Imamat 1:2

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

Imamat 2:4

Processed Grain Offerings

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

Imamat 5:2

5:2 Or when there is ¹¹  a person who touches anything ceremonially ¹²  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, ¹³  but he himself has become unclean and is guilty; ¹⁴ 

Imamat 5:15

5:15 “When a person commits a trespass ¹⁵  and sins by straying unintentionally ¹⁶  from the regulations about the Lord’s holy things, ¹⁷  then he must bring his penalty for guilt ¹⁸  to the Lord, a flawless ram from the flock, convertible into silver shekels according to the standard of the sanctuary shekel, ¹⁹  for a guilt offering. ²⁰ 

Imamat 6:2

6:2 “When a person sins and commits a trespass ²¹  against the Lord by deceiving his fellow citizen ²²  in regard to something held in trust, or a pledge, or something stolen, or by extorting something from his fellow citizen, ²³ 

Imamat 6:4

6:4 when it happens that he sins and he is found guilty, ²⁴  then he must return whatever he had stolen, or whatever he had extorted, or the thing that he had held in trust, ²⁵  or the lost thing that he had found,

Imamat 10:19

10:19 But Aaron spoke to Moses, “See here! ²⁶  Just today they presented their sin offering and their burnt offering before the Lord and such things as these have happened to me! If I had eaten a sin offering today would the Lord have been pleased?” ²⁷ 

Imamat 13:3

13:3 The priest must then examine the infection ²⁸  on the skin of the body, and if the hair ²⁹  in the infection has turned white and the infection appears to be deeper than the skin of the body, ³⁰  then it is a diseased infection, ³¹  so when the priest examines it ³²  he must pronounce the person unclean. ³³ 

Imamat 13:6

13:6 The priest must then examine it again on the seventh day, ³⁴  and if ³⁵  the infection has faded and has not spread on the skin, then the priest is to pronounce the person clean. ³⁶  It is a scab, ³⁷  so he must wash his clothes ³⁸  and be clean.

Imamat 13:20

13:20 The priest will then examine it, ³⁹  and if ⁴⁰  it appears to be deeper than the skin ⁴¹  and its hair has turned white, then the priest is to pronounce the person unclean. ⁴²  It is a diseased infection that has broken out in the boil. ⁴³ 

Imamat 13:25

13:25 the priest must examine it, ⁴⁴  and if ⁴⁵  the hair has turned white in the bright spot and it appears to be deeper than the skin, ⁴⁶  it is a disease that has broken out in the burn. ⁴⁷  The priest is to pronounce the person unclean. ⁴⁸  It is a diseased infection. ⁴⁹ 

Imamat 13:32

13:32 The priest must then examine the infection on the seventh day, and if ⁵⁰  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, ⁵¹ 

Imamat 13:34

13:34 The priest must then examine the scall on the seventh day, and if ⁵²  the scall has not spread on the skin and it does not appear to be deeper than the skin, ⁵³  then the priest is to pronounce him clean. ⁵⁴  So he is to wash his clothes and be clean.

Imamat 13:55

13:55 The priest must then examine it after the infection has been washed out, and if ⁵⁵  the infection has not changed its appearance ⁵⁶  even though the infection has not spread, it is unclean. You must burn it up in the fire. It is a fungus, whether on the back side or front side of the article. ⁵⁷ 

Imamat 20:2

20:2 “You are to say to the Israelites, ‘Any man from the Israelites or from the foreigners who reside in Israel ⁵⁸  who gives any of his children ⁵⁹  to Molech ⁶⁰  must be put to death; the people of the land must pelt him with stones. ⁶¹ 

Imamat 20:17

20:17 “‘If a man has sexual intercourse with ⁶²  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. ⁶³  He has exposed his sister’s nakedness; he will bear his punishment for iniquity. ⁶⁴ 

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 ⁶⁵  her father’s house as in her youth, ⁶⁶  she may eat from her father’s food, but no lay person may eat it.

Imamat 25:33

25:33 Whatever someone among the Levites might redeem – the sale of a house which is his property in a city – must revert in the jubilee, ⁶⁷  because the houses of the cities of the Levites are their property in the midst of the Israelites.

Imamat 25:47

25:47 “‘If a resident foreigner who is with you prospers ⁶⁸  and your brother becomes impoverished with regard to him so that ⁶⁹  he sells himself to a resident foreigner who is with you or to a member ⁷⁰  of a foreigner’s family,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[5:2]  ¹¹ tc The insertion of the words “when there is” is a reflection of the few Hebrew mss, Smr, and LXX that have כִּי (ki, “when, if”; cf. vv. 3 and esp. 4) rather than the MT’s אֲשֶׁר (’asher, “who”). Many English versions render this as a conditional clause (“if”).

[5:2]  ¹² tn The word “ceremonially” has been supplied in the translation to clarify that the uncleanness involved is ritual or ceremonial in nature.

[5:2]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ 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.

[5:15]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ tn See Lev 4:2 above for a note on “straying.”

[5:15]  ¹⁷ 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]  ¹⁸ 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]  ¹⁹ 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]  ²⁰ 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.

[6:2]  ²¹ 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]  ²² tn Or “neighbor” (ASV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NASB “companion”; TEV “a fellow-Israelite.”

[6:2]  ²³ tn Heb “has extorted his neighbor”; ASV “oppressed”; NRSV “defrauded.”

[6:4]  ²⁴ 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]  ²⁵ tn Heb “that had been held in trust with him.”

[10:19]  ²⁶ tn Or “Behold!” (so KJV, ASV, NASB); NRSV “See.”

[10:19]  ²⁷ tn Heb “today they presented their sin offering and their burnt offering before the Lord, and like these things have happened to me, and (if) I had eaten sin offering today would it be good in the eyes of the Lord?” The idiom “would it be good in the eyes of [the Lord]” has been translated “would [the Lord] have been pleased.” Cf. NRSV “would it have been agreeable to the Lord?”; CEV, NLT “Would the Lord have approved?”

[13:3]  ²⁸ tn Heb “and the priest shall see the infection.”

[13:3]  ²⁹ tn There is no “if” expressed, but the contrast between the priestly finding in this verse and the next verse clearly implies it.

[13:3]  ³⁰ tn Heb “and the appearance of the infection is deep ‘from’ (comparative מִן, min, “deeper than”) the skin of the his flesh.” See the note on v. 20 below.

[13:3]  ³¹ tn For the translation “diseased infection” see the note on v. 2 above. Cf. TEV “a dreaded skin disease”; NIV “an infectious skin disease”; NLT “a contagious skin disease.”

[13:3]  ³² tn The pronoun “it” here refers to the “infection,” not the person who has the infection (cf. the object of “examine” at the beginning of the verse).

[13:3]  ³³ tn Heb “he shall make him unclean.” The verb is the Piel of טָמֵא (tame’) “to be unclean.” Here it is a so-called “declarative” Piel (i.e., “to declare unclean”), but it also implies that the person is put into the category of actually being “unclean” by the pronouncement itself (J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 175; cf. the corresponding opposite in v. 6 below).

[13:6]  ³⁴ tn That is, at the end of the second set of seven days referred to at the end of v. 5, a total of fourteen days after the first appearance before the priest.

[13:6]  ³⁵ tn Heb “and behold.”

[13:6]  ³⁶ tn Heb “he shall make him clean.” The verb is the Piel of טָהֵר (taher, “to be clean”). Here it is a so-called “declarative” Piel (i.e., “to declare clean”), but it also implies that the person is put into the category of being “clean” by the pronouncement itself (J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 176; cf. the corresponding opposite in v. 3 above).

[13:6]  ³⁷ tn On the term “scab” see the note on v. 2 above. Cf. NAB “it was merely eczema”; NRSV “only an eruption”; NLT “only a temporary rash.”

[13:6]  ³⁸ tn Heb “and he shall wash his clothes.”

[13:20]  ³⁹ tn Heb “and the priest shall see.” The pronoun “it” is unexpressed, but it should be assumed and it refers to the infection (cf. the note on v. 8 above).

[13:20]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “and behold.”

[13:20]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “and behold its appearance is low (שָׁפָל, shafal) ‘from’ (comparative מִן, min, “lower than”) the skin.” Compare “deeper” in v. 3 above where, however, a different word is used (עָמֹק, ’amoq), and see the note on “swelling” in v. 1 above (cf. J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 192; note that, contrary to the MT, Tg. Onq. has עָמֹק in this verse as well as v. 4). The alternation of these two terms (i.e., “deeper” and “lower”) in vv. 25-26 below shows that they both refer to the same phenomenon. Some have argued that “this sore was lower than the surrounding skin” (J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:773, 788), in which case “swelling” would be an inappropriate translation of שְׂאֵת (sÿ’et) in v. 19. It seems unlikely, however, that the surface of a “boil” would sink below the surface of the surrounding skin. The infectious pus etc. that makes up a boil normally causes swelling.

[13:20]  ⁴² tn The declarative Piel of the verb טָמֵא (tame’, cf. the note on v. 3 above).

[13:20]  ⁴³ tn Heb “It is an infection of disease. In the boil it has broken out.” For the rendering “diseased infection” see the note on v. 2 above.

[13:25]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “and the priest shall see it.”

[13:25]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “and behold” (so KJV, ASV).

[13:25]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “and its appearance is deep ‘from’ [comparative מִן (min) meaning ‘deeper than’] the skin.”

[13:25]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “it is a disease. In the burn it has broken out.”

[13:25]  ⁴⁸ tn This is the declarative Piel of the verb טָמֵא (tame’; cf. the note on v. 3 above).

[13:25]  ⁴⁹ tn For the rendering “diseased infection” see the note on v. 2 above.

[13:32]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “and behold” (so KJV, ASV).

[13:32]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “and the appearance of the scall is not deep ‘from’ (comparative מִן, min, meaning “deeper than”) the skin.”

[13:34]  ⁵² tn Heb “and behold” (so KJV, ASV).

[13:34]  ⁵³ tn Heb “and its appearance is not deep ‘from’ (comparative מִן, min, meaning “deeper than”) the skin.”

[13:34]  ⁵⁴ tn This is the declarative Piel of the verb טָהֵר (taher, cf. the note on v. 6 above).

[13:55]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “and behold” (so KJV, ASV).

[13:55]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “the infection has not changed its eye.” Smr has “its/his eyes,” as in vv. 5 and 37, but here it refers to the appearance of the article of cloth or leather, unlike vv. 5 and 37 where there is a preposition attached and it refers to the eyes of the priest.

[13:55]  ⁵⁷ tn The terms “back side” and “front side” are the same as those used in v. 42 for the “back or front bald area” of a man’s head. The exact meaning of these terms when applied to articles of cloth or leather is uncertain. It could refer, for example, to the inside versus the outside of a garment, or the back versus the front side of an article of cloth or leather. See J. Milgrom, Leviticus (AB), 1:814, for various possibilities.

[20:2]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “or from the sojourner who sojourns”; NAB “an alien residing in Israel.”

[20:2]  ⁵⁹ tn Heb “his seed” (so KJV, ASV); likewise in vv. 3-4.

[20:2]  ⁶⁰ tn Regarding Molech and Molech worship see the note on Lev 18:21.

[20:2]  ⁶¹ 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).

[20:17]  ⁶² 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]  ⁶³ tn Regarding the “cut off” penalty, see the note on Lev 7:20.

[20:17]  ⁶⁴ tn See the note on Lev 17:16 above.

[22:13]  ⁶⁵ tn Heb “to”; the words “live in” have been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[22:13]  ⁶⁶ 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.”

[25:33]  ⁶⁷ tn Heb “And which he shall redeem from the Levites shall go out, sale of house and city, his property in the jubilee.” Although the end of this verse is clear, the first part is notoriously difficult. There are five main views. (1) The first clause of the verse actually attaches to the previous verse, and refers to the fact that their houses retain a perpetual right of redemption (v. 32b), “which any of the Levites may exercise” (v. 33a; J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 418, 421). (2) It refers to property that one Levite sells to another Levite, which is then redeemed by still another Levite (v. 33a). In such cases, the property reverts to the original Levite owner in the jubilee year (v. 33b; G. J. Wenham, Leviticus [NICOT], 321). (3) It refers to houses in a city that had come to be declared as a Levitical city but had original non-Levitical owners. Once the city was declared to belong to the Levites, however, an owner could only sell his house to a Levite, and he could only redeem it back from a Levite up until the time of the first jubilee after the city was declared to be a Levitical city. In this case the first part of the verse would be translated, “Such property as may be redeemed from the Levites” (NRSV, NJPS). At the first jubilee, however, all such houses became the property of the Levites (v. 33b; P. J. Budd, Leviticus [NCBC], 353). (4) It refers to property “which is appropriated from the Levites” (not “redeemed from the Levites,” v. 33a) by those who have bought it or taken it as security for debts owed to them by Levites who had fallen on bad times. Again, such property reverts back to the original Levite owners at the jubilee (B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 177). (5) It simply refers to the fact that a Levite has the option of redeeming his house (i.e., the prefix form of the verb is taken to be subjunctive, “may or might redeem”), which he had to sell because he had fallen into debt or perhaps even become destitute. Even if he never gained the resources to do so, however, it would still revert to him in the jubilee year. The present translation is intended to reflect this latter view.

[25:47]  ⁶⁸ tn Heb “And if the hand of a foreigner and resident with you reaches” (cf. v. 26 for this idiom).

[25:47]  ⁶⁹ tn Heb “and.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) can be considered to have resultative force here.

[25:47]  ⁷⁰ tn Heb “offshoot, descendant.”