Leviticus 3:1

Peace Offering Regulations: Animal from the Herd

3:1 “‘Now if his offering is a peace offering sacrifice, ¹  if he presents an offering from the herd, he must present before the Lord a flawless male or a female. ² 

Leviticus 4:23

4:23 or his sin that he committed ³  is made known to him, ⁴  he must bring a flawless male goat as his offering. ⁵ 

Leviticus 22:19-24

22:19 if it is to be acceptable for your benefit ⁶  it must be a flawless male from the cattle, sheep, or goats. 22:20 You must not present anything that has a flaw, ⁷  because it will not be acceptable for your benefit. ⁸  22:21 If a man presents a peace offering sacrifice to the Lord for a special votive offering ⁹  or for a freewill offering from the herd or the flock, it must be flawless to be acceptable; ¹⁰  it must have no flaw. ¹¹ 

22:22 “‘You must not present to the Lord something blind, or with a broken bone, or mutilated, or with a running sore, ¹²  or with a festering eruption, or with a feverish rash. ¹³  You must not give any of these as a gift ¹⁴  on the altar to the Lord. 22:23 As for an ox ¹⁵  or a sheep with a limb too long or stunted, ¹⁶  you may present it as a freewill offering, but it will not be acceptable for a votive offering. ¹⁷  22:24 You must not present to the Lord something with testicles that are bruised, crushed, torn, or cut off; ¹⁸  you must not do this in your land.

Exodus 12:5

12:5 Your lamb must be ¹⁹  perfect, ²⁰  a male, one year old; ²¹  you may take ²²  it from the sheep or from the goats.

Deuteronomy 15:21

15:21 If they have any kind of blemish – lameness, blindness, or anything else ²³  – you may not offer them as a sacrifice to the Lord your God.

Zechariah 13:7

13:7 “Awake, sword, against my shepherd,

against the man who is my associate,”

says the Lord who rules over all.

Strike the shepherd that the flock may be scattered; ²⁴ 

I will turn my hand against the insignificant ones.

Malachi 1:14

1:14 “There will be harsh condemnation for the hypocrite who has a valuable male animal in his flock but vows and sacrifices something inferior to the Lord. For I am a great king,” ²⁵  says the Lord who rules over all, “and my name is awesome among the nations.”

Luke 1:35

1:35 The angel replied, ²⁶  “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow ²⁷  you. Therefore the child ²⁸  to be born ²⁹  will be holy; ³⁰  he will be called the Son of God.

John 1:36

1:36 Gazing at Jesus as he walked by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!” ³¹ 

Ephesians 5:27

5:27 so that he ³²  may present the church to himself as glorious – not having a stain or wrinkle, or any such blemish, but holy and blameless. ³³ 

Hebrews 7:26

7:26 For it is indeed fitting for us to have such a high priest: holy, innocent, undefiled, separate from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.

Hebrews 9:14

9:14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our ³⁴  consciences from dead works to worship the living God.

Hebrews 9:1

The Arrangement and Ritual of the Earthly Sanctuary

9:1 Now the first covenant, ³⁵  in fact, had regulations for worship and its earthly sanctuary.

Hebrews 1:1

Introduction: God Has Spoken Fully and Finally in His Son

1:1 After God spoke long ago ³⁶  in various portions ³⁷  and in various ways ³⁸  to our ancestors ³⁹  through the prophets,

Hebrews 1:1

Introduction: God Has Spoken Fully and Finally in His Son

1:1 After God spoke long ago ⁴⁰  in various portions ⁴¹  and in various ways ⁴²  to our ancestors ⁴³  through the prophets,

[3:1]  ¹ sn The peace offering sacrifice primarily enacted and practiced communion between God and man (and between the people of God). This was illustrated by the fact that the fat parts of the animal were consumed on the altar of the Lord but the meat was consumed by the worshipers in a meal before God. This is the only kind of offering in which common worshipers partook of the meat of the animal. When there was a series of offerings that included a peace offering (see, e.g., Lev 9:8-21, sin offerings, burnt offerings, and afterward the peace offerings in vv. 18-21), the peace offering was always offered last because it expressed the fact that all was well between God and his worshiper(s). There were various kinds of peace offerings, depending on the worship intended on the specific occasion. The “thank offering” expressed thanksgiving (e.g., Lev 7:11-15; 22:29-30), the “votive offering” fulfilled a vow (e.g., Lev 7:16-18; 22:21-25), and the “freewill offering” was offered as an expression of devotion and praise to God (e.g., Lev 7:16-18; 22:21-25). The so-called “ordination offering” was also a kind of peace offering that was used to consecrate the priests at their ordination (e.g., Exod 29:19-34; Lev 7:37; 8:22-32). See R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 1:1066-73 and 4:135-43.

[3:1]  ² tn Heb “if a male if a female, perfect he shall present it before the Lord.” The “or” in the present translation (and most other English versions) is not present in the Hebrew text here, but see v. 6 below.

[4:23]  ³ tn Heb “or his sin which he sinned in it is made known to him”; NAB “if he learns of the sin he committed.”

[4:23]  ⁴ tn Lev 4:22b-23a is difficult. The present translation suggests that there are two possible legal situations envisioned, separated by the Hebrew אוֹ (’o, “or”) at the beginning of v. 23. Lev 4:22b refers to any case in which the leader readily admits his guilt (i.e., “pleads guilty”), whereas v. 23a refers to cases where the leader is convicted of his guilt by legal action (“his sin…is made known to him”). See R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 2:95-96; Lev 4:27-28; and esp. the notes on Lev 5:1 below.

[4:23]  ⁵ tn Heb “a he-goat of goats, a male without defect”; cf. NLT “with no physical defects.”

[22:19]  ⁶ tn Heb “for your acceptance.” See Lev 1:3-4 above and the notes there.

[22:20]  ⁷ tn Heb “all which in it [is] a flaw.” Note that the same term is used for physical flaws of people in Lev 21:17-24. Cf. KJV, ASV, NRSV “blemish”; NASB, NIV, TEV “defect”; NLT “with physical defects.”

[22:20]  ⁸ tn Heb “not for acceptance shall it be for you”; NIV “it will not be accepted on your behalf” (NRSV and NLT both similar).

[22:21]  ⁹ tn The meaning of the expression לְפַלֵּא־נֶדֶר (lÿfalle’-neder) rendered here “for a special votive offering” is much debated. Some take it as an expression for fulfilling a vow, “to fulfill a vow” (e.g., HALOT 927-28 s.v. פלא piel and NASB; cf. NAB, NRSV “in fulfillment of a vow”) or, alternatively, “to make a vow” or “for making a vow” (HALOT 928 s.v. פלא piel [II פלא]). Perhaps it refers to the making a special vow, from the verb פָלַא (pala’, “to be wonderful, to be remarkable”); cf. J. Milgrom, Numbers (JPSTC), 44. B. A. Levine, Leviticus (JPSTC), 151 and 193, suggests that this is a special term for “setting aside a votive offering” (related to פָלָה [palah, “to set aside”]). In general, the point of the expression seems to be that this sacrifice arises as a special gift to God out of special circumstances in the life of the worshiper.

[22:21]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “for acceptance”; NAB “if it is to find acceptance.”

[22:21]  ¹¹ tn Heb “all/any flaw shall not be in it.”

[22:22]  ¹² tn Or perhaps “a wart” (cf. NIV; HALOT 383 s.v. יַבֶּלֶת, but see the remarks in J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 358).

[22:22]  ¹³ sn See the note on Lev 21:20 above.

[22:22]  ¹⁴ sn This term for offering “gift” is explained in the note on Lev 1:9.

[22:23]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “And an ox.”

[22:23]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and stunted” (see HALOT 1102 s.v. I קלט).

[22:23]  ¹⁷ sn The freewill offering was voluntary, so the regulations regarding it were more relaxed. Once a vow was made, the paying of it was not voluntary (see B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 151-52, for very helpful remarks on this verse).

[22:24]  ¹⁸ sn Compare Lev 21:20b.

[12:5]  ¹⁹ tn The construction has: “[The] lamb…will be to you.” This may be interpreted as a possessive use of the lamed, meaning, “[the] lamb…you have” (your lamb) for the Passover. In the context instructing the people to take an animal for this festival, the idea is that the one they select, their animal, must meet these qualifications.

[12:5]  ²⁰ tn The Hebrew word תָּמִים (tamim) means “perfect” or “whole” or “complete” in the sense of not having blemishes and diseases – no physical defects. The rules for sacrificial animals applied here (see Lev 22:19-21; Deut 17:1).

[12:5]  ²¹ tn The idiom says “a son of a year” (בֶּן־שָׁנָה, ben shanah), meaning a “yearling” or “one year old” (see GKC 418 §128.v).

[12:5]  ²² tn Because a choice is being given in this last clause, the imperfect tense nuance of permission should be used. They must have a perfect animal, but it may be a sheep or a goat. The verb’s object “it” is supplied from the context.

[15:21]  ²³ tn Heb “any evil blemish”; NASB “any (+ other NAB, TEV) serious defect.”

[13:7]  ²⁴ sn Despite the NT use of this text to speak of the scattering of the disciples following Jesus’ crucifixion (Matt 26:31; Mark 14:27), the immediate context of Zechariah suggests that unfaithful shepherds (kings) will be punished by the Lord precisely so their flocks (disobedient Israel) can be scattered (cf. Zech 11:6, 8, 9, 16). It is likely that Jesus drew on this passage merely to make the point that whenever shepherds are incapacitated, sheep will scatter. Thus he was not identifying himself with the shepherd in this text (the shepherd in the Zechariah text is a character who is portrayed negatively).

[1:14]  ²⁵ sn The epithet great king was used to describe the Hittite rulers on their covenant documents and so, in the covenant ideology of Malachi, is an apt description of the Lord.

[1:35]  ²⁶ tn Grk “And the angel said to her.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style. The pronoun αὐτῇ (auth, “to her”) has not been included in the translation since it is redundant in contemporary English.

[1:35]  ²⁷ sn The phrase will overshadow is a reference to God’s glorious presence at work (Exod 40:34-35; Ps 91:4).

[1:35]  ²⁸ tn Or “the one born holy will be called the Son of God.” The wording of this phrase depends on whether the adjective is a predicate adjective, as in the text, or is an adjective modifying the participle serving as the subject. The absence of an article with the adjective speaks for a predicate position. Other less appealing options supply a verb for “holy”; thus “the one who is born will be holy”; or argue that both “holy” and “Son of God” are predicates, so “The one who is born will be called holy, the Son of God.”

[1:35]  ²⁹ tc A few mss (C* Θ Ë¹ 33 pc) add “by you” here. This looks like a scribal addition to bring symmetry to the first three clauses of the angel’s message (note the second person pronoun in the previous two clauses), and is too poorly supported to be seriously considered as authentic.

[1:35]  ³⁰ tn Or “Therefore the holy child to be born will be called the Son of God.” There are two ways to understand the Greek phrase τὸ γεννώμενον ἅγιον (to gennwmenon {agion) here. First, τὸ γεννώμενον could be considered a substantival participle with ἅγιον as an adjective in the second predicate position, thus making a complete sentence; this interpretation is reflected in the translation above. Second, τὸ ἅγιον could be considered a substantival adjective with γεννώμενον acting as an adjectival participle, thus making the phrase the subject of the verb κληθήσεται (klhqhsetai); this interpretation is reflected in the alternative reading. Treating the participle γεννώμενον as adjectival is a bit unnatural for the very reason that it forces one to understand ἅγιον as substantival; this introduces a new idea in the text with ἅγιον when an already new topic is being introduced with γεννώμενον. Semantically this would overload the new subject introduced at this point. For this reason the first interpretation is preferred.

[1:36]  ³¹ sn This section (1:35-51) is joined to the preceding by the literary expedient of repeating the Baptist’s testimony about Jesus being the Lamb of God (1:36, cf. 1:29). This repeated testimony (1:36) no longer has revelatory value in itself, since it has been given before; its purpose, instead, is to institute a chain reaction which will bring John the Baptist’s disciples to Jesus and make them Jesus’ own disciples.

[5:27]  ³² tn The use of the pronoun αὐτός (autos) is intensive and focuses attention on Christ as the one who has made the church glorious.

[5:27]  ³³ tn Grk “but in order that it may be holy and blameless.”

[9:14]  ³⁴ tc The reading adopted by the translation is attested by many authorities (A D* K P 365 1739* al). But many others (א D² 0278 33 1739^c 1881 Ï lat sa) read “your” instead of “our.” The diversity of evidence makes this a difficult case to decide from external evidence alone. The first and second person pronouns differ by only one letter in Greek, as in English, also making this problem difficult to decide based on internal evidence and transcriptional probability. In the context, the author’s description of sacrificial activities seems to invite the reader to compare his own possible participation in OT liturgy as over against the completed work of Christ, so the second person pronoun “your” might make more sense. On the other hand, TCGNT 599 argues that “our” is preferable because the author of Hebrews uses direct address (i.e., the second person) only in the hortatory sections. What is more, the author seems to prefer the first person in explanatory remarks or when giving the logical grounds for an assertion (cf. Heb 4:15; 7:14). It is hard to reach a definitive conclusion in this case, but the data lean slightly in favor of the first person pronoun.

[9:1]  ³⁵ tn Grk “the first” (referring to the covenant described in Heb 8:7, 13). In the translation the referent (covenant) has been specified for clarity.

[1:1]  ³⁶ tn Or “spoke formerly.”

[1:1]  ³⁷ tn Or “parts.” The idea is that God’s previous revelation came in many parts and was therefore fragmentary or partial (L&N 63.19), in comparison with the final and complete revelation contained in God’s Son. However, some interpret πολυμερῶς (polumerw") in Heb 1:1 to mean “on many different occasions” and would thus translate “many times” (L&N 67.11). This is the option followed by the NIV: “at many times and in various ways.” Finally, this word is also understood to refer to the different manners in which something may be done, and would then be translated “in many different ways” (L&N 89.81). In this last case, the two words πολυμερῶς and πολυτρόπως (polutropw") mutually reinforce one another (“in many and various ways,” NRSV).

[1:1]  ³⁸ tn These two phrases are emphasized in Greek by being placed at the beginning of the sentence and by alliteration.

[1:1]  ³⁹ tn Grk “to the fathers.”

[1:1]  ⁴⁰ tn Or “spoke formerly.”

[1:1]  ⁴¹ tn Or “parts.” The idea is that God’s previous revelation came in many parts and was therefore fragmentary or partial (L&N 63.19), in comparison with the final and complete revelation contained in God’s Son. However, some interpret πολυμερῶς (polumerw") in Heb 1:1 to mean “on many different occasions” and would thus translate “many times” (L&N 67.11). This is the option followed by the NIV: “at many times and in various ways.” Finally, this word is also understood to refer to the different manners in which something may be done, and would then be translated “in many different ways” (L&N 89.81). In this last case, the two words πολυμερῶς and πολυτρόπως (polutropw") mutually reinforce one another (“in many and various ways,” NRSV).

[1:1]  ⁴² tn These two phrases are emphasized in Greek by being placed at the beginning of the sentence and by alliteration.

[1:1]  ⁴³ tn Grk “to the fathers.”