Imamat 4:3

For the Priest

4:3 “‘If the high priest ¹  sins so that the people are guilty, ²  on account of the sin he has committed he must present a flawless young bull to the Lord ³  for a sin offering. ⁴ 

Imamat 5:12

5:12 He must bring it to the priest and the priest must scoop out from it a handful as its memorial portion ⁵  and offer it up in smoke on the altar on top of the other gifts of the Lord – it is a sin offering.

Imamat 5:19

5:19 It is a guilt offering; he was surely guilty before the Lord.”

Imamat 6:18

6:18 Every male among the sons of Aaron may eat it. It is a perpetual allotted portion ⁶  throughout your generations ⁷  from the gifts of the Lord. Anyone who touches these gifts ⁸  must be holy.’” ⁹ 

Imamat 8:31

8:31 Then Moses said to Aaron and his sons, “Boil the meat at the entrance of the Meeting Tent, and there you are to eat it and the bread which is in the ordination offering basket, just as I have commanded, ¹⁰  saying, ‘Aaron and his sons are to eat it,’

Imamat 9:2

9:2 and said to Aaron, “Take for yourself a bull calf for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering, both flawless, and present them before the Lord.

Imamat 10:1

Nadab and Abihu

10:1 Then ¹¹  Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu, each took his fire pan and put fire in it, set incense on it, and presented strange fire ¹²  before the Lord, which he had not commanded them to do.

Imamat 12:8

12:8 If she cannot afford a sheep, ¹³  then she must take two turtledoves or two young pigeons, ¹⁴  one for a burnt offering and one for a sin offering, and the priest is to make atonement on her behalf, and she will be clean.’” 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 20:1

Prohibitions against Illegitimate Family Worship

20:1 The Lord spoke to Moses:

Imamat 21:16

Rules for the Priesthood

21:16 The Lord spoke to Moses:

Imamat 22:1

Regulations for the Eating of Priestly Stipends

22:1 The Lord spoke to Moses:

Imamat 22:3

22:3 Say to them, ‘Throughout your generations, ¹⁸  if any man from all your descendants approaches the holy offerings which the Israelites consecrate ¹⁹  to the Lord while he is impure, ²⁰  that person must be cut off from before me. ²¹  I am the Lord.

Imamat 24:9

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 ²²  from the gifts of the Lord.”

[4:3]  ¹ tn Heb “the anointed priest” (so ASV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV). This refers to the high priest (cf. TEV, CEV, NLT).

[4:3]  ² tn Heb “to the guilt of the people”; NRSV “thus bringing guilt on the people.”

[4:3]  ³ tn Heb “and he shall offer on his sin which he sinned, a bull, a son of the herd, flawless.”

[4:3]  ⁴ sn The word for “sin offering” (sometimes translated “purification offering”) is the same as the word for “sin” earlier in the verse. One can tell which rendering is intended only by the context. The primary purpose of the “sin offering” (חַטָּאת, khatta’t) was to “purge” (כִּפֶּר, kipper, “to make atonement,” see 4:20, 26, 31, 35, and the notes on Lev 1:4 and esp. Lev 16:20, 33) the sanctuary or its furniture in order to cleanse it from any impurities and/or (re)consecrate it for holy purposes (see, e.g., Lev 8:15; 16:19). By making this atonement the impurities of the person or community were cleansed and the people became clean. See R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 2:93-103.

[5:12]  ⁵ sn The “memorial portion” (אַזְכָּרָה, ’azkkarah) was the part of the grain offering that was burnt on the altar (Lev 2:2), 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]). It was probably intended to call to mind (i.e., memorialize) before the Lord the reason for the presentation of the particular offering (see the remarks in R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 1:335-39).

[6:18]  ⁶ tn Or “a perpetual regulation”; cf. NASB “a permanent ordinance”; NRSV “as their perpetual due.”

[6:18]  ⁷ tn Heb “for your generations”; cf. NIV “for the generations to come.”

[6:18]  ⁸ tn Heb “touches them”; the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity. In this context “them” must refer to the “gifts” of the Lord.

[6:18]  ⁹ tn Or “anyone/anything that touches them shall become holy” (J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:443-56). The question is whether this refers to the contagious nature of holy objects (cf. NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT) or whether it simply sets forth a demand that anyone who touches the holy gifts of the Lord must be a holy person (cf. CEV). See R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 2:900-902.

[8:31]  ¹⁰ tn Several major ancient versions have the passive form of the verb (see BHS v. 31 note c; cf. Lev 8:35; 10:13). In that case we would translate, “just as I was commanded.”

[10:1]  ¹¹ tn Although it has been used elsewhere in this translation as an English variation from the ubiquitous use of vav in Hebrew, in this instance “then” as a rendering for vav is intended to show that the Nadab and Abihu catastrophe took place on the inauguration day described in Lev 9. The tragic incident in Lev 10 happened in close temporal connection to the Lord’s fire that consumed the offerings at the end of Lev 9. Thus, for example, the “sin offering” male goat referred to in Lev 10:16-19 is the very one referred to in Lev 9:15.

[10:1]  ¹² tn The expression “strange fire” (אֵשׁ זָרָה, ’esh zarah) seems imprecise (cf. NAB “profane fire”; NIV “unauthorized fire”; NRSV “unholy fire”; NLT “a different kind of fire”) and has been interpreted numerous ways (see the helpful summary in J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 132-33). The infraction may have involved any of the following or a combination thereof: (1) using coals from someplace other than the burnt offering altar (i.e., “unauthorized coals” according to J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:598; cf. Lev 16:12 and cf. “unauthorized person” אִישׁ זָר (’ish zar) in Num 16:40 [17:5 HT], NASB “layman”), (2) using the wrong kind of incense (cf. the Exod 30:9 regulation against “strange incense” קְטֹרֶת זָרָה (qÿtoreh zarah) on the incense altar and the possible connection to Exod 30:34-38), (3) performing an incense offering at an unprescribed time (B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 59), or (4) entering the Holy of Holies at an inappropriate time (Lev 16:1-2).

[12:8]  ¹³ tn Heb “If her hand cannot find the sufficiency of a sheep.” Many English versions render this as “lamb.”

[12:8]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “from the sons of the pigeon,” referring either to “young pigeons” or “various species of pigeon” (contrast J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:168, with J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 14; cf. Lev 1:14 and esp. 5:7-10).

[12:8]  ¹⁵ tn Or “she will be[come] pure.”

[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).

[22:3]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “To your generations.”

[22:3]  ¹⁹ tn The Piel (v. 2) and Hiphil (v. 3) forms of the verb קָדַשׁ (qadash) appear to be interchangeable in this context. Both mean “to consecrate” (Heb “make holy [or “sacred”]”).

[22:3]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and his impurity [is] on him”; NIV “is ceremonially unclean”; NAB, NRSV “while he is in a state of uncleanness.”

[22:3]  ²¹ sn Regarding the “cut off” penalty, see the note on Lev 7:20. Cf. the interpretive translation of TEV “he can never again serve at the altar.”

[24:9]  ²² tn Or “a perpetual regulation”; NRSV “a perpetual due.”