Imamat 5:11

5:11 “‘If he cannot afford ¹  two turtledoves or two young pigeons, ²  he must bring as his offering for his sin which he has committed ³  a tenth of an ephah ⁴  of choice wheat flour ⁵  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.

Imamat 5:15-16

5:15 “When a person commits a trespass ⁶  and sins by straying unintentionally ⁷  from the regulations about the Lord’s holy things, ⁸  then he must bring his penalty for guilt ⁹  to the Lord, a flawless ram from the flock, convertible into silver shekels according to the standard of the sanctuary shekel, ¹⁰  for a guilt offering. ¹¹  5:16 And whatever holy thing he violated ¹²  he must restore and must add one fifth to it and give it to the priest. So the priest will make atonement ¹³  on his behalf with the guilt offering ram and he will be forgiven.” ¹⁴ 

Imamat 6:12

6:12 but the fire which is on the altar must be kept burning on it. ¹⁵  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.

Imamat 7:34

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.’” ¹⁶ 

Imamat 8:15

8:15 and he slaughtered it. ¹⁷  Moses then took the blood and put it all around on the horns of the altar with his finger and decontaminated the altar, ¹⁸  and he poured out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar and so consecrated it to make atonement on it. ¹⁹ 

Imamat 8:24

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.

Imamat 9:3

9:3 Then tell the Israelites: ‘Take a male goat ²⁰  for a sin offering and a calf and lamb, both a year old and flawless, ²¹  for a burnt offering,

Imamat 10:1

Nadab and Abihu

10:1 Then ²²  Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu, each took his fire pan and put fire in it, set incense on it, and presented strange fire ²³  before the Lord, which he had not commanded them to do.

Imamat 10:17

10:17 “Why did you not eat the sin offering in the sanctuary? For it is most holy and he gave it to you to bear the iniquity of the congregation, ²⁴  to make atonement on their behalf before the Lord.

Imamat 12:6

12:6 “‘When ²⁵  the days of her purification are completed for a son or for a daughter, she must bring a one year old lamb ²⁶  for a burnt offering ²⁷  and a young pigeon or turtledove for a sin offering ²⁸  to the entrance of the Meeting Tent, to the priest.

Imamat 13:32

13:32 The priest must then examine the infection on the seventh day, and if ²⁹  the scall has not spread, there is no reddish yellow hair in it, and the scall does not appear to be deeper than the skin, ³⁰ 

Imamat 14:10

The Eighth Day Atonement Rituals

14:10 “On the eighth day he ³¹  must take two flawless male lambs, one flawless yearling female lamb, three-tenths of an ephah of choice wheat flour as a grain offering mixed with olive oil, ³²  and one log of olive oil, ³³ 

Imamat 15:10

15:10 Anyone who touches anything that was under him ³⁴  will be unclean until evening, and the one who carries those items ³⁵  must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.

Imamat 16:18

16:18 “Then ³⁶  he is to go out to the altar which is before the Lord and make atonement for it. He is to take ³⁷  some of the blood of the bull and some of the blood of the goat, and put it all around on the horns of the altar.

Imamat 16:21

16:21 Aaron is to lay his two hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the iniquities of the Israelites and all their transgressions in regard to all their sins, ³⁸  and thus he is to put them ³⁹  on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man standing ready. ⁴⁰ 

Imamat 16:29

Review of the Day of Atonement

16:29 “This is to be a perpetual statute for you. ⁴¹  In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you must humble yourselves ⁴²  and do no work of any kind, ⁴³  both the native citizen and the foreigner who resides ⁴⁴  in your midst,

Imamat 17:5

17:5 This is so that ⁴⁵  the Israelites will bring their sacrifices that they are sacrificing in the open field ⁴⁶  to the Lord at the entrance of the Meeting Tent to the priest and sacrifice them there as peace offering sacrifices to the Lord.

Imamat 17:15

Regulations for Eating Carcasses

17:15 “‘Any person ⁴⁷  who eats an animal that has died of natural causes ⁴⁸  or an animal torn by beasts, whether a native citizen or a foreigner, ⁴⁹  must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening; then he becomes clean.

Imamat 21:10

Rules for the High Priest

21:10 “‘The high ⁵⁰  priest – who is greater than his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil is poured, who has been ordained ⁵¹  to wear the priestly garments – must neither dishevel the hair of his head nor tear his garments. ⁵² 

Imamat 22:13

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 ⁵³  her father’s house as in her youth, ⁵⁴  she may eat from her father’s food, but no lay person may eat it.

Imamat 23:32

23:32 It is a Sabbath of complete rest for you, and you must humble yourselves on the ninth day of the month in the evening, from evening until evening you must observe your Sabbath.” ⁵⁵ 

Imamat 25:10

25:10 So you must consecrate the fiftieth year, ⁵⁶  and you must proclaim a release ⁵⁷  in the land for all its inhabitants. That year will be your jubilee; ⁵⁸  each one of you must return ⁵⁹  to his property and each one of you must return to his clan.

Imamat 26:34

26:34 “‘Then the land will make up for ⁶⁰  its Sabbaths all the days it lies desolate while you are in the land of your enemies; then the land will rest and make up its Sabbaths.

Imamat 26:43-44

26:43 The land will be abandoned by them ⁶¹  in order that it may make up for ⁶²  its Sabbaths while it is made desolate ⁶³  without them, ⁶⁴  and they will make up for their iniquity because ⁶⁵  they have rejected my regulations and have abhorred ⁶⁶  my statutes. 26:44 In spite of this, however, when they are in the land of their enemies I will not reject them and abhor them to make a complete end of them, to break my covenant with them, for I am the Lord their God.

[5:11]  ¹ 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]  ² tn See the note on Lev 1:14 above (cf. also 5:7).

[5:11]  ³ 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 Lord for his sin which he committed.” Here the words “to the Lord for his sin” have been left out, and “his [penalty for] guilt” has been changed to “his offering.”

[5:11]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn See the note on Lev 2:1 above.

[5:15]  ⁶ 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 Lord, see further below). See the note on Lev 10:10.

[5:15]  ⁷ tn See Lev 4:2 above for a note on “straying.”

[5:15]  ⁸ sn Heb “from the holy things of the Lord.” The Hebrew expression here has the same structure as Lev 4:2, “from any of the commandments of the Lord.” The latter introduces the sin offering regulations and the former the guilt offering regulations. The sin offering deals with violations of “any of the commandments,” whereas the guilt offering focuses specifically on violations of regulations regarding “holy things” (i.e., things that have been consecrated to the Lord; see the full discussion in J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:320-27).

[5:15]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ 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 Lord’s “holy things” (see later in this verse) or the property of others in the community (Lev 6:1-7 [5:20-26 HT]; 19:20-22; Num 5:5-10). It was closely associated with reconsecration of the Lord’s sacred things or his sacred people (see, e.g., Lev 14:12-18; Num 6:11b-12). Moreover, there was usually an associated reparation made for the trespass, including restitution of that which was violated plus one fifth of its value as a fine (Lev 5:16; 6:5 [5:24 HT]). See R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 1:557-66.

[5:16]  ¹² tn Heb “and which he sinned from the holy thing.”

[5:16]  ¹³ sn Regarding “make atonement” see the note on Lev 1:4.

[5:16]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “there shall be forgiveness to him” or “it shall be forgiven to him” (KJV similar).

[6:12]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “in it,” apparently referring to the “hearth” which was on top of the altar (cf. the note on v. 9).

[7:34]  ¹⁶ tn Or “a perpetual regulation”; cf. NASB “as their due forever”; NRSV “as a perpetual due”; NLT “their regular share.”

[8:15]  ¹⁷ 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]  ¹⁸ 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]  ¹⁹ 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 Lord.

[9:3]  ²⁰ tn Heb “a he-goat of goats.”

[9:3]  ²¹ 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.”

[10:1]  ²² tn Although it has been used elsewhere in this translation as an English variation from the ubiquitous use of vav in Hebrew, in this instance “then” as a rendering for vav is intended to show that the Nadab and Abihu catastrophe took place on the inauguration day described in Lev 9. The tragic incident in Lev 10 happened in close temporal connection to the Lord’s fire that consumed the offerings at the end of Lev 9. Thus, for example, the “sin offering” male goat referred to in Lev 10:16-19 is the very one referred to in Lev 9:15.

[10:1]  ²³ tn The expression “strange fire” (אֵשׁ זָרָה, ’esh zarah) seems imprecise (cf. NAB “profane fire”; NIV “unauthorized fire”; NRSV “unholy fire”; NLT “a different kind of fire”) and has been interpreted numerous ways (see the helpful summary in J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 132-33). The infraction may have involved any of the following or a combination thereof: (1) using coals from someplace other than the burnt offering altar (i.e., “unauthorized coals” according to J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:598; cf. Lev 16:12 and cf. “unauthorized person” אִישׁ זָר (’ish zar) in Num 16:40 [17:5 HT], NASB “layman”), (2) using the wrong kind of incense (cf. the Exod 30:9 regulation against “strange incense” קְטֹרֶת זָרָה (qÿtoreh zarah) on the incense altar and the possible connection to Exod 30:34-38), (3) performing an incense offering at an unprescribed time (B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 59), or (4) entering the Holy of Holies at an inappropriate time (Lev 16:1-2).

[10:17]  ²⁴ sn This translation is quite literal. On the surface it appears to mean that the priests would “bear the iniquity” of the congregation by the act of eating the sin offering (so J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:622-25, 635-40). Such a notion is, however, found nowhere else in the Levitical regulations and seems unlikely (so J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 136). A more likely interpretation is reflected in this interpretive rendering: “he gave it to you [as payment] for [your work of] bearing the iniquity of the congregation.” The previous section of the chapter deals with the prebends that the priests received for performing the ministry of the tabernacle (Lev 10:12-15). Lev 10:16-18, therefore, seems to continue the very same topic in the light of the most immediate situation (see R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 2:702-4).

[12:6]  ²⁵ tn Heb “And when” (so KJV, NASB). Many recent English versions leave the conjunction untranslated.

[12:6]  ²⁶ tn Heb “a lamb the son of his year”; KJV “a lamb of the first year” (NRSV “in its first year”); NAB “a yearling lamb.”

[12:6]  ²⁷ sn See the note on Lev 1:3 regarding the “burnt offering.”

[12:6]  ²⁸ sn See the note on Lev 4:3 regarding the term “sin offering.”

[13:32]  ²⁹ tn Heb “and behold” (so KJV, ASV).

[13:32]  ³⁰ tn Heb “and the appearance of the scall is not deep ‘from’ (comparative מִן, min, meaning “deeper than”) the skin.”

[14:10]  ³¹ tn The subject “he” probably refers to the formerly diseased person in this case (see the notes on Lev 1:5a, 6a, and 9a).

[14:10]  ³² tn This term is often rendered “fine flour,” but it refers specifically to wheat as opposed to barley (B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 10) and, although the translation “flour” is used here, it may indicate “grits” rather than finely ground flour (J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:179; see the note on Lev 2:1). The unit of measure is most certainly an “ephah” even though it is not stated explicitly (see, e.g., Num 28:5; cf. 15:4, 6, 8), and three-tenths of an ephah would amount to about a gallon, or perhaps one-third of a bushel (J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 196; Milgrom, 845). Since the normal amount of flour for a lamb is one-tenth of an ephah (Num 28:4-5; cf. 15:4), three-tenths is about right for the three lambs offered in Lev 14:10-20.

[14:10]  ³³ tn A “log” (לֹג, log) of oil is about one-sixth of a liter, or one-third of a pint, or two-thirds of a cup.

[15:10]  ³⁴ tn Heb “which shall be under him.” The verb is perhaps a future perfect, “which shall have been.”

[15:10]  ³⁵ tn Heb “them”; the referent (the previously mentioned items which were under the unclean person) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[16:18]  ³⁶ tn Heb “And.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) indicates the sequence of events here.

[16:18]  ³⁷ tn Heb “And he shall take.”

[16:21]  ³⁸ tn Heb “transgressions to all their sins.”

[16:21]  ³⁹ tn Heb “and he shall give them.”

[16:21]  ⁴⁰ tn The meaning of the Hebrew term עִתִּי (’itti) is uncertain. It is apparently related to עֵת (’et, “time”), and could perhaps mean either that he has been properly “appointed” (i.e., designated) for the task (e.g., NIV and NRSV) or “ready” (e.g., NASB and NEB).

[16:29]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “And it [feminine] shall be for you a perpetual statute.” Verse 34 begins with the same clause except for the missing demonstrative pronoun “this” here in v. 29. The LXX has “this” in both places and it suits the sense of the passage, although both the verb and the pronoun are sometimes missing in this clause elsewhere in the book (see, e.g., Lev 3:17).

[16:29]  ⁴² tn Heb “you shall humble your souls.” The verb “to humble” here refers to various forms of self-denial, including but not limited to fasting (cf. Ps 35:13 and Isa 58:3, 10). The Mishnah (m. Yoma 8:1) lists abstentions from food and drink, bathing, using oil as an unguent to moisten the skin, wearing leather sandals, and sexual intercourse (cf. 2 Sam 12:16-17, 20; see the remarks in J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:1054; B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 109; and J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 242).

[16:29]  ⁴³ tn Heb “and all work you shall not do.”

[16:29]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “the native and the sojourner who sojourns.”

[17:5]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “So that which.”

[17:5]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “on the faces of the field.”

[17:15]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “And any soul” (נֶפֶשׁ, nefesh).

[17:15]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “carcass,” referring to the carcass of an animal that has died on its own, not the carcass of an animal slaughtered for sacrifice or killed by wild beasts. This has been clarified in the translation by supplying the phrase “of natural causes”; cf. NAB “that died of itself”; TEV “that has died a natural death.”

[17:15]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “in the native or in the sojourner.”

[21:10]  ⁵⁰ tn The adjective “high” has been supplied in the translation for clarity, as in many English versions.

[21:10]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “and he has filled his hand.” For this expression see the note on Lev 8:33.

[21:10]  ⁵² 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.”

[22:13]  ⁵³ tn Heb “to”; the words “live in” have been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[22:13]  ⁵⁴ 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.”

[23:32]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “you shall rest your Sabbath.”

[25:10]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “the year of the fifty years,” or perhaps “the year, fifty years” (GKC 435 §134.o, note 2).

[25:10]  ⁵⁷ tn Cf. KJV, ASV, NAB, NIV, NRSV “liberty”; TEV, CEV “freedom.” The characteristics of this “release” are detailed in the following verses. For substantial summaries and bibliography on the biblical and ancient Near Eastern material regarding such a “release” see J. E. Hartley, Leviticus (WBC), 427-34, and B. A. Levine, Leviticus (JPSTC), 270-74.

[25:10]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “A jubilee that shall be to you.” Although there has been some significant debate about the original meaning of the Hebrew word translated “jubilee” (יוֹבֵל, yovel; see the summary in J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 434), the term most likely means “ram” and can refer also to a “ram’s horn.” The fiftieth year would, therefore, be called the “jubilee” because of the associated sounding of the “ram’s horn” (see B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 172, and the literature cited there).

[25:10]  ⁵⁹ tn Heb “you [plural] shall return, a man.”

[26:34]  ⁶⁰ tn There are two Hebrew roots רָצָה (ratsah), one meaning “to be pleased with; to take pleasure” (HALOT 1280-81 s.v. רצה; cf. “enjoy” in NASB, NIV, NRSV, and J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 452), and the other meaning “to restore” (HALOT 1281-82 s.v. II רצה; cf. NAB “retrieve” and B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 189).

[26:43]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “from them.” The preposition “from” refers here to the agent of the action (J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 455).

[26:43]  ⁶² tn The jussive form of the verb with the simple vav (ו) here calls for a translation that expresses purpose.

[26:43]  ⁶³ tn The verb is the Hophal infinitive construct with the third feminine singular suffix (GKC 182 §67.y; cf. v. 34).

[26:43]  ⁶⁴ tn Heb “from them.”

[26:43]  ⁶⁵ tn Heb “because and in because,” a double expression, which is used only here and in Ezek 13:10 (without the vav) for emphasis (GKC 492 §158.b).

[26:43]  ⁶⁶ tn Heb “and their soul has abhorred.”