1:3 “‘If his offering is a burnt offering 7 from the herd he must present it as a flawless male; he must present it at the entrance 8 of the Meeting Tent for its 9 acceptance before the Lord.
1:10 “‘If his offering is from the flock for a burnt offering 10 – from the sheep or the goats – he must present a flawless male,
2:4 “‘When you present an offering of grain baked in an oven, it must be made of 11 choice wheat flour baked into unleavened loaves 12 mixed with olive oil or 13 unleavened wafers smeared 14 with olive oil.
3:1 “‘Now if his offering is a peace offering sacrifice, 15 if he presents an offering from the herd, he must present before the Lord a flawless male or a female. 16 3:2 He must lay his hand on the head of his offering and slaughter it at the entrance of the Meeting Tent, and the sons of Aaron, the priests, must splash the blood against the altar’s sides. 17
7:16 “‘If his offering is a votive or freewill sacrifice, 28 it may be eaten on the day he presents his sacrifice, and also the leftovers from it may be eaten on the next day, 29
9:15 Then he presented the people’s offering. He took the sin offering male goat which was for the people, slaughtered it, and performed a decontamination rite with it 30 like the first one. 31
27:9 “‘If what is vowed is a kind of animal from which an offering may be presented 32 to the Lord, anything which he gives to the Lord from this kind of animal 33 will be holy.
1 tn “When” here translates the MT’s כִּי (ki, “if, when”), which regularly introduces main clauses in legislative contexts (see, e.g., Lev 2:1, 4; 4:2, etc.) in contrast to אִם (’im, “if”), which usually introduces subordinate sections (see, e.g., Lev 1:3, 10, 14; 2:5, 7, 14; 4:3, 13, etc.; cf. כִּי in Exod 21:2 and 7 as opposed to אִם in vv. 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, and 11).
2 tn Heb “a man, human being” (אָדָם, ’adam), which in this case refers to any person among “mankind,” male or female, since women could also bring such offerings (see, e.g., Lev 12:6-8; 15:29-30; cf. HALOT 14 s.v. I אָדָם); cf. NIV “any of you.”
3 tn The verb “presents” is cognate to the noun “offering” in v. 2 and throughout the book of Leviticus (both from the root קרב [qrb]). One could translate the verb “offers,” but this becomes awkward and, in fact, inaccurate in some passages. For example, in Lev 9:9 this verb is used for the presenting or giving of the blood to Aaron so that he could offer it to the
4 tn The whole clause reads more literally, “A human being (אָדָם, ’adam), if he brings from among you an offering to the
5 tn The shift to the second person plural verb here corresponds to the previous second person plural pronoun “among you.” It is distinct from the regular pattern of third person singular verbs throughout the rest of Lev 1-3. This too labels Lev 1:1-2 as an introduction to all of Lev 1-3, not just the burnt offering regulations in Lev 1 (J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:146; cf. note 3 above).
6 tn Heb “from the domesticated animal, from the herd, and from the flock.” It is clear from the subsequent division between animals from the “herd” (בָּקָר, baqar, in Lev 1:3-9) and the “flock” (צֹאן, tso’n; see Lev 1:10-13) that the term for “domesticated animal” (בְּהֵמָה, bÿhemah) is a general term meant to introduce the category of pastoral quadrupeds. The stronger disjunctive accent over בְּהֵמָה in the MT as well as the lack of a vav (ו) between it and בָּקָר also suggest בְּהֵמָה is an overall category that includes both “herd” and “flock” quadrupeds.
7 sn The burnt offering (עֹלָה, ’olah) was basically a “a gift of a soothing aroma to the
8 tn Heb “door” (so KJV, ASV); NASB “doorway” (likewise throughout the book of Leviticus). The translation “door” or “doorway” may suggest a framed door in a casing to the modern reader, but here the term refers to the entrance to a tent.
9 tn The NIV correctly has “it” in the text, referring to the acceptance of the animal (cf., e.g., RSV, NEB, NLT), but “he” in the margin, referring to the acceptance of the offerer (cf. ASV, NASB, JB). The reference to a “flawless male” in the first half of this verse suggests that the issue here is the acceptability of the animal to make atonement on behalf of the offerer (Lev 1:4; cf. NRSV “for acceptance in your behalf”).
13 tn Heb “And if from the flock is his offering, from the sheep or from the goats, for a burnt offering.” Here “flock” specifies the broad category, with “sheep or goats” giving specific examples.
19 tn The insertion of the words “it must be made of” is justified by the context and the expressed words “it shall be made of” in vv. 7 and 8 below.
20 sn These “loaves” were either “ring-shaped” (HALOT 317 s.v. חַלָּה) or “perforated” (BDB 319 s.v. חַלָּה; cf. J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:184).
21 tn Heb “and.” Here the conjunction vav (ו) has an alternative sense (“or”).
22 tn The Hebrew word מְשֻׁחִים (mÿshukhim) translated here as “smeared” is often translated “anointed” in other contexts. Cf. TEV “brushed with olive oil” (CEV similar).
25 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
26 tn Heb “if a male if a female, perfect he shall present it before the
31 tn See the remarks on Lev 1:3-5 above for some of the details of translation here.
37 sn See the note on this phrase in 3:3.
43 tn Heb “or his sin which he sinned in it is made known to him”; NAB “if he learns of the sin he committed.”
44 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.
45 tn Heb “a he-goat of goats, a male without defect”; cf. NLT “with no physical defects.”
49 tn Heb “or his sin which he sinned is made known to him”; cf. NCV “when that person learns about his sin.”
50 tn Lev 4:27b-28a is essentially the same as 4:22b-23a (see the notes there).
51 tn Heb “a she-goat of goats, a female without defect”; NAB “an unblemished she-goat.”
52 tn Heb “on his sin.”
55 tn Here the Hebrew text reads “offering” (קָרְבָּן, qorbban), not “grain offering” (מִנְחָה, minkhah), but in this context the term refers once again to the list in 7:12.
56 tn The term rendered “contribution offering” is תְּרוּמָה (tÿrumah), which generally refers to that which is set aside from the offerings to the
61 tn For the distinction between votive and freewill offerings see the note on Lev 22:23 and the literature cited there.
62 tn Heb “and on the next day and the left over from it shall be eaten.”
67 tn The expression “and performed a decontamination rite [with] it” reads literally in the MT, “and decontaminated [with] it.” The verb is the Piel of חטא (kht’, Qal = “to sin”), which means “to decontaminate, purify” (i.e., “to de-sin”; see the note on Lev 8:15).
68 sn The phrase “like the first one” at the end of the verse refers back to the sin offering for the priests described in vv. 8-11 above. The blood of the sin offering of the common people was applied to the burnt offering altar just like that of the priests.
73 tn Heb “which they may present from it an offering.” The plural active verb is sometimes best rendered in the passive (GKC 460 §144.f, g). Some medieval Hebrew
74 tn Heb “from it.” The masculine suffix “it” here is used for the feminine in the MT, but one medieval Hebrew