9:13 But 28 the man who is ceremonially clean, and was not on a journey, and fails 29 to keep the Passover, that person must be cut off from his people. 30 Because he did not bring the Lord’s offering at its appointed time, that man must bear his sin. 31
1 tn This expression is an adverbial accusative of time. The feast was to last from the 15th to the 21st of the month.
2 tn Or “you will eat.” The statement stresses their obligation – they must eat unleavened bread and avoid all leaven.
3 tn The etymology of מַצּוֹת (matsot, “unleavened bread,” i.e., “bread made without yeast”) is uncertain. Suggested connections to known verbs include “to squeeze, press,” “to depart, go out,” “to ransom,” or to an Egyptian word “food, cake, evening meal.” For a more detailed study of “unleavened bread” and related matters such as “yeast” or “leaven,” see A. P. Ross, NIDOTTE 4:448-53.
4 tn The particle serves to emphasize, not restrict here (B. S. Childs, Exodus [OTL], 183, n. 15).
5 tn Heb “every eater of leavened bread.” The participial phrase stands at the beginning of the clause as a casus pendens, that is, it stands grammatically separate from the sentence. It names a condition, the contingent occurrences of which involve a further consequence (GKC 361 §116.w).
6 tn The verb וְנִכְרְתָה (vÿnikhrÿtah) is the Niphal perfect with the vav (ו) consecutive; it is a common formula in the Law for divine punishment. Here, in sequence to the idea that someone might eat bread made with yeast, the result would be that “that soul [the verb is feminine] will be cut off.” The verb is the equivalent of the imperfect tense due to the consecutive; a translation with a nuance of the imperfect of possibility (“may be cut off”) fits better perhaps than a specific future. There is the real danger of being cut off, for while the punishment might include excommunication from the community, the greater danger was in the possibility of divine intervention to root out the evildoer (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 94). Gesenius lists this as the use of a perfect with a vav consecutive after a participle (a casus pendens) to introduce the apodosis (GKC 337 §112.mm).
7 tn “Seven days” is an adverbial accusative of time (see R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 12, §56).
8 tn The term is נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh), often translated “soul.” It refers to the whole person, the soul within the body. The noun is feminine, agreeing with the feminine verb “be cut off.”
9 tn Or “alien”; or “stranger.”
13 tn The disjunctive clause calls attention to the “uncircumcised male” and what will happen to him.
14 tn Heb “that person will be cut off.” The words “that person” have not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
15 tn Heb “he has broken my covenant.” The noun בְּרִית (bÿrit) here refers to the obligation required by God in conjunction with the covenantal agreement. For the range of meaning of the term, see the note on the word “requirement” in v. 9.
19 tn Heb “and his unclean condition is on him.”
20 sn The exact meaning of this penalty clause is not certain. It could mean that he will be executed, whether by God or by man, he will be excommunicated from sanctuary worship and/or community benefits (cf. TEV, CEV), or his line will be terminated by God (i.e., extirpation), etc. See J. E. Hartley, Leviticus (WBC), 100; J. Milgrom, Leviticus (AB), 1:457-60; and B. A. Levine, Leviticus (JPSTC), 241-42 for further discussion.
25 sn For these categories of unclean animals see Lev 11.
26 sn For the interpretation of this last clause see the note on Lev 7:20.
31 tn Smr and LXX add after “tent of meeting” the following: “to make it a burnt offering or a peace offering to the
32 tc Smr includes the suffix “it,” which is needed in any case in the translation to conform to English style.
33 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.
37 tn Heb “to make it,” meaning “to make the sacrifice.”
38 tn For remarks on the “cut off” penalty see the note on v. 4 above.
43 tn See the note on Lev 17:16 above.
44 sn Regarding “profaned,” see the note on Lev 10:10 above.
45 tn Heb “the holiness of the
46 sn On the “cut off” penalty see the note on Lev 7:20.
49 tn The particular כִּי (ki) is taken in an asseverative sense here (“Indeed,” see the NJPS translation).
50 tn Heb “it [i.e., that person; literally “soul,” feminine] shall be cut off from its peoples [plural]”; NLT “from the community.”
55 tn The disjunctive vav (ו) signals a contrastive clause here: “but the man” on the other hand….
56 tn The verb חָדַל (khadal) means “to cease; to leave off; to fail.” The implication here is that it is a person who simply neglects to do it. It does not indicate that he forgot, but more likely that he made the decision to leave it undone.
57 sn The pronouncement of such a person’s penalty is that his life will be cut off from his people. There are at least three possible interpretations for this: physical death at the hand of the community (G. B. Gray, Numbers [ICC], 84-85), physical and/or spiritual death at the hand of God (J. Milgrom, “A Prolegomenon to Lev 17:11,” JBL 90 [1971]: 154-55), or excommunication or separation from the community (R. A. Cole, Exodus [TOTC], 109). The direct intervention of God seem to be the most likely in view of the lack of directions for the community to follow. Excommunication from the camp in the wilderness would have been tantamount to a death sentence by the community, and so there really are just two views.
58 tn The word for “sin” here should be interpreted to mean the consequences of his sin (so a metonymy of effect). Whoever willingly violates the Law will have to pay the consequences.