Leviticus 1:9-10

1:9 Finally, the one presenting the offering ¹  must wash its entrails and its legs in water and the priest must offer all of it up in smoke on the altar ²  – it is ³  a burnt offering, a gift ⁴  of a soothing aroma to the Lord.

Animal from the Flock

1:10 “‘If his offering is from the flock for a burnt offering ⁵  – from the sheep or the goats – he must present a flawless male,

Leviticus 1:13

1:13 Then the one presenting the offering must wash the entrails and the legs in water, and the priest must present all of it and offer it up in smoke on the altar – it is a burnt offering, a gift of a soothing aroma to the Lord.

Genesis 8:21

8:21 And the Lord smelled the soothing aroma ⁶  and said ⁷  to himself, ⁸  “I will never again curse ⁹  the ground because of humankind, even though ¹⁰  the inclination of their minds ¹¹  is evil from childhood on. ¹²  I will never again destroy everything that lives, as I have just done.

Hebrews 10:6-12

10:6 “Whole burnt offerings and sin-offerings you took no delight in.

10:7 “Then I said, ‘Here I am: ¹³  I have come – it is written of me in the scroll of the book – to do your will, O God.’” ¹⁴ 

10:8 When he says above, “Sacrifices and offerings and whole burnt offerings and sin-offerings you did not desire nor did you take delight in them” ¹⁵  (which are offered according to the law), 10:9 then he says, “Here I am: I have come to do your will.” ¹⁶  He does away with ¹⁷  the first to establish the second. 10:10 By his will ¹⁸  we have been made holy through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. 10:11 And every priest stands day after day ¹⁹  serving and offering the same sacrifices again and again – sacrifices that can never take away sins. 10:12 But when this priest ²⁰  had offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, he sat down at the right hand ²¹  of God,

Hebrews 13:15-16

13:15 Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, acknowledging his name. 13:16 And do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, ²²  for God is pleased with such sacrifices.

¹ tn Heb “Finally, he”; the referent (the offerer) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Once again, the MT assigns the preparation of the offering (here the entrails and legs) to the offerer because it did not bring him into direct contact with the altar, but reserves the actual placing of the sacrifice on the altar for the officiating priest (cf. the notes on vv. 5a and 6a).

² tn Heb “toward the altar,” but the so-called locative ה (hey) attached to the word for “altar” can indicate the place where something is or happens (GKC 250 §90.d and GKC 373-74 §118.g; cf. also J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:161). This is a standard way of expressing “on/at the altar” with the verb “to offer up in smoke” (Hiphil of קָטַר [qatar]; cf. also Exod 29:13, 18, 25; Lev 1:9, 13, 15, 17; 2:2, etc.).

³ tc A few Hebrew mss and possibly the Leningrad B19a ms itself (the basis of the BHS Hebrew text of the MT), under an apparent erasure, plus Smr, LXX, Syriac, and Tg. Ps.-J. suggest that Hebrew הוּא (hu’, translated as “it is”) should be added here as in vv. 13 and 17. Whether or not the text should be changed, the meaning is the same as in vv. 13 and 17, so it has been included in the translation here.

⁴ sn The standard English translation of “gift” (אִשֶּׁה, ’isheh) is “an offering [made] by fire” (cf. KJV, ASV). It is based on a supposed etymological relationship to the Hebrew word for “fire” (אֵשׁ, ’esh) and is still maintained in many versions (e.g., NIV, RSV, NRSV, NLT; B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 7-8). For various reasons, including the fact that some offerings referred to by this term are not burned on the altar (see, e.g., Lev 24:9), it is probably better to understand the term to mean “gift” (J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 22) or “food gift” (“food offering” in NEB and TEV; J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:161-62). See R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 1:540-49 for a complete discussion.

⁵ 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.

⁶ tn The Lord “smelled” (וַיָּרַח, vayyarakh) a “soothing smell” (רֵיחַ הַנִּיהֹחַ, reakh hannihoakh). The object forms a cognate accusative with the verb. The language is anthropomorphic. The offering had a sweet aroma that pleased or soothed. The expression in Lev 1 signifies that God accepts the offering with pleasure, and in accepting the offering he accepts the worshiper.

⁷ tn Heb “and the Lord said.”

⁸ tn Heb “in his heart.”

⁹ tn Here the Hebrew word translated “curse” is קָלָל (qalal), used in the Piel verbal stem.

¹⁰ tn The Hebrew particle כִּי (ki) can be used in a concessive sense (see BDB 473 s.v. כִּי), which makes good sense in this context. Its normal causal sense (“for”) does not fit the context here very well.

¹¹ tn Heb “the inclination of the heart of humankind.”

¹² tn Heb “from his youth.”

¹³ tn Grk “behold,” but this construction often means “here is/there is” (cf. BDAG 468 s.v. ἰδού 2).

¹⁴ sn A quotation from Ps 40:6-8 (LXX). The phrase a body you prepared for me (in v. 5) is apparently an interpretive expansion of the HT reading “ears you have dug out for me.”

¹⁵ sn Various phrases from the quotation of Ps 40:6 in Heb 10:5-6 are repeated in Heb 10:8.

¹⁶ tc The majority of mss, especially the later ones (א² 0278^vid 1739 Ï lat), have ὁ θεός (Jo qeo", “God”) at this point, while most of the earliest and best witnesses lack such an explicit addressee (so Ì⁴⁶ א* A C D K P Ψ 33 1175 1881 2464 al). The longer reading is a palpable corruption, apparently motivated in part by the wording of Ps 40:8 (39:9 LXX) and by the word order of this same verse as quoted in Heb 10:7.

¹⁷ tn Or “abolishes.”

¹⁸ tn Grk “by which will.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

¹⁹ tn Or “daily,” “every day.”

²⁰ tn Grk “this one.” This pronoun refers to Jesus, but “this priest” was used in the translation to make the contrast between the Jewish priests in v. 11 and Jesus as a priest clearer in English.

²¹ sn An allusion to Ps 110:1.

²² tn Grk “neglect doing good and fellowship.”