Imamat 1:3

Burnt Offering Regulations: Animal from the Herd

1:3 “‘If his offering is a burnt offering ¹  from the herd he must present it as a flawless male; he must present it at the entrance ²  of the Meeting Tent for its ³  acceptance before the Lord.

Imamat 1:17

1:17 and tear it open by its wings without dividing it into two parts. ⁴  Finally, the priest must offer it up in smoke on the altar on the wood which is in the fire – it is a burnt offering, a gift of a soothing aroma to the Lord.

Imamat 2:9

2:9 Then the priest must take up ⁵  from the grain offering its memorial portion and offer it up in smoke on the altar – it is ⁶  a gift of a soothing aroma to the Lord.

Imamat 3:2

3:2 He must lay his hand on the head of his offering and slaughter it at the entrance of the Meeting Tent, and the sons of Aaron, the priests, must splash the blood against the altar’s sides. ⁷ 

Imamat 4:12

4:12 all the rest of the bull ⁸  – he must bring outside the camp ⁹  to a ceremonially clean place, ¹⁰  to the fatty ash pile, ¹¹  and he must burn ¹²  it on a wood fire; it must be burned on the fatty ash pile.

Imamat 6:21-22

6:21 It must be made with olive oil on a griddle and you must bring it well soaked, ¹³  so you must present a grain offering of broken pieces ¹⁴  as a soothing aroma to the Lord. 6:22 The high priest who succeeds him ¹⁵  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.

Imamat 7:6-7

7:6 Any male among the priests may eat it. It must be eaten in a holy place. It is most holy. ¹⁶  7:7 The law is the same for the sin offering and the guilt offering; ¹⁷  it belongs to the priest who makes atonement with it.

Imamat 7:14-15

7:14 He must present one of each kind of grain offering ¹⁸  as a contribution offering ¹⁹  to the Lord; it belongs to the priest who splashes the blood of the peace offering. 7:15 The meat of his ²⁰  thanksgiving peace offering must be eaten on the day of his offering; he must not set any of it aside until morning.

Imamat 7:22

Sacrificial Instructions for the Common People: Fat and Blood

7:22 Then the Lord spoke to Moses: ²¹ 

Imamat 7:28

Priestly Portions of Peace Offerings

7:28 Then the Lord spoke to Moses: ²² 

Imamat 8:28

8:28 Moses then took them from their palms and offered them up in smoke on the altar ²³  on top of the burnt offering – they were an ordination offering for a soothing aroma; it was a gift to the Lord.

Imamat 9:24

9:24 Then fire went out from the presence of the Lord ²⁴  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. ²⁵ 

Imamat 11:9

Clean and Unclean Water Creatures

11:9 “‘These you can eat from all creatures that are in the water: Any creatures in the water that have both fins and scales, ²⁶  whether in the seas or in the streams, ²⁷  you may eat.

Imamat 11:33

11:33 As for any clay vessel they fall into, ²⁸  everything in it ²⁹  will become unclean and you must break it.

Imamat 13:28

13:28 But if the bright spot stays in its place, has not spread on the skin, ³⁰  and it has faded, then it is the swelling of the burn, so the priest is to pronounce him clean, ³¹  because it is the scar of the burn.

Imamat 14:18

14:18 and the remainder of the olive oil ³²  that is in his hand the priest is to put on the head of the one being cleansed. So the priest is to make atonement for him before the Lord.

Imamat 14:45

14:45 He must tear down the house, ³³  its stones, its wood, and all the plaster of the house, and bring all of it ³⁴  outside the city to an unclean place.

Imamat 15:18

15:18 When a man has sexual intercourse with a woman and there is a seminal emission, ³⁵  they must bathe in water and be unclean until evening.

Imamat 18:17

18:17 You must not have sexual intercourse with both a woman and her daughter; you must not take as wife either her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter to have intercourse with them. ³⁶  They are closely related to her ³⁷  – it is lewdness. ³⁸ 

Imamat 19:8

19:8 and the one who eats it will bear his punishment for iniquity ³⁹  because he has profaned ⁴⁰  what is holy to the Lord. ⁴¹  That person will be cut off from his people. ⁴² 

Imamat 20:16

20:16 If a woman approaches any animal to have sexual intercourse with it, ⁴³  you must kill the woman, and the animal must be put to death; their blood guilt is on themselves.

Imamat 20:20

20:20 If a man has sexual intercourse with his aunt, he has exposed his uncle’s nakedness; they must bear responsibility for their sin, they will die childless.

Imamat 20:26-27

20:26 You must be holy to me because I, the Lord, am holy, and I have set you apart from the other peoples to be mine.

Prohibition against Spiritists and Mediums

20:27 “‘A man or woman who ⁴⁴  has in them a spirit of the dead or a familiar spirit ⁴⁵  must be put to death. They must pelt them with stones; ⁴⁶  their blood guilt is on themselves.’”

Imamat 22:25

22:25 Even from a foreigner ⁴⁷  you must not present the food of your God from such animals as these, for they are ruined and flawed; ⁴⁸  they will not be acceptable for your benefit.’”

Imamat 23:6

23:6 Then on the fifteenth day of the same month ⁴⁹  will be the festival of unleavened bread to the Lord; seven days you must eat unleavened bread.

Imamat 23:20-21

23:20 and the priest is to wave them – the two lambs ⁵⁰  – along with the bread of the first fruits, as a wave offering before the Lord; they will be holy to the Lord for the priest.

23:21 “‘On this very day you must proclaim an assembly; it is to be a holy assembly for you. ⁵¹  You must not do any regular work. This is a perpetual statute in all the places where you live throughout your generations. ⁵² 

Imamat 23:41

23:41 You must celebrate it as a pilgrim festival to the Lord for seven days in the year. This is a perpetual statute throughout your generations; ⁵³  you must celebrate it in the seventh month.

Imamat 25:46

25:46 You may give them as inheritance to your children after you to possess as property. You may enslave them perpetually. However, as for your brothers the Israelites, no man may rule over his brother harshly. ⁵⁴ 

Imamat 26:5

26:5 Threshing season will extend for you until the season for harvesting grapes, ⁵⁵  and the season for harvesting grapes will extend until sowing season, so ⁵⁶  you will eat your bread until you are satisfied, ⁵⁷  and you will live securely in your land.

Imamat 26:33

26:33 I will scatter you among the nations and unsheathe the sword ⁵⁸  after you, so your land will become desolate and your cities will become a waste.

Imamat 27:30

Redemption of the Tithe

27:30 “‘Any tithe ⁵⁹  of the land, from the grain of the land or from the fruit of the trees, belongs to the Lord; it is holy to the Lord.

[1:3]  ¹ sn The burnt offering (עֹלָה, ’olah) was basically a “a gift of a soothing aroma to the Lord” (vv. 9, 13, 17). It could serve as a votive or freewill offering (e.g., Lev 22:18-20), an accompaniment of prayer and supplication (e.g., 1 Sam 7:9-10), part of the regular daily, weekly, monthly, and festival cultic pattern (e.g., Num 28-29), or to make atonement either alone (e.g., Lev 1:4; 16:24) or in combination with the grain offering (e.g., Lev 14:20) or sin offering (e.g., Lev 5:7; 9:7). See R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 4:996-1022.

[1:3]  ² tn Heb “door” (so KJV, ASV); NASB “doorway” (likewise throughout the book of Leviticus). The translation “door” or “doorway” may suggest a framed door in a casing to the modern reader, but here the term refers to the entrance to a tent.

[1:3]  ³ tn The NIV correctly has “it” in the text, referring to the acceptance of the animal (cf., e.g., RSV, NEB, NLT), but “he” in the margin, referring to the acceptance of the offerer (cf. ASV, NASB, JB). The reference to a “flawless male” in the first half of this verse suggests that the issue here is the acceptability of the animal to make atonement on behalf of the offerer (Lev 1:4; cf. NRSV “for acceptance in your behalf”).

[1:17]  ⁴ tn Heb “he shall not divide it.” Several Hebrew mss, Smr, LXX, and Syriac have a vav on the negative, yielding the translation, “but he shall not divide it into two parts.” Cf. NIV “not severing it completely” (NRSV similar).

[2:9]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew verb הֵרִים (herim, “to take up”; cf. NAB “lift”) is commonly used for setting aside portions of an offering (see, e.g., Lev 4:8-10 and R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 4:335-36). A number of English versions employ the more normal English idiom “take out” here (e.g., NIV, NCV); cf. NRSV “remove.”

[2:9]  ⁶ tn The words “it is” (הוּא, hu’) both here and in vv. 10 and 16 are not in the MT, but are assumed. (cf. vv. 2b and 3b and the notes there).

[3:2]  ⁷ tn See the remarks on Lev 1:3-5 above for some of the details of translation here.

[4:12]  ⁸ tn All of v. 11 is a so-called casus pendens (also known as an extraposition or a nominative absolute), which means that it anticipates the next verse, being the full description of “all (the rest of) the bull” (lit. “all the bull”) at the beginning of v. 12 (actually after the first verb of the verse; see the next note below).

[4:12]  ⁹ tn Heb “And he (the offerer) shall bring out all the bull to from outside to the camp to a clean place.”

[4:12]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “a clean place,” but referring to a place that is ceremonially clean. This has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[4:12]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the pouring out [place] of fatty ash.”

[4:12]  ¹² tn Heb “burn with fire.” This expression is somewhat redundant in English, so the translation collocates “fire” with “wood,” thus “a wood fire.”

[6:21]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “And the anointed priest under him.”

[7:6]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “holiness of holinesses [or holy of holies] it is”; NAB “most sacred”; TEV “very holy.”

[7:7]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “like the sin offering like the guilt offering, one law to them.”

[7:14]  ¹⁸ 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]  ¹⁹ tn The term rendered “contribution offering” is תְּרוּמָה (tÿrumah), which generally refers to that which is set aside from the offerings to the Lord as prebends for the officiating priests (cf. esp. Lev 7:28-34 and R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 4:335-37). Cf. TEV “as a special contribution.”

[7:15]  ²⁰ tn In the verse “his” refers to the offerer.

[7:22]  ²¹ sn See the note on Lev 6:8 [6:1 HT] above.

[7:28]  ²² sn See the note on Lev 6:8 [6:1 HT].

[8:28]  ²³ tn Heb “toward the altar” (see the note on Lev 1:9).

[9:24]  ²⁴ tn Heb “from to the faces of the Lord.” The rendering here is based on the use of “my faces” and “your faces” referring to the very “presence” of the Lord in Exod 33:14-15.

[9:24]  ²⁵ 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.

[11:9]  ²⁶ tn Heb “all which have fin and scale” (see also vv. 10 and 12).

[11:9]  ²⁷ tn Heb “in the water, in the seas and in the streams” (see also vv. 10 and 12).

[11:33]  ²⁸ tn Heb “And any earthenware vessel which shall fall from them into its midst.”

[11:33]  ²⁹ tn Heb “all which is in its midst.”

[13:28]  ³⁰ tn Heb “and if under it the bright spot stands, it has not spread in the skin.”

[13:28]  ³¹ tn This is the declarative Piel of the verb טָהֵר (taher; cf. the note on v. 6 above).

[14:18]  ³² tn Heb “and the remainder in the oil.”

[14:45]  ³³ tn Smr, LXX, Syriac, and Tg. Ps.-J. have the plural verb, perhaps suggesting a passive translation, “The house…shall be torn down” (cf. NAB, NIV, TEV, NLT, and see the note on v. 4b above).

[14:45]  ³⁴ tn Once again, Smr, LXX, and Syriac have the plural verb, perhaps to be rendered passive, “shall be brought.”

[15:18]  ³⁵ tn Heb “And a woman who a man lies with her a lying of seed.”

[18:17]  ³⁶ tn Heb “You must not uncover the nakedness of both a woman and her daughter; the daughter of her son and the daughter of her daughter you must not take to uncover her nakedness.” Translating “her” as “them” provides consistency in the English. In this kind of context, “take” means to “take in marriage” (cf. also v. 18). The LXX and Syriac have “their nakedness,” referring to the nakedness of the woman’s granddaughters, rather than the nakedness of the woman herself.

[18:17]  ³⁷ tc Heb “they are her flesh.” The LXX reads “your” here (followed by NRSV). If the LXX reading were followed by the present translation, the result would be “They are closely related to you.”

[18:17]  ³⁸ tn The term rendered “lewdness” almost always carries a connotation of cunning, evil device, and divisiveness (cf. HALOT 272 s.v. I זִמָּה 2, “infamy”), and is closely associated with sexual and religious infidelity (cf., e.g., Lev 19:29; 20:14; Job 31:11; Jer 13:27; Ezek 16:27; 22:9). Recent English versions differ on how they handle this: NAB “would be shameful”; CEV “would make you unclean”; NIV “wickedness”; NLT “horrible wickedness”; NRSV “depravity”; TEV “incest.”

[19:8]  ³⁹ tn See the note on Lev 17:16 above.

[19:8]  ⁴⁰ sn Regarding “profaned,” see the note on Lev 10:10 above.

[19:8]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “the holiness of the Lord.”

[19:8]  ⁴² sn On the “cut off” penalty see the note on Lev 7:20.

[20:16]  ⁴³ tn Heb “to copulate with it” (cf. Lev 20:16).

[20:27]  ⁴⁴ tc Smr, LXX, Syriac, and some Targum mss have the relative pronoun אֲשֶׁר (’asher, “who, which”), rather than the MT’s כִּי (ki, “for, because, that”).

[20:27]  ⁴⁵ tn See the note on the phrase “familiar spirit” in Lev 19:31 above.

[20:27]  ⁴⁶ tn This is not the most frequently-used Hebrew verb for stoning, but a word that refers to the action of throwing, slinging, or pelting someone with stones (see the note on v. 2 above). Smr and LXX have “you [plural] shall pelt them with stones.”

[20:27]  sn At first glance Lev 20:27 appears to be out of place but, on closer examination, one could argue that it constitutes the back side of an envelope around the case laws in 20:9-21, with Lev 20:6 forming the front of the envelope (note also that execution of mediums and spiritists by stoning in v. 27 is not explicitly stated in v. 6). This creates a chiastic structure: prohibition against mediums and spiritists (vv. 6 and 27), variations of the holiness formula (vv. 7 and 25-26), and exhortations to obey the Lord’s statutes (and judgments; vv. 8 and 22-24). Again, in the middle are the case laws (vv. 9-21).

[22:25]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “And from the hand of a son of a foreigner.”

[22:25]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “for their being ruined [is] in them, flaw is in them”; NRSV “are mutilated, with a blemish in them”; NIV “are deformed and have defects.” The MT term מָשְׁחָתָם (moshkhatam, “their being ruined”) is a Muqtal form (= Hophal participle) from שָׁחַת (shakhat, “to ruin”). Smr has plural בהם משׁחתים (“deformities in them”; cf. the LXX translation). The Qumran Leviticus scroll (11QpaleoLev) has תימ הם[…], in which case the restored participle would appear to be the same as Smr, but there is no בְּ (bet) preposition before the pronoun, yielding “they are deformed” (see D. N. Freedman and K. A. Mathews, The Paleo-Hebrew Leviticus Scroll, 41 and the remarks in J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 358).

[23:6]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “to this month.”

[23:20]  ⁵⁰ tn Smr and LXX have the Hebrew article on “lambs.” The syntax of this verse is difficult. The object of the verb (two lambs) is far removed from the verb itself (shall wave) in the MT, and the preposition עַל (’al, “upon”), rendered “along with” in this verse, is also added to the far removed subject (literally, “upon [the] two lambs”; see B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 159). It is clear, however, that the two lambs and the loaves (along with their associated grain and drink offerings) constituted the “wave offering,” which served as the prebend “for the priest.” Burnt and sin offerings (vv. 18-19a) were not included in this (see Lev 7:11-14, 28-36).

[23:21]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “And you shall proclaim [an assembly] in the bone of this day; a holy assembly it shall be to you” (see the remarks in B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 160, and the remarks on the LXX rendering in J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 367).

[23:21]  ⁵² tn Heb “for your generations.”

[23:41]  ⁵³ tn Heb “for your generations.”

[25:46]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “and your brothers, the sons of Israel, a man in his brother you shall not rule in him in violence.”

[26:5]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “will reach for you the vintage season.”

[26:5]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “and.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) can be considered to have resultative force here.

[26:5]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “to satisfaction”; KJV, ASV, NASB “to the full.”

[26:33]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “and I will empty sword” (see HALOT 1228 s.v. ריק 3).

[27:30]  ⁵⁹ tn On the “tithe” system in Israel, see R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 2:1035-55 and esp. pp. 1041-42 on Lev 27:30-33.