Imamat 1:2

1:2 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘When ¹  someone ²  among you presents an offering ³  to the Lord, ⁴  you ⁵  must present your offering from the domesticated animals, either from the herd or from the flock. ⁶ 

Imamat 2:4

Processed Grain Offerings

2:4 “‘When you present an offering of grain baked in an oven, it must be made of ⁷  choice wheat flour baked into unleavened loaves ⁸  mixed with olive oil or ⁹  unleavened wafers smeared ¹⁰  with olive oil.

Imamat 4:31

4:31 Then he must remove all of its fat (just as fat was removed from the peace offering sacrifice) and the priest must offer it up in smoke on the altar for a soothing aroma to the Lord. So the priest will make atonement ¹¹  on his behalf and he will be forgiven. ¹² 

Imamat 6:2

6:2 “When a person sins and commits a trespass ¹³  against the Lord by deceiving his fellow citizen ¹⁴  in regard to something held in trust, or a pledge, or something stolen, or by extorting something from his fellow citizen, ¹⁵ 

Imamat 16:24

16:24 Then he must bathe his body in water in a holy place, put on his clothes, and go out and make his burnt offering and the people’s burnt offering. So he is to make atonement ¹⁶  on behalf of himself and the people. ¹⁷ 

Imamat 17:14-15

17:14 for the life of all flesh is its blood. ¹⁸  So I have said to the Israelites: You must not eat the blood of any living thing ¹⁹  because the life of every living thing is its blood – all who eat it will be cut off. ²⁰ 

Regulations for Eating Carcasses

17:15 “‘Any person ²¹  who eats an animal that has died of natural causes ²²  or an animal torn by beasts, whether a native citizen or a foreigner, ²³  must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening; then he becomes clean.

Imamat 23:37

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, ²⁴  each day according to its regulation, ²⁵ 

Imamat 24:3

24:3 Outside the veil-canopy ²⁶  of the congregation in the Meeting Tent Aaron ²⁷  must arrange it from evening until morning before the Lord continually. This is a perpetual statute throughout your generations. ²⁸ 

Imamat 25:10

25:10 So you must consecrate the fiftieth year, ²⁹  and you must proclaim a release ³⁰  in the land for all its inhabitants. That year will be your jubilee; ³¹  each one of you must return ³²  to his property and each one of you must return to his clan.

Imamat 26:25

26:25 I will bring on you an avenging sword, a covenant vengeance. ³³  Although ³⁴  you will gather together into your cities, I will send pestilence among you and you will be given into enemy hands. ³⁵ 

[1:2]  ¹ tn “When” here translates the MT’s כִּי (ki, “if, when”), which regularly introduces main clauses in legislative contexts (see, e.g., Lev 2:1, 4; 4:2, etc.) in contrast to אִם (’im, “if”), which usually introduces subordinate sections (see, e.g., Lev 1:3, 10, 14; 2:5, 7, 14; 4:3, 13, etc.; cf. כִּי in Exod 21:2 and 7 as opposed to אִם in vv. 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, and 11).

[1:2]  sn Lev 1:1-2 serves as a heading for Lev 1-3 (i.e., the basic regulations regarding the presentation of the burnt, grain, and peace offerings) and, at the same time, leads directly into the section on “burnt offerings” in Lev 1:3. In turn, Lev 1:3-17 divides into three subsections, all introduced by אִם “if” (Lev 1:3-9, 10-13, and 14-17, respectively). Similar patterns are discernible throughout Lev 1:2-6:7 [5:26 HT].

[1:2]  ² tn Heb “a man, human being” (אָדָם, ’adam), which in this case refers to any person among “mankind,” male or female, since women could also bring such offerings (see, e.g., Lev 12:6-8; 15:29-30; cf. HALOT 14 s.v. I אָדָם); cf. NIV “any of you.”

[1:2]  ³ tn The verb “presents” is cognate to the noun “offering” in v. 2 and throughout the book of Leviticus (both from the root קרב [qrb]). One could translate the verb “offers,” but this becomes awkward and, in fact, inaccurate in some passages. For example, in Lev 9:9 this verb is used for the presenting or giving of the blood to Aaron so that he could offer it to the Lord. The blood is certainly not being “offered” as an offering to Aaron there.

[1:2]  ⁴ tn The whole clause reads more literally, “A human being (אָדָם, ’adam), if he brings from among you an offering to the Lord.”

[1:2]  ⁵ tn The shift to the second person plural verb here corresponds to the previous second person plural pronoun “among you.” It is distinct from the regular pattern of third person singular verbs throughout the rest of Lev 1-3. This too labels Lev 1:1-2 as an introduction to all of Lev 1-3, not just the burnt offering regulations in Lev 1 (J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:146; cf. note 3 above).

[1:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “from the domesticated animal, from the herd, and from the flock.” It is clear from the subsequent division between animals from the “herd” (בָּקָר, baqar, in Lev 1:3-9) and the “flock” (צֹאן, tso’n; see Lev 1:10-13) that the term for “domesticated animal” (בְּהֵמָה, bÿhemah) is a general term meant to introduce the category of pastoral quadrupeds. The stronger disjunctive accent over בְּהֵמָה in the MT as well as the lack of a vav (ו) between it and בָּקָר also suggest בְּהֵמָה is an overall category that includes both “herd” and “flock” quadrupeds.

[1:2]  sn The bird category (Lev 1:14-17) is not included in this introduction because bird offerings were, by and large, concessions to the poor (cf., e.g., Lev 5:7-10; 12:8; 14:21-32) and, therefore, not considered to be one of the primary categories of animal offerings.

[2:4]  ⁷ tn The insertion of the words “it must be made of” is justified by the context and the expressed words “it shall be made of” in vv. 7 and 8 below.

[2:4]  ⁸ sn These “loaves” were either “ring-shaped” (HALOT 317 s.v. חַלָּה) or “perforated” (BDB 319 s.v. חַלָּה; cf. J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:184).

[2:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “and.” Here the conjunction vav (ו) has an alternative sense (“or”).

[2:4]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew word מְשֻׁחִים (mÿshukhim) translated here as “smeared” is often translated “anointed” in other contexts. Cf. TEV “brushed with olive oil” (CEV similar).

[4:31]  ¹¹ sn The focus of sin offering “atonement” was purging impurities from the tabernacle (see the note on Lev 1:4).

[4:31]  ¹² tn Heb “there shall be forgiveness to him” or “it shall be forgiven to him” (KJV similar).

[6:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “trespasses a trespass” (verb and direct object from the same Hebrew root מַעַל, ma’al). See the note on 5:15.

[6:2]  ¹⁴ tn Or “neighbor” (ASV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NASB “companion”; TEV “a fellow-Israelite.”

[6:2]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “has extorted his neighbor”; ASV “oppressed”; NRSV “defrauded.”

[16:24]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “And he shall make atonement.”

[16:24]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “on behalf of himself and on behalf of the people.” After “on behalf of himself” the LXX adds the expected “and on behalf of his household” (cf. vv. 6, 11, and 17).

[17:14]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “for the life/soul (נֶפֶשׁ, nefesh) of all flesh, its blood in its life/soul (נֶפֶשׁ) it is.” The LXX, Syriac, and Vulgate leave out “in its life/soul,” which would naturally yield “for the life of all flesh, its blood it is” (see J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 261, 263). The present translation is something of an oversimplification, but the meaning is basically the same in any case. Cf. NRSV “For the life of every creature – its blood is its life.”

[17:14]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “of all flesh” (also later in this verse). See the note on “every living thing” in v. 11.

[17:14]  ²⁰ tn For remarks on the “cut off” penalty see the note on v. 4 above.

[17:15]  ²¹ tn Heb “And any soul” (נֶפֶשׁ, nefesh).

[17:15]  ²² tn Heb “carcass,” referring to the carcass of an animal that has died on its own, not the carcass of an animal slaughtered for sacrifice or killed by wild beasts. This has been clarified in the translation by supplying the phrase “of natural causes”; cf. NAB “that died of itself”; TEV “that has died a natural death.”

[17:15]  ²³ tn Heb “in the native or in the sojourner.”

[23:37]  ²⁴ tn The LXX has “[their] burnt offerings, and their sacrifices, and their drink offerings.”

[23:37]  ²⁵ tn Heb “a matter of a day in its day”; NAB “as prescribed for each day”; NRSV, NLT “each on its proper day.”

[24:3]  ²⁶ 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]  ²⁷ tc Several medieval Hebrew mss, Smr, and the LXX add “and his sons.”

[24:3]  ²⁸ tn Heb “for your generations.”

[25:10]  ²⁹ tn Heb “the year of the fifty years,” or perhaps “the year, fifty years” (GKC 435 §134.o, note 2).

[25:10]  ³⁰ 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]  ³¹ 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]  ³² tn Heb “you [plural] shall return, a man.”

[26:25]  ³³ tn Heb “vengeance of covenant”; cf. NAB “the avenger of my covenant.”

[26:25]  ³⁴ tn Heb “and.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) has a concessive force in this context.

[26:25]  ³⁵ tn Heb “in hand of enemy,” but Tg. Ps.-J. and Tg. Neof. have “in the hands of your enemies” (J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 454).