Imamat 18:1--22:16
Konteks18:1 The Lord spoke to Moses: 18:2 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘I am the Lord your God! 18:3 You must not do as they do in the land of Egypt where you have been living, 1 and you must not do as they do in the land of Canaan into which I am about to bring you; 2 you must not 3 walk in their statutes. 18:4 You must observe my regulations 4 and you must be sure to walk in my statutes. 5 I am the Lord your God. 18:5 So you must keep 6 my statutes and my regulations; anyone who does so will live by keeping them. 7 I am the Lord.
18:6 “‘No man is to approach any close relative 8 to have sexual intercourse with her. 9 I am the Lord. 10 18:7 You must not 11 expose your father’s nakedness by having sexual intercourse with your mother. 12 She is your mother; you must not have intercourse with her. 18:8 You must not have sexual intercourse with your father’s wife; she is your father’s nakedness. 13 18:9 You must not have sexual intercourse with your sister, whether she is your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, 14 whether she is born in the same household or born outside it; 15 you must not have sexual intercourse with either of them. 16 18:10 You must not expose the nakedness of your son’s daughter or your daughter’s daughter by having sexual intercourse with them, because they are your own nakedness. 17 18:11 You must not have sexual intercourse with the daughter of your father’s wife born of your father; she is your sister. You must not have intercourse with her. 18 18:12 You must not have sexual intercourse with your father’s sister; she is your father’s flesh. 19 18:13 You must not have sexual intercourse with your mother’s sister, because she is your mother’s flesh. 18:14 You must not expose the nakedness of your father’s brother; you must not approach his wife to have sexual intercourse with her. 20 She is your aunt. 21 18:15 You must not have sexual intercourse with your daughter-in-law; she is your son’s wife. You must not have intercourse with her. 18:16 You must not have sexual intercourse with your brother’s wife; she is your brother’s nakedness. 22 18:17 You must not have sexual intercourse with both a woman and her daughter; you must not take as wife either her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter to have intercourse with them. 23 They are closely related to her 24 – it is lewdness. 25 18:18 You must not take a woman in marriage and then marry her sister as a rival wife 26 while she is still alive, 27 to have sexual intercourse with her.
18:19 “‘You must not approach a woman in her menstrual impurity 28 to have sexual intercourse with her. 18:20 You must not have sexual intercourse 29 with the wife of your fellow citizen to become unclean with her. 18:21 You must not give any of your children as an offering to Molech, 30 so that you do not profane 31 the name of your God. I am the Lord! 18:22 You must not have sexual intercourse with a male as one has sexual intercourse with a woman; 32 it is a detestable act. 33 18:23 You must not have sexual intercourse 34 with any animal to become defiled with it, and a woman must not stand before an animal to have sexual intercourse with it; 35 it is a perversion. 36
18:24 “‘Do not defile yourselves with any of these things, for the nations which I am about to drive out before you 37 have been defiled with all these things. 18:25 Therefore 38 the land has become unclean and I have brought the punishment for its iniquity upon it, 39 so that the land has vomited out its inhabitants. 18:26 You yourselves must obey 40 my statutes and my regulations and must not do any of these abominations, both the native citizen and the resident foreigner in your midst, 41 18:27 for the people who were in the land before you have done all these abominations, 42 and the land has become unclean. 18:28 So do not make the land vomit you out because you defile it 43 just as it has vomited out the nations 44 that were before you. 18:29 For if anyone does any of these abominations, the persons who do them will be cut off from the midst of their people. 45 18:30 You must obey my charge to not practice any of the abominable statutes 46 that have been done before you, so that you do not 47 defile yourselves by them. I am the Lord your God.’”
19:1 The Lord spoke to Moses: 19:2 “Speak to the whole congregation of the Israelites and tell them, ‘You must be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy. 19:3 Each of you must respect his mother and his father, 48 and you must keep my Sabbaths. I am the Lord your God. 19:4 Do not turn to idols, 49 and you must not make for yourselves gods of cast metal. I am the Lord your God.
19:5 “‘When you sacrifice a peace offering sacrifice to the Lord, you must sacrifice it so that it is accepted for you. 50 19:6 It must be eaten on the day of your sacrifice and on the following day, 51 but what is left over until the third day must be burned up. 52 19:7 If, however, it is eaten 53 on the third day, it is spoiled, 54 it will not be accepted, 19:8 and the one who eats it will bear his punishment for iniquity 55 because he has profaned 56 what is holy to the Lord. 57 That person will be cut off from his people. 58
19:9 “‘When you gather in the harvest 59 of your land, you must not completely harvest the corner of your field, 60 and you must not gather up the gleanings of your harvest. 19:10 You must not pick your vineyard bare, 61 and you must not gather up the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You must leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the Lord your God.
19:11 “‘You must not steal, you must not tell lies, and you must not deal falsely with your fellow citizen. 62 19:12 You must not swear falsely 63 in my name, so that you do not profane 64 the name of your God. I am the Lord. 19:13 You must not oppress your neighbor or commit robbery against him. 65 You must not withhold 66 the wages of the hired laborer overnight until morning. 19:14 You must not curse a deaf person or put a stumbling block in front of a blind person. 67 You must fear 68 your God; I am the Lord.
19:15 “‘You 69 must not deal unjustly in judgment: 70 you must neither show partiality to the poor nor honor the rich. 71 You must judge your fellow citizen fairly. 72 19:16 You must not go about as a slanderer among your people. 73 You must not stand idly by when your neighbor’s life is at stake. 74 I am the Lord. 19:17 You must not hate your brother in your heart. You must surely reprove your fellow citizen so that you do not incur sin on account of him. 75 19:18 You must not take vengeance or bear a grudge 76 against the children of your people, but you must love your neighbor as yourself. 77 I am the Lord. 19:19 You must keep my statutes. You must not allow two different kinds of your animals to breed, 78 you must not sow your field with two different kinds of seed, and you must not wear 79 a garment made of two different kinds of fabric. 80
19:20 “‘When a man has sexual intercourse with a woman, 81 although she is a slave woman designated for another man and she has not yet been ransomed, or freedom has not been granted to her, there will be an obligation to pay compensation. 82 They must not be put to death, because she was not free. 19:21 He must bring his guilt offering to the Lord at the entrance of the Meeting Tent, a guilt offering ram, 83 19:22 and the priest is to make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt offering before the Lord for his sin that he has committed, 84 and he will be forgiven 85 of his sin 86 that he has committed.
19:23 “‘When you enter the land and plant any fruit tree, 87 you must consider its fruit to be forbidden. 88 Three years it will be forbidden to you; 89 it must not be eaten. 19:24 In the fourth year all its fruit will be holy, praise offerings 90 to the Lord. 19:25 Then in the fifth year you may eat its fruit to add its produce to your harvest. 91 I am the Lord your God.
19:26 “‘You must not eat anything with the blood still in it. 92 You must not practice either divination or soothsaying. 93 19:27 You must not round off the corners of the hair on your head or ruin the corners of your beard. 94 19:28 You must not slash your body for a dead person 95 or incise a tattoo on yourself. 96 I am the Lord. 19:29 Do not profane your daughter by making her a prostitute, 97 so that the land does not practice prostitution and become full of lewdness. 98
19:30 “‘You must keep my Sabbaths and fear my sanctuary. I am the Lord. 19:31 Do not turn to the spirits of the dead and do not seek familiar spirits 99 to become unclean by them. I am the Lord your God. 19:32 You must stand up in the presence of the aged, honor the presence of an elder, and fear your God. I am the Lord. 19:33 When a foreigner resides 100 with you in your land, you must not oppress him. 19:34 The foreigner who resides with you must be to you like a native citizen among you; so 101 you must love him as yourself, because you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God. 19:35 You must not do injustice in the regulation of measures, whether of length, weight, or volume. 102 19:36 You must have honest balances, 103 honest weights, an honest ephah, and an honest hin. 104 I am the Lord your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt. 19:37 You must be sure to obey all my statutes and regulations. 105 I am the Lord.’”
20:1 The Lord spoke to Moses: 20:2 “You are to say to the Israelites, ‘Any man from the Israelites or from the foreigners who reside in Israel 106 who gives any of his children 107 to Molech 108 must be put to death; the people of the land must pelt him with stones. 109 20:3 I myself will set my face 110 against that man and cut him off from the midst of his people, 111 because he has given some of his children to Molech and thereby defiled my sanctuary and profaned my holy name. 112 20:4 If, however, the people of the land shut their eyes 113 to that man 114 when he gives some of his children to Molech so that they do not put him to death, 20:5 I myself will set my face against that man and his clan. I will cut off from the midst of their people both him and all who follow after him in spiritual prostitution, 115 to commit prostitution by worshiping Molech. 116
20:6 “‘The person who turns to the spirits of the dead and familiar spirits 118 to commit prostitution by going after them, I will set my face 119 against that person and cut him off from the midst of his people.
20:7 “‘You must sanctify yourselves and be holy, because I am the Lord your God. 20:8 You must be sure to obey my statutes. 120 I am the Lord who sanctifies you.
20:9 “‘If anyone 122 curses his father and mother 123 he must be put to death. He has cursed his father and mother; his blood guilt is on himself. 124 20:10 If a man 125 commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, 126 both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death. 20:11 If a man has sexual intercourse with his father’s wife, he has exposed his father’s nakedness. 127 Both of them must be put to death; their blood guilt is on themselves. 128 20:12 If a man has sexual intercourse with his daughter-in-law, both of them must be put to death. They have committed perversion; 129 their blood guilt is on themselves. 20:13 If a man has sexual intercourse with a male as one has sexual intercourse with a woman, 130 the two of them have committed an abomination. They must be put to death; their blood guilt is on themselves. 20:14 If a man has sexual intercourse with both a woman and her mother, 131 it is lewdness. 132 Both he and they must be burned to death, 133 so there is no lewdness in your midst. 20:15 If a man has sexual intercourse 134 with any animal, he must be put to death, and you must kill the animal. 20:16 If a woman approaches any animal to have sexual intercourse with it, 135 you must kill the woman, and the animal must be put to death; their blood guilt is on themselves.
20:17 “‘If a man has sexual intercourse with 136 his sister, whether the daughter of his father or his mother, so that he sees her nakedness and she sees his nakedness, it is a disgrace. They must be cut off in the sight of the children of their people. 137 He has exposed his sister’s nakedness; he will bear his punishment for iniquity. 138 20:18 If a man has sexual intercourse with a menstruating woman and uncovers her nakedness, he has laid bare her fountain of blood and she has exposed the fountain of her blood, so both of them 139 must be cut off from the midst of their people. 20:19 You must not expose the nakedness of your mother’s sister and your father’s sister, for such a person has laid bare his own close relative. 140 They must bear their punishment for iniquity. 141 20:20 If a man has sexual intercourse with his aunt, he has exposed his uncle’s nakedness; they must bear responsibility for their sin, they will die childless. 20:21 If a man has sexual intercourse with 142 his brother’s wife, it is indecency. He has exposed his brother’s nakedness; 143 they will be childless.
20:22 “‘You must be sure to obey all my statutes and regulations, 144 so that 145 the land to which I am about to bring you to take up residence there does not vomit you out. 20:23 You must not walk in the statutes of the nation 146 which I am about to drive out before you, because they have done all these things and I am filled with disgust against them. 20:24 So I have said to you: You yourselves will possess their land and I myself will give it to you for a possession, a land flowing with milk and honey. I am the Lord your God who has set you apart from the other peoples. 147 20:25 Therefore you must distinguish 148 between the clean animal and the unclean, and between the unclean bird and the clean, and you must not make yourselves detestable by means of an animal or bird or anything that creeps on the ground – creatures 149 I have distinguished for you as unclean. 150 20:26 You must be holy to me because I, the Lord, am holy, and I have set you apart from the other peoples to be mine.
20:27 “‘A man or woman who 151 has in them a spirit of the dead or a familiar spirit 152 must be put to death. They must pelt them with stones; 153 their blood guilt is on themselves.’”
21:1 The Lord said to Moses: “Say to the priests, the sons of Aaron – say to them, ‘For a dead person 154 no priest 155 is to defile himself among his people, 156 21:2 except for his close relative who is near to him: 157 his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, his brother, 21:3 and his virgin sister who is near to him, 158 who has no husband; he may defile himself for her. 21:4 He must not defile himself as a husband among his people so as to profane himself. 159 21:5 Priests 160 must not have a bald spot shaved on their head, they must not shave the corner of their beard, and they must not cut slashes in their body. 161
21:6 “‘They must be holy to their God, and they must not profane 162 the name of their God, because they are the ones who present the Lord’s gifts, 163 the food of their God. Therefore they must be holy. 164 21:7 They must not take a wife defiled by prostitution, 165 nor are they to take a wife divorced from her husband, 166 for the priest 167 is holy to his God. 168 21:8 You must sanctify him because he presents the food of your God. He must be holy to you because I, the Lord who sanctifies you all, 169 am holy. 21:9 If a daughter of a priest profanes herself by engaging in prostitution, she is profaning her father. She must be burned to death. 170
21:10 “‘The high 171 priest – who is greater than his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil is poured, who has been ordained 172 to wear the priestly garments – must neither dishevel the hair of his head nor tear his garments. 173 21:11 He must not go where there is any dead person; 174 he must not defile himself even for his father and his mother. 21:12 He must not go out from the sanctuary and must not profane 175 the sanctuary of his God, because the dedication of the anointing oil of his God is on him. I am the Lord. 21:13 He must take a wife who is a virgin. 176 21:14 He must not marry 177 a widow, a divorced woman, or one profaned by prostitution; he may only take a virgin from his people 178 as a wife. 21:15 He must not profane his children among his people, 179 for I am the Lord who sanctifies him.’”
21:16 The Lord spoke to Moses: 21:17 “Tell Aaron, ‘No man from your descendants throughout their generations 180 who has a physical flaw 181 is to approach to present the food of his God. 21:18 Certainly 182 no man who has a physical flaw is to approach: a blind man, or one who is lame, or one with a slit nose, 183 or a limb too long, 21:19 or a man who has had a broken leg or arm, 184 21:20 or a hunchback, or a dwarf, 185 or one with a spot in his eye, 186 or a festering eruption, or a feverish rash, 187 or a crushed testicle. 21:21 No man from the descendants of Aaron the priest who has a physical flaw may step forward 188 to present the Lord’s gifts; he has a physical flaw, so he must not step forward to present the food of his God. 21:22 He may eat both the most holy and the holy food of his God, 21:23 but he must not go into the veil-canopy 189 or step forward to the altar because he has a physical flaw. Thus 190 he must not profane my holy places, for I am the Lord who sanctifies them.’”
21:24 So 191 Moses spoke these things 192 to Aaron, his sons, and all the Israelites.
22:1 The Lord spoke to Moses: 22:2 “Tell Aaron and his sons that they must deal respectfully with the holy offerings 193 of the Israelites, which they consecrate to me, so that they do not profane my holy name. 194 I am the Lord. 22:3 Say to them, ‘Throughout your generations, 195 if any man from all your descendants approaches the holy offerings which the Israelites consecrate 196 to the Lord while he is impure, 197 that person must be cut off from before me. 198 I am the Lord. 22:4 No man 199 from the descendants of Aaron who is diseased or has a discharge 200 may eat the holy offerings until he becomes clean. The one 201 who touches anything made unclean by contact with a dead person, 202 or a man who has a seminal emission, 203 22:5 or a man who touches a swarming thing by which he becomes unclean, 204 or touches a person 205 by which he becomes unclean, whatever that person’s impurity 206 – 22:6 the person who touches any of these 207 will be unclean until evening and must not eat from the holy offerings unless he has bathed his body in water. 22:7 When the sun goes down he will be clean, and afterward he may eat from the holy offerings, because they are his food. 22:8 He must not eat an animal that has died of natural causes 208 or an animal torn by beasts and thus become unclean by it. I am the Lord. 22:9 They must keep my charge so that they do not incur sin on account of it 209 and therefore die 210 because they profane it. I am the Lord who sanctifies them.
22:10 “‘No lay person 211 may eat anything holy. Neither a priest’s lodger 212 nor a hired laborer may eat anything holy, 22:11 but if a priest buys a person with his own money, 213 that person 214 may eat the holy offerings, 215 and those born in the priest’s 216 own house may eat his food. 217 22:12 If a priest’s daughter marries a lay person, 218 she may not eat the holy contribution offerings, 219 22:13 but if a priest’s daughter is a widow or divorced, and she has no children so that she returns to live in 220 her father’s house as in her youth, 221 she may eat from her father’s food, but no lay person may eat it.
22:14 “‘If a man eats a holy offering by mistake, 222 he must add one fifth to it and give the holy offering to the priest. 223 22:15 They 224 must not profane the holy offerings which the Israelites contribute 225 to the Lord, 226 22:16 and so cause them to incur a penalty for guilt 227 when they eat their holy offerings, 228 for I am the Lord who sanctifies them.’”
[18:3] 1 tn Heb “As the work [or “deed”] of the land of Egypt, which you were dwelling in it, you must not do.”
[18:3] 2 tn Heb “and as the work [or “deed”] of the land of Canaan which I am bringing you to there, you must not do.” The participle “I am bringing” is inceptive; the
[18:3] 3 tn Heb “and you shall not walk.”
[18:4] 4 tn Heb “My regulations you shall do”; KJV, NASB “my judgments”; NRSV “My ordinances”; NIV, TEV “my laws.”
[18:4] sn The Hebrew term translated “regulation” (מִשְׁפָּט, mishpat) refers to the set of regulations about to be set forth in the following chapters (cf. Lev 19:37; 20:22; 25:18; 26:46). Note especially the thematic and formulaic relationships between the introduction here in Lev 18:1-5 and the paraenesis in Lev 20:22-26, both of which refer explicitly to the corrupt nations and the need to separate from them by keeping the
[18:4] 5 tn Heb “and my statutes you shall keep [or “watch; guard”] to walk in them.”
[18:5] 6 tn Heb “And you shall keep.”
[18:5] 7 tn Heb “which the man shall do them and shall live in them.” The term for “a man, human being; mankind” (אָדָם, ’adam; see the note on Lev 1:2) in this case refers to any person among “mankind,” male or female. The expression וָחַי (vakhay, “and shall live”) looks like the adjective “living” so it is written וְחָיָה (vÿkhayah) in Smr, 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 25:35).
[18:6] 8 tn Heb “Man, man shall not draw near to any flesh (שְׁאֵר, shÿ’er) of his body/flesh (בָּשָׂר, basar).” The repetition of the word “man” is distributive, meaning “any (or “every”) man” (GKC 395-96 §123.c; cf. Lev 15:2). The two words for “flesh” are combined to refer to emphasize the physical familial relatedness (see J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 282, and B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 119).
[18:6] 9 tn Heb “to uncover [her] nakedness” (cf. KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV), which is clearly euphemistic for sexual intercourse (see J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 282, and B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 119). This expression occurs a number of times in the following context and is generally translated “have sexual intercourse with [someone],” although in the case of the father mentioned in the following verse the expression may be connected to the shame or disgrace that would belong to the father whose wife’s sexuality is violated by his son. See the note on the word “mother” in v. 7.
[18:6] 10 sn The general statement prohibiting sexual intercourse between close relatives serves as an opening summary statement for the following section, which gives details concerning which degrees of relationship are specifically forbidden.
[18:7] 11 tn The verbal negative here is the same as that used in the Ten Commandments (Exod 20:4-5, 7, 13-17). It suggests permanent prohibition rather than a simple negative command and could, therefore, be rendered “must not” here and throughout the following section as it is in vv. 3-4 above.
[18:7] 12 tn Heb “The nakedness of your father and [i.e., even] the nakedness of your mother you shall not uncover.”
[18:7] sn Commentators suggest that the point of referring to the father’s nakedness is that the mother’s sexuality belongs to the father and is forbidden to the son on that account (see B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 120, and J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 294). The expression may, however, derive from the shame of nakedness when exposed. If one exposes his mother’s nakedness to himself it is like openly exposing the father’s nakedness (cf. Gen 9:22-23 with the background of Gen 2:25 and 3:7, 21). The same essential construction is used in v. 10 where the latter explanation makes more sense than the former.
[18:8] 13 tn Heb “the nakedness of your father she is.” See the note on v. 7 above. This law refers to another wife of the man’s father, who is not that man’s mother. The laws in the Pentateuch sometimes assume the possibility that a man may have more than one wife (cf., e.g., Deut 21:15-17).
[18:9] 14 tn Heb “the daughter of your father or the daughter of your mother.”
[18:9] 15 tn Heb “born of house or born of outside.” CEV interprets as “whether you grew up together or not” (cf. also TEV, NLT).
[18:9] 16 tc Several medieval Hebrew
[18:9] tn For a smooth English translation “either of” was added.
[18:10] 17 sn That is, to have sexual intercourse with one’s granddaughter would be like openly exposing one’s own shameful nakedness (see the note on v. 7 above).
[18:11] 18 tn Heb “The nakedness of the daughter of your father’s wife born of your father, she is your sister; you must not uncover her nakedness.” That is, a half sister, the daughter of the man’s father by another wife, who is not the man’s mother, is to be considered a true sister. Therefore, the man must not have sexual intercourse with her.
[18:12] 19 tc A few medieval Hebrew
[18:14] 20 tn Heb “you must not draw near to his wife.” In the context this refers to approaching one’s aunt to have sexual intercourse with her, so this has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[18:14] 21 tn As in v. 12 (see the note there), some
[18:16] 22 sn Regarding the last clause, see the notes on vv. 7 and 10 above.
[18:17] 23 tn Heb “You must not uncover the nakedness of both a woman and her daughter; the daughter of her son and the daughter of her daughter you must not take to uncover her nakedness.” Translating “her” as “them” provides consistency in the English. In this kind of context, “take” means to “take in marriage” (cf. also v. 18). The LXX and Syriac have “their nakedness,” referring to the nakedness of the woman’s granddaughters, rather than the nakedness of the woman herself.
[18:17] 24 tc Heb “they are her flesh.” The LXX reads “your” here (followed by NRSV). If the LXX reading were followed by the present translation, the result would be “They are closely related to you.”
[18:17] 25 tn The term rendered “lewdness” almost always carries a connotation of cunning, evil device, and divisiveness (cf. HALOT 272 s.v. I זִמָּה 2, “infamy”), and is closely associated with sexual and religious infidelity (cf., e.g., Lev 19:29; 20:14; Job 31:11; Jer 13:27; Ezek 16:27; 22:9). Recent English versions differ on how they handle this: NAB “would be shameful”; CEV “would make you unclean”; NIV “wickedness”; NLT “horrible wickedness”; NRSV “depravity”; TEV “incest.”
[18:18] 26 tn Or “as a concubine”; Heb “And a woman to her sister you shall not take to be a second wife [or “to be a concubine”].” According to HALOT 1059 s.v. III צרר, the infinitive “to be a second wife” (לִצְרֹר, litsror) is a denominative verb from II צָרָה A (“concubine; second wife”), which, in turn, derives from II צר “to treat with hostility” (cf. J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 283, and B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 122).
[18:18] 27 tn Heb “on her in her life.”
[18:19] 28 tn Heb “in the menstruation of her impurity”; NIV “during the uncleanness of her monthly period.”
[18:20] 29 tn Heb “And to the wife of your fellow citizen you shall not give your layer for seed.” The meaning of “your layer” (שְׁכָבְתְּךָ, shÿkhavtÿkha) is uncertain (see B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 122, “you shall not place your layer of semen”; but cf. also J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 283, and the literature cited there for the rendering, “you shall not give your penis for seed”).
[18:21] 30 tn Heb “And from your seed you shall not give to cause to pass over to Molech.” Smr (cf. also the LXX) has “to cause to serve” rather than “to cause to pass over.” For detailed remarks on Molech and Molech worship see N. H. Snaith, Leviticus and Numbers (NCBC), 87-88; P. J. Budd, Leviticus (NCBC), 259-60; and J. E. Hartley, Leviticus (WBC), 333-37, and the literature cited there. It could refer to either human sacrifice or a devotion of children to some sort of service of Molech, perhaps of a sexual sort (cf. Lev 20:2-5; 2 Kgs 23:10, etc.). The inclusion of this prohibition against Molech worship here may be due to some sexual connection of this kind, or perhaps simply to the lexical link between זֶרַע (zera’) meaning “seed, semen” in v. 20 but “offspring” in v. 21.
[18:21] 31 tn Heb “and you shall not profane.” Regarding “profane,” see the note on Lev 10:10 above.
[18:22] 32 tn Heb “And with a male you shall not lay [as the] lyings of a woman” (see B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 123). The specific reference here is to homosexual intercourse between males.
[18:22] 33 tn The Hebrew term תּוֹעֵבָה (to’evah, rendered “detestable act”) refers to the repugnant practices of foreigners, whether from the viewpoint of other peoples toward the Hebrews (e.g., Gen 43:32; 46:34; Exod 8:26) or of the
[18:23] 34 tn See the note on v. 20 above.
[18:23] 35 tn Heb “to copulate with it” (cf. Lev 20:16).
[18:23] 36 tn The Hebrew term תֶּבֶל (tevel, “perversion”) derives from the verb “to mix; to confuse” and therefore refers to illegitimate mixtures of species or violation of the natural order of things.
[18:24] 37 tn Heb “which I am sending away (Piel participle of שָׁלַח [shalakh, “to send”]) from your faces.” The rendering here takes the participle as anticipatory of the coming conquest events.
[18:25] 38 tn Heb “And.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) can be considered to have resultative or even inferential force here.
[18:25] 39 tn Heb “and I have visited its [punishment for] iniquity on it.” See the note on Lev 17:16 above.
[18:26] 40 tn Heb “And you shall keep, you.” The latter emphatic personal pronoun “you” is left out of a few medieval Hebrew
[18:26] 41 tn Heb “the native and the sojourner”; NIV “The native-born and the aliens”; NAB “whether natives or resident aliens.”
[18:27] 42 tn Heb “for all these abominations the men of the land who were before you have done.”
[18:28] 43 tn Heb “And the land will not vomit you out in your defiling it.”
[18:28] 44 tc The MT reads the singular “nation” and is followed by ASV, NASB, NRSV; the LXX, Syriac, and Targum have the plural “nations” (cf. v. 24).
[18:29] 45 sn Regarding the “cut off” penalty see the note on Lev 7:20.
[18:30] 46 tn Heb “to not do from the statutes of the detestable acts.”
[18:30] 47 tn Heb “and you will not.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) can be considered to have resultative force here.
[19:3] 48 tn Heb “A man his mother and his father you [plural] shall fear.” The LXX, Syriac, Vulgate, and certain Targum
[19:4] 49 sn Regarding the difficult etymology and meaning of the term for “idols” (אֱלִילִים, ’elilim), see B. A. Levine, Leviticus (JPSTC), 126; J. E. Hartley, Leviticus (WBC), 304; N. H. Snaith, Leviticus and Numbers (NBC), 89; and Judith M. Hadley, NIDOTTE 1:411. It appears to be a diminutive play on words with אֵל (’el, “god; God”) and, perhaps at the same time, recalls a common Semitic word for “worthless; weak; powerless; nothingness.” Snaith suggests a rendering of “worthless godlings.”
[19:5] 50 tn Heb “for your acceptance”; cf. NIV, NLT “it will be accepted on your behalf.”
[19:6] 51 tn Heb “from the following day” (HALOT 572 s.v. מָחֳרָת 2.b).
[19:6] 52 tn Heb “shall be burned with fire”; KJV “shall be burnt in the fire.” Because “to burn with fire” is redundant in contemporary English the present translation simply has “must be burned up.”
[19:7] 53 tn Heb “And if being eaten [infinitive absolute] it is eaten [finite verb].” For the infinitive absolute used to highlight contrast rather than emphasis see GKC 343 §113.p.
[19:7] 54 tn Or “desecrated,” or “defiled,” or “forbidden.” For this difficult term see J. Milgrom, Leviticus (AB), 1:422, on Lev 7:18.
[19:8] 55 tn See the note on Lev 17:16 above.
[19:8] 56 sn Regarding “profaned,” see the note on Lev 10:10 above.
[19:8] 57 tn Heb “the holiness of the
[19:8] 58 sn On the “cut off” penalty see the note on Lev 7:20.
[19:9] 59 tn Heb “And in your harvesting the harvest.”
[19:9] 60 tn Heb “you shall not complete the corner of your field to harvest.”
[19:10] 61 tn Heb “And you shall not deal severely with your vineyard.”
[19:11] 62 tn Heb “you shall not deal falsely a man with his fellow citizen.”
[19:12] 63 tn Heb “And you shall not swear to the falsehood.”
[19:12] 64 tn Heb “and you shall not profane”; NAB “thus profaning.”
[19:13] 65 tn Heb “You shall not oppress your neighbor and you shall not rob.”
[19:13] 66 tn Heb “hold back with you”; perhaps “hold back for yourself” (cf. NRSV “keep for yourself”).
[19:14] 67 tn Heb “You shall not curse a deaf [person] and before a blind [person] you shall not put a stumbling block.”
[19:14] 68 tn Heb “And you shall fear.” Many English versions (e.g., KJV, ASV, NAB, NASB, NIV) regard the Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) as adversative in force here (“but”).
[19:15] 69 tc Smr has the singular rather than the plural “you” of the MT, which brings this verb form into line with the ones surrounding it.
[19:15] 70 tn Heb “You shall not do injustice in judgment” (NASB similar); cf. NIV “do not pervert justice.”
[19:15] 71 tn Heb “You shall not lift up faces of poor [people] and you shall not honor faces of great.”
[19:15] 72 tn Heb “In righteousness you shall judge your fellow citizen.”
[19:16] 73 tn The term רָכִיל (rakhil) is traditionally rendered “slanderer” here (so NASB, NIV, NRSV; see also J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 304, 316), but the exact meaning is uncertain (see the discussion in B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 129). It is sometimes related to I רָכַל (“to go about as a trader [or “merchant”]”; BDB 940 s.v. רָכַל), and taken to refer to cutthroat business dealings, but there may be a II רָכַל, the meaning of which is dubious (HALOT 1237 s.v. II *רכל). Some would render it “to go about as a spy.”
[19:16] 74 tn Heb “You shall not stand on the blood of your neighbor.” This part of the verse is also difficult to interpret. The rendering here suggests that one will not allow a neighbor to be victimized, whether in court (cf. v. 15) or in any other situation (see the discussion in B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 129).
[19:17] 75 tn Heb “and you will not lift up on him sin.” The meaning of the line is somewhat obscure. It means either (1) that one should rebuke one’s neighbor when he sins lest one also becomes guilty, which is the way it is rendered here (see NIV, NRSV, NEB, JB; see also B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 129-30, and J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 303, and the discussion on pp. 316-17), or (2) one may rebuke one’s neighbor without incurring sin just as long as he does not hate him in his heart (see the first part of the verse; cf. NASB, NAB).
[19:18] 76 tn Heb “and you shall not retain [anger?].” This line seems to refer to the retaining or maintaining of some vengeful feelings toward someone. Compare the combination of the same terms for taking vengeance and maintaining wrath against enemies in Nahum 1:2 (see J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 305).
[19:18] 77 sn Some scholars make a distinction between the verb אָהַב (’ahav, “to love”) with the direct object and the more unusual construction with the preposition לְ (lamed) as it is here and in Lev 19:34 and 2 Chr 19:2 only. If there is a distinction, the construction here probably calls for direct and helpful action toward one’s neighbor (see the discussion in J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 305, and esp. 317-18). Such love stands in contrast to taking vengeance or bearing a grudge against someone and, in NT terms, amounts to fulfilling the so-called “golden rule” (Matt 7:12).
[19:19] 78 tn Heb “Your animals, you shall not cross-breed two different kinds.”
[19:19] 79 tn Heb “you shall not cause to go up on you.”
[19:19] 80 sn Cf. Deut 22:11 where the Hebrew term translated “two different kinds” (כִּלְאַיִם, kil’ayim) refers to a mixture of linen and wool woven together in a garment.
[19:20] 81 tn Heb “And a man when he lies with a woman the lying of seed.”
[19:20] 82 sn That is, the woman had previously been assigned for marriage to another man but the marriage deal had not yet been consummated. In the meantime, the woman has lost her virginity and has, therefore, lost part of her value to the master in the sale to the man for whom she had been designated. Compensation was, therefore, required (see the explanation in B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 130-31).
[19:21] 83 sn On the guilt offering see the note on Lev 5:15 above.
[19:22] 84 tn Heb “on his sin which he has sinned.”
[19:22] 85 tn Heb “there shall be forgiveness to him” or “it shall be forgiven to him.”
[19:22] 86 tn Heb “from his sin.”
[19:23] 87 tn Heb “tree of food”; KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV “trees for food.”
[19:23] 88 tn Heb “you shall circumcise its fruit [as] its foreskin,” taking the fruit to be that which is to be removed and, therefore, forbidden. Since the fruit is uncircumcised it is forbidden (see J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 306, and esp. B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 131-32).
[19:23] 89 tn Heb “it shall be to you uncircumcised.”
[19:24] 90 tn See B. A. Levine, Leviticus (JPSTC), 132, where the translation reads “set aside for jubilation”; a special celebration before the
[19:25] 91 tn Heb “to add to you its produce.” The rendering here assumes that the point of this clause is simply that finally being allowed to eat the fruit in the fifth year adds the fruit of the tree to their harvest. Some take the verb to be from אָסַף (’asaf, “to gather”) rather than יָסַף (yasaf, “to add; to increase”), rendering the verse, “to gather to you the produce” (E. S. Gerstenberger, Leviticus [OTL], 260, and see the versions referenced in J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 306). Others take it to mean that by following the regulations given previously they will honor the
[19:26] 92 tn Heb “You shall not eat on the blood.” See the extensive remarks in J. E. Hartley, Leviticus (WBC), 319-20, and B. A. Levine, Leviticus (JPSTC), 132-33. The LXX has “on the mountains,” suggesting that this is a prohibition against illegitimate places and occasions of worship, not the eating of blood.
[19:26] 93 tn Heb “You shall not practice divination and you shall not practice soothsaying”; cf. NRSV “practice augury or witchcraft.” For suggestions regarding the practices involved see B. A. Levine, Leviticus (JPSTC), 133, and J. E. Hartley, Leviticus (WBC), 320.
[19:27] 94 tc Heb “and you [singular] shall not ruin the corner of your [singular] beard.” Smr, LXX, Syriac, and Tg. Ps.-J. have the plural pronouns (i.e., “you” and “your” plural) rather than the singular of the MT.
[19:28] 95 tn Heb “And slash for the soul you shall not give.” The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “soul, person, life”) can sometimes refer to a “dead person” (cf. Lev 21:1, 5; 22:5). See J. E. Hartley, Leviticus (WBC), 306, 320-21.
[19:28] 96 tn Heb “and a writing of incision you shall not give in you.”
[19:29] 97 tn Heb “to make her practice harlotry.” Some recent English versions regard this as religious or temple prostitution (cf. TEV, CEV).
[19:29] 98 tn Heb “and the land become full of lewdness.” Regarding the term “lewdness,” see the note on Lev 18:17 above.
[19:31] 99 sn The prohibition here concerns those who would seek special knowledge through the spirits of the dead, whether the dead in general or dead relatives in particular (i.e., familiar spirits; see J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 321, and B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 134). Cf. Lev 20:6 below.
[19:33] 100 tn Heb “And when a sojourner sojourns.”
[19:34] 101 tn Heb “and.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) can be considered to have resultative force here.
[19:35] 102 tn That is, liquid capacity (HALOT 640 s.v. מְשׂוּרָה). Cf. ASV, NIV, NRSV, TEV “quantity”; NAB, NASB “capacity.”
[19:36] 103 tn Heb “balances of righteousness,” and so throughout this sentence.
[19:36] 104 sn An ephah is a dry measure which measures about four gallons, or perhaps one third of a bushel, while a hin is a liquid measure of about 3.6 liters (= approximately 1 quart).
[19:37] 105 tn Heb “And you shall keep all my statutes and all my regulations and you shall 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 22:31).
[20:2] 106 tn Heb “or from the sojourner who sojourns”; NAB “an alien residing in Israel.”
[20:2] 107 tn Heb “his seed” (so KJV, ASV); likewise in vv. 3-4.
[20:2] 108 tn Regarding Molech and Molech worship see the note on Lev 18:21.
[20:2] 109 tn This is not the most frequently-used Hebrew verb for stoning (see instead סָקַל, saqal), but a word that refers to the action of throwing, slinging, or pelting someone with stones (רָגָם, ragam; see HALOT 1187 s.v. רגם qal.a, and B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 136).
[20:3] 110 tn Heb “And I, I shall give my faces.”
[20:3] 111 sn On the “cut off” penalty see the notes on Lev 7:20 and 17:4.
[20:3] 112 tn Heb “for the sake of defiling my sanctuary and to profane my holy name.”
[20:4] 113 tn Heb “And if shutting [infinitive absolute] they shut [finite verb].” For the infinitive absolute used to highlight contrast rather than emphasis see GKC 343 §113.p.
[20:4] 114 tn Heb “from that man” (so ASV); NASB “disregard that man.”
[20:5] 115 tn The adjective “spiritual” has been supplied in the translation to clarify that this is not a reference to literal prostitution, but figuratively compares idolatry to prostitution.
[20:5] 116 tn Heb “to commit harlotry after Molech.” The translation employs “worshiping” here for clarity (cf. NAB, NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT). On the “cut off” penalty see the note on Lev 7:20.
[20:6] 117 sn For structure and coherence in Lev 20:6-27 see the note on v. 27 below.
[20:6] 118 tn See the note on the phrase “familiar spirits” in Lev 19:31 above.
[20:6] 119 tn Heb “I will give my faces.”
[20:8] 120 tn Heb “And you shall keep my statutes and you shall 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 22:31, etc.).
[20:9] 121 sn Compare the regulations in Lev 18:6-23.
[20:9] 122 tn Heb “If a man a man who.”
[20:9] 123 tn Heb “makes light of his father and his mother.” Almost all English versions render this as some variation of “curses his father or mother.”
[20:9] 124 tn Heb “his blood [plural] is in him.” Cf. NAB “he has forfeited his life”; TEV “is responsible for his own death.”
[20:9] sn The rendering “blood guilt” refers to the fact that the shedding of blood brings guilt on those who shed it illegitimately (even the blood of animals shed illegitimately, Lev 17:4; cf. the background of Gen 4:10-11). If the community performs a legitimate execution, however, the blood guilt rests on the person who has been legitimately executed (see the remarks and literature cited in J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 328).
[20:10] 125 tn Heb “And a man who.” The syntax here and at the beginning of the following verses elliptically mirrors that of v. 9, which justifies the rendering as a conditional clause.
[20:10] 126 tc The reading of the LXX minuscule
[20:11] 127 sn See the note on Lev 18:7 above.
[20:11] 128 tn See the note on v. 9 above.
[20:12] 129 tn The Hebrew term תֶּבֶל (tevel, “perversion”) derives from the verb “to mix; to confuse” (cf. KJV, ASV “they have wrought confusion”).
[20:13] 130 tn Heb “[as the] lyings of a woman.” The specific reference here is to homosexual intercourse between males.
[20:14] 131 tn Heb “And a man who takes a woman and her mother.” The Hebrew verb “to take” in this context means “to engage in sexual intercourse.”
[20:14] 132 tn Regarding “lewdness,” see the note on Lev 18:17 above.
[20:14] 133 tn Heb “in fire they shall burn him and them.” The active plural verb sometimes requires a passive translation (GKC 460 §144.f, g), esp. when no active plural subject has been expressed in the context. The present translation specifies “burned to death” because the traditional rendering “burnt with fire” (KJV, ASV; NASB “burned with fire”) could be understood to mean “branded” or otherwise burned, but not fatally.
[20:15] 134 tn See the note on Lev 18:20 above.
[20:16] 135 tn Heb “to copulate with it” (cf. Lev 20:16).
[20:17] 136 tn Heb “takes.” The verb “to take” in this context means “to engage in sexual intercourse,” though some English versions translate it as “marry” (e.g., NIV, NCV, TEV, CEV).
[20:17] 137 tn Regarding the “cut off” penalty, see the note on Lev 7:20.
[20:17] 138 tn See the note on Lev 17:16 above.
[20:18] 139 tn Heb “and the two of them.”
[20:19] 140 tn Heb “his flesh.”
[20:19] 141 tn See the note on Lev 17:16 above.
[20:21] 142 tn Heb “takes.” The verb “to take” in this context means “to engage in sexual intercourse.”
[20:21] 143 sn See the note on Lev 18:7 above.
[20:22] 144 tn Heb “And you shall keep all my statutes and all my regulations and you shall 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 22:31, etc.).
[20:22] 145 tn Heb “and.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) can be considered to have resultative force here.
[20:23] 146 tc One medieval Hebrew
[20:24] 147 tc Here and with the same phrase in v. 26, the LXX adds “all,” resulting in the reading “all the peoples.”
[20:25] 148 tn Heb “And you shall distinguish.” The verb is the same as “set apart” at the end of the previous verse. The fact that God had “set them apart” from the other peoples roundabout them called for them to “distinguish between” the clean and the unclean, etc.
[20:25] 149 tn The word “creatures” has been supplied in the translation to make it clear that the following relative clause modifies the animal, bird, or creeping thing mentioned earlier, and not the ground itself.
[20:25] 150 tc The MT has “to defile,” but Smr, LXX, and Syriac have “to uncleanness.”
[20:27] 151 tc Smr, LXX, Syriac, and some Targum
[20:27] 152 tn See the note on the phrase “familiar spirit” in Lev 19:31 above.
[20:27] 153 tn This is not the most frequently-used Hebrew verb for stoning, but a word that refers to the action of throwing, slinging, or pelting someone with stones (see the note on v. 2 above). Smr and LXX have “you [plural] shall pelt them with stones.”
[20:27] sn At first glance Lev 20:27 appears to be out of place but, on closer examination, one could argue that it constitutes the back side of an envelope around the case laws in 20:9-21, with Lev 20:6 forming the front of the envelope (note also that execution of mediums and spiritists by stoning in v. 27 is not explicitly stated in v. 6). This creates a chiastic structure: prohibition against mediums and spiritists (vv. 6 and 27), variations of the holiness formula (vv. 7 and 25-26), and exhortations to obey the
[21:1] 154 tn The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “soul, person, life”) can sometimes refer to a “dead person” (cf. Lev 19:28 above and the literature cited there).
[21:1] 155 tn Heb “no one,” but “priest” has been used in the translation to clarify that these restrictions are limited to the priests, not to the Israelites in general (note the introductory formula, “say to the priests, the sons of Aaron”).
[21:1] 156 tc The MT has “in his peoples,” but Smr, LXX, Syriac, Targum, and Tg. Ps.-J. have “in his people,” referring to the Israelites as a whole.
[21:2] 157 tn Heb “except for his flesh, the one near to him.”
[21:4] 159 tn Heb “He shall not defile himself a husband in his peoples, to profane himself.” The meaning of the line is disputed, but it appears to prohibit a priest from burying any relative by marriage (as opposed to the blood relatives of vv. 2-3), including his wife (compare B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 142-43 with J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 343, 348).
[21:5] 160 tn Heb “they”; the referent (priests, see the beginning of v. 1) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[21:5] 161 tn Heb “and in their body they shall not [cut] slash[es]” (cf. Lev 19:28). The context connects these sorts of mutilations with mourning rites (cf. Lev 19:27-28 above).
[21:6] 162 sn Regarding “profane,” see the note on Lev 10:10 above.
[21:6] 163 sn Regarding the Hebrew term for “gifts,” see the note on Lev 1:9 above (cf. also 3:11 and 16 in combination with the word for “food” that follows in the next phrase here).
[21:6] 164 tc Smr and all early versions have the plural adjective “holy” rather than the MT singular noun “holiness.”
[21:7] 165 tn Heb “A wife harlot and profaned they shall not take.” The structure of the verse (e.g., “wife” at the beginning of the two main clauses) suggests that “harlot and profaned” constitutes a hendiadys, meaning “a wife defiled by harlotry” (see the explanation in B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 143, as opposed to that in J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 343, 348; cf. v. 14 below). Cf. NASB “a woman who is profaned by harlotry.”
[21:7] 166 sn For a helpful discussion of divorce in general and as it relates to this passage see B. A. Levine, Leviticus (JPSTC), 143-44.
[21:7] 167 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the priest) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[21:7] 168 tn The pronoun “he” in this clause refers to the priest, not the former husband of the divorced woman.
[21:8] 169 tn The three previous second person references in this verse are all singular, but this reference is plural. By adding “all” this grammatical distinction is preserved in the translation.
[21:9] 170 tn See the note on “burned to death” in 20:14.
[21:10] 171 tn The adjective “high” has been supplied in the translation for clarity, as in many English versions.
[21:10] 172 tn Heb “and he has filled his hand.” For this expression see the note on Lev 8:33.
[21:10] 173 tn Regarding these signs of mourning see the note on Lev 10:6. His head had been anointed (v. 10a) so it must not be unkempt (v. 10b), and his garments were special priestly garments (v. 10a) so he must not tear them (v. 10b). In the translation “garments” has been employed rather than “clothes” to suggest that the special priestly garments are referred to here; cf. NRSV “nor tear his vestments.”
[21:11] 174 tc Although the MT has “persons” (plural), the LXX and Syriac have the singular “person” corresponding to the singular adjectival participle “dead” (cf. also Num 6:6).
[21:12] 175 sn Regarding “profane,” see the note on Lev 10:10 above.
[21:13] 176 tn Heb “And he, a wife in her virginity he shall take.”
[21:14] 177 tn Heb “take.” In context this means “take as wife,” i.e., “marry.”
[21:14] 178 tc The MT has literally, “from his peoples,” but Smr, LXX, Syriac, Targum, and Tg. Ps.-J. have “from his people,” referring to the Israelites as a whole.
[21:15] 179 tc The MT has literally, “in his peoples,” but Smr, LXX, Syriac, Targum, and Tg. Ps.-J. have “in his people,” referring to the Israelites as a whole.
[21:17] 180 tn Heb “to their generations.”
[21:17] 181 tn Heb “who in him is a flaw”; cf. KJV, ASV “any blemish”; NASB, NIV “a defect.” The rendering “physical flaw” is used to refer to any birth defect or physical injury of the kind described in the following verses (cf. the same Hebrew word also in Lev 24:19-20). The same term is used for “flawed” animals, which must not be offered to the
[21:18] 182 tn The particle כִּי (ki) in this context is asseverative, indicating absolutely certainty (GKC 498 §159.ee).
[21:18] 183 tn Lexically, the Hebrew term חָרֻם (kharum) seems to refer to a split nose or perhaps any number of other facial defects (HALOT 354 s.v. II חרם qal; cf. G. J. Wenham, Leviticus [NICOT], 292, n. 7); cf. KJV, ASV “a flat nose”; NASB “a disfigured face.” The NJPS translation is “a limb too short” as a balance to the following term which means “extended, raised,” and apparently refers to “a limb too long” (see the explanation in B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 146).
[21:19] 184 tn Heb “who there is in him a broken leg or a broken arm,” or perhaps “broken foot or broken hand.” The Hebrew term רֶגֶל (regel) is commonly rendered “foot,” but it can also refer to the “leg,” and the Hebrew יָד (yad) is most often translated “hand,” but can also refer to the “[fore]arm” (as opposed to כַּף, kaf, “palm of the hand” or “hand”). See HALOT 386 s.v. יָד and 1184 s.v. רֶגֶל respectively (cf. the NJPS translation). In this context, these terms probably apply to any part of the limb that was broken, including hand and the foot. B. A. Levine (Leviticus [JPSTC], 146) points out that such injuries often did not heal properly in antiquity because they were not properly set and, therefore, remained a “physical flaw” permanently.
[21:20] 185 tn Heb “thin”; cf. NAB “weakly.” This could refer to either an exceptionally small (i.e., dwarfed) man (B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 146) or perhaps one with a “withered limb” (J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 342, 344).
[21:20] 186 tn The term rendered “spot” derives from a root meaning “mixed” or “confused” (cf. NAB “walleyed”). It apparently refers to any kind of marked flaw in the eye that can be seen by others. Smr, Syriac, Tg. Onq., and Tg. Ps.-J. have plural “his eyes.”
[21:20] 187 tn The exact meaning and medical reference of the terms rendered “festering eruption” and “feverish rash” is unknown, but see the translations and remarks in B. A. Levine, Leviticus (JPSTC), 146; J. E. Hartley, Leviticus (WBC), 342, 344, 349-50; and R. K. Harrison, NIDOTTE 1:890 and 2:461.
[21:21] 188 tn Or “shall approach” (see HALOT 670 s.v. נגשׁ).
[21:23] 189 sn See the note on Lev 16:2 for the rendering “veil-canopy.”
[21:23] 190 tn Heb “And.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) can be considered to have resultative force here.
[21:24] 191 tn Heb “And.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) introduces a concluding statement for all the preceding material.
[21:24] 192 tn The words “these things” are not in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation for clarity.
[22:2] 193 tn Heb “holy things,” which means the “holy offerings” in this context, as the following verses show. The referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[22:2] 194 tn Heb “from the holy things of the sons of Israel, and they shall not profane my holy name, which they are consecrating to me.” The latter (relative) clause applies to the “the holy things of the sons of Israel” (the first clause), not the
[22:3] 195 tn Heb “To your generations.”
[22:3] 196 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] 197 tn Heb “and his impurity [is] on him”; NIV “is ceremonially unclean”; NAB, NRSV “while he is in a state of uncleanness.”
[22:3] 198 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.”
[22:4] 199 tn Heb “Man man.” The reduplication is a way of saying “any man” (cf. Lev 15:2; 17:3, etc.), but with a negative command it means “No man” (see B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 147).
[22:4] 200 sn The diseases and discharges mentioned here are those described in Lev 13-15.
[22:4] 201 tn Heb “And the one.”
[22:4] 202 tn Heb “in all unclean of a person/soul”; for the Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) meaning “a [dead] person,” see the note on Lev 19:28.
[22:4] 203 tn Heb “or a man who goes out from him a lying of seed.”
[22:5] 204 tn Heb “which there shall be uncleanness to him.”
[22:5] 205 tn The Hebrew term for “person” here is אָדָם (adam, “human being”), which could either a male or a female person.
[22:5] 206 tn Heb “to all his impurity.” The phrase refers to the impurity of the person whom the man touches to become unclean (see the previous clause). To clarify this, the translation uses “that person’s” rather than “his.”
[22:6] 207 sn The phrase “any of these” refers back to the unclean things touched in vv. 4b-5.
[22:8] 208 tn Heb “a 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 has died of itself”; TEV “that has died a natural death.”
[22:9] 209 tn Heb “and they will not lift up on it sin.” The pronoun “it” (masculine) apparently refers to any item of food that belongs to the category of “holy offerings” (see above).
[22:9] 210 tn Heb “and die in it.”
[22:10] 211 tn Heb “No stranger” (so KJV, ASV), which refers here to anyone other than the Aaronic priests. Some English versions reverse the negation and state positively: NIV “No one outside a priest’s family”; NRSV “Only a member of a priestly family”; CEV “Only you priests and your families.”
[22:10] 212 tn Heb “A resident [תּוֹשָׁב (toshav) from יָשַׁב (yashav, “to dwell, to reside”)] of a priest.” The meaning of the term is uncertain. It could refer to a “guest” (NIV) or perhaps “bound servant” (NRSV; see B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 149). In the translation “lodger” was used instead of “boarder” precisely because a boarder would be provided meals with his lodging, the very issue at stake here.
[22:11] 213 tn Heb “and a priest, if he buys a person, the property of his silver.”
[22:11] 214 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the person whom the priest has purchased) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[22:11] 215 tn Heb “eat it”; the referent (the holy offerings) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[22:11] 216 tn Heb “his”; the referent (the priest) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[22:11] 217 tn Heb “and the [slave] born of his house, they shall eat in his food.” The LXX, Syriac, Tg. Onq., Tg. Ps.-J., and some
[22:12] 218 tn Heb “And a daughter of a priest, if she is to a man, a stranger” (cf. the note on v. 10 above).
[22:12] 219 tn Heb “she in the contribution of the holy offerings shall not eat.” For “contribution [offering]” see the note on Lev 7:14 and the literature cited there. Cf. NCV “the holy offerings”; TEV, NLT “the sacred offerings.”
[22:13] 220 tn Heb “to”; the words “live in” have been supplied in the translation for clarity.
[22:13] 221 tn Heb “and seed there is not to her and she returns to the house of her father as her youth.” The mention of having “no children” appears to imply that her children, if she had any, should support her; this is made explicit by NLT’s “and has no children to support her.”
[22:14] 222 tn Heb “And a man, if he eats a holy thing in error” (see the Lev 4:2 not on “straying,” which is the term rendered “by mistake” here).
[22:14] 223 sn When a person trespassed in regard to something sacred to the
[22:15] 224 tn Contextually, “They” could refer either to the people (v. 14a; cf. NRSV “No one”) or the priests (v. 14b; cf. NIV “The priests”), but the latter seems more likely (see J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 356, and B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 150). The priests were responsible to see that the portions of the offerings that were to be consumed by the priests as prebends did not become accessible to the people. Mistakes in this matter (cf. v. 14) would bring “guilt” on the people, requiring punishment (v. 16).
[22:15] 225 tn The Hebrew verb הֵרִים (herim, rendered “contribute” here) is commonly used for setting aside portions of an offering (see, e.g., Lev 4:8-10 and R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 4:335-36).
[22:15] 226 tn Heb “the holy offerings of the sons of Israel which they contribute to the
[22:16] 227 tn Heb “iniquity of guilt”; NASB “cause them to bear punishment for guilt.” The Hebrew word עָוֹן (’avon, “iniquity”) can designate either acts of iniquity or the penalty (i.e., punishment) for such acts.
[22:16] 228 sn That is, when the lay people eat portions of offerings that should have been eaten only by priests and those who belonged to priestly households.
