Imamat 11:4

11:4 However, you must not eat these ¹  from among those that chew the cud and have divided hooves: The camel is unclean to you ²  because it chews the cud ³  even though its hoof is not divided. ⁴ 

Imamat 13:30

13:30 the priest is to examine the infection, ⁵  and if ⁶  it appears to be deeper than the skin ⁷  and the hair in it is reddish yellow and thin, then the priest is to pronounce the person unclean. ⁸  It is scall, ⁹  a disease of the head or the beard. ¹⁰ 

Imamat 14:7

14:7 and sprinkle it seven times on the one being cleansed ¹¹  from the disease, pronounce him clean, ¹²  and send the live bird away over the open countryside. ¹³ 

Imamat 15:13

Purity Regulations for Male Bodily Discharges

15:13 “‘When the man with the discharge becomes clean from his discharge he is to count off for himself seven days for his purification, and he must wash his clothes, bathe in fresh water, ¹⁴  and be clean.

Imamat 17:4

17:4 but has not brought it to the entrance of the Meeting Tent ¹⁵  to present it as ¹⁶  an offering to the Lord before the tabernacle of the Lord. He has shed blood, so that man will be cut off from the midst of his people. ¹⁷ 

[11:4]  ¹ tn Heb “this,” but as a collective plural (see the following context).

[11:4]  ² sn Regarding “clean” versus “unclean,” see the note on Lev 10:10.

[11:4]  ³ tn Heb “because a chewer of the cud it is” (see also vv. 5 and 6).

[11:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “and hoof there is not dividing” (see also vv. 5 and 6).

[13:30]  ⁵ tn Heb “and the priest shall see the infection.”

[13:30]  ⁶ tn Heb “and behold.”

[13:30]  ⁷ tn Heb “its appearance is deep ‘from’ (comparative מִן, min, “deeper than”) the skin.”

[13:30]  ⁸ tn This is the declarative Piel of the verb טָמֵא (tame’; cf. the note on v. 3 above).

[13:30]  ⁹ tn The exact identification of this disease is unknown. Cf. KJV “dry scall”; NASB “a scale”; NIV, NCV, NRSV “an itch”; NLT “a contagious skin disease.” For a discussion of “scall” disease in the hair, which is a crusty scabby disease of the skin under the hair that also affects the hair itself, see J. E. Hartley, Leviticus (WBC), 192-93, and J. Milgrom, Leviticus (AB), 1:793-94. The Hebrew word rendered “scall” (נֶתֶק, neteq) is related to a verb meaning “to tear; to tear out; to tear apart.” It may derive from the scratching and/or the tearing out of the hair or the scales of the skin in response to the itching sensation caused by the disease.

[13:30]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “It is scall. It is the disease of the head or the beard.”

[14:7]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the one cleansing himself” (i.e., Hitpael participle of טָהֵר [taher, “to be clean”]).

[14:7]  ¹² tn Heb “and he shall make him clean.” The verb is the Piel of טָהֵר (taher, “to be clean”), here used as a so-called “declarative” Piel (i.e., “to declare clean”; cf. 13:6, etc.).

[14:7]  ¹³ sn The reddish color of cedar wood and the crimson colored fabric called for in v. 4 (see the note there, esp. the association with the color of blood) as well as the priestly commands to bring “two live” birds (v. 4a), to slaughter one of them “over fresh water” (literally “living water,” v. 5b), and the subsequent ritual with the (second) “live” bird (vv. 6-7) combine to communicate the concept of “life” and “being alive” in this passage. This contrasts with the fear of death associated with the serious skin diseases in view here (see, e.g., Aaron’s description of Miriam’s skin disease in Num 12:12, “Do not let her be like the dead one when it goes out from its mother’s womb and its flesh half eaten away”). Since the slaughtered bird here is not sacrificed at the altar and is not designated as an expiatory “sin offering,” this ritual procedure probably symbolizes the renewed life of the diseased person and displays it publicly for all to see. It is preparatory to the expiatory rituals that will follow (vv. 10-20, esp. vv. 18-20), but is not itself expiatory. Thus, although there are important similarities between the bird ritual here, the scapegoat on the Day of Atonement (Lev 16:20-22), and the red heifer for cleansing from corpse contamination (Num 19), this bird ritual is different in that the latter two constitute “sin offerings” (Lev 16:5, 8-10; Num 19:9, 17). Neither of the birds in Lev 14:4-7 is designated or treated as a “sin offering.” Nevertheless, the very nature of the live bird ritual itself and its obvious similarity to the scapegoat ritual suggests that the patient’s disease has been removed far away so that he or she is free from its effects both personally and communally.

[15:13]  ¹⁴ tn For the expression “fresh water” see the note on Lev 14:5 above.

[17:4]  ¹⁵ tn Smr and LXX add after “tent of meeting” the following: “to make it a burnt offering or a peace offering to the Lord for your acceptance as a soothing aroma, and slaughters it outside, and at the doorway of the tent of meeting has not brought it.”

[17:4]  ¹⁶ tc Smr includes the suffix “it,” which is needed in any case in the translation to conform to English style.

[17:4]  ¹⁷ sn The exact meaning of this penalty clause is not certain. It could mean (1) that he will be executed, whether by God or by man, (2) that he will be excommunicated from sanctuary worship and/or community benefits, or (3) that his line will be terminated by God (i.e., extirpation). See also the note on Lev 7:20.