17:10 “‘Any man 2 from the house of Israel or from the foreigners who reside 3 in their 4 midst who eats any blood, I will set my face against that person who eats the blood, and I will cut him off from the midst of his people, 5
20:6 “‘The person who turns to the spirits of the dead and familiar spirits 14 to commit prostitution by going after them, I will set my face 15 against that person and cut him off from the midst of his people.
34:16 But the Lord opposes evildoers
and wipes out all memory of them from the earth. 16
1 tn Heb “proverbs.”
2 tn Heb “And man, man.” The repetition of the word “man” is distributive, meaning “any (or every) man” (GKC 395-96 §123.c; cf. Lev 15:2).
3 tn Heb “from the sojourner who sojourns.”
4 tc The LXX, Syriac, and Vulgate have “your” (plural) rather than “their.”
5 tn Heb “I will give my faces against [literally “in”] the soul/person/life [נֶפֶשׁ, nefesh, feminine] who eats the blood and I will cut it [i.e., that נֶפֶשׁ, nefesh] off from the midst of its people.” The uses of נֶפֶשׁ in this and the following verse are most significant for the use of animal blood in Israel’s sacrificial system. Unfortunately, it is a most difficult word to translate accurately and consistently, and this presents a major problem for the rendering of these verses (see, e.g., G. J. Wenham, Leviticus [NICOT], 244-45). No matter which translation of נֶפֶשׁ one uses here, it is important to see that both man and animal have נֶפֶשׁ and that this נֶפֶשׁ is identified with the blood. See the further remarks on v. 11 below. On the “cutting off” penalty see the note on v. 4 above. In this instance, God takes it on himself to “cut off” the person (i.e., extirpation).
6 tn Heb “And I, I shall give my faces.”
7 sn On the “cut off” penalty see the notes on Lev 7:20 and 17:4.
8 tn Heb “for the sake of defiling my sanctuary and to profane my holy name.”
9 tn Heb “And if shutting [infinitive absolute] they shut [finite verb].” For the infinitive absolute used to highlight contrast rather than emphasis see GKC 343 §113.p.
10 tn Heb “from that man” (so ASV); NASB “disregard that man.”
11 tn The adjective “spiritual” has been supplied in the translation to clarify that this is not a reference to literal prostitution, but figuratively compares idolatry to prostitution.
12 tn Heb “to commit harlotry after Molech.” The translation employs “worshiping” here for clarity (cf. NAB, NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT). On the “cut off” penalty see the note on Lev 7:20.
13 sn For structure and coherence in Lev 20:6-27 see the note on v. 27 below.
14 tn See the note on the phrase “familiar spirits” in Lev 19:31 above.
15 tn Heb “I will give my faces.”
16 tn Heb “the face of the
17 tn Heb “oracle of the
18 tn Heb “I have set my face against this city for evil [i.e., disaster] and not for good [i.e., well-being].” For the use of the idiom “set one’s face against/toward” see, e.g., usage in 1 Kgs 2:15; 2 Kgs 2:17; Jer 42:15, 17 and note the interesting interplay of usage in Jer 44:11-12.
19 tn Heb “he will burn it with fire.”