Imamat 4:2

4:2 “Tell the Israelites, ‘When a person sins by straying unintentionally ¹  from any of the Lord’s commandments which must not be violated, and violates any ²  one of them ³  –

Imamat 11:4

11:4 However, you must not eat these ⁴  from among those that chew the cud and have divided hooves: The camel is unclean to you ⁵  because it chews the cud ⁶  even though its hoof is not divided. ⁷ 

Imamat 13:7

13:7 If, however, the scab is spreading further ⁸  on the skin after he has shown himself to the priest for his purification, then he must show himself to the priest a second time.

Imamat 13:11

13:11 it is a chronic ⁹  disease on the skin of his body, ¹⁰  so the priest is to pronounce him unclean. ¹¹  The priest ¹²  must not merely quarantine him, for he is unclean. ¹³ 

Imamat 13:27

13:27 The priest must then examine it on the seventh day, and if it is spreading further ¹⁴  on the skin, then the priest is to pronounce him unclean. It is a diseased infection. ¹⁵ 

Imamat 14:44

14:44 the priest is to come and examine it, and if ¹⁶  the infection has spread in the house, it is a malignant disease in the house. It is unclean.

[4:2]  ¹ tn Heb “And a person, when he sins in straying.” The English translation of “by straying” (בִּשְׁגָגָה [bishgagah] literally, “in going astray; in making an error”) varies greatly, but almost all suggest that this term refers to sins that were committed by mistake or done not knowing that the particular act was sinful (J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:228-29). See, e.g., LXX “involuntarily”; Tg. Onq. “by neglect”; KJV “through ignorance”; ASV, RSV, NJPS “unwittingly”; NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT “unintentionally”; NAB, NEB “inadvertently”; NCV “by accident.” However, we know from Num 15:27-31 that committing a sin “by straying” is the opposite of committing a sin “defiantly” (i.e., בְּיַד רָמָה [bÿyad ramah] “with a raised hand,” v. 30). In the latter case the person, as it were, raises his fist in presumptuous defiance against the Lord. Thus, he “blasphemes” the Lord and has “despised” his word, for which he should be “cut off from among his people” (Num 15:30-31). One could not bring an offering for such a sin. The expression here in Lev 4:2 combines “by straying” with the preposition “from” which fits naturally with “straying” (i.e., “straying from” the Lord’s commandments). For sins committed “by straying” from the commandments (Lev 4 throughout) or other types of transgressions (Lev 5:1-6) there was indeed forgiveness available through the sin offering. See R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 2:94-95.

[4:2]  ² tn This is an emphatic use of the preposition מִן (min; see R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 56-57, §325).

[4:2]  ³ tn The “when” clause (כִּי, ki) breaks off here before its resolution, thus creating an open-ended introduction to the following subsections, which are introduced by “if” (אִם [’im] vv. 3, 13, 27, 32). Also, the last part of the verse reads literally, “which must not be done and does from one from them.”

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

[11:4]  ⁵ sn Regarding “clean” versus “unclean,” see the note on Lev 10:10.

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

[11:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “and hoof there is not dividing” (see also vv. 5 and 6).

[13:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “And if spreading [infinitive absolute] it spreads [finite verb].” For the infinitive absolute used to highlight contrast rather than emphasis see GKC 343 §113.p.

[13:11]  ⁹ tn The term rendered here “chronic” is a Niphal participle meaning “grown old” (HALOT 448 s.v. II ישׁן nif.2). The idea is that this is an old enduring skin disease that keeps on developing or recurring.

[13:11]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “in the skin of his flesh” as opposed to the head or the beard (v. 29; cf. v. 2 above).

[13:11]  ¹¹ tn This is the declarative Piel of the verb טָמֵא (tame’, cf. the note on v. 3 above).

[13:11]  ¹² tn Heb “he”; the referent (the priest) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:11]  ¹³ sn Instead of just the normal quarantine isolation, this condition calls for the more drastic and enduring response stated in Lev 13:45-46. Raw flesh, of course, sometimes oozes blood to one degree or another, and blood flows are by nature impure (see, e.g., Lev 12 and 15; cf. J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 191).

[13:27]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “is indeed spreading.”

[13:27]  ¹⁵ tn For the rendering “diseased infection” see the note on v. 2 above.

[14:44]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and behold” (so KJV, ASV); NASB “If he sees that the mark has indeed spread.”