a sale 117 to your fellow citizen 118 or buy 119 from your fellow citizen, no one is to wrong his brother. 120 25:15 You may buy it from your fellow citizen according to the number of years since 121 the last jubilee; he may sell it to you according to the years of produce that are left. 122 25:16 The more years there are, 123 the more you may make its purchase price, and the fewer years there are, 124 the less you must make its purchase price, because he is only selling to you a number of years of 125 produce. 25:17 No one is to oppress his fellow citizen, 126 but you must fear your God, because I am the Lord your God. 25:18 You must obey my statutes and my regulations; you must be sure to keep them 127 so that you may live securely in the land. 128
25:19 “‘The land will give its fruit and you may eat until you are satisfied, 129 and you may live securely in the land. 25:20 If you say, ‘What will we eat in the seventh year if we do not sow and gather our produce?’ 25:21 I will command my blessing for you in the sixth year so that it may yield 130 the produce 131 for three years, 25:22 and you may sow the eighth year and eat from that sixth year’s produce 132 – old produce. Until you bring in the ninth year’s produce, 133 you may eat old produce. 25:23 The land must not be sold without reclaim 134 because the land belongs to me, for you are foreigners and residents with me. 135 25:24 In all your landed property 136 you must provide for the right of redemption of the land. 137
25:25 “‘If your brother becomes impoverished and sells some of his property, his near redeemer is to come to you and redeem what his brother sold. 138 25:26 If a man has no redeemer, but he prospers 139 and gains enough for its redemption, 140 25:27 he is to calculate the value of the years it was sold, 141 refund the balance 142 to the man to whom he had sold it, and return to his property. 25:28 If he has not prospered enough to refund 143 a balance to him, then what he sold 144 will belong to 145 the one who bought it until the jubilee year, but it must revert 146 in the jubilee and the original owner 147 may return to his property.
25:29 “‘If a man sells a residential house in a walled city, 148 its right of redemption must extend 149 until one full year from its sale; 150 its right of redemption must extend to a full calendar year. 151 25:30 If it is not redeemed before the full calendar year is ended, 152 the house in the walled city 153 will belong without reclaim 154 to the one who bought it throughout his generations; it will not revert in the jubilee. 25:31 The houses of villages, however, 155 which have no wall surrounding them 156 must be considered as the field 157 of the land; they will have the right of redemption and must revert in the jubilee. 25:32 As for 158 the cities of the Levites, the houses in the cities which they possess, 159 the Levites must have a perpetual right of redemption. 25:33 Whatever someone among the Levites might redeem – the sale of a house which is his property in a city – must revert in the jubilee, 160 because the houses of the cities of the Levites are their property in the midst of the Israelites. 25:34 Moreover, 161 the open field areas of their cities 162 must not be sold, because that is their perpetual possession.
25:35 “‘If your brother 163 becomes impoverished and is indebted to you, 164 you must support 165 him; he must live 166 with you like a foreign resident. 167 25:36 Do not take interest or profit from him, 168 but you must fear your God and your brother must live 169 with you. 25:37 You must not lend him your money at interest and you must not sell him food for profit. 170 25:38 I am the Lord your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan – to be your God. 171
25:39 “‘If your brother becomes impoverished with regard to you so that he sells himself to you, you must not subject him to slave service. 172 25:40 He must be with you as a hired worker, as a resident foreigner; 173 he must serve with you until the year of jubilee, 25:41 but then 174 he may go free, 175 he and his children with him, and may return to his family and to the property of his ancestors. 176 25:42 Since they are my servants whom I brought out from the land of Egypt, they must not be sold in a slave sale. 177 25:43 You must not rule over him harshly, 178 but you must fear your God.
25:44 “‘As for your male and female slaves 179 who may belong to you – you may buy male and female slaves from the nations all around you. 180 25:45 Also you may buy slaves 181 from the children of the foreigners who reside with you, and from their families that are 182 with you, whom they have fathered in your land, they may become your property. 25:46 You may give them as inheritance to your children after you to possess as property. You may enslave them perpetually. However, as for your brothers the Israelites, no man may rule over his brother harshly. 183
25:47 “‘If a resident foreigner who is with you prospers 184 and your brother becomes impoverished with regard to him so that 185 he sells himself to a resident foreigner who is with you or to a member 186 of a foreigner’s family, 25:48 after he has sold himself he retains a right of redemption. 187 One of his brothers may redeem him, 25:49 or his uncle or his cousin 188 may redeem him, or anyone of the rest of his blood relatives – his family 189 – may redeem him, or if 190 he prospers he may redeem himself. 25:50 He must calculate with the one who bought him the number of years 191 from the year he sold himself to him until the jubilee year, and the cost of his sale must correspond to the number of years, according to the rate of wages a hired worker would have earned while with him. 192 25:51 If there are still many years, in keeping with them 193 he must refund most of the cost of his purchase for his redemption, 25:52 but if only a few years remain 194 until the jubilee, he must calculate for himself in keeping with the remaining years and refund it for his redemption. 25:53 He must be with the one who bought him 195 like a yearly hired worker. 196 The one who bought him 197 must not rule over him harshly in your sight. 25:54 If, however, 198 he is not redeemed in these ways, he must go free 199 in the jubilee year, he and his children with him, 25:55 because the Israelites are my own servants; 200 they are my servants whom I brought out from the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.
[23:2] 1 tn Heb “these are them, my appointed times.”
[23:2] sn The term מוֹעֵד (mo’ed, rendered “appointed time” here) can refer to either a time or place of meeting. See the note on “tent of meeting” (אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד, ’ohel mo’ed) in Lev 1:1.
[23:3] 2 tn This is a superlative expression, emphasizing the full and all inclusive rest of the Sabbath and certain festival times throughout the chapter (see B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 155). Cf. ASV “a sabbath of solemn rest.”
[23:5] 3 tn Heb “between the two evenings,” perhaps designating the time between the setting of the sun and the true darkness of night. Cf. KJV, ASV “at even”; NAB “at the evening twilight.”
[23:5] sn See B. A. Levine, Leviticus (JPSTC), 156, for a full discussion of the issues raised in this verse. The rabbinic tradition places the slaughter of Passover offerings between approximately 3:00
[23:6] 4 tn Heb “to this month.”
[23:7] 5 tn Heb “work of service”; KJV “servile work”; NASB “laborious work”; TEV “daily work.”
[23:10] 6 tn Heb “and you harvest its harvest.”
[23:10] 7 tn Heb “the sheaf of the first of your harvest.”
[23:11] 8 tn Heb “for your acceptance.”
[23:11] 9 sn See Lev 7:30 for a note on the “waving” of a “wave offering.”
[23:12] 10 tn Heb “And you shall make in the day of your waving the sheaf.”
[23:12] 11 tn Heb “a flawless lamb, a son of its year”; KJV “of the first year”; NLT “a year-old male lamb.”
[23:13] 12 sn See the note on Lev 5:11.
[23:13] 13 sn See the note on Lev 2:1.
[23:13] 14 sn See the note on Lev 1:9.
[23:13] 15 tn Heb “wine, one fourth of the hin.” A pre-exilic hin is about 3.6 liters (= ca. 1 quart), so one fourth of a hin would be about one cup.
[23:14] 16 tn Heb “until the bone of this day.”
[23:14] 17 tn Heb “for your generations.”
[23:15] 18 tn Heb “seven Sabbaths, they shall be complete.” The disjunctive accent under “Sabbaths” precludes the translation “seven complete Sabbaths” (as NASB, NIV; cf. NAB, NRSV, NLT). The text is somewhat awkward, which may explain why the LXX tradition is confused here, either adding “you shall count” again at the end of the verse, or leaving out “they shall be,” or keeping “they shall be” and adding “to you.”
[23:16] 19 tn Heb “and.” In the translation “then” is supplied to clarify the sequence.
[23:17] 20 tc Smr, LXX, Syriac, Tg. Onq., and Tg. Ps.-J. insert the word חַלּוֹת (khallot, “loaves”; cf. Lev 2:4 and the note there). Even though “loaves” is not explicit in the MT, the number “two” suggests that these are discrete units, not just a measure of flour, so “loaves” should be assumed even in the MT.
[23:17] 21 tn Heb “with leaven.” The noun “leaven” is traditional in English versions (cf. KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV), but “yeast” is more commonly used today.
[23:18] 22 tn Heb “And you shall present on the bread.”
[23:18] 23 tn Heb “seven flawless lambs, sons of a year.”
[23:18] 24 tn Heb “and one bull, a son of a herd.”
[23:18] 25 tc Smr and LXX add “flawless.”
[23:18] 26 tn Heb “and their grain offering.”
[23:18] 27 sn See the note on Lev 1:9.
[23:19] 28 tn Heb “And you shall make.”
[23:19] 29 tn Heb “a he-goat of goats.”
[23:20] 30 tn Smr and LXX have the Hebrew article on “lambs.” The syntax of this verse is difficult. The object of the verb (two lambs) is far removed from the verb itself (shall wave) in the MT, and the preposition עַל (’al, “upon”), rendered “along with” in this verse, is also added to the far removed subject (literally, “upon [the] two lambs”; see B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 159). It is clear, however, that the two lambs and the loaves (along with their associated grain and drink offerings) constituted the “wave offering,” which served as the prebend “for the priest.” Burnt and sin offerings (vv. 18-19a) were not included in this (see Lev 7:11-14, 28-36).
[23:21] 31 tn Heb “And you shall proclaim [an assembly] in the bone of this day; a holy assembly it shall be to you” (see the remarks in B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 160, and the remarks on the LXX rendering in J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 367).
[23:21] 32 tn Heb “for your generations.”
[23:22] 33 tn Heb “And when you harvest the harvest.”
[23:22] 34 tn Heb “you shall not complete the corner of your field in your harvest.”
[23:22] 35 sn Compare Lev 19:9-10.
[23:24] 36 tn Heb “a memorial of loud blasts.” Although the term for “horn” does not occur here, allowing for the possibility that vocal “shouts” of acclamation are envisioned (see P. J. Budd, Leviticus [NCBC], 325), the “blast” of the shofar (a trumpet made from a ram’s “horn”) is most likely what is intended. On this occasion, the loud blasts on the horn announced the coming of the new year on the first day of the seventh month (see the explanations in J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 387, and B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 160).
[23:25] 37 tn Heb “and.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) can be considered to have adversative force here (cf. KJV, NASB, NIV).
[23:27] 38 tn Heb “Surely the tenth day” or perhaps “Precisely the tenth day.” The Hebrew adverbial particle אַךְ (’akh) is left untranslated by most recent English versions; cf. however NASB “On exactly the tenth day.”
[23:27] 39 sn See the description of this day and its regulations in Lev 16 and the notes there.
[23:27] 40 tn Heb “you shall humble your souls.” See the note on Lev 16:29 above.
[23:28] 41 tn Heb “in the bone of this day.”
[23:28] 42 tn Heb “on you [plural]”; cf. NASB, NRSV “on your behalf.”
[23:29] 43 tn The particular כִּי (ki) is taken in an asseverative sense here (“Indeed,” see the NJPS translation).
[23:29] 44 tn Heb “it [i.e., that person; literally “soul,” feminine] shall be cut off from its peoples [plural]”; NLT “from the community.”
[23:30] 45 tn Heb “And any person.”
[23:30] 46 tn See HALOT 3 s.v. I אבד hif. Cf. KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT “destroy”; CEV “wipe out.”
[23:30] 47 tn Heb “its people” (“its” is feminine to agree with “person,” literally “soul,” which is feminine in Hebrew; cf. v. 29).
[23:31] 48 tn Heb “for your generations.”
[23:32] 49 tn Heb “you shall rest your Sabbath.”
[23:34] 50 tn The rendering “booths” (cf. NAB, NASB, NRSV) is probably better than the traditional “tabernacles” in light of the meaning of the term סֻכָּה (sukkah, “hut, booth”), but “booths” are frequently associated with trade shows and craft fairs in contemporary American English. The nature of the celebration during this feast (see the following verses) as a commemoration of the wanderings of the Israelites after they left Egypt suggests that a translation like “temporary shelters” is more appropriate.
[23:35] 51 tn Heb “work of service”; KJV “servile work”; NASB “laborious work”; TEV “daily work.”
[23:36] 52 tn The Hebrew term עֲצֶרֶת (’atseret) “solemn assembly [day]” derives from a root associated with restraint or closure. It could refer either to the last day as “closing assembly” day of the festival (e.g., NIV) or a special day of restraint expressed in a “solemn assembly” (e.g., NRSV); cf. NLT “a solemn closing assembly.”
[23:37] 53 tn The LXX has “[their] burnt offerings, and their sacrifices, and their drink offerings.”
[23:37] 54 tn Heb “a matter of a day in its day”; NAB “as prescribed for each day”; NRSV, NLT “each on its proper day.”
[23:38] 55 tn Heb “from to separation.” See BDB 94 s.v. בַּד 1.e for an explanation of this phrase. This phrase is repeated in front of each of the four items in this verse in the Hebrew text, but these have not been translated into English for stylistic reasons. Cf. KJV, NASB “besides”; NRSV “apart from.”
[23:39] 56 tn Heb “Surely on the fifteenth day.” The Hebrew adverbial particle אַךְ (’akh) is left untranslated by most recent English versions; however, cf. NASB “On exactly the fifteenth day.”
[23:40] 57 tn Heb “fruit of majestic trees,” but the following terms and verses define what is meant by this expression. For extensive remarks on the celebration of this festival in history and tradition see B. A. Levine, Leviticus (JPSTC), 163; J. E. Hartley, Leviticus (WBC), 389-90; and P. J. Budd, Leviticus (NCBC), 328-29.
[23:41] 58 tn Heb “for your generations.”
[23:42] 59 tn Heb “in the huts” (again at the end of this verse and in v. 43), perhaps referring to temporary shelters (i.e., huts) made of the foliage referred to in v. 40 (J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 389).
[23:44] 60 sn E. S. Gerstenberger (Leviticus [OTL], 352) takes v. 44 to be an introduction to another set of festival regulations, perhaps something like those found in Exod 23:14-17. For others this verse reemphasizes the Mosaic authority of the preceding festival regulations (e.g., J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 390).
[24:2] 61 tn Heb “and let them take.” The simple vav (ו) on the imperfect/jussive form of the verb לָקַח (laqakh, “to take”) following the imperative (“Command”) indicates a purpose clause (“to bring…”).
[24:2] 62 tn Heb “to cause to ascend a lamp continually.”
[24:3] 63 tn The Hebrew term פָּרֹכֶת (parokhet) is usually translated “veil” or “curtain,” but it seems to have stretched not only in front of but also over the top of the ark of the covenant which stood behind and under it inside the most holy place (see R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 3:687-89).
[24:3] 64 tc Several medieval Hebrew
[24:3] 65 tn Heb “for your generations.”
[24:4] 66 tn Alternatively, “pure [gold] lampstand,” based on Exod 25:31, etc., where the term for “gold” actually appears (see NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT, and the remarks in J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 395, etc.). However, in Lev 24:4 the adjective “pure” is feminine, corresponding to “lampstand,” not an assumed noun “gold” (contrast Exod 25:31), and the “table” in v. 6 was overlaid with gold, but was not made of pure gold. Therefore, it is probably better to translate “[ceremonially] pure lampstand” (v. 4) and “[ceremonially] pure table” (v. 6); see NEB; cf. KJV, ASV; B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 164-65; and G. J. Wenham, Leviticus [NICOT], 307.
[24:5] 67 sn See the note on Lev 2:1.
[24:5] 68 tn Heb “and bake it twelve loaves”; KJV, NAB, NASB “cakes.”
[24:5] 69 tn The words “of flour” are supplied in the translation for clarity.
[24:5] sn See the note on Lev 5:11.
[24:6] 70 tn Heb “six of the row.”
[24:7] 71 tn This is not just any “incense” (קְטֹרֶת, qÿtoret; R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 3:913-16), but specifically “frankincense” (לְבֹנָה, lÿvonah; R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 2:756-57).
[24:7] 72 tn Heb “on [עַל, ’al] the row,” probably used distributively, “on each row” (J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 395-96). Perhaps the frankincense was placed “with” or “along side of” each row, not actually on the bread itself, and was actually burned as incense to the
[24:7] 73 sn The “memorial portion” (אַזְכָרָה, ’azkharah) was normally the part of the grain offering that was burnt on the altar (see Lev 2:2 and the notes there), as opposed to the remainder, which was normally consumed by the priests (Lev 2:3; see the full regulations in Lev 6:14-23 [6:7-16 HT]).
[24:7] 74 sn See the note on Lev 1:9 regarding the term “gift.”
[24:8] 75 tn Heb “In the day of the Sabbath, in the day of the Sabbath.” The repetition is distributive. A few medieval Hebrew
[24:8] 76 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Aaron) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[24:8] 77 tn The word “portion” is supplied in the translation here for clarity, to specify what “this” refers to.
[24:9] 78 tn Or “a perpetual regulation”; NRSV “a perpetual due.”
[24:10] 80 tn Heb “the Israelite man,” but Smr has no article, and the point is that there was a conflict between the man of mixed background and a man of full Israelite descent.
[24:11] 81 tn The verb rendered “misused” means literally “to bore through, to pierce” (HALOT 719 s.v. נקב qal); it is from נָקַב (naqav), not קָבַב (qavav; see the participial form in v. 16a). Its exact meaning here is uncertain. The two verbs together may form a hendiadys, “he pronounced by cursing blasphemously” (B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 166), the idea being one of the following: (1) he pronounced the name “Yahweh” in a way or with words that amounted to “some sort of verbal aggression against Yahweh himself” (E. S. Gerstenberger, Leviticus [OTL], 362), (2) he pronounced a curse against the man using the name “Yahweh” (N. H. Snaith, Leviticus and Numbers [NCBC], 110; G. J. Wenham, Leviticus [NICOT], 311), or (3) he pronounced the name “Yahweh” and thereby blasphemed, since the “Name” was never to be pronounced (a standard Jewish explanation). In one way or another, the offense surely violated Exod 20:7, one of the ten commandments, and the same verb for cursing is used explicitly in Exod 22:28 (27 HT) prohibition against “cursing” God. For a full discussion of these and related options for interpreting this verse see P. J. Budd, Leviticus (NCBC), 335-36; J. E. Hartley, Leviticus (WBC), 408-9; and Levine, 166.
[24:12] 82 tn The words “until they were able” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied.
[24:12] 83 tn The Hebrew here is awkward. A literal reading would be something like the following: “And they placed him in custody to give a clear decision [HALOT 976 s.v. פרשׁ qal] for themselves on the mouth of the
[24:14] 84 tn The words “to death” are supplied in the translation as a clarification; they are clearly implied from v. 16.
[24:15] 86 sn See the note on v. 11 above and esp. Exod 22:28 [27 HT].
[24:16] 87 sn See the note on v. 11 above.
[24:17] 88 tn Heb “And if a man strikes any soul [נֶפֶשׁ, nefesh] of mankind.” The idiom seems to derive from the idea of striking a fatal blow to the very “life” (literally, “soul”) of a human being, not just landing a blow on their body (HALOT 698 s.v. נכה hif.2). On the difficult of the meaning and significance of the term נֶפֶשׁ see the notes on Lev 17:10-11.
[24:18] 89 tn Heb “And one who strikes a soul of an animal.”
[24:18] 90 tn Heb “soul under soul.” Cf. KJV “beast for beast”; NCV “must give…another animal to take its place.”
[24:19] 91 tn Heb “gives a flaw in”; KJV, ASV “cause a blemish in.”
[24:19] 92 tn Or “neighbor” (so NAB, NASB, NIV); TEV, NLT “another person.”
[24:20] 93 tn Heb “in the man [אָדָם, ’adam].”
[24:20] 94 tn Heb “just as he inflicts an injury…it must be inflicted on him.” The referent (“that same injury”) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[24:21] 95 sn See the note on v. 18 above.
[24:21] 96 tn Heb “and,” but here the Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) is adversative, contrasting the consequences of beating an animal to death with those of beating a person to death.
[24:22] 97 tn Heb “a regulation of one”; KJV, ASV “one manner of law”; NASB “one standard.”
[25:2] 98 tn Heb “the land shall rest a Sabbath.”
[25:3] 99 tn Heb “its produce,” but the feminine pronoun “its” probably refers to the “land” (a feminine noun in Hebrew; cf. v. 2), not the “field” or the “vineyard,” both of which are normally masculine nouns (see B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 170).
[25:4] 100 tn Heb “and in the seventh year a Sabbath of complete rest shall be to the land.” The expression “a Sabbath of complete rest” is superlative, emphasizing the full and all inclusive rest of the seventh year of the sabbatical cycle. Cf. ASV “a sabbath of solemn rest”; NAB “a complete rest.”
[25:4] 101 tn Heb “and.” Here the Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) has an alternative sense (“or”).
[25:5] 102 tn Heb “consecrated, devoted, forbidden” (נָזִיר, nazir). The same term is used for the “consecration” of the “Nazirite” (and his hair, Num 6:2, 18, etc.), a designation which, in turn, derives from the very same root.
[25:6] 103 tn The word “produce” is not in the Hebrew text but is implied; cf. NASB “the sabbath products.”
[25:6] 104 tn A “resident who stays” would be a foreign person who was probably residing as another kind of laborer in the household of a landowner (B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 170-71). See v. 35 below.
[25:7] 105 tn The words “for you” are implied.
[25:8] 106 tn Heb “And you shall count off for yourself.”
[25:8] 107 tn Heb “seven years seven times.”
[25:8] 108 tn Heb “and they shall be for you, the days of the seven Sabbaths of years, forty-nine years.”
[25:9] 109 sn On the “loud horn blasts” see the note on Lev 23:24, but unlike the language there, the Hebrew term for “horn” (שׁוֹפָר, shofar) actually appears here in this verse (twice).
[25:10] 110 tn Heb “the year of the fifty years,” or perhaps “the year, fifty years” (GKC 435 §134.o, note 2).
[25:10] 111 tn Cf. KJV, ASV, NAB, NIV, NRSV “liberty”; TEV, CEV “freedom.” The characteristics of this “release” are detailed in the following verses. For substantial summaries and bibliography on the biblical and ancient Near Eastern material regarding such a “release” see J. E. Hartley, Leviticus (WBC), 427-34, and B. A. Levine, Leviticus (JPSTC), 270-74.
[25:10] 112 tn Heb “A jubilee that shall be to you.” Although there has been some significant debate about the original meaning of the Hebrew word translated “jubilee” (יוֹבֵל, yovel; see the summary in J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 434), the term most likely means “ram” and can refer also to a “ram’s horn.” The fiftieth year would, therefore, be called the “jubilee” because of the associated sounding of the “ram’s horn” (see B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 172, and the literature cited there).
[25:10] 113 tn Heb “you [plural] shall return, a man.”
[25:11] 114 tn Heb “you shall not sow and you shall not…and you shall not….”
[25:11] sn See v. 5 above and the notes there.
[25:12] 115 tn That is, the produce of the land (fem.; cf. v. 7 above).
[25:13] 116 tn Heb “you [plural] shall return, a man.”
[25:14] 117 tn Heb “sell a sale.”
[25:14] 118 tn Or “to one of your countrymen” (NIV); NASB “to your friend.”
[25:14] 119 tn The Hebrew infinitive absolute קָנֹה (qanoh, “buying”) substitutes for the finite verb here in sequence with the previous finite verb “sell” at the beginning of the verse (see GKC 345 §113.z).
[25:14] 120 tn Heb “do not oppress a man his brother.” Here “brother” does not refer only to a sibling, but to a fellow Israelite.
[25:15] 121 tn Heb “in the number of years after.”
[25:15] 122 tn The words “that are left” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied.
[25:15] sn The purchaser is actually buying only the crops that the land will produce until the next jubilee, since the land will revert to the original owner at that time. The purchaser, therefore, is not actually buying the land itself.
[25:16] 123 tn Heb “To the mouth of the many years.”
[25:16] 124 tn Heb “to the mouth of the few years.”
[25:16] 125 tn Heb “a number of produce”; the words “years of” are implied. As an alternative this could be translated “a number of harvests” (cf. NRSV, NLT).
[25:17] 126 tn Heb “And you shall not oppress a man his fellow citizen.”
[25:18] 127 tn Heb “And you shall keep and do them.” This appears to be a kind of verbal hendiadys, where the first verb is a modifier of the action of the second verb (see GKC 386 §120.d, although שָׁמַר [shamar, “to keep”] is not cited there; cf. Lev 20:8, etc.).
[25:18] 128 tn Heb “and you shall dwell on the land to security.”
[25:19] 129 tn Heb “eat to satisfaction”; KJV, ASV “ye shall eat your fill.”
[25:21] 130 tn Heb “and it [i.e., the land] shall make the produce.” The Hebrew term וְעָשָׂת (vÿ’asat, “and it shall make”) is probably an older third feminine singular form of the verb (GKC 210 §75.m). Smr has the normal form.
[25:21] 131 tn Smr and LXX have “its produce” (cf. 25:3, 7, etc.) rather than “the produce.”
[25:22] 132 tn Heb “the produce,” referring to “the produce” of the sixth year of v. 21. The words “sixth year” are supplied for clarity.
[25:22] 133 tn Heb “until the ninth year, until bringing [in] its produce.”
[25:23] 134 tn The term rendered “without reclaim” means that the land has been bought for the full price and is, therefore, not subject to reclaim under any circumstances. This was not to be done with land in ancient Israel (contrast the final full sale of houses in v. 30; see the evidence cited in B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 174).
[25:23] 135 tn That is, the Israelites were strangers and residents who were attached to the
[25:24] 136 tn Heb “And in all the land of your property.”
[25:24] 137 tn Heb “right of redemption you shall give to the land”; NAB “you must permit the land to be redeemed.”
[25:25] 138 tn Heb “the sale of his brother.”
[25:26] 139 tn Heb “and his hand reaches.”
[25:26] 140 tn Heb “and he finds as sufficiency of its redemption.”
[25:27] 141 tn Heb “and he shall calculate its years of sale.”
[25:27] 142 tn Heb “and return the excess.”
[25:28] 143 tn Heb “And if his hand has not found sufficiency of returning.” Although some versions take this to mean that he has not made enough to regain the land (e.g., NASB, NRSV; see also B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 176), the combination of terms in Hebrew corresponds to the portion of v. 27 that refers specifically to refunding the money (cf. v. 27; see NIV and G. J. Wenham, Leviticus [NICOT], 315).
[25:28] 144 tn Heb “his sale.”
[25:28] 145 tn Heb “will be in the hand of.” This refers to the temporary control of the one who purchased its produce until the next year of jubilee, at which time it would revert to the original owner.
[25:28] 146 tn Heb “it shall go out” (so KJV, ASV; see B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 176).
[25:28] 147 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the original owner of the land) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[25:29] 148 tn Heb “a house of a residence of a walled city.”
[25:29] 149 tn Heb “shall be.”
[25:29] 150 tn Heb “of its sale.”
[25:29] 151 tn Heb “days its right of redemption shall be” (see B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 176).
[25:30] 152 tn Heb “until fulfilling to it a complete year.’
[25:30] 153 tn Heb “the house which [is] in the city which to it [is] a wall.” The Kethib has לֹא (lo’, “no, not”) rather than לוֹ (lo, “to it”) which is the Qere.
[25:30] 154 tn See the note on v. 23 above.
[25:31] 155 tn Heb “And the houses of the villages.”
[25:31] 156 tn Heb “which there is not to them a wall.”
[25:31] 157 tn Heb “on the field.”
[25:32] 159 tn Heb “the houses of the cities of their property.”
[25:33] 160 tn Heb “And which he shall redeem from the Levites shall go out, sale of house and city, his property in the jubilee.” Although the end of this verse is clear, the first part is notoriously difficult. There are five main views. (1) The first clause of the verse actually attaches to the previous verse, and refers to the fact that their houses retain a perpetual right of redemption (v. 32b), “which any of the Levites may exercise” (v. 33a; J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 418, 421). (2) It refers to property that one Levite sells to another Levite, which is then redeemed by still another Levite (v. 33a). In such cases, the property reverts to the original Levite owner in the jubilee year (v. 33b; G. J. Wenham, Leviticus [NICOT], 321). (3) It refers to houses in a city that had come to be declared as a Levitical city but had original non-Levitical owners. Once the city was declared to belong to the Levites, however, an owner could only sell his house to a Levite, and he could only redeem it back from a Levite up until the time of the first jubilee after the city was declared to be a Levitical city. In this case the first part of the verse would be translated, “Such property as may be redeemed from the Levites” (NRSV, NJPS). At the first jubilee, however, all such houses became the property of the Levites (v. 33b; P. J. Budd, Leviticus [NCBC], 353). (4) It refers to property “which is appropriated from the Levites” (not “redeemed from the Levites,” v. 33a) by those who have bought it or taken it as security for debts owed to them by Levites who had fallen on bad times. Again, such property reverts back to the original Levite owners at the jubilee (B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 177). (5) It simply refers to the fact that a Levite has the option of redeeming his house (i.e., the prefix form of the verb is taken to be subjunctive, “may or might redeem”), which he had to sell because he had fallen into debt or perhaps even become destitute. Even if he never gained the resources to do so, however, it would still revert to him in the jubilee year. The present translation is intended to reflect this latter view.
[25:34] 162 sn This refers to the region of fields just outside and surrounding the city where cattle were kept and garden crops were grown (B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 177).
[25:35] 163 tn It is not clear to whom this refers. It is probably broader than “sibling” (cf. NRSV “any of your kin”; NLT “any of your Israelite relatives”) but some English versions take it to mean “fellow Israelite” (so TEV; cf. NAB, NIV “countrymen”) and others are ambiguous (cf. CEV “any of your people”).
[25:35] 164 tn Heb “and his hand slips with you.”
[25:35] 165 tn Heb “strengthen”; NASB “sustain.”
[25:35] 166 tn The form וָחַי (vakhay, “and shall live”) looks like the adjective “living,” but the MT form is simply the same verb written as a double ayin verb (see HALOT 309 s.v. חיה qal, and GKC 218 §76.i; cf. Lev 18:5).
[25:35] 167 tn Heb “a foreigner and resident,” which is probably to be combined (see B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 170-71).
[25:36] 168 tn The meaning of the terms rendered “interest” and “profit” is much debated (see the summaries in P. J. Budd, Leviticus [NCBC], 354-55 and B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 178). Verse 37, however, suggests that the first refers to a percentage of money and the second percentage of produce (see J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 421).
[25:36] 169 tn In form the Hebrew term וְחֵי (vÿkhey, “shall live”) is the construct plural noun (i.e., “the life of”), but here it is used as the finite verb (cf. v. 35 and GKC 218 §76.i).
[25:37] 170 tn Heb “your money” and “your food.” With regard to “interest” and “profit” see the note on v. 36 above.
[25:38] 171 tn Heb “to be to you for a God.”
[25:39] 172 tn Heb “you shall not serve against him service of a slave.” A distinction is being made here between the status of slave and indentured servant.
[25:40] 173 tn See the note on Lev 25:6 above.
[25:41] 174 tn Heb “and.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) can be considered to have adversative force here.
[25:41] 175 tn Heb “may go out from you.”
[25:42] 177 tn Or perhaps reflexive Niphal rather than passive, “they shall not sell themselves [as in] a slave sale.”
[25:43] 178 tn Heb “You shall not rule in him in violence”; cf. NASB “with severity”; NIV “ruthlessly.”
[25:44] 179 tn Heb “And your male slave and your female slave.” Smr has these as plural terms, “slaves,” not singular.
[25:44] 180 tn Heb “ from the nations which surround you, from them you shall buy male slave and female slave.”
[25:45] 181 tn The word “slaves” is not in the Hebrew text, but is implied here.
[25:45] 182 tn Heb “family which is” (i.e., singular rather than plural).
[25:46] 183 tn Heb “and your brothers, the sons of Israel, a man in his brother you shall not rule in him in violence.”
[25:47] 184 tn Heb “And if the hand of a foreigner and resident with you reaches” (cf. v. 26 for this idiom).
[25:47] 185 tn Heb “and.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) can be considered to have resultative force here.
[25:47] 186 tn Heb “offshoot, descendant.”
[25:48] 187 tn Heb “right of redemption shall be to him.”
[25:49] 188 tn Heb “the son of his uncle.”
[25:49] 189 tn Heb “or from the remainder of his flesh from his family.”
[25:49] 190 tc The LXX, followed by the Syriac, actually has “if,” which is not in the MT.
[25:50] 191 tn Heb “the years.”
[25:50] 192 tn Heb “as days of a hired worker he shall be with him.” For this and the following verses see the explanation in P. J. Budd, Leviticus (NCBC), 358-59.
[25:51] 193 tn Heb “to the mouth of them.”
[25:52] 194 tn Heb “but if a little remains in the years.”
[25:53] 195 tn Heb “be with him”; the referent (the one who bought him) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[25:53] 196 tn Heb “As a hired worker year in year.”
[25:53] 197 tn Heb “He”; the referent (the one who bought him) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[25:55] 200 tn Heb “because to me the sons of Israel are servants.”
