18:7 The mouth of a fool is his ruin,
and his lips are a snare for his life. 1
22:10 “‘No lay person 8 may eat anything holy. Neither a priest’s lodger 9 nor a hired laborer may eat anything holy, 22:11 but if a priest buys a person with his own money, 10 that person 11 may eat the holy offerings, 12 and those born in the priest’s 13 own house may eat his food. 14 22:12 If a priest’s daughter marries a lay person, 15 she may not eat the holy contribution offerings, 16 22:13 but if a priest’s daughter is a widow or divorced, and she has no children so that she returns to live in 17 her father’s house as in her youth, 18 she may eat from her father’s food, but no lay person may eat it.
22:14 “‘If a man eats a holy offering by mistake, 19 he must add one fifth to it and give the holy offering to the priest. 20 22:15 They 21 must not profane the holy offerings which the Israelites contribute 22 to the Lord, 23
27:30 “‘Any tithe 24 of the land, from the grain of the land or from the fruit of the trees, belongs to the Lord; it is holy to the Lord.
3:10 “Bring the entire tithe into the storehouse 29 so that there may be food in my temple. Test me in this matter,” says the Lord who rules over all, “to see if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until there is no room for it all.
1 tn Heb “his soul” (so KJV, NASB, NIV).
2 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
3 tn See Lev 4:2 above for a note on “straying.”
4 sn Heb “from the holy things of the
5 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).
6 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).
7 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.
8 tn Heb “No stranger” (so KJV, ASV), which refers here to anyone other than the Aaronic priests. Some English versions reverse the negation and state positively: NIV “No one outside a priest’s family”; NRSV “Only a member of a priestly family”; CEV “Only you priests and your families.”
9 tn Heb “A resident [תּוֹשָׁב (toshav) from יָשַׁב (yashav, “to dwell, to reside”)] of a priest.” The meaning of the term is uncertain. It could refer to a “guest” (NIV) or perhaps “bound servant” (NRSV; see B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 149). In the translation “lodger” was used instead of “boarder” precisely because a boarder would be provided meals with his lodging, the very issue at stake here.
10 tn Heb “and a priest, if he buys a person, the property of his silver.”
11 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the person whom the priest has purchased) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
12 tn Heb “eat it”; the referent (the holy offerings) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
13 tn Heb “his”; the referent (the priest) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
14 tn Heb “and the [slave] born of his house, they shall eat in his food.” The LXX, Syriac, Tg. Onq., Tg. Ps.-J., and some
15 tn Heb “And a daughter of a priest, if she is to a man, a stranger” (cf. the note on v. 10 above).
16 tn Heb “she in the contribution of the holy offerings shall not eat.” For “contribution [offering]” see the note on Lev 7:14 and the literature cited there. Cf. NCV “the holy offerings”; TEV, NLT “the sacred offerings.”
17 tn Heb “to”; the words “live in” have been supplied in the translation for clarity.
18 tn Heb “and seed there is not to her and she returns to the house of her father as her youth.” The mention of having “no children” appears to imply that her children, if she had any, should support her; this is made explicit by NLT’s “and has no children to support her.”
19 tn Heb “And a man, if he eats a holy thing in error” (see the Lev 4:2 not on “straying,” which is the term rendered “by mistake” here).
20 sn When a person trespassed in regard to something sacred to the
21 tn Contextually, “They” could refer either to the people (v. 14a; cf. NRSV “No one”) or the priests (v. 14b; cf. NIV “The priests”), but the latter seems more likely (see J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 356, and B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 150). The priests were responsible to see that the portions of the offerings that were to be consumed by the priests as prebends did not become accessible to the people. Mistakes in this matter (cf. v. 14) would bring “guilt” on the people, requiring punishment (v. 16).
22 tn The Hebrew verb הֵרִים (herim, rendered “contribute” here) is commonly used for setting aside portions of an offering (see, e.g., Lev 4:8-10 and R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 4:335-36).
23 tn Heb “the holy offerings of the sons of Israel which they contribute to the
24 tn On the “tithe” system in Israel, see R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 2:1035-55 and esp. pp. 1041-42 on Lev 27:30-33.
25 tc The LXX presupposes an underlying Hebrew text of עָקַב (’aqav, “deceive”), a metathesis of קָבַע (qava’, “rob”), in all four uses of the verb here (vv. 8-9). The intent probably is to soften the impact of “robbing” God, but the language of the passage is intentionally bold and there is no reason to go against the reading of the MT (which is followed here by most English versions).
26 sn The tithes and contributions mentioned here are probably those used to sustain the Levites (see Num 18:8, 11, 19, 21-24).
27 tn Heb “cursed with a curse” that is, “under a curse” (so NIV, NLT, CEV).
28 tn The phrase “is guilty” is not present in the Hebrew text but is implied, and has been supplied in the translation for clarification and stylistic reasons.
29 tn The Hebrew phrase בֵּית הָאוֹצָר (bet ha’otsar, here translated “storehouse”) refers to a kind of temple warehouse described more fully in Nehemiah (where the term לִשְׁכָּה גְדוֹלָה [lishkah gÿdolah, “great chamber”] is used) as a place for storing grain, frankincense, temple vessels, wine, and oil (Neh 13:5). Cf. TEV “to the Temple.”