Leviticus 5:15-16

5:15 “When a person commits a trespass ¹  and sins by straying unintentionally ²  from the regulations about the Lord’s holy things, ³  then he must bring his penalty for guilt ⁴  to the Lord, a flawless ram from the flock, convertible into silver shekels according to the standard of the sanctuary shekel, ⁵  for a guilt offering. ⁶  5:16 And whatever holy thing he violated ⁷  he must restore and must add one fifth to it and give it to the priest. So the priest will make atonement ⁸  on his behalf with the guilt offering ram and he will be forgiven.” ⁹ 

Leviticus 8:9

8:9 Finally, he set the turban ¹⁰  on his head and attached the gold plate, the holy diadem, ¹¹  to the front of the turban just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

Leviticus 10:4

10:4 Moses then called to Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel, Aaron’s uncle, and said to them, “Come near, carry your brothers away from the front of the sanctuary to a place outside the camp.”

Leviticus 10:17

10:17 “Why did you not eat the sin offering in the sanctuary? For it is most holy and he gave it to you to bear the iniquity of the congregation, ¹²  to make atonement on their behalf before the Lord.

Leviticus 14:13

14:13 He must then slaughter ¹³  the male lamb in the place where ¹⁴  the sin offering ¹⁵  and the burnt offering ¹⁶  are slaughtered, ¹⁷  in the sanctuary, because, like the sin offering, the guilt offering belongs to the priest; ¹⁸  it is most holy.

Leviticus 16:2

16:2 and the Lord said to Moses: “Tell Aaron your brother that he must not enter at any time into the holy place inside the veil-canopy ¹⁹  in front of the atonement plate ²⁰  that is on the ark so that he may not die, for I will appear in the cloud over the atonement plate.

¹ tn Heb “trespasses a trespass” (verb and direct object from the same Hebrew root, מַעַל, ma’al); cf. NIV “commits a violation.” The word refers to some kind of overstepping of the boundary between that which is common (i.e., available for common use by common people) and that which is holy (i.e., to be used only for holy purposes because it has been consecrated to the Lord, see further below). See the note on Lev 10:10.

² tn See Lev 4:2 above for a note on “straying.”

³ sn Heb “from the holy things of the Lord.” The Hebrew expression here has the same structure as Lev 4:2, “from any of the commandments of the Lord.” The latter introduces the sin offering regulations and the former the guilt offering regulations. The sin offering deals with violations of “any of the commandments,” whereas the guilt offering focuses specifically on violations of regulations regarding “holy things” (i.e., things that have been consecrated to the Lord; see the full discussion in J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:320-27).

⁴ tn Here the word for “guilt” (אָשָׁם, ’asham) refers to the “penalty” for incurring guilt, the so-called consequential use of אָשָׁם (’asham; see J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:303).

⁵ tn Heb “in your valuation, silver of shekels, in the shekel of the sanctuary.” The translation offered here suggests that, instead of a ram, the guilt offering could be presented in the form of money (see, e.g., NRSV; J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:326-27). Others still maintain the view that it refers to the value of the ram that was offered (see, e.g., NIV “of the proper value in silver, according to the sanctuary shekel”; also NAB, NLT; J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 72-73, 81).

⁶ tn The word for “guilt offering” (sometimes translated “reparation offering”) is the same as “guilt” earlier in the verse (rendered there “[penalty for] guilt”). One can tell which is intended only by the context.

⁷ tn Heb “and which he sinned from the holy thing.”

⁸ sn Regarding “make atonement” see the note on Lev 1:4.

⁹ tn Heb “there shall be forgiveness to him” or “it shall be forgiven to him” (KJV similar).

¹³ 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).

¹⁴ 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).

¹⁹ sn This translation is quite literal. On the surface it appears to mean that the priests would “bear the iniquity” of the congregation by the act of eating the sin offering (so J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:622-25, 635-40). Such a notion is, however, found nowhere else in the Levitical regulations and seems unlikely (so J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 136). A more likely interpretation is reflected in this interpretive rendering: “he gave it to you [as payment] for [your work of] bearing the iniquity of the congregation.” The previous section of the chapter deals with the prebends that the priests received for performing the ministry of the tabernacle (Lev 10:12-15). Lev 10:16-18, therefore, seems to continue the very same topic in the light of the most immediate situation (see R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 2:702-4).

²⁵ tn Heb “And he shall slaughter.”

²⁶ tn Heb “in the place which.”

²⁷ sn See the note on Lev 4:3 regarding the term “sin offering.”

²⁸ sn See the note on Lev 1:3 regarding the “burnt offering.”

²⁹ tn Since the priest himself presents this offering as a wave offering (v. 12), it would seem that the offering is already in his hands and he would, therefore, be the one who slaughtered the male lamb in this instance rather than the offerer. Smr and LXX make the second verb “to slaughter” plural rather than singular, which suggests that it is to be taken as an impersonal passive (see J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:852).

³⁰ tn Heb “the guilt offering, it [is] to the Lord.” Regarding the “guilt offering,” see the note on Lev 5:15.

³¹ tn Heb “into the holy place from house to the veil-canopy.” In this instance, the Hebrew term “the holy place” refers to “the most holy place” (lit. “holy of holies”), since it is the area “inside the veil-canopy” (cf. Exod 26:33-34). The Hebrew term פָּרֹכֶת (parokhet) is usually translated “veil” or “curtain,” but it seems to have stretched not only in front of but also over the top of the ark of the covenant which stood behind and under it inside the most holy place, and thus formed more of a canopy than simply a curtain (see R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 3:687-89).

³² tn Heb “to the faces of the atonement plate.” The exact meaning of the Hebrew term כַּפֹּרֶת (kapporet) here rendered “atonement plate” is much debated. The traditional “mercy seat” (KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV) does not suit the cognate relationship between this term and the Piel verb כִּפֶּר (kipper, “to make atonement, to make expiation”). The translation of the word should also reflect the fact that the most important atonement procedures on the Day of Atonement were performed in relation to it. Since the Lord would “appear in the cloud over the atonement plate,” and since it was so closely associated with the ark of the covenant (the ark being his “footstool”; cf. 1 Chr 28:2 and Ps 132:7-8), one could take it to be the place of his throne at which he accepts atonement. See J. Milgrom, Leviticus (AB), 1:1014; J. E. Hartley, Leviticus (WBC), 234-35; and R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 2:691, 699. Cf. NIV “the atonement cover”; NCV “the lid on the Ark”; NLT “the Ark’s cover – the place of atonement.”