Ezekiel 33:5

33:5 He heard the sound of the trumpet but did not heed the warning, so he is responsible for himself. ¹  If he had heeded the warning, he would have saved his life.

Ezekiel 33:9

33:9 But if you warn the wicked man to change his behavior, ²  and he refuses to change, ³  he will die for his iniquity, but you have saved your own life.

Ezekiel 18:13

18:13 engages in usury and charges interest. Will he live? He will not! Because he has done all these abominable deeds he will certainly die. ⁴  He will bear the responsibility for his own death. ⁵ 

Leviticus 20:9

Family Life and Sexual Prohibitions ⁶ 

20:9 “‘If anyone ⁷  curses his father and mother ⁸  he must be put to death. He has cursed his father and mother; his blood guilt is on himself. ⁹ 

Leviticus 20:11-27

20:11 If a man has sexual intercourse with his father’s wife, he has exposed his father’s nakedness. ¹⁰  Both of them must be put to death; their blood guilt is on themselves. ¹¹  20:12 If a man has sexual intercourse with his daughter-in-law, both of them must be put to death. They have committed perversion; ¹²  their blood guilt is on themselves. 20:13 If a man has sexual intercourse with a male as one has sexual intercourse with a woman, ¹³  the two of them have committed an abomination. They must be put to death; their blood guilt is on themselves. 20:14 If a man has sexual intercourse with both a woman and her mother, ¹⁴  it is lewdness. ¹⁵  Both he and they must be burned to death, ¹⁶  so there is no lewdness in your midst. 20:15 If a man has sexual intercourse ¹⁷  with any animal, he must be put to death, and you must kill the animal. 20:16 If a woman approaches any animal to have sexual intercourse with it, ¹⁸  you must kill the woman, and the animal must be put to death; their blood guilt is on themselves.

20:17 “‘If a man has sexual intercourse with ¹⁹  his sister, whether the daughter of his father or his mother, so that he sees her nakedness and she sees his nakedness, it is a disgrace. They must be cut off in the sight of the children of their people. ²⁰  He has exposed his sister’s nakedness; he will bear his punishment for iniquity. ²¹  20:18 If a man has sexual intercourse with a menstruating woman and uncovers her nakedness, he has laid bare her fountain of blood and she has exposed the fountain of her blood, so both of them ²²  must be cut off from the midst of their people. 20:19 You must not expose the nakedness of your mother’s sister and your father’s sister, for such a person has laid bare his own close relative. ²³  They must bear their punishment for iniquity. ²⁴  20:20 If a man has sexual intercourse with his aunt, he has exposed his uncle’s nakedness; they must bear responsibility for their sin, they will die childless. 20:21 If a man has sexual intercourse with ²⁵  his brother’s wife, it is indecency. He has exposed his brother’s nakedness; ²⁶  they will be childless.

Exhortation to Holiness and Obedience

20:22 “‘You must be sure to obey all my statutes and regulations, ²⁷  so that ²⁸  the land to which I am about to bring you to take up residence there does not vomit you out. 20:23 You must not walk in the statutes of the nation ²⁹  which I am about to drive out before you, because they have done all these things and I am filled with disgust against them. 20:24 So I have said to you: You yourselves will possess their land and I myself will give it to you for a possession, a land flowing with milk and honey. I am the Lord your God who has set you apart from the other peoples. ³⁰  20:25 Therefore you must distinguish ³¹  between the clean animal and the unclean, and between the unclean bird and the clean, and you must not make yourselves detestable by means of an animal or bird or anything that creeps on the ground – creatures ³²  I have distinguished for you as unclean. ³³  20:26 You must be holy to me because I, the Lord, am holy, and I have set you apart from the other peoples to be mine.

Prohibition against Spiritists and Mediums

20:27 “‘A man or woman who ³⁴  has in them a spirit of the dead or a familiar spirit ³⁵  must be put to death. They must pelt them with stones; ³⁶  their blood guilt is on themselves.’”

Leviticus 20:2

20:2 “You are to say to the Israelites, ‘Any man from the Israelites or from the foreigners who reside in Israel ³⁷  who gives any of his children ³⁸  to Molech ³⁹  must be put to death; the people of the land must pelt him with stones. ⁴⁰ 

Leviticus 1:16

1:16 Then the priest ⁴¹  must remove its entrails by cutting off its tail feathers, ⁴²  and throw them ⁴³  to the east side of the altar into the place of fatty ashes,

Leviticus 1:1

Introduction to the Sacrificial Regulations

1:1 Then the Lord called to Moses and spoke to him ⁴⁴  from the Meeting Tent: ⁴⁵ 

Leviticus 2:1

Grain Offering Regulations: Offering of Raw Flour

2:1 “‘When a person presents a grain offering ⁴⁶  to the Lord, his offering must consist of choice wheat flour, ⁴⁷  and he must pour olive oil on it and put frankincense ⁴⁸  on it.

Acts 18:6

18:6 When they opposed him ⁴⁹  and reviled him, ⁵⁰  he protested by shaking out his clothes ⁵¹  and said to them, “Your blood ⁵²  be on your own heads! I am guiltless! ⁵³  From now on I will go to the Gentiles!”

Acts 20:26

20:26 Therefore I declare ⁵⁴  to you today that I am innocent ⁵⁵  of the blood of you all. ⁵⁶ 

[33:5]  ¹ tn Heb “his blood will be on him.”

[33:9]  ² tn Heb “from his way to turn from it.”

[33:9]  ³ tn Heb “and he does not turn from his way.”

[18:13]  ⁴ tn Heb “be put to death.” The translation follows an alternative reading that appears in several ancient textual witnesses.

[18:13]  ⁵ tn Heb “his blood will be upon him.”

[20:9]  ⁶ sn Compare the regulations in Lev 18:6-23.

[20:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “If a man a man who.”

[20:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “makes light of his father and his mother.” Almost all English versions render this as some variation of “curses his father or mother.”

[20:9]  ⁹ tn Heb “his blood [plural] is in him.” Cf. NAB “he has forfeited his life”; TEV “is responsible for his own death.”

[20:11]  ¹⁰ sn See the note on Lev 18:7 above.

[20:11]  ¹¹ tn See the note on v. 9 above.

[20:12]  ¹² tn The Hebrew term תֶּבֶל (tevel, “perversion”) derives from the verb “to mix; to confuse” (cf. KJV, ASV “they have wrought confusion”).

[20:13]  ¹³ tn Heb “[as the] lyings of a woman.” The specific reference here is to homosexual intercourse between males.

[20:14]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “And a man who takes a woman and her mother.” The Hebrew verb “to take” in this context means “to engage in sexual intercourse.”

[20:14]  ¹⁵ tn Regarding “lewdness,” see the note on Lev 18:17 above.

[20:14]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “in fire they shall burn him and them.” The active plural verb sometimes requires a passive translation (GKC 460 §144.f, g), esp. when no active plural subject has been expressed in the context. The present translation specifies “burned to death” because the traditional rendering “burnt with fire” (KJV, ASV; NASB “burned with fire”) could be understood to mean “branded” or otherwise burned, but not fatally.

[20:15]  ¹⁷ tn See the note on Lev 18:20 above.

[20:16]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “to copulate with it” (cf. Lev 20:16).

[20:17]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “takes.” The verb “to take” in this context means “to engage in sexual intercourse,” though some English versions translate it as “marry” (e.g., NIV, NCV, TEV, CEV).

[20:17]  ²⁰ tn Regarding the “cut off” penalty, see the note on Lev 7:20.

[20:17]  ²¹ tn See the note on Lev 17:16 above.

[20:18]  ²² tn Heb “and the two of them.”

[20:19]  ²³ tn Heb “his flesh.”

[20:19]  ²⁴ tn See the note on Lev 17:16 above.

[20:21]  ²⁵ tn Heb “takes.” The verb “to take” in this context means “to engage in sexual intercourse.”

[20:21]  ²⁶ sn See the note on Lev 18:7 above.

[20:22]  ²⁷ tn Heb “And you shall keep all my statutes and all my regulations and you shall do them.” This appears to be a kind of verbal hendiadys, where the first verb is a modifier of the action of the second verb (see GKC 386 §120.d, although שָׁמַר [shamar, “to keep”] is not cited there; cf. Lev 22:31, etc.).

[20:22]  ²⁸ tn Heb “and.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) can be considered to have resultative force here.

[20:23]  ²⁹ tc One medieval Hebrew ms, Smr, and all the major ancient versions have the plural “nations.” Some English versions retain the singular (e.g., KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV); others have the plural “nations” (e.g., NAB, NIV) and still others translate as “people” (e.g., TEV, NLT).

[20:24]  ³⁰ tc Here and with the same phrase in v. 26, the LXX adds “all,” resulting in the reading “all the peoples.”

[20:25]  ³¹ tn Heb “And you shall distinguish.” The verb is the same as “set apart” at the end of the previous verse. The fact that God had “set them apart” from the other peoples roundabout them called for them to “distinguish between” the clean and the unclean, etc.

[20:25]  ³² tn The word “creatures” has been supplied in the translation to make it clear that the following relative clause modifies the animal, bird, or creeping thing mentioned earlier, and not the ground itself.

[20:25]  ³³ tc The MT has “to defile,” but Smr, LXX, and Syriac have “to uncleanness.”

[20:27]  ³⁴ tc Smr, LXX, Syriac, and some Targum mss have the relative pronoun אֲשֶׁר (’asher, “who, which”), rather than the MT’s כִּי (ki, “for, because, that”).

[20:27]  ³⁵ tn See the note on the phrase “familiar spirit” in Lev 19:31 above.

[20:27]  ³⁶ tn This is not the most frequently-used Hebrew verb for stoning, but a word that refers to the action of throwing, slinging, or pelting someone with stones (see the note on v. 2 above). Smr and LXX have “you [plural] shall pelt them with stones.”

[20:2]  ³⁷ tn Heb “or from the sojourner who sojourns”; NAB “an alien residing in Israel.”

[20:2]  ³⁸ tn Heb “his seed” (so KJV, ASV); likewise in vv. 3-4.

[20:2]  ³⁹ tn Regarding Molech and Molech worship see the note on Lev 18:21.

[20:2]  ⁴⁰ tn This is not the most frequently-used Hebrew verb for stoning (see instead סָקַל, saqal), but a word that refers to the action of throwing, slinging, or pelting someone with stones (רָגָם, ragam; see HALOT 1187 s.v. רגם qal.a, and B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 136).

[1:16]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “Then he”; the referent (apparently still the priest) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:16]  ⁴² tn This translation (“remove its entrails by [cutting off] its tail feathers”) is based on the discussion in J. Milgrom, Leviticus (AB), 1:169-71, although he translates, “remove its crissum by its feathers.” Others possibilities include “its crop with its contents” (Tg. Onq., cf. NIV, NRSV; J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 23) or “its crop with its feathers” (LXX, NASB, RSV; “crop” refers to the enlarged part of a bird’s gullet that serves a pouch for the preliminary maceration of food).

[1:16]  ⁴³ tn The pronoun “them” here is feminine singular in Hebrew and refers collectively to the entrails and tail wing which have been removed.

[1:1]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “And he (the Lord) called (וַיִּקְרָא, vayyiqra’) to Moses and the Lord spoke (וַיְדַבֵּר, vayÿdabber) to him from the tent of meeting.” The MT assumes “Lord” in the first clause but places it in the second clause (after “spoke”). This is somewhat awkward, especially in terms of English style; most English versions reverse this and place “Lord” in the first clause (right after “called”). The Syriac version does the same.

[1:1]  ⁴⁵ sn The second clause of v. 1, “and the Lord spoke to him from the tent of meeting, saying,” introduces the following discourse. This is a standard introductory formula (see, e.g., Exod 20:1; 25:1; 31:1; etc.). The combination of the first and second clauses is, therefore, “bulky” because of the way they happen to be juxtaposed in this transitional verse (J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 8). The first clause of v. 1 connects the book back to the end of the Book of Exodus while the second looks forward the ritual legislation that follows in Lev 1:2ff. There are two “Tents of Meeting”: the one that stood outside the camp (see, e.g., Exod 33:7) and the one that stood in the midst of the camp (Exod 40:2; Num 2:2ff) and served as the Lord’s residence until the construction of the temple in the days of Solomon (Exod 27:21; 29:4; 1 Kgs 8:4; 2 Chr 5:5, etc.; cf. 2 Sam 7:6). Exod 40:35 uses both “tabernacle” and “tent of meeting” to refer to the same tent: “Moses could not enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.” It is clear that “tent of meeting” in Lev 1:1 refers to the “tabernacle.” The latter term refers to the tent as a “residence,” while the former refers to it as a divinely appointed place of “meeting” between God and man (see R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 2:873-77 and 2:1130-34). This corresponds to the change in terms in Exod 40:35, where “tent of meeting” is used when referring to Moses’ inability to enter the tent, but “tabernacle” when referring to the Lord taking up residence there in the form of the glory cloud. The quotation introduced here extends from Lev 1:2 through 3:17, and encompasses the burnt, grain, and peace offering regulations. Compare the notes on Lev 4:1; 5:14; and 6:1 [5:20 HT] below.

[2:1]  ⁴⁶ sn The “grain offering” ( מִנְחָה[minkhah]; here קָרְבַּן מִנְחָה, [qorbban minkhah], “an offering of a grain offering”) generally accompanied a burnt or peace offering to supplement the meat with bread (the libation provided the drink; cf. Num 15:1-10), thus completing the food “gift” to the Lord. It made atonement (see the note on Lev 1:4) along with the burnt offering (e.g., Lev 14:20) or alone as a sin offering for the poor (Lev 5:11-13).

[2:1]  ⁴⁷ tn The Hebrew term for “choice wheat flour” (סֹלֶת, selet) is often translated “fine flour” (cf. KJV, NAB, NIV, NCV), but it refers specifically to wheat as opposed to barley (B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 10). Moreover, the translation “flour” might be problematic, since the Hebrew term may designate the “grits” rather than the more finely ground “flour” (see J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:179 as opposed to Levine, 10, and J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 30).

[2:1]  ⁴⁸ sn This is not just any “incense” (קְטֹרֶת, qÿtoret; R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 3:913-16), but specifically “frankincense” (לְבֹנָה, lÿvonah; R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 2:756-57).

[18:6]  ⁴⁹ tn The word “him” is not in the Greek text but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.

[18:6]  ⁵⁰ tn The participle βλασφημούντων (blasfhmountwn) has been taken temporally. The direct object (“him”) is implied rather than expressed and could be impersonal (“it,” referring to what Paul was saying rather than Paul himself), but the verb occurs more often in contexts involving defamation or slander against personal beings (not always God). For a very similar context to this one, compare Acts 13:45. The translation “blaspheme” is not used because in contemporary English its meaning is more narrowly defined and normally refers to blasphemy against God (not what Paul’s opponents were doing here). What they were doing was more like slander or defamation of character.

[18:6]  ⁵¹ tn Grk “shaking out his clothes, he said to them.” L&N 16:8 translates Acts 18:6 “when they opposed him and said evil things about him, he protested by shaking the dust from his clothes.” The addition of the verb “protested by” in the translation is necessary to clarify for the modern reader that this is a symbolic action. It is similar but not identical to the phrase in Acts 13:51, where the dust from the feet is shaken off. The participle ἐκτιναξάμενος (ektinaxameno") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[18:6]  ⁵² sn Your blood be on your own heads! By invoking this epithet Paul declared himself not responsible for their actions in rejecting Jesus whom Paul preached (cf. Ezek 33:4; 3:6-21; Matt 23:35; 27:25).

[18:6]  ⁵³ tn Or “innocent.” BDAG 489 s.v. καθαρός 3.a has “guiltless Ac 18:6.”

[20:26]  ⁵⁴ tn Or “testify.”

[20:26]  ⁵⁵ tn Grk “clean, pure,” thus “guiltless” (BDAG 489 s.v. καθαρός 3.a).

[20:26]  ⁵⁶ tn That is, “that if any of you should be lost, I am not responsible” (an idiom). According to L&N 33.223, the meaning of the phrase “that I am innocent of the blood of all of you” is “that if any of you should be lost, I am not responsible.” However, due to the length of this phrase and its familiarity to many modern English readers, the translation was kept closer to formal equivalence in this case. The word “you” is not in the Greek text, but is implied; Paul is addressing the Ephesian congregation (in the person of its elders) in both v. 25 and 27.