Leviticus 13:40

Baldness on the Head

13:40 “When a man’s head is bare so that he is balding in back, ¹  he is clean.

Leviticus 4:11

4:11 But the hide of the bull, all its flesh along with its head and its legs, its entrails, and its dung –

Leviticus 13:41

13:41 If his head is bare on the forehead ²  so that he is balding in front, ³  he is clean.

Leviticus 21:10

Rules for the High Priest

21:10 “‘The high ⁴  priest – who is greater than his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil is poured, who has been ordained ⁵  to wear the priestly garments – must neither dishevel the hair of his head nor tear his garments. ⁶ 

Leviticus 1:12

1:12 Next, the one presenting the offering ⁷  must cut it into parts, with its head and its suet, and the priest must arrange them on the wood which is in the fire, on the altar.

Leviticus 1:15

1:15 The priest must present it at the altar, pinch off ⁸  its head and offer the head ⁹  up in smoke on the altar, and its blood must be drained out against the side of the altar.

Leviticus 3:13

3:13 lay his hand on its head, and slaughter it before the Meeting Tent, and the sons of Aaron must splash its blood against the altar’s sides.

Leviticus 5:8

5:8 He must bring them to the priest and present first the one that is for a sin offering. The priest ¹⁰  must pinch ¹¹  its head at the nape of its neck, but must not sever the head from the body. ¹² 

Leviticus 24:14

24:14 “Bring the one who cursed outside the camp, and all who heard him are to lay their hands on his head, and the whole congregation is to stone him to death. ¹³ 

Leviticus 8:9

8:9 Finally, he set the turban ¹⁴  on his head and attached the gold plate, the holy diadem, ¹⁵  to the front of the turban just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

Leviticus 14:9

14:9 When the seventh day comes ¹⁶  he must shave all his hair – his head, his beard, his eyebrows, all his hair – and he must wash his clothes, bathe his body in water, and so be clean. ¹⁷ 

¹ tn Heb “And a man, when his head is rubbed bare, he is bald-headed.” The translation offered here, referring to the back of the head (i.e., the area from the top of the head sloping backwards), is based on the contrast between this condition and that of the following verse. See also B. A. Levine, Leviticus (JPSTC), 82.

² tn Heb “And if from the front edge of his face, his head is rubbed bare.” See the note on v. 40 above.

³ tn The rendering “balding in front” corresponds to the location of the bareness at the beginning of the verse.

³ tn The adjective “high” has been supplied in the translation for clarity, as in many English versions.

⁴ tn Heb “and he has filled his hand.” For this expression see the note on Lev 8:33.

⁵ tn Regarding these signs of mourning see the note on Lev 10:6. His head had been anointed (v. 10a) so it must not be unkempt (v. 10b), and his garments were special priestly garments (v. 10a) so he must not tear them (v. 10b). In the translation “garments” has been employed rather than “clothes” to suggest that the special priestly garments are referred to here; cf. NRSV “nor tear his vestments.”

⁴ tn Heb “Then he”; the referent (the offerer) has been specified in the translation for clarity (so also in v. 13).

⁵ tn The action here seems to involve both a twisting action, breaking the neck of the bird and severing its vertebrae, as well as pinching or nipping the skin to sever the head from the main body. Cf. NASB, NRSV “wring off its head”; NAB “snap its head loose”; NLT “twist off its head.”

⁶ tn Many English versions have “it” here, referring to the head of the bird, which the priest immediately tossed on the altar fire. However, “it” could be misunderstood to refer to the bird’s body, so “head” is repeated in the present translation for clarity. As the following lines show, certain things needed to be done to the body of the bird before it could be placed on the altar.

⁶ tn Heb “he.” The subject (“he”) refers to the priest here, not the offerer who presented the birds to the priest (cf. v. 8a).

⁷ sn The action seems to involve both a twisting action, breaking the neck of the bird and severing its vertebrae, as well as pinching or nipping the skin, but in this case not severing the head from the main body (note the rest of this verse).

⁸ tn Heb “he shall not divide [it]” (see J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:305).

⁷ tn The words “to death” are supplied in the translation as a clarification; they are clearly implied from v. 16.

⁸ tn Although usually thought to be a “turban” (and so translated by the majority of English versions) this object might be only a “turban-like headband” wound around the forehead area (HALOT 624 s.v. מִצְנֶפֶת).

⁹ sn The gold plate was attached as a holy diadem to the front of the turban by means of a blue cord, and had written on it “Holy to the Lord” (Exod 28:36-37; 39:30-31). This was a particularly important article of high priestly clothing in that it served as the main emblem indicating Aaron’s acceptable representation of Israel before the Lord (Exod 28:38).

⁹ tn Heb “And it shall be on the seventh day.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “and he shall be clean” (see the note on v. 8).