Imamat 5:1--9:24
Konteks5:1 “‘When a person sins 1 in that he hears a public curse against one who fails to testify 2 and he is a witness (he either saw or knew what had happened 3 ) and he does not make it known, 4 then he will bear his punishment for iniquity. 5 5:2 Or when there is 6 a person who touches anything ceremonially 7 unclean, whether the carcass of an unclean wild animal, or the carcass of an unclean domesticated animal, or the carcass of an unclean creeping thing, even if he did not realize it, 8 but he himself has become unclean and is guilty; 9 5:3 or when he touches human uncleanness with regard to anything by which he can become unclean, 10 even if he did not realize it, but he himself has later come to know it and is guilty; 5:4 or when a person swears an oath, speaking thoughtlessly 11 with his lips, whether to do evil or to do good, with regard to anything which the individual might speak thoughtlessly in an oath, even if he did not realize it, but he himself has later come to know it and is guilty with regard to one of these oaths 12 – 5:5 when an individual becomes guilty with regard to one of these things 13 he must confess how he has sinned, 14 5:6 and he must bring his penalty for guilt 15 to the Lord for his sin that he has committed, a female from the flock, whether a female sheep or a female goat, for a sin offering. So the priest will make atonement 16 on his behalf for 17 his sin.
5:7 “‘If he cannot afford an animal from the flock, 18 he must bring his penalty for guilt for his sin that he has committed, 19 two turtledoves or two young pigeons, 20 to the Lord, one for a sin offering and one for a burnt offering. 5:8 He must bring them to the priest and present first the one that is for a sin offering. The priest 21 must pinch 22 its head at the nape of its neck, but must not sever the head from the body. 23 5:9 Then he must sprinkle 24 some of the blood of the sin offering on the wall of the altar, and the remainder of the blood 25 must be squeezed out at the base of the altar – it is a sin offering. 5:10 The second bird 26 he must make a burnt offering according to the standard regulation. 27 So the priest will make atonement 28 on behalf of this person for 29 his sin which he has committed, and he will be forgiven. 30
5:11 “‘If he cannot afford 31 two turtledoves or two young pigeons, 32 he must bring as his offering for his sin which he has committed 33 a tenth of an ephah 34 of choice wheat flour 35 for a sin offering. He must not place olive oil on it and he must not put frankincense on it, because it is a sin offering. 5:12 He must bring it to the priest and the priest must scoop out from it a handful as its memorial portion 36 and offer it up in smoke on the altar on top of the other gifts of the Lord – it is a sin offering. 5:13 So the priest will make atonement 37 on his behalf for his sin which he has committed by doing one of these things, 38 and he will be forgiven. 39 The remainder of the offering 40 will belong to the priest like the grain offering.’” 41
5:14 Then the Lord spoke to Moses: 42 5:15 “When a person commits a trespass 43 and sins by straying unintentionally 44 from the regulations about the Lord’s holy things, 45 then he must bring his penalty for guilt 46 to the Lord, a flawless ram from the flock, convertible into silver shekels according to the standard of the sanctuary shekel, 47 for a guilt offering. 48 5:16 And whatever holy thing he violated 49 he must restore and must add one fifth to it and give it to the priest. So the priest will make atonement 50 on his behalf with the guilt offering ram and he will be forgiven.” 51
5:17 “If a person sins and violates any of the Lord’s commandments which must not be violated 52 (although he did not know it at the time, 53 but later realizes he is guilty), then he will bear his punishment for iniquity 54 5:18 and must bring a flawless ram from the flock, convertible into silver shekels, 55 for a guilt offering to the priest. So the priest will make atonement 56 on his behalf for his error which he committed 57 (although he himself had not known it) and he will be forgiven. 58 5:19 It is a guilt offering; he was surely guilty before the Lord.”
6:1 (5:20) 59 Then the Lord spoke to Moses: 60 6:2 “When a person sins and commits a trespass 61 against the Lord by deceiving his fellow citizen 62 in regard to something held in trust, or a pledge, or something stolen, or by extorting something from his fellow citizen, 63 6:3 or has found something lost and denies it and swears falsely 64 concerning any one of the things that someone might do to sin 65 – 6:4 when it happens that he sins and he is found guilty, 66 then he must return whatever he had stolen, or whatever he had extorted, or the thing that he had held in trust, 67 or the lost thing that he had found, 6:5 or anything about which he swears falsely. 68 He must restore it in full 69 and add one fifth to it; he must give it to its owner when he is found guilty. 70 6:6 Then he must bring his guilt offering to the Lord, a flawless ram from the flock, convertible into silver shekels, 71 for a guilt offering to the priest. 6:7 So the priest will make atonement 72 on his behalf before the Lord and he will be forgiven 73 for whatever he has done to become guilty.” 74
6:8 (6:1) 75 Then the Lord spoke to Moses: 76 6:9 “Command Aaron and his sons, ‘This is the law of the burnt offering. The burnt offering is to remain on the hearth 77 on the altar all night until morning, and the fire of the altar must be kept burning on it. 78 6:10 Then the priest must put on his linen robe and must put linen leggings 79 over his bare flesh, and he must take up the fatty ashes of the burnt offering that the fire consumed on the altar, 80 and he must place them 81 beside the altar. 6:11 Then he must take off his clothes and put on other clothes, and he must bring the fatty ashes outside the camp to a ceremonially 82 clean place, 6:12 but the fire which is on the altar must be kept burning on it. 83 It must not be extinguished. So the priest must kindle wood on it morning by morning, and he must arrange the burnt offering on it and offer the fat of the peace offering up in smoke on it. 6:13 A continual fire must be kept burning on the altar. It must not be extinguished.
6:14 “‘This is the law of the grain offering. The sons of Aaron are to present it 84 before the Lord in front of the altar, 6:15 and the priest 85 must take up with his hand some of the choice wheat flour of the grain offering 86 and some of its olive oil, and all of the frankincense that is on the grain offering, and he must offer its memorial portion 87 up in smoke on the altar 88 as a soothing aroma to the Lord. 89 6:16 Aaron and his sons are to eat what is left over from it. It must be eaten unleavened in a holy place; they are to eat it in the courtyard of the Meeting Tent. 6:17 It must not be baked with yeast. 90 I have given it as their portion from my gifts. It is most holy, 91 like the sin offering and the guilt offering. 6:18 Every male among the sons of Aaron may eat it. It is a perpetual allotted portion 92 throughout your generations 93 from the gifts of the Lord. Anyone who touches these gifts 94 must be holy.’” 95
6:19 Then the Lord spoke to Moses: 96 6:20 “This is the offering of Aaron and his sons which they must present to the Lord on the day when he is anointed: a tenth of an ephah 97 of choice wheat flour 98 as a continual grain offering, half of it in the morning and half of it in the evening. 6:21 It must be made with olive oil on a griddle and you must bring it well soaked, 99 so you must present a grain offering of broken pieces 100 as a soothing aroma to the Lord. 6:22 The high priest who succeeds him 101 from among his sons must do it. It is a perpetual statute; it must be offered up in smoke as a whole offering to the Lord. 6:23 Every grain offering of a priest must be a whole offering; it must not be eaten.”
6:24 Then the Lord spoke to Moses: 102 6:25 “Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is the law of the sin offering. In the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered the sin offering must be slaughtered before the Lord. It is most holy. 103 6:26 The priest who offers it for sin is to eat it. It must be eaten in a holy place, in the court of the Meeting Tent. 6:27 Anyone who touches its meat must be holy, and whoever spatters some of its blood on a garment, 104 you must wash 105 whatever he spatters it on in a holy place. 6:28 Any clay vessel it is boiled in must be broken, and if it was boiled in a bronze vessel, then that vessel 106 must be rubbed out and rinsed in water. 6:29 Any male among the priests may eat it. It is most holy. 107 6:30 But any sin offering from which some of its blood is brought into the Meeting Tent to make atonement in the sanctuary must not be eaten. It must be burned up in the fire. 108
7:1 “‘This is the law of the guilt offering. It is most holy. 7:2 In the place where they slaughter the burnt offering they must slaughter the guilt offering, and the officiating priest 109 must splash 110 the blood against the altar’s sides. 7:3 Then the one making the offering 111 must present all its fat: the fatty tail, the fat covering the entrails, 7:4 the two kidneys and the fat on their sinews, and the protruding lobe on the liver (which he must remove along with the kidneys). 112 7:5 Then the priest must offer them up in smoke on the altar 113 as a gift to the Lord. It is a guilt offering. 7:6 Any male among the priests may eat it. It must be eaten in a holy place. It is most holy. 114 7:7 The law is the same for the sin offering and the guilt offering; 115 it belongs to the priest who makes atonement with it.
7:8 “‘As for the priest who presents someone’s burnt offering, the hide of that burnt offering which he presented belongs to him. 7:9 Every grain offering which is baked in the oven or 116 made in the pan 117 or on the griddle belongs to the priest who presented it. 7:10 Every grain offering, whether mixed with olive oil or dry, belongs to all the sons of Aaron, each one alike. 118
7:11 “‘This is the law of the peace offering sacrifice which he 119 is to present to the Lord. 7:12 If he presents it on account of thanksgiving, 120 along with the thank offering sacrifice he must present unleavened loaves mixed with olive oil, unleavened wafers smeared with olive oil, 121 and well soaked 122 ring-shaped loaves made of choice wheat flour 123 mixed with olive oil. 7:13 He must present this grain offering 124 in addition to ring-shaped loaves of leavened bread which regularly accompany 125 the sacrifice of his thanksgiving peace offering. 7:14 He must present one of each kind of grain offering 126 as a contribution offering 127 to the Lord; it belongs to the priest who splashes the blood of the peace offering. 7:15 The meat of his 128 thanksgiving peace offering must be eaten on the day of his offering; he must not set any of it aside until morning.
7:16 “‘If his offering is a votive or freewill sacrifice, 129 it may be eaten on the day he presents his sacrifice, and also the leftovers from it may be eaten on the next day, 130 7:17 but the leftovers from the meat of the sacrifice must be burned up in the fire 131 on the third day. 7:18 If some of the meat of his peace offering sacrifice is ever eaten on the third day it will not be accepted; it will not be accounted to the one who presented it, since it is spoiled, 132 and the person who eats from it will bear his punishment for iniquity. 133 7:19 The meat which touches anything ceremonially 134 unclean must not be eaten; it must be burned up in the fire. As for ceremonially clean meat, 135 everyone who is ceremonially clean may eat the meat. 7:20 The person who eats meat from the peace offering sacrifice which belongs to the Lord while his uncleanness persists 136 will be cut off from his people. 137 7:21 When a person touches anything unclean (whether human uncleanness, or an unclean animal, or an unclean detestable creature) 138 and eats some of the meat of the peace offering sacrifice which belongs to the Lord, that person will be cut off from his people.’” 139
7:22 Then the Lord spoke to Moses: 140 7:23 “Tell the Israelites, ‘You must not eat any fat of an ox, sheep, or goat. 7:24 Moreover, the fat of an animal that has died of natural causes 141 and the fat of an animal torn by beasts may be used for any other purpose, 142 but you must certainly never eat it. 7:25 If anyone eats fat from the animal from which he presents a gift to the Lord, that person will be cut off from his people. 143 7:26 And you must not eat any blood of the birds or the domesticated land animals in any of the places where you live. 144 7:27 Any person who eats any blood – that person will be cut off from his people.’” 145
7:28 Then the Lord spoke to Moses: 146 7:29 “Tell the Israelites, ‘The one who presents his peace offering sacrifice to the Lord must bring his offering to the Lord from his peace offering sacrifice. 7:30 With his own hands he must bring the Lord’s gifts. He must bring the fat with the breast 147 to wave the breast as a wave offering before the Lord, 148 7:31 and the priest must offer the fat up in smoke on the altar, but the breast will belong to Aaron and his sons. 7:32 The right thigh you must give as a contribution offering 149 to the priest from your peace offering sacrifices. 7:33 The one from Aaron’s sons who presents the blood of the peace offering and fat will have the right thigh as his share, 7:34 for the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the contribution offering I have taken from the Israelites out of their peace offering sacrifices and have given them to Aaron the priest and to his sons from the people of Israel as a perpetual allotted portion.’” 150
7:35 This is the allotment of Aaron and the allotment of his sons from the Lord’s gifts on the day Moses 151 presented them to serve as priests 152 to the Lord. 7:36 This is what the Lord commanded to give to them from the Israelites on the day Moses 153 anointed them 154 – a perpetual allotted portion throughout their generations. 155
7:37 This is the law 156 for the burnt offering, the grain offering, 157 the sin offering, the guilt offering, the ordination offering, 158 and the peace offering sacrifice, 7:38 which the Lord commanded Moses on Mount Sinai on the day he commanded the Israelites to present their offerings to the Lord in the wilderness of Sinai.
8:1 Then the Lord spoke to Moses: 159 8:2 “Take Aaron and his sons with him, and the garments, the anointing oil, the sin offering bull, the two rams, and the basket of unleavened bread, 8:3 and assemble the whole congregation at the entrance of the Meeting Tent.” 160 8:4 So Moses did just as the Lord commanded him, and the congregation assembled at the entrance of the Meeting Tent. 8:5 Then Moses said to the congregation: “This is what the Lord has commanded to be done.”
8:6 So Moses brought Aaron and his sons forward and washed them with water. 8:7 Then he 161 put the tunic 162 on Aaron, 163 wrapped the sash around him, 164 and clothed him with the robe. 165 Next he put the ephod on him 166 and placed on him 167 the decorated band of the ephod, and fastened the ephod closely to him with the band. 168 8:8 He then set the breastpiece 169 on him and put the Urim and Thummim 170 into the breastpiece. 8:9 Finally, he set the turban 171 on his head and attached the gold plate, the holy diadem, 172 to the front of the turban just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
8:10 Then Moses took the anointing oil and anointed the tabernacle and everything in it, and so consecrated them. 173 8:11 Next he sprinkled some of it on the altar seven times and so anointed the altar, all its vessels, and the wash basin and its stand to consecrate them. 8:12 He then poured some of the anointing oil on the head of Aaron and anointed him to consecrate him. 8:13 Moses also brought forward Aaron’s sons, clothed them with tunics, wrapped sashes around them, 174 and wrapped headbands on them 175 just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
8:14 Then he brought near the sin offering bull 176 and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the sin offering bull, 8:15 and he slaughtered it. 177 Moses then took the blood and put it all around on the horns of the altar with his finger and decontaminated the altar, 178 and he poured out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar and so consecrated it to make atonement on it. 179 8:16 Then he 180 took all the fat on the entrails, the protruding lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys and their fat, 181 and Moses offered it all up in smoke on the altar, 182 8:17 but the rest of the bull – its hide, its flesh, and its dung – he completely burned up 183 outside the camp just as the Lord had commanded Moses. 184
8:18 Then he presented the burnt offering ram and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram, 8:19 and he slaughtered it. 185 Moses then splashed the blood against the altar’s sides. 8:20 Then he 186 cut the ram into parts, 187 and Moses offered the head, the parts, and the suet up in smoke, 8:21 but the entrails and the legs he washed with water, 188 and Moses offered the whole ram up in smoke on the altar – it was a burnt offering for a soothing aroma, a gift to the Lord, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. 189
8:22 Then he presented the second ram, the ram of ordination, 190 and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram 8:23 and he slaughtered it. 191 Moses then took some of its blood and put it on Aaron’s right earlobe, 192 on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe 193 of his right foot. 8:24 Next he brought Aaron’s sons forward, and Moses put some of the blood on their right earlobes, on their right thumbs, and on the big toes of their right feet, and Moses splashed the rest of the blood against the altar’s sides.
8:25 Then he took the fat (the fatty tail, 194 all the fat on the entrails, the protruding lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys and their fat 195 ) and the right thigh, 196 8:26 and from the basket of unleavened bread that was before the Lord he took one unleavened loaf, one loaf of bread mixed with olive oil, and one wafer, 197 and placed them on the fat parts and on the right thigh. 8:27 He then put all of them on the palms 198 of Aaron and his sons, who waved 199 them as a wave offering before the Lord. 200 8:28 Moses then took them from their palms and offered them up in smoke on the altar 201 on top of the burnt offering – they were an ordination offering for a soothing aroma; it was a gift to the Lord. 8:29 Finally, Moses took the breast and waved it as a wave offering before the Lord from the ram of ordination. It was Moses’ share just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
8:30 Then Moses took some of the anointing oil and some of the blood which was on the altar and sprinkled it on Aaron and his garments, and on his sons and his sons’ garments with him. So he consecrated Aaron, his garments, and his sons and his sons’ garments with him. 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, 202 saying, ‘Aaron and his sons are to eat it,’ 8:32 but the remainder of the meat and the bread 203 you must burn with fire. 8:33 And you must not go out from the entrance of the Meeting Tent for seven days, until the day when your days of ordination are completed, because you must be ordained over a seven-day period. 204 8:34 What has been done 205 on this day the Lord has commanded to be done 206 to make atonement for you. 8:35 You must reside at the entrance of the Meeting Tent day and night for seven days and keep the charge of the Lord so that you will not die, for this is what I have been commanded.” 8:36 So Aaron and his sons did all the things the Lord had commanded through 207 Moses.
9:1 On the eighth day 208 Moses summoned 209 Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel, 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. 9:3 Then tell the Israelites: ‘Take a male goat 210 for a sin offering and a calf and lamb, both a year old and flawless, 211 for a burnt offering, 9:4 and an ox and a ram for peace offerings to sacrifice before the Lord, and a grain offering mixed with olive oil, for today the Lord is going to appear 212 to you.’” 9:5 So they took what Moses had commanded to the front of 213 the Meeting Tent and the whole congregation presented them and stood before the Lord. 9:6 Then Moses said, “This is what the Lord has commanded you to do 214 so that the glory of the Lord may appear 215 to you.” 9:7 Moses then said to Aaron, “Approach the altar and make your sin offering and your burnt offering, and make atonement on behalf of yourself and on behalf of the people; 216 and also make the people’s offering and make atonement on behalf of them just as the Lord has commanded.”
9:8 So Aaron approached the altar and slaughtered the sin offering calf which was for himself. 9:9 Then Aaron’s sons presented the blood to him and he dipped his finger in the blood and put it on the horns of the altar, and the rest of the blood he poured out at the base of the altar. 9:10 The fat and the kidneys and the protruding lobe of 217 the liver from the sin offering he offered up in smoke on the altar just as the Lord had commanded Moses, 9:11 but the flesh and the hide he completely burned up 218 outside the camp. 219
9:12 He then slaughtered the burnt offering, and his sons 220 handed 221 the blood to him and he splashed 222 it against the altar’s sides. 9:13 The burnt offering itself they handed 223 to him by its parts, including the head, 224 and he offered them up in smoke on the altar, 9:14 and he washed the entrails and the legs and offered them up in smoke on top of the burnt offering on the altar.
9:15 Then he presented the people’s offering. He took the sin offering male goat which was for the people, slaughtered it, and performed a decontamination rite with it 225 like the first one. 226 9:16 He then presented the burnt offering, and did it according to the standard regulation. 227 9:17 Next he presented the grain offering, filled his hand with some of it, and offered it up in smoke on the altar in addition to the morning burnt offering. 228 9:18 Then he slaughtered the ox and the ram – the peace offering sacrifices which were for the people – and Aaron’s sons handed 229 the blood to him and he splashed it against the altar’s sides. 9:19 As for the fat parts from the ox and from the ram 230 (the fatty tail, the fat covering the entrails, 231 the kidneys, and the protruding lobe of the liver), 9:20 they 232 set those on the breasts and he offered the fat parts up in smoke on the altar. 9:21 Finally Aaron waved the breasts and the right thigh as a wave offering before the Lord just as Moses had commanded.
9:22 Then Aaron lifted up his hands toward the people and blessed them and descended from making the sin offering, the burnt offering, and the peace offering. 9:23 Moses and Aaron then entered into the Meeting Tent. When they came out, they blessed the people, and the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people. 9:24 Then fire went out from the presence of the Lord 233 and consumed the burnt offering and the fat parts on the altar, and all the people saw it, so they shouted loudly and fell down with their faces to the ground. 234
[5:1] 1 tn Heb “And a person when he sins.” Most English versions translate this as the protasis of a conditional clause: “if a person sins” (NASB, NIV).
[5:1] sn The same expression occurs in Lev 4:2 where it introduces sins done “by straying unintentionally from any of the commandments of the
[5:1] 2 tn The words “against one who fails to testify” are not in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied to make sense of the remark about the “curse” (“imprecation” or “oath”; cf. ASV “adjuration”; NIV “public charge”) for the modern reader. For the interpretation of this verse reflected in the present translation see J. Milgrom, Leviticus (AB), 1:292-97.
[5:1] 3 tn The words “what had happened” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied.
[5:1] 4 tn Heb “and hears a voice of curse, and he is a witness or he saw or he knew, if he does not declare.”
[5:1] 5 tn Heb “and he shall bear his iniquity.” The rendering “bear the punishment (for the iniquity)” reflects the use of the word “iniquity” to refer to the punishment for iniquity (cf. NRSV, NLT “subject to punishment”). It is sometimes referred to as the consequential use of the term (cf. Lev 5:17; 7:18; 10:17; etc.).
[5:2] 6 tc The insertion of the words “when there is” is a reflection of the few Hebrew
[5:2] 7 tn The word “ceremonially” has been supplied in the translation to clarify that the uncleanness involved is ritual or ceremonial in nature.
[5:2] 8 tn Heb “and it is hidden from him,” meaning that the person who contracted the ceremonial uncleanness was not aware at the time what had happened, but later found out that he had become ceremonially unclean. This same phrase occurs again in both vv. 3 and 4.
[5:2] 9 sn Lev 5:2-3 are parallel laws of uncleanness (contracted from animals and people, respectively), and both seem to assume that the contraction of uncleanness was originally unknown to the person (vv. 2 and 3) but became known to him or her at a later time (v. 3; i.e., “has come to know” in v. 3 is to be assumed for v. 2 as well). Uncleanness itself did not make a person “guilty” unless he or she failed to handle it according to the normal purification regulations (see, e.g., “wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean till evening,” Lev 15:5 NIV; cf. Lev 11:39-40; 15:5-12, 16-24; Num 19, etc.). The problem here in Lev 5:2-3 is that, because the person had not been aware of his or her uncleanness, he or she had incurred guilt for not carrying out these regular procedures, and it would now be too late for that. Thus, the unclean person needs to bring a sin offering to atone for the contamination caused by his or her neglect of the purity regulations.
[5:3] 10 tn Heb “or if he touches uncleanness of mankind to any of his uncleanness which he becomes unclean in it.”
[5:4] 11 tn Heb “to speak thoughtlessly”; cf. NAB “rashly utters an oath.”
[5:4] 12 tn Heb “and is guilty to one from these,” probably referring here to any of “these” things about which one might swear a thoughtless oath (J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 45), with the word “oath” supplied in the translation for clarity. Another possibility is that “to one from these” is a dittography from v. 5 (cf. the note on v. 5a), and that v. 4 ends with “and is guilty” like vv. 2 and 3 (J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:300).
[5:5] 13 tn Heb “and it shall happen when he becomes guilty to one from these,” referring to any of “these” possible transgressions in Lev 5:1-4. Tg. Onq., the original Greek translation, and the Latin Vulgate omit this clause, possibly due to homoioteleuton because of the repetition of “to one from these” from the end of v. 4 in v. 5a (cf. the note on v. 4b).
[5:5] sn What all the transgressions in Lev 5:1-4 have in common is that the time is past for handling the original situation properly (i.e., testifying in court, following purity regulations, or fulfilling an oath), so now the person has become guilty and needs to follow corrective sacrificial procedures.
[5:5] 14 tn Heb “which he sinned on it”; cf. ASV “confess that wherein he hath sinned”; NCV “must tell how he sinned.”
[5:6] 15 tn In this context the word for “guilt” (אָשָׁם, ’asham) refers to the “penalty” for incurring guilt, the so-called consequential אָשָׁם (J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:303; cf. the note on Lev 5:1).
[5:6] 16 sn The focus of sin offering “atonement” was purging impurities from the tabernacle (see the note on Lev 1:4).
[5:6] 17 tn See the note on 4:26 regarding the use of מִן (min).
[5:7] 18 tn Heb “and if his hand does not reach enough of a flock animal” (see the note on v. 11 below). The term translated “animal from the flock” (שֶׂה, seh) is often translated “lamb” (e.g., KJV, NASB, NIV, NCV) or “sheep” (e.g., NRSV, TEV, NLT), but it clearly includes either a sheep or a goat here (cf. v. 6), referring to the smaller pasture animals as opposed to the larger ones (i.e., cattle; cf. 4:3). Some English versions use the more generic “animal” (e.g., NAB, CEV).
[5:7] 19 tn Heb “and he shall bring his guilt which he sinned,” which is an abbreviated form of Lev 5:6, “and he shall bring his [penalty for] guilt to the
[5:7] 20 tn See the note on Lev 1:14 above.
[5:8] 21 tn Heb “he.” The subject (“he”) refers to the priest here, not the offerer who presented the birds to the priest (cf. v. 8a).
[5:8] 22 sn The action seems to involve both a twisting action, breaking the neck of the bird and severing its vertebrae, as well as pinching or nipping the skin, but in this case not severing the head from the main body (note the rest of this verse).
[5:8] 23 tn Heb “he shall not divide [it]” (see J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:305).
[5:9] 24 tn The Hebrew verb וְהִזָּה (vÿhizzah, Hiphil of נָזָה, nazah) does indeed mean “sprinkle” or “splatter” (cf. Lev 4:6, 17). Contrast “splash” in Lev 1:5, etc. (זָרָק, zaraq).
[5:9] 25 tn Heb “the remainder in the blood.” The Heb. preposition “in” (בְּ, bÿ) is used here to mean “some among” a whole collection of something.
[5:10] 26 tn The word “bird” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.
[5:10] 27 sn The term “[standard] regulation” (מִשְׁפָּט, mishppat) here refers to the set of regulations for burnt offering birds in Lev 1:14-17.
[5:10] 28 sn The focus of sin offering “atonement” was purging impurities from the tabernacle (see the note on Lev 1:4).
[5:10] 29 tn See the note on 4:26 with regard to מִן, min.
[5:10] 30 tn Heb “there shall be forgiveness to him” or “it shall be forgiven to him” (KJV similar).
[5:11] 31 tn Heb “and if his hand does not reach [or is not sufficient] to”; cf. NASB “if his means are insufficient for.” The expression is the same as that in Lev 5:7 above except for the verb: נָשַׂג (nasag, “to collect, to reach, to be sufficient”) is used here, but נָגַע (nagah, “to touch, to reach”) is used in v. 7. Smr has the former in both v. 7 and 11.
[5:11] 32 tn See the note on Lev 1:14 above (cf. also 5:7).
[5:11] 33 tn Heb “and he shall bring his offering which he sinned.” Like the similar expression in v. 7 above (see the note there), this is an abbreviated form of Lev 5:6, “and he shall bring his [penalty for] guilt to the
[5:11] 34 sn A tenth of an ephah would be about 2.3 liters, one day’s ration for a single person (J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:306). English versions handle the amount somewhat differently, cf. NCV “about two quarts”; TEV “one kilogramme”; CEV “two pounds.”
[5:11] 35 tn See the note on Lev 2:1 above.
[5:12] 36 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
[5:13] 37 sn The focus of sin offering “atonement” was purging impurities from the tabernacle (see the note on Lev 1:4).
[5:13] 38 tn Heb “from one from these,” referring to the four kinds of violations of the law delineated in Lev 5:1-4 (see the note on Lev 5:5 above and cf. Lev 4:27).
[5:13] 39 tn Heb “there shall be forgiveness to him” or “it shall be forgiven to him” (KJV similar).
[5:13] 40 tn Heb “and it”; the referent (the remaining portion of the offering) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[5:13] 41 tn Heb “and it shall be to the priest like the grain offering,” referring to the rest of the grain that was not offered on the altar (cf. the regulations in Lev 2:3, 10).
[5:14] 42 sn The quotation introduced here extends from Lev 5:14 through 5:19, encompassing the first main section of guilt offering regulations. Compare the notes on Lev 1:1; 4:1; and 6:1 [5:20 HT].
[5:15] 43 tn Heb “trespasses a trespass” (verb and direct object from the same Hebrew root, מַעַל, ma’al); cf. NIV “commits a violation.” The word refers to some kind of overstepping of the boundary between that which is common (i.e., available for common use by common people) and that which is holy (i.e., to be used only for holy purposes because it has been consecrated to the
[5:15] 44 tn See Lev 4:2 above for a note on “straying.”
[5:15] 45 sn Heb “from the holy things of the
[5:15] 46 tn Here the word for “guilt” (אָשָׁם, ’asham) refers to the “penalty” for incurring guilt, the so-called consequential use of אָשָׁם (’asham; see J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:303).
[5:15] 47 tn Heb “in your valuation, silver of shekels, in the shekel of the sanctuary.” The translation offered here suggests that, instead of a ram, the guilt offering could be presented in the form of money (see, e.g., NRSV; J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:326-27). Others still maintain the view that it refers to the value of the ram that was offered (see, e.g., NIV “of the proper value in silver, according to the sanctuary shekel”; also NAB, NLT; J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 72-73, 81).
[5:15] sn The sanctuary shekel was about 10 grams (= ca. two fifths of an ounce; J. E. Shepherd, NIDOTTE 4:237-38).
[5:15] 48 tn The word for “guilt offering” (sometimes translated “reparation offering”) is the same as “guilt” earlier in the verse (rendered there “[penalty for] guilt”). One can tell which is intended only by the context.
[5:15] sn The primary purpose of the guilt offering was to “atone” (see the note on Lev 1:4 above) for “trespassing” on the
[5:16] 49 tn Heb “and which he sinned from the holy thing.”
[5:16] 50 sn Regarding “make atonement” see the note on Lev 1:4.
[5:16] 51 tn Heb “there shall be forgiveness to him” or “it shall be forgiven to him” (KJV similar).
[5:17] 52 tn Heb “and does one from all of the commandments of the
[5:17] 53 tn The words “at the time” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied.
[5:17] 54 tn Heb “and he did not know, and he shall be guilty and he shall bear his iniquity” (for the rendering “bear his punishment [for iniquity]”) see the note on Lev 5:1.) This portion of v. 17 is especially difficult. The translation offered here suggests (as in many other English versions) that the offender did not originally know that he had violated the
[5:18] 55 tn The statement here is condensed. See the full expression in 5:15 and the note there.
[5:18] 56 sn Regarding “make atonement” see the note on Lev 1:4.
[5:18] 57 tn Heb “on his straying which he strayed.” See the note on Lev 4:2.
[5:18] 58 tn Heb “there shall be forgiveness to him” or “it shall be forgiven to him” (KJV and NASB both similar).
[6:1] 59 sn Beginning with 6:1, the verse numbers through 6:30 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 6:1 ET = 5:20 HT, 6:2 ET = 5:21 HT, 6:8 ET = 6:1 HT, etc., through 6:30 ET = 6:23 HT. Beginning with 7:1 the verse numbers in the English text and Hebrew text are again the same.
[6:1] 60 sn This paragraph is Lev 6:1-7 in the English Bible but Lev 5:20-26 in the Hebrew text. The quotation introduced by v. 1 extends from Lev 6:2 (5:21 HT) through 6:7 (5:26 HT), encompassing the third main section of guilt offering regulations. Compare the notes on Lev 1:1; 4:1; and 5:14 above.
[6:2] 61 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] 62 tn Or “neighbor” (ASV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NASB “companion”; TEV “a fellow-Israelite.”
[6:2] 63 tn Heb “has extorted his neighbor”; ASV “oppressed”; NRSV “defrauded.”
[6:3] 64 tn Heb “and swears on falsehood”; cf. CEV “deny something while under oath.”
[6:3] 65 tn Heb “on one from all which the man shall do to sin in them.”
[6:4] 66 tn Heb “and it shall happen, when he sins and becomes guilty,” which is both resumptive of the previous (vv. 2-3) and the conclusion to the protasis (cf. “then” introducing the next clause as the apodosis). In this case, “becomes guilty” (cf. NASB, NIV) probably refers to his legal status as one who has been convicted of a crime in court; thus the translation “he is found guilty.” See R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 1:559-61.
[6:4] 67 tn Heb “that had been held in trust with him.”
[6:5] 68 tn Heb “or from all which he swears on it to falsehood.”
[6:5] 69 tn Heb “in its head.” This refers “the full amount” in terms of the “principal,” the original item or amount obtained illegally (J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:338; J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 84).
[6:5] 70 tn Heb “to whom it is to him he shall give it in the day of his being guilty.” The present translation is based on the view that he has been found guilty through the legal process (see the note on v. 4 above; cf., e.g., TEV and B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 33-34). Others translate the latter part as “in the day he offers his guilt [reparation] offering” (e.g., NIV and J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 73, 84), or “in the day he realizes his guilt” (e.g., NRSV and J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:319, 338).
[6:6] 71 tn The words “into silver shekels” are supplied here. See the full expression in Lev 5:15, and compare 5:18. Cf. NRSV “or its equivalent”; NLT “or the animal’s equivalent value in silver.”
[6:7] 72 sn Regarding “make atonement” see the note on Lev 1:4.
[6:7] 73 tn Heb “there shall be forgiveness to him” or “it shall be forgiven to him” (KJV similar).
[6:7] 74 tn Heb “on one from all which he does to become guilty in it”; NAB “whatever guilt he may have incurred.”
[6:8] 75 sn Lev 6:8 in the English Bible = 6:1 in the Hebrew text. See also the note on 6:1.
[6:8] 76 sn The following paragraphs are Lev 6:8-30 in the English Bible but 6:1-23 in the Hebrew text. This initial verse makes the special priestly regulations for the people’s burnt and grain offerings into a single unit (i.e., Lev 6:8-18 [6:1-11 HT]; cf. Lev 1-2 above). Note also the separate introductions for various priestly regulations in Lev 6:19 [12 HT], 24 [17 HT], and for the common people in Lev 7:22, 28 below.
[6:9] 77 tn Heb “It is the burnt offering on the hearth.”
[6:9] 78 tn Heb “in it.” In this context “in it” apparently refers to the “hearth” which was on top of the altar.
[6:10] 79 tn The exact nature of this article of the priest’s clothing is difficult to determine. Cf. KJV, ASV “breeches”; NAB “drawers”; NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT “undergarments”; NCV “underclothes”; CEV “underwear”; TEV “shorts.”
[6:10] 80 tn Heb “he shall lift up the fatty ashes which the fire shall consume the burnt offering on the altar.”
[6:10] 81 tn Heb “it,” referring the “fatty ashes” as a single unit.
[6:11] 82 tn The word “ceremonially” has been supplied in the translation to clarify that the uncleanness of the place involved is ritual or ceremonial in nature.
[6:12] 83 tn Heb “in it,” apparently referring to the “hearth” which was on top of the altar (cf. the note on v. 9).
[6:14] 84 tn Heb “offering it, the sons of Aaron.” The verb is a Hiphil infinitive absolute, which is used here in place of the finite verb as either a jussive (GKC 346 §113.cc, “let the sons of Aaron offer”) or more likely an injunctive in light of the verbs that follow (Joüon 2:430 §123.v, “the sons of Aaron shall/must offer”).
[6:15] 85 tn Heb “and he”; the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity. The “he” refers to the officiating priest. A similar shift between singular and plural occurs in Lev 1:7-9, but see the note on Lev 1:7 and J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 89 for the possibility of textual corruption.
[6:15] 86 tn Heb “shall take up from it with his hand some of the choice wheat flour of the grain offering.”
[6:15] 87 sn See the note on Lev 2:2.
[6:15] 88 tc Smr reading, which includes the locative ה (hey, translated “on” the altar), is preferred here. This is the normal construction with the verb “offer up in smoke” in Lev 1-7 (see the note on Lev 1:9).
[6:15] 89 tn Heb “and he shall offer up in smoke [on] the altar a soothing aroma, its memorial portion, to the
[6:17] 90 tn Heb “It must not be baked leavened” (cf. Lev 2:11). The noun “leaven” is traditional in English versions (cf. KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV), but “yeast” is more commonly used today.
[6:17] 91 tn Heb “holiness of holinesses [or holy of holies] it is”; cf. NAB “most sacred.”
[6:18] 92 tn Or “a perpetual regulation”; cf. NASB “a permanent ordinance”; NRSV “as their perpetual due.”
[6:18] 93 tn Heb “for your generations”; cf. NIV “for the generations to come.”
[6:18] 94 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
[6:18] 95 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
[6:19] 96 sn See the note on Lev 6:8 [6:1 HT] above.
[6:20] 97 sn A tenth of an ephah is about 2.3 liters, one day’s ration for a single person (J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:306).
[6:20] 98 tn For the rendering “choice wheat flour” see the note on Lev 2:1.
[6:21] 99 tn The term rendered here “well soaked” (see, e.g., NRSV; the Hebrew term is מֻרְבֶּכֶת, murbbekhet) occurs only three times (here; 7:12, and 1 Chr 23:29), and is sometimes translated “well-mixed” (e.g., NIV, NCV, NLT; NASB “well stirred”; NAB “well kneaded”). The meaning is uncertain (J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:399-400), but in Lev 7:12 it stands parallel to already prepared grain offerings either “mixed” (the Hebrew term is בְּלוּלֹת (bÿlulot), not מֻרְבֶּכֶת as in Lev 6:21 [6:14 HT]) or anointed with oil.
[6:21] 100 tn Heb “broken bits [?] of a grain offering of pieces,” but the meaning of the Hebrew term rendered here “broken bits” (תֻּפִינֵי, tufiney) is quite uncertain. Some take it from the Hebrew verb “to break up, to crumble” (פַּת [pat]; e.g., the Syriac, NAB, NIV, NLT “broken” pieces) and others from “to bake” (אָפַה, ’afah; e.g., NRSV “baked pieces”). For a good summary of other proposed options, see J. E. Hartley, Leviticus (WBC), 90. Compare Lev 2:5-6 for the general regulations regarding this manner of grain offering. Similar but less problematic terminology is used there.
[6:22] 101 tn Heb “And the anointed priest under him.”
[6:24] 102 sn See the note on Lev 6:8 [6:1 HT].
[6:25] 103 tn Heb “holiness of holinesses [or holy of holies] it is.” Cf. NAB “most sacred”; CEV “very sacred”; TEV “very holy.”
[6:27] 104 tn Heb “on the garment”; NCV “on any clothes”; CEV “on the clothes of the priest.”
[6:27] 105 tc The translation “you must wash” is based on the MT as it stands (cf. NASB, NIV). Smr, LXX, Syriac, Tg. Ps.-J., and the Vulgate have a third person masculine singular passive form (Pual), “[the garment] must be washed” (cf. NAB, NRSV, NLT). This could also be supported from the verbs in the following verse, and it requires only a repointing of the Hebrew text with no change in consonants. See the remarks in J. E. Hartley, Leviticus (WBC), 90 and J. Milgrom, Leviticus (AB), 1:404.
[6:28] 106 tn Heb “it”; the words “that vessel” are supplied in the translation to clarify the referent.
[6:29] 107 tn Heb “holiness of holinesses [or holy of holies] it is” (also in 7:1).
[6:30] 108 tn Heb “burned with fire,” an expression which is sometimes redundant in English, but here means “burned up,” “burned up entirely.”
[7:2] 109 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the officiating priest) has been specified in the translation for clarity. This priest was responsible for any actions involving direct contact with the altar (e.g., the splashing of the blood).
[7:2] 110 tn See the note on Lev 1:5.
[7:3] 111 tn Heb “then he.” This pronoun refers to the offerer, who was responsible for slaughtering the animal. Contrast v. 2 above and v. 5 below.
[7:4] 112 tn See the notes on Lev 3:3-4.
[7:5] 113 tn See the note on Lev 1:9 above.
[7:6] 114 tn Heb “holiness of holinesses [or holy of holies] it is”; NAB “most sacred”; TEV “very holy.”
[7:7] 115 tn Heb “like the sin offering like the guilt offering, one law to them.”
[7:9] 116 tn Heb “and” rather than “or” (cf. also the next “or”).
[7:9] 117 tn Heb “and all made in the pan”; cf. KJV “fryingpan”; NAB “deep-fried in a pot.”
[7:10] 118 tn Heb “a man like his brother.”
[7:11] 119 tn This “he” pronoun refers to the offerer. Smr and LXX have plural “they.”
[7:12] 120 tn Or “for a thank offering.”
[7:12] 121 tn See the notes on Lev 2:4.
[7:12] 122 tn See the note on Lev 6:21 [6:14 HT].
[7:12] 123 tn Heb “choice wheat flour well soaked ring-shaped loaves.” See the note on Lev 2:1.
[7:13] 124 tn The rendering “this [grain] offering” is more literally “his offering,” but it refers to the series of grain offerings listed just previously in v. 12.
[7:13] 125 tn The words “which regularly accompany” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied for clarity.
[7:13] sn The translation “[which regularly accompany]…” is based on the practice of bringing bread (and wine) to eat with the portions of the peace offering meat eaten by the priests and worshipers (see v. 14 and Num 15:1-13). This was in addition to the memorial portion of the unleavened bread that was offered to the
[7:14] 126 tn Here the Hebrew text reads “offering” (קָרְבָּן, qorbban), not “grain offering” (מִנְחָה, minkhah), but in this context the term refers once again to the list in 7:12.
[7:14] 127 tn The term rendered “contribution offering” is תְּרוּמָה (tÿrumah), which generally refers to that which is set aside from the offerings to the
[7:15] 128 tn In the verse “his” refers to the offerer.
[7:16] 129 tn For the distinction between votive and freewill offerings see the note on Lev 22:23 and the literature cited there.
[7:16] 130 tn Heb “and on the next day and the left over from it shall be eaten.”
[7:17] 131 tn Heb “burned with fire,” an expression which is sometimes redundant in English, but here means “burned up,” “burned up entirely” (likewise in v. 19).
[7:18] 132 tn Or “desecrated,” or “defiled,” or “forbidden.” For this difficult term see J. Milgrom, Leviticus (AB), 1:422. Cf. NIV “it is impure”; NCV “it will become unclean”; NLT “will be contaminated.”
[7:18] 133 tn Heb “his iniquity he shall bear” (cf. Lev 5:1); NIV “will be held responsible”; NRSV “shall incur guilt”; TEV “will suffer the consequences.”
[7:19] 134 tn The word “ceremonially” has been supplied in the translation both here and in the following sentence to clarify that the uncleanness involved is ritual or ceremonial in nature.
[7:19] 135 tn The Hebrew has simply “the flesh,” but this certainly refers to “clean” flesh in contrast to the unclean flesh in the first half of the verse.
[7:20] 136 tn Heb “and his unclean condition is on him.”
[7:20] 137 sn The exact meaning of this penalty clause is not certain. It could mean that he will be executed, whether by God or by man, he will be excommunicated from sanctuary worship and/or community benefits (cf. TEV, CEV), or his line will be terminated by God (i.e., extirpation), etc. See J. E. Hartley, Leviticus (WBC), 100; J. Milgrom, Leviticus (AB), 1:457-60; and B. A. Levine, Leviticus (JPSTC), 241-42 for further discussion.
[7:21] 138 sn For these categories of unclean animals see Lev 11.
[7:21] 139 sn For the interpretation of this last clause see the note on Lev 7:20.
[7:22] 140 sn See the note on Lev 6:8 [6:1 HT] above.
[7:24] 141 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, TEV “that has died a natural death.”
[7:24] 142 tn Heb “shall be used for any work”; cf. NIV, NLT “may be used for any other purpose.”
[7:25] 143 sn See the note on Lev 7:20.
[7:26] 144 tn Heb “and any blood you must not eat in any of your dwelling places, to the bird and to the animal.”
[7:27] 145 sn See the note on Lev 7:20.
[7:28] 146 sn See the note on Lev 6:8 [6:1 HT].
[7:30] 147 tn Heb “on the breast.”
[7:30] 148 tc Many Hebrew
[7:30] tn Heb “the breast to wave it, a wave offering before the
[7:32] 149 tn Older English versions (e.g., KJV, ASV) translate this Hebrew term (תְּרוּמָה, tÿrumah) “heave offering,” derived from the idea of “to raise, to lift” found in the verbal root (cf. NAB “a raised offering”). “Contribution offering” is a better English rendering because it refers to something “taken out from” (i.e., “lifted up from”; cf. the Hebrew term הֵרִים (herim) in, e.g., Lev 2:9; 4:8, etc.) the offering as a special contribution to the specific priest who presided over the offering procedures in any particular instance (see the next verse and R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 4:335-37). Cf. TEV “as a special contribution”; NCV, NLT “as a gift.”
[7:34] 150 tn Or “a perpetual regulation”; cf. NASB “as their due forever”; NRSV “as a perpetual due”; NLT “their regular share.”
[7:35] 151 tn Heb “the day he”; the referent (Moses) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[7:35] 152 tn Heb “in the day of he presented them to serve as priests to the
[7:36] 153 tn Heb “the day he”; the referent (Moses) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[7:36] 154 tn Heb “which the
[7:36] 155 tn Heb “for your generations”; cf. NIV “for the generations to come”; TEV “for all time to come.”
[7:37] 156 sn The Hebrew term translated “law” (תוֹרָה [torah]) occurs up to this point in the book only in Lev 6:9 [6:2 HT], 14 [7 HT], 25 [18 HT], 7:1, 7, 11, and here in 7:37. This suggests that Lev 7:37-38 is a summary of only this section of the book (i.e., Lev 6:8 [6:1 HT]-7:36), not all of Lev 1-7.
[7:37] 157 tc In the MT only “the grain offering” lacks a connecting ו (vav). However, many Hebrew , Smr, LXX, Syriac, and some
[7:37] 158 sn The inclusion of the “ordination offering” (מִלּוּאִים, milu’im; the term apparently comes from the notion of “filling [of the hand],” cf. Lev 8:33) here anticipates Lev 8. It is a kind of peace offering, as the regulations in Lev 8:22-32 will show (cf. Exod 29:19-34). In the context of the ordination ritual for the priests it fits into the sequence of offerings as a peace offering would: sin offering (Lev 8:14-17), burnt and grain offering (Lev 8:18-21), and finally peace (i.e., ordination) offering (Lev 8:22-32). Moreover, in this case, Moses received the breast of the ordination offering as his due since he was the presiding priest over the sacrificial procedures (Lev 8:29; cf. Lev 7:30-31), while Aaron and his sons ate the portions that would have been consumed by the common worshipers in a regular peace offering procedure (Exod 29:31-34; cf. Lev 7:15-18). For a general introduction to the peace offering see the note on Lev 3:1.
[8:1] 159 sn Lev 8 is the fulfillment account of the ordination legislation recorded in Exod 29, and is directly connected to the command to ordain the tabernacle and priesthood in Exod 40:1-16 as well as the partial record of its fulfillment in Exod 40:17-38.
[8:3] 160 sn For “tent of meeting” see the note on Lev 1:1 above.
[8:7] 161 sn Here Moses actually clothes Aaron (cf. v. 13 below for Aaron’s sons). Regarding the various articles of clothing see J. E. Hartley, Leviticus (WBC), 111-12 and esp. J. Milgrom, Leviticus (AB), 1:501-13.
[8:7] 162 sn The term “tunic” refers to a shirt-like garment worn next to the skin and, therefore, put on first (cf. Exod 28:4, 39-40; 29:5, 8; 39:27). Traditionally this has been translated “coat” (so KJV, ASV), but that English word designates an outer garment.
[8:7] 163 tn Heb “on him”; the referent (Aaron) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[8:7] 164 tn Heb “girded him with the sash” (so NASB); NCV “tied the cloth belt around him.”
[8:7] sn The sash fastened the tunic around the waist (Exod 28:4, 39; 29:9; 39:29).
[8:7] 165 sn The robe was a long shirt-like over-garment that reached down below the knees. Its hem was embroidered with pomegranates and golden bells around the bottom (Exod 28:4, 31-35; 29:5; 39:22-26).
[8:7] 166 sn The ephod was an apron like garment suspended from shoulder straps. It draped over the robe and extended from the chest down to the thighs (Exod 28:4, 6-14, 25-28; 29:5; 39:2-7).
[8:7] 167 tn Heb “girded him with.”
[8:7] 168 sn The decorated band of the ephod served as a sort of belt around Aaron’s body that would hold the ephod closely to him rather than allowing it to hang loosely across his front (Exod 28:8, 27; 29:5; 39:5, 20).
[8:8] 169 sn The breastpiece was made of the same material as the ephod and was attached to it by means of gold rings and chains on its four corners (Exod 28:15-30; 29:5; 39:8-21). It had twelve stones attached to it (representing the twelve tribes of Israel), and a pocket in which the Urim and Thummim were kept (see following).
[8:8] 170 sn The Urim and Thummim were two small objects used in the casting of lots to discern the will of God (see Exod 28:30; Num 27:21; Deut 33:8; 1 Sam 14:41 in the LXX and 28:6; Ezra 2:63 and Neh 7:65). It appears that by casting them one could obtain a yes or no answer, or no answer at all (1 Sam 28:6; J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 111-12). See the extensive discussion in J. Milgrom, Leviticus (AB), 1:507-11.
[8:9] 171 tn Although usually thought to be a “turban” (and so translated by the majority of English versions) this object might be only a “turban-like headband” wound around the forehead area (HALOT 624 s.v. מִצְנֶפֶת).
[8:9] sn The turban consisted of wound-up linen (cf. Exod 28:4, 37, 39; 29:6; 39:31; Lev 16:4).
[8:9] 172 sn The gold plate was attached as a holy diadem to the front of the turban by means of a blue cord, and had written on it “Holy to the
[8:10] 173 sn The expression “and consecrated it” refers to the effect of the anointing earlier in the verse (cf. “to consecrate them/him” in vv. 11 and 12). “To consecrate” means “to make holy” or “make sacred”; i.e., put something into the category of holy/sacred as opposed to common/profane (see Lev 10:10 below). Thus, the person or thing consecrated is put into the realm of God’s holy things.
[8:13] 174 tc The MT has here “sash” (singular), but the context is clearly plural and Smr has it in the plural.
[8:13] tn Heb “girded them with sashes” (so NAB, NASB); NRSV “fastened sashes around them.”
[8:13] 175 tn Heb “wrapped headdresses to them”; cf. KJV “bonnets”; NASB, TEV “caps”; NIV, NCV “headbands”; NAB, NLT “turbans.”
[8:13] sn Notice that the priestly garments of Aaron’s sons are quite limited compared to those of Aaron himself, the high priest (cf. vv. 7-9 above). The terms for “tunic” and “sash” are the same but not the headgear (cf. Exod 28:40; 29:8-9; 39:27-29).
[8:14] 176 sn See Lev 4:3-12 above for the sin offering of the priests. In this case, however, the blood manipulation is different because Moses, not Aaron (and his sons), is functioning as the priest. On the one hand, Aaron and his sons are, in a sense, treated as if they were commoners so that the blood manipulation took place at the burnt offering altar in the court of the tabernacle (see v. 15 below), not at the incense altar inside the tabernacle tent itself (contrast Lev 4:5-7 and compare 4:30). On the other hand, since it was a sin offering for the priests, therefore, the priests themselves could not eat its flesh (Lev 4:11-12; 6:30 [23 HT]), which was the normal priestly practice for sin offerings of commoners (Lev 6:26[19], 29[22]).
[8:15] 177 sn Contrary to some English versions (e.g., NAB, NASB, NIV, NLT), Aaron (not Moses) most likely slaughtered the bull, possibly with the help of his sons, although the verb is singular, not plural. Moses then performed the ritual procedures that involved direct contact with the altar. Compare the pattern in Lev 1:5-9, where the offerer does the slaughtering and the priests perform the procedures that involve direct contact with the altar. In Lev 8 Moses is functioning as the priest in order to consecrate the priesthood. The explicit reintroduction of the name of Moses as the subject of the next verb seems to reinforce this understanding of the passage (cf. also vv. 19 and 23 below).
[8:15] 178 tn The verb is the Piel of חָטָא (khata’, “to sin”) and means “to de-sin” the altar. This verse is important for confirming the main purpose of the sin offering, which was to decontaminate the tabernacle and its furniture from any impurities. See the note on Lev 4:3.
[8:15] 179 tn Similar to v. 10 above, “and consecrated it” refers to the effect of the blood manipulation earlier in the verse. The goal here was to consecrate the altar in order that it might become a place on which it would be appropriate “to make atonement” before the
[8:16] 180 tn Again, Aaron probably performed the slaughter and collected the fat parts (v. 16a), but Moses presented it all on the altar (v. 16b; cf. the note on v. 15 above).
[8:16] 181 sn See Lev 3:3-4 for the terminology of fat and kidneys here.
[8:16] 182 tn Heb “toward the altar” (see the note on Lev 1:9).
[8:17] 183 tn Heb “he burned with fire,” an expression which is sometimes redundant in English, but here means “burned up,” “burned up entirely.”
[8:17] 184 sn See Lev 4:11-12, 21; 6:30 [23 HT].
[8:19] 185 tn Aaron probably did the slaughtering (cf. the notes on Lev 8:15-16 above).
[8:20] 186 tn Again, Aaron probably cut the ram up into parts (v. 20a), but Moses presented them on the altar (v. 20b; cf. the note on v. 15 above).
[8:20] 187 tn Heb “cut it into its parts.” One could translate here, “quartered it” (J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:133; cf. Lev 1:6, 12 above).
[8:21] 188 tn Again, Aaron probably did the washing (v. 21a), but Moses presented the portions on the altar (v. 21b; cf. the note on v. 15 above).
[8:21] 189 tn See Lev 1:9, 13.
[8:22] 190 tn For “ordination offering” see Lev 7:37
[8:23] 191 tn Again, Aaron probably did the slaughtering (cf. the notes on Lev 8:15-16 above).
[8:23] 192 tn Heb “on the lobe of the ear of Aaron, the right one.”
[8:23] 193 tn The term for “big toe” (בֹּהֶן, bohen) is the same as that for “thumb.” It refers to the larger appendage on either the hand or the foot.
[8:25] 196 tn See Lev 7:32-34.
[8:27] 198 sn The “palms” refer to the up-turned hands, positioned in such a way that the articles of the offering could be placed on them.
[8:27] 199 tn Heb “and he waved.” The subject of the verb “he waved” is Aaron, but Aaron’s sons also performed the action (see “Aaron and his sons” just previously). See the similar shifts from Moses to Aaron as the subject of the action above (vv. 15, 16, 19, 20, 23), and esp. the note on Lev 8:15. In the present translation this is rendered as an adjectival clause (“who waved”) to indicate that the referent is not Moses but Aaron and his sons. Cf. CEV “who lifted it up”; NAB “whom he had wave” (with “he” referring to Moses here).
[8:27] 200 sn See Lev 7:30-31, 34.
[8:28] 201 tn Heb “toward the altar” (see the note on Lev 1:9).
[8:31] 202 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.”
[8:32] 203 tn Heb “but the remainder in the flesh and in the bread”; NAB, CEV “what is left over”; NRSV “what remains.”
[8:33] 204 tn Heb “because seven days he shall fill your hands”; KJV “for seven days shall he consecrate you”; CEV “ends seven days from now.”
[8:33] sn It is apparent that the term for “ordination offering” (מִלֻּאִים, millu’im; cf. Lev 7:37 and the note there) is closely related to the expression “he shall fill (Piel מִלֵּא, mille’) your hands” in this verse. Some derive the terminology from the procedure in Lev 8:27-28, but the term for “hands” there is actually “palms.” It seems more likely that it derives from the notion of putting the priestly responsibilities (or possibly its associated prebends) under their control (i.e., “filling their hands” with authority; see J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:538-39). The command “to keep the charge of the
[8:34] 205 tn Heb “just as he has done” (cf. the note on v. 33).
[8:34] 206 tn Heb “the
[8:36] 207 tn Heb “by the hand of” (so KJV).
[9:1] 208 sn This eighth day is the one after the seven days of ordination referred to in Lev 8:33-35.
[9:1] 209 tn Heb “called to”; CEV, NLT “called together.”
[9:3] 210 tn Heb “a he-goat of goats.”
[9:3] 211 tn Heb “and a calf and a lamb, sons of a year, flawless”; KJV, ASV, NRSV “without blemish”; NASB, NIV “without defect”; NLT “with no physical defects.”
[9:4] 212 tn The verb is either a prophetic perfect (“will appear to you”) as in the MT (cf. IBHS §30.5.1.e; so many English versions), or a futurum instans participle (“is going to appear to you”) as in the LXX and several other versions (see the BHS footnote; cf. IBHS 627 §37.6f). In either case, the point is that Moses was anticipating that the
[9:5] 213 tn Heb “to the faces of.”
[9:6] 214 tn Heb “which the
[9:6] 215 tn Heb “and the glory of the
[9:7] 216 tn Instead of “on behalf of the people,” the LXX has “on behalf of your house” as in the Hebrew text of Lev 16:6, 11, 17. Many commentaries follow the LXX here (e.g., J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:578; J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 118) as do a few English versions (e.g., NAB), but others argue that, as on the Day of Atonement (Lev 16), the offerings of the priests also effected the people, even though there was still the need to have special offerings made on behalf of the people as reflected in the second half of the verse (e.g., B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 56).
[9:11] 218 tn Heb “he burned with fire,” an expression which is sometimes redundant in English, but here means “burned up,” “burned up entirely.”
[9:11] 219 sn See Lev 4:5-12 and the notes there regarding the sin offering for priest(s). The distinction here is that the blood of the sin offering for the priests was applied to the horns of the burnt offering altar in the court of the tabernacle, not the incense altar inside the tabernacle tent itself. See the notes on Lev 8:14-15.
[9:12] 220 tn For smoothness in the English translation, “his” was used in place of “Aaron’s.”
[9:12] 221 tn The verb is a Hiphil form of מָצָא, matsa’, “to find” (i.e., causative, literally “to cause to find,” but here the meaning is “to hand to” or “pass to”; see J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 117-18, and J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:581-82). The distinction between this verb and “presented” in v. 9 above (see the note there) is that in v. 9 Aaron’s sons held the bowl while Aaron manipulated some of the blood at the altar, while here in v. 12 they simply handed the bowl to him so he could splash all the blood around on the altar (Milgrom, 581).
[9:12] 222 tn For “splashed” (also in v. 18) see the note on Lev 1:5.
[9:13] 223 tn See the note on v. 12.
[9:13] 224 tn Heb “and the burnt offering they handed to him to its parts and the head.”
[9:15] 225 tn The expression “and performed a decontamination rite [with] it” reads literally in the MT, “and decontaminated [with] it.” The verb is the Piel of חטא (kht’, Qal = “to sin”), which means “to decontaminate, purify” (i.e., “to de-sin”; see the note on Lev 8:15).
[9:15] 226 sn The phrase “like the first one” at the end of the verse refers back to the sin offering for the priests described in vv. 8-11 above. The blood of the sin offering of the common people was applied to the burnt offering altar just like that of the priests.
[9:16] 227 tn The term “standard regulation” (מִשְׁפָּט, mishpat) here refers to the set of regulations for burnt offering goats in Lev 1:10-13. Cf. KJV “according to the manner”; ASV, NASB “according to the ordinance”; NIV, NLT “in the prescribed way”; CEV “in the proper way.”
[9:17] 228 sn The latter part of the verse (“in addition to the morning burnt offering”) refers to the complex of morning (and evening) burnt and grain offerings that was the daily regulation for the tabernacle from the time of its erection (Exod 40:29). The regulations for it were appended to the end of the section of priestly consecration regulations in Exod 29 (see Exod 29:38-40) precisely because they were to be maintained throughout the priestly consecration period and beyond (Lev 8:33-36). Thus, the morning burnt and grain offerings would already have been placed on the altar before the inaugural burnt and grain offerings referred to here.
[9:18] 229 tn See the note on Lev 9:12.
[9:19] 230 tn Heb “And the fat from the ox and from the ram.”
[9:19] 231 tn The text here has only the participle “the cover” or “that which covers,” which is elliptical for “the fat which covers the entrails” (see Lev 3:3, 9, 14; 7:3).
[9:20] 232 tn The plural “they” refers to the sons of Aaron (cf. v. 18). The LXX, Smr, and Syriac have singular “he,” referring to Aaron alone as in the latter half of the verse (the singular is followed here by NLT). Cf. NCV “Aaron’s sons put them.”
[9:24] 233 tn Heb “from to the faces of the
[9:24] 234 tn Heb “fell on their faces.” Many English versions and commentaries render here “shouted for joy” (e.g., NIV; cf. NCV, NLT) or “shouted joyfully,” but the fact the people “fell on their faces” immediately afterward suggests that they were frightened as, for example, in Exod 19:16b; 20:18-21.
