Exodus 28:38

28:38 It will be on Aaron’s forehead, and Aaron will bear the iniquity of the holy things, ¹  which the Israelites are to sanctify by all their holy gifts; ²  it will always be on his forehead, for their acceptance ³  before the Lord.

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, ⁴  to make atonement on their behalf before the Lord.

Leviticus 16:21-22

16:21 Aaron is to lay his two hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the iniquities of the Israelites and all their transgressions in regard to all their sins, ⁵  and thus he is to put them ⁶  on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man standing ready. ⁷  16:22 The goat is to bear on itself all their iniquities into an inaccessible land, ⁸  so he is to send the goat away ⁹  in the wilderness.

Numbers 18:1

Responsibilities of the Priests

18:1 ¹⁰ The Lord said to Aaron, “You and your sons and your tribe ¹¹  with you must bear the iniquity of the sanctuary, ¹²  and you and your sons with you must bear the iniquity of your priesthood.

Numbers 18:23

18:23 But the Levites must perform the service ¹³  of the tent of meeting, and they must bear their iniquity. ¹⁴  It will be a perpetual ordinance throughout your generations that among the Israelites the Levites ¹⁵  have no inheritance. ¹⁶ 

[28:38]  ¹ tn The construction “the iniquity of the holy things” is difficult. “Holy things” is explained in the passage by all the gifts the people bring and consecrate to Yahweh. But there will inevitably be iniquity involved. U. Cassuto explains that Aaron “will atone for all the transgressions committed in connection with the order of the service, the purity of the consecrated things, or the use of the holy gifts, for the declaration engraved on the plate will prove that everything was intended to be holy to the Lord, and if aught was done irregularly, the intention at least was good” (Exodus, 385).

[28:38]  ² tn The clause reads: “according to/by all the gifts of their holiness.” The genitive is an attributive genitive, the suffix on it referring to the whole bound construction – “their holy gifts.” The idea of the line is that the people will consecrate as holy things gifts they bring to the sanctuary.

[28:38]  ³ tn This clause is the infinitive construct with the lamed preposition, followed by the prepositional phrase: “for acceptance for them.” This infinitive provides the purpose or result of the act of wearing the dedicatory frontlet – that they will be acceptable.

[10:17]  ⁴ 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).

[16:21]  ⁵ tn Heb “transgressions to all their sins.”

[16:21]  ⁶ tn Heb “and he shall give them.”

[16:21]  ⁷ tn The meaning of the Hebrew term עִתִּי (’itti) is uncertain. It is apparently related to עֵת (’et, “time”), and could perhaps mean either that he has been properly “appointed” (i.e., designated) for the task (e.g., NIV and NRSV) or “ready” (e.g., NASB and NEB).

[16:22]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew term rendered “inaccessible” derives from a root meaning “to cut off” (cf. NAB “an isolated region”). Another possible translation would be “infertile land” (see HALOT 187 s.v. *גָּזֵּר and cf. NRSV “a barren region”; NLT “a desolate land.”

[16:22]  ⁹ tn Heb “and he [the man (standing) ready, v. 21] shall send the goat away.”

[18:1]  ¹⁰ sn This chapter and the next may have been inserted here to explain how the priests are to function because in the preceding chapter Aaron’s position was affirmed. The chapter seems to fall into four units: responsibilities of priests (vv. 1-7), their portions (vv. 8-19), responsibilities of Levites (vv. 20-24), and instructions for Levites (vv. 25-32).

[18:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “your father’s house.”

[18:1]  ¹² sn The responsibility for the sanctuary included obligations relating to any violation of the sanctuary. This was stated to forestall any further violations of the sanctuary. The priests were to pay for any ritual errors, primarily if any came too near. Since the priests and Levites come near all the time, they risk violating ritual laws more than any. So, with the great privileges come great responsibilities. The bottom line is that they were responsible for the sanctuary.

[18:23]  ¹³ tn The verse begins with the perfect tense of עָבַד (’avad) with vav (ו) consecutive, making the form equal to the instructions preceding it. As its object the verb has the cognate accusative “service.”

[18:23]  ¹⁴ sn The Levites have the care of the tent of meeting, and so they are responsible for any transgressions against it.

[18:23]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Levites) has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[18:23]  ¹⁶ tn The Hebrew text uses both the verb and the object from the same root to stress the point: They will not inherit an inheritance. The inheritance refers to land.