Genesis 49:4

49:4 You are destructive ¹  like water and will not excel, ² 

for you got on your father’s bed, ³ 

then you defiled it – he got on my couch! ⁴ 

Leviticus 18:8

18:8 You must not have sexual intercourse with your father’s wife; she is your father’s nakedness. ⁵ 

Leviticus 18:2

18:2 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘I am the Lord your God!

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, ⁶  and thus he is to put them ⁷  on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man standing ready. ⁸  16:22 The goat is to bear on itself all their iniquities into an inaccessible land, ⁹  so he is to send the goat away ¹⁰  in the wilderness.

Leviticus 20:3

20:3 I myself will set my face ¹¹  against that man and cut him off from the midst of his people, ¹²  because he has given some of his children to Molech and thereby defiled my sanctuary and profaned my holy name. ¹³ 

Leviticus 20:1

Prohibitions against Illegitimate Family Worship

20:1 The Lord spoke to Moses:

Leviticus 5:1

Additional Sin Offering Regulations

5:1 “‘When a person sins ¹⁴  in that he hears a public curse against one who fails to testify ¹⁵  and he is a witness (he either saw or knew what had happened ¹⁶ ) and he does not make it known, ¹⁷  then he will bear his punishment for iniquity. ¹⁸ 

Leviticus 5:1

Additional Sin Offering Regulations

5:1 “‘When a person sins ¹⁹  in that he hears a public curse against one who fails to testify ²⁰  and he is a witness (he either saw or knew what had happened ²¹ ) and he does not make it known, ²²  then he will bear his punishment for iniquity. ²³ 

Colossians 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ²⁴  an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

[49:4]  ¹ tn The Hebrew noun פַּחַז (pakhaz) only occurs here in the OT. A related verb occurs twice in the prophets (Jer 23:32; Zeph 3:4) for false prophets inventing their messages, and once in Judges for unscrupulous men bribed to murder (Judg 9:4). It would describe Reuben as being “frothy, boiling, turbulent” as water. The LXX has “run riot,” the Vulgate has “poured out,” and Tg. Onq. has “you followed your own direction.” It is a reference to Reuben’s misconduct in Gen 35, but the simile and the rare word invite some speculation. H. Pehlke suggests “destructive like water,” for Reuben acted with pride and presumption; see his “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Genesis 49:1-28” (Th.D. dissertation, Dallas Theological Seminary, 1985).

[49:4]  ² tn Heb “Do not excel!” The Hiphil of the verb יָתַר (yatar) has this meaning only here. The negated jussive is rhetorical here. Rather than being a command, it anticipates what will transpire. The prophecy says that because of the character of the ancestor, the tribe of Reuben would not have the character to lead (see 1 Chr 5:1).

[49:4]  ³ sn This is a euphemism for having sexual intercourse with Jacob’s wives (see Gen 35:22).

[49:4]  ⁴ tn The last verb is third masculine singular, as if for the first time Jacob told the brothers, or let them know that he knew. For a discussion of this passage see S. Gevirtz, “The Reprimand of Reuben,” JNES 30 (1971): 87-98.

[18:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “the nakedness of your father she is.” See the note on v. 7 above. This law refers to another wife of the man’s father, who is not that man’s mother. The laws in the Pentateuch sometimes assume the possibility that a man may have more than one wife (cf., e.g., Deut 21:15-17).

[16:21]  ⁶ tn Heb “transgressions to all their sins.”

[16:21]  ⁷ tn Heb “and he shall give them.”

[16:21]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and he [the man (standing) ready, v. 21] shall send the goat away.”

[20:3]  ¹¹ tn Heb “And I, I shall give my faces.”

[20:3]  ¹² sn On the “cut off” penalty see the notes on Lev 7:20 and 17:4.

[20:3]  ¹³ tn Heb “for the sake of defiling my sanctuary and to profane my holy name.”

[5:1]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “And a person when he sins.” Most English versions translate this as the protasis of a conditional clause: “if a person sins” (NASB, NIV).

[5:1]  ¹⁵ tn The words “against one who fails to testify” are not in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied to make sense of the remark about the “curse” (“imprecation” or “oath”; cf. ASV “adjuration”; NIV “public charge”) for the modern reader. For the interpretation of this verse reflected in the present translation see J. Milgrom, Leviticus (AB), 1:292-97.

[5:1]  ¹⁶ tn The words “what had happened” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied.

[5:1]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and hears a voice of curse, and he is a witness or he saw or he knew, if he does not declare.”

[5:1]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and he shall bear his iniquity.” The rendering “bear the punishment (for the iniquity)” reflects the use of the word “iniquity” to refer to the punishment for iniquity (cf. NRSV, NLT “subject to punishment”). It is sometimes referred to as the consequential use of the term (cf. Lev 5:17; 7:18; 10:17; etc.).

[5:1]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “And a person when he sins.” Most English versions translate this as the protasis of a conditional clause: “if a person sins” (NASB, NIV).

[5:1]  ²⁰ tn The words “against one who fails to testify” are not in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied to make sense of the remark about the “curse” (“imprecation” or “oath”; cf. ASV “adjuration”; NIV “public charge”) for the modern reader. For the interpretation of this verse reflected in the present translation see J. Milgrom, Leviticus (AB), 1:292-97.

[5:1]  ²¹ tn The words “what had happened” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied.

[5:1]  ²² tn Heb “and hears a voice of curse, and he is a witness or he saw or he knew, if he does not declare.”

[5:1]  ²³ tn Heb “and he shall bear his iniquity.” The rendering “bear the punishment (for the iniquity)” reflects the use of the word “iniquity” to refer to the punishment for iniquity (cf. NRSV, NLT “subject to punishment”). It is sometimes referred to as the consequential use of the term (cf. Lev 5:17; 7:18; 10:17; etc.).

[1:1]  ²⁴ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.