Leviticus 4:3-35

For the Priest

4:3 “‘If the high priest ¹  sins so that the people are guilty, ²  on account of the sin he has committed he must present a flawless young bull to the Lord ³  for a sin offering. ⁴  4:4 He must bring the bull to the entrance of the Meeting Tent before the Lord, lay his hand on the head of the bull, and slaughter the bull before the Lord. 4:5 Then that high priest must take some of the blood ⁵  of the bull and bring it to the Meeting Tent. 4:6 The priest must dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle ⁶  some of it ⁷  seven times before the Lord toward ⁸  the front of the veil-canopy ⁹  of the sanctuary. 4:7 The priest must put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of fragrant incense that is before the Lord in the Meeting Tent, and all the rest of the bull’s blood he must pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering that is at the entrance of the Meeting Tent.

4:8 “‘Then he must take up all the fat from the sin offering bull: ¹⁰  the fat covering the entrails ¹¹  and all the fat surrounding the entrails, ¹²  4:9 the two kidneys with the fat on their sinews, and the protruding lobe on the liver (which he is to remove along with the kidneys) ¹³  4:10 – just as it is taken from the ox of the peace offering sacrifice ¹⁴  – and the priest must offer them up in smoke on the altar of burnt offering. 4:11 But the hide of the bull, all its flesh along with its head and its legs, its entrails, and its dung – 4:12 all the rest of the bull ¹⁵  – he must bring outside the camp ¹⁶  to a ceremonially clean place, ¹⁷  to the fatty ash pile, ¹⁸  and he must burn ¹⁹  it on a wood fire; it must be burned on the fatty ash pile.

For the Whole Congregation

4:13 “‘If the whole congregation of Israel strays unintentionally ²⁰  and the matter is not noticed by ²¹  the assembly, and they violate one of the Lord’s commandments, which must not be violated, ²²  so they become guilty, 4:14 the assembly must present a young bull for a sin offering when the sin they have committed ²³  becomes known. They must bring it before the Meeting Tent, 4:15 the elders of the congregation must lay their hands on the head of the bull before the Lord, and someone must slaughter ²⁴  the bull before the Lord. 4:16 Then the high priest ²⁵  must bring some of the blood of the bull to the Meeting Tent, 4:17 and that priest must dip his finger in the blood ²⁶  and sprinkle ²⁷  some of the blood seven times ²⁸  before the Lord toward ²⁹  the front of the veil-canopy. ³⁰  4:18 He must put some of the blood on the horns of the altar ³¹  which is before the Lord in the Meeting Tent, and all the rest of the blood he must pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering that is at the entrance of the Meeting Tent.

4:19 “‘Then the priest ³²  must take all its fat ³³  and offer the fat ³⁴  up in smoke on the altar. 4:20 He must do with the rest of the bull just as he did with the bull of the sin offering; this is what he must do with it. ³⁵  So the priest will make atonement ³⁶  on their behalf and they will be forgiven. ³⁷  4:21 He ³⁸  must bring the rest of the bull outside the camp ³⁹  and burn it just as he burned the first bull – it is the sin offering of the assembly.

For the Leader

4:22 “‘Whenever ⁴⁰  a leader, by straying unintentionally, ⁴¹  sins and violates one of the commandments of the Lord his God which must not be violated, ⁴²  and he pleads guilty, 4:23 or his sin that he committed ⁴³  is made known to him, ⁴⁴  he must bring a flawless male goat as his offering. ⁴⁵  4:24 He must lay his hand on the head of the male goat and slaughter ⁴⁶  it in the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered before the Lord – it is a sin offering. 4:25 Then the priest must take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and he must pour out the rest of its blood at the base of the altar of burnt offering. 4:26 Then the priest ⁴⁷  must offer all of its fat up in smoke on the altar like the fat of the peace offering sacrifice. So the priest will make atonement ⁴⁸  on his behalf for ⁴⁹  his sin and he will be forgiven. ⁵⁰ 

For the Common Person

4:27 “‘If an ordinary individual ⁵¹  sins by straying unintentionally ⁵²  when he violates one of the Lord’s commandments which must not be violated, ⁵³  and he pleads guilty 4:28 or his sin that he committed ⁵⁴  is made known to him, ⁵⁵  he must bring a flawless female goat ⁵⁶  as his offering for the sin ⁵⁷  that he committed. 4:29 He must lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and slaughter ⁵⁸  the sin offering in the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered. 4:30 Then the priest must take some of its blood with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and he must pour out all the rest of its blood at the base of the altar. 4:31 Then he must remove all of its fat (just as fat was removed from the peace offering sacrifice) and the priest must offer it up in smoke on the altar for a soothing aroma to the Lord. So the priest will make atonement ⁵⁹  on his behalf and he will be forgiven. ⁶⁰ 

4:32 “‘But if he brings a sheep as his offering, for a sin offering, he must bring a flawless female. 4:33 He must lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and slaughter it for a sin offering in the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered. 4:34 Then the priest must take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and he must pour out all the rest of its blood at the base of the altar. 4:35 Then the one who brought the offering ⁶¹  must remove all its fat (just as the fat of the sheep is removed from the peace offering sacrifice) and the priest must offer them up in smoke on the altar on top of the other gifts of the Lord. So the priest will make atonement ⁶²  on his behalf for his sin which he has committed and he will be forgiven. ⁶³ 

Leviticus 8:14-36

Consecration Offerings

8:14 Then he brought near the sin offering bull ⁶⁴  and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the sin offering bull, 8:15 and he slaughtered it. ⁶⁵  Moses then took the blood and put it all around on the horns of the altar with his finger and decontaminated the altar, ⁶⁶  and he poured out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar and so consecrated it to make atonement on it. ⁶⁷  8:16 Then he ⁶⁸  took all the fat on the entrails, the protruding lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys and their fat, ⁶⁹  and Moses offered it all up in smoke on the altar, ⁷⁰  8:17 but the rest of the bull – its hide, its flesh, and its dung – he completely burned up ⁷¹  outside the camp just as the Lord had commanded Moses. ⁷² 

8:18 Then he presented the burnt offering ram and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram, 8:19 and he slaughtered it. ⁷³  Moses then splashed the blood against the altar’s sides. 8:20 Then he ⁷⁴  cut the ram into parts, ⁷⁵  and Moses offered the head, the parts, and the suet up in smoke, 8:21 but the entrails and the legs he washed with water, ⁷⁶  and Moses offered the whole ram up in smoke on the altar – it was a burnt offering for a soothing aroma, a gift to the Lord, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. ⁷⁷ 

8:22 Then he presented the second ram, the ram of ordination, ⁷⁸  and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram 8:23 and he slaughtered it. ⁷⁹  Moses then took some of its blood and put it on Aaron’s right earlobe, ⁸⁰  on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe ⁸¹  of his right foot. 8:24 Next he brought Aaron’s sons forward, and Moses put some of the blood on their right earlobes, on their right thumbs, and on the big toes of their right feet, and Moses splashed the rest of the blood against the altar’s sides.

8:25 Then he took the fat (the fatty tail, ⁸²  all the fat on the entrails, the protruding lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys and their fat ⁸³ ) and the right thigh, ⁸⁴  8:26 and from the basket of unleavened bread that was before the Lord he took one unleavened loaf, one loaf of bread mixed with olive oil, and one wafer, ⁸⁵  and placed them on the fat parts and on the right thigh. 8:27 He then put all of them on the palms ⁸⁶  of Aaron and his sons, who waved ⁸⁷  them as a wave offering before the Lord. ⁸⁸  8:28 Moses then took them from their palms and offered them up in smoke on the altar ⁸⁹  on top of the burnt offering – they were an ordination offering for a soothing aroma; it was a gift to the Lord. 8:29 Finally, Moses took the breast and waved it as a wave offering before the Lord from the ram of ordination. It was Moses’ share just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

Anointing Aaron, his Sons, and their Garments

8:30 Then Moses took some of the anointing oil and some of the blood which was on the altar and sprinkled it on Aaron and his garments, and on his sons and his sons’ garments with him. So he consecrated Aaron, his garments, and his sons and his sons’ garments with him. 8:31 Then Moses said to Aaron and his sons, “Boil the meat at the entrance of the Meeting Tent, and there you are to eat it and the bread which is in the ordination offering basket, just as I have commanded, ⁹⁰  saying, ‘Aaron and his sons are to eat it,’ 8:32 but the remainder of the meat and the bread ⁹¹  you must burn with fire. 8:33 And you must not go out from the entrance of the Meeting Tent for seven days, until the day when your days of ordination are completed, because you must be ordained over a seven-day period. ⁹²  8:34 What has been done ⁹³  on this day the Lord has commanded to be done ⁹⁴  to make atonement for you. 8:35 You must reside at the entrance of the Meeting Tent day and night for seven days and keep the charge of the Lord so that you will not die, for this is what I have been commanded.” 8:36 So Aaron and his sons did all the things the Lord had commanded through ⁹⁵  Moses.

Numbers 6:9-11

Contingencies for Defilement

6:9 “‘If anyone dies very suddenly ⁹⁶  beside him and he defiles ⁹⁷  his consecrated head, ⁹⁸  then he must shave his head on the day of his purification – on the seventh day he must shave it. 6:10 On the eighth day he is to bring ⁹⁹  two turtledoves or two young pigeons to the priest, to the entrance to the tent of meeting. 6:11 Then the priest will offer one for a purification offering ¹⁰⁰  and the other ¹⁰¹  as a burnt offering, ¹⁰²  and make atonement ¹⁰³  for him, because of his transgression ¹⁰⁴  in regard to the corpse. So he must reconsecrate ¹⁰⁵  his head on that day.

Hebrews 7:26-28

7:26 For it is indeed fitting for us to have such a high priest: holy, innocent, undefiled, separate from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. 7:27 He has no need to do every day what those priests do, to offer sacrifices first for their own sins and then for the sins of the people, since he did this in offering himself once for all. 7:28 For the law appoints as high priests men subject to weakness, ¹⁰⁶  but the word of solemn affirmation that came after the law appoints a son made perfect forever.

[4:3]  ¹ tn Heb “the anointed priest” (so ASV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV). This refers to the high priest (cf. TEV, CEV, NLT).

[4:3]  ² tn Heb “to the guilt of the people”; NRSV “thus bringing guilt on the people.”

[4:3]  ³ tn Heb “and he shall offer on his sin which he sinned, a bull, a son of the herd, flawless.”

[4:3]  ⁴ sn The word for “sin offering” (sometimes translated “purification offering”) is the same as the word for “sin” earlier in the verse. One can tell which rendering is intended only by the context. The primary purpose of the “sin offering” (חַטָּאת, khatta’t) was to “purge” (כִּפֶּר, kipper, “to make atonement,” see 4:20, 26, 31, 35, and the notes on Lev 1:4 and esp. Lev 16:20, 33) the sanctuary or its furniture in order to cleanse it from any impurities and/or (re)consecrate it for holy purposes (see, e.g., Lev 8:15; 16:19). By making this atonement the impurities of the person or community were cleansed and the people became clean. See R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 2:93-103.

[4:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “from the blood of the bull” (and similarly throughout this chapter).

[4:6]  ⁹ tn The Hebrew verb וְהִזָּה (vÿhizzah, Hiphil of נָזָה, nazah) does indeed mean “sprinkle” or “splatter.” Contrast the different Hebrew verb meaning “splash” in Lev 1:5 (זָרָק, zaraq).

[4:6]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “of the blood.” The relative pronoun (“it”) has been used in the translation here for stylistic reasons.

[4:6]  ¹¹ tn The particle here translated “toward” usually serves as a direct object indicator or a preposition meaning “with.” With the verb of motion it probably means “toward,” “in the direction of” (J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:234; J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 60); cf. NAB, CEV.

[4:6]  ¹² tn The Hebrew term פָּרֹכֶת (parokhet) is usually translated “veil” (e.g., ASV, NAB, NASB) or “curtain” (e.g., NIV, NRSV), 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 (see R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 3:687-89).

[4:8]  ¹³ tn Heb “all the fat of the bull of the sin offering he shall take up from it.”

[4:8]  ¹⁴ tc The MT has here the preposition עַל (’al, “on, upon” [i.e., “which covers on the entrails,” as awkward in Hebrew as it is in English]), but Smr, LXX, Syriac, and Targums read אֶת (’et), which is what would be expected (i.e., “which covers the entrails”; cf. Lev 3:3, 9, 14). It may have been mistakenly inserted here under the influence of “on (עַל) the entrails” at the end of the verse.

[4:8]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and all the fat on the entrails.” The fat layer that covers the entrails as a whole (i.e., “that covers the entrails”) is different from the fat that surrounds and adheres to the various organs (“on the entrails,” i.e., surrounding them; J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:205-7).

[4:9]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and the protruding lobe on the liver on the kidneys he shall remove it.”

[4:10]  ²¹ tn Heb “taken up from”; KJV, ASV “taken off from”; NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “removed.” See the notes on Lev 3:3-4 above (cf. also 3:9-10, 14-15).

[4:12]  ²⁵ tn All of v. 11 is a so-called casus pendens (also known as an extraposition or a nominative absolute), which means that it anticipates the next verse, being the full description of “all (the rest of) the bull” (lit. “all the bull”) at the beginning of v. 12 (actually after the first verb of the verse; see the next note below).

[4:12]  ²⁶ tn Heb “And he (the offerer) shall bring out all the bull to from outside to the camp to a clean place.”

[4:12]  ²⁷ tn Heb “a clean place,” but referring to a place that is ceremonially clean. This has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[4:12]  ²⁸ tn Heb “the pouring out [place] of fatty ash.”

[4:12]  ²⁹ tn Heb “burn with fire.” This expression is somewhat redundant in English, so the translation collocates “fire” with “wood,” thus “a wood fire.”

[4:13]  ²⁹ tn Heb “strays”; KJV “sin through ignorance.” The verb “strays” here is the verbal form of the noun in the expression “by straying” (see the note on Lev 4:2 above).

[4:13]  ³⁰ tn Heb “is concealed from the eyes of”; NASB, NRSV, NLT “escapes the notice of.”

[4:13]  ³¹ tn Heb “and they do one from all the commandments of the Lord which must not be done” (cf. v. 2).

[4:14]  ³³ tn Heb “and the sin which they committed on it becomes known”; KJV “which they have sinned against it.” The Hebrew עָלֶיהָ (’aleha, “on it”) probably refers back to “one of the commandments” in v. 13 (J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:243).

[4:15]  ³⁷ tn Heb “and he shall slaughter.” The singular verb seems to refer to an individual who represents the whole congregation, perhaps one of the elders referred to at the beginning of the verse, or the officiating priest (cf. v. 21). The LXX and Syriac make the verb plural, referring to “the elders of the congregation.”

[4:16]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “the anointed priest” (so ASV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV). This refers to the high priest (cf. TEV).

[4:17]  ⁴⁵ tn The words “in the blood” are not repeated in the Hebrew text at this point, but must be supplied in the English translation for clarity.

[4:17]  ⁴⁶ tn The Hebrew verb וְהִזָּה (vÿhizzah, Hiphil of נָזָה, nazah) does indeed mean “sprinkle” or “splatter.” Contrast the different Hebrew verb translated “splash” in Lev 1:5 (זָרָק, zaraq).

[4:17]  ⁴⁷ tc The MT reads literally, “and the priest shall dip his finger from the blood and sprinkle seven times.” This is awkward. Compare v. 6, which has literally, “and the priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle from the blood seven times.” The MT appears to be corrupt by haplography (i.e., assuming v. 6 to be the correct form, in v. 17 the scribe skipped from “his finger” to “from the blood,” thus missing “in the blood”) and metathesis (i.e., this also resulted in a text where “from the blood” stands before “sprinkle” rather than after it; J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 47).

[4:17]  ⁴⁸ tn See the note on v. 6 above.

[4:17]  ⁴⁹ tn See the note on v. 6 above.

[4:18]  ⁴⁹ sn See v. 7, where this altar is identified as the altar of fragrant incense.

[4:19]  ⁵³ tn Heb “Then he”; the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity. Based on the parallel statement in 4:10 and 4:31, it is the priest who performs this action rather than the person who brought the offering.

[4:19]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “take up all its fat from it”; NASB “shall remove all its fat from it.”

[4:19]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “it”; the referent (the fat) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Only the fat is meant here, since the “rest” of the bull is mentioned in v. 21.

[4:20]  ⁵⁷ sn Cf. Lev 4:11-12 above for the disposition of “the [rest of] the bull.”

[4:20]  ⁵⁸ sn The focus of sin offering “atonement” was purging impurities from the tabernacle (see the note on Lev 1:4).

[4:20]  ⁵⁹ tn Heb “there shall be forgiveness to them” or “it shall be forgiven to them.”

[4:21]  ⁶¹ sn See the note on the word “slaughter” in v. 15.

[4:21]  ⁶² tn Heb “And he shall bring out the bull to from outside to the camp.”

[4:22]  ⁶⁵ tn This section begins with the relative pronoun אֲשֶׁר (’asher) which usually means “who” or “which,” but here means “whenever.”

[4:22]  ⁶⁶ tn See the Lev 4:2 note on “straying.”

[4:22]  ⁶⁷ tn Heb “and does one from all the commandments of the Lord his God which must not be done”; cf. NRSV “ought not to be done”; NIV “does what is forbidden in any of the commands.”

[4:23]  ⁶⁹ tn Heb “or his sin which he sinned in it is made known to him”; NAB “if he learns of the sin he committed.”

[4:23]  ⁷⁰ tn Lev 4:22b-23a is difficult. The present translation suggests that there are two possible legal situations envisioned, separated by the Hebrew אוֹ (’o, “or”) at the beginning of v. 23. Lev 4:22b refers to any case in which the leader readily admits his guilt (i.e., “pleads guilty”), whereas v. 23a refers to cases where the leader is convicted of his guilt by legal action (“his sin…is made known to him”). See R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 2:95-96; Lev 4:27-28; and esp. the notes on Lev 5:1 below.

[4:23]  ⁷¹ tn Heb “a he-goat of goats, a male without defect”; cf. NLT “with no physical defects.”

[4:24]  ⁷³ tn The LXX has a plural form here and also for the same verb later in the verse. See the note on Lev 1:5a.

[4:26]  ⁷⁷ tn Heb “Then he”; the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity. Based on the parallel statements in 4:10 and 4:31, it is the priest who performs this action rather than the person who brought the offering.

[4:26]  ⁷⁸ sn The focus of sin offering “atonement” was purging impurities from the tabernacle (see the note on Lev 1:4).

[4:26]  ⁷⁹ tn Heb “from.” In this phrase the preposition מִן (min) may be referring to the reason or cause (“on account of, because of”; GKC 383 §119.z). As J. E. Hartley (Leviticus [WBC], 47) points out, “from” may refer to the removal of the sin, but is an awkward expression. Hartley also suggests that the phrasing might be “an elliptical expression for יְכַפֵּר עַל־לְטַהֵר אֶת־מִן, ‘he will make expiation for…to cleanse…from…,’ as in 16:30.”

[4:26]  ⁸⁰ tn Heb “there shall be forgiveness to him” or “it shall be forgiven to him” (KJV similar).

[4:27]  ⁸¹ tn Heb “an individual from the people of the land”; cf. NASB “anyone of the common people” (KJV, ASV both similar); NAB “a private person.”

[4:27]  ⁸² tn Heb “If one person sins by straying, from the people of the land.” See Lev 4:2 for a note on “straying.”

[4:27]  ⁸³ tn Heb “by doing it, one from the commandments of the Lord which must not be done.”

[4:28]  ⁸⁵ tn Heb “or his sin which he sinned is made known to him”; cf. NCV “when that person learns about his sin.”

[4:28]  ⁸⁶ tn Lev 4:27b-28a is essentially the same as 4:22b-23a (see the notes there).

[4:28]  ⁸⁷ tn Heb “a she-goat of goats, a female without defect”; NAB “an unblemished she-goat.”

[4:28]  ⁸⁸ tn Heb “on his sin.”

[4:29]  ⁸⁹ tc The LXX has a plural form here (see v. 24 above and the note on Lev 1:5a).

[4:31]  ⁹³ sn The focus of sin offering “atonement” was purging impurities from the tabernacle (see the note on Lev 1:4).

[4:31]  ⁹⁴ tn Heb “there shall be forgiveness to him” or “it shall be forgiven to him” (KJV similar).

[4:35]  ⁹⁷ tn Heb “Then he”; the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here “he” refers to the offerer rather than the priest (contrast the clauses before and after).

[4:35]  ⁹⁸ sn The focus of sin offering “atonement” was purging impurities from the tabernacle (see the note on Lev 1:4).

[4:35]  ⁹⁹ tn Heb “there shall be forgiveness to him” or “it shall be forgiven to him” (KJV similar).

[8:14]  ¹⁰¹ sn See Lev 4:3-12 above for the sin offering of the priests. In this case, however, the blood manipulation is different because Moses, not Aaron (and his sons), is functioning as the priest. On the one hand, Aaron and his sons are, in a sense, treated as if they were commoners so that the blood manipulation took place at the burnt offering altar in the court of the tabernacle (see v. 15 below), not at the incense altar inside the tabernacle tent itself (contrast Lev 4:5-7 and compare 4:30). On the other hand, since it was a sin offering for the priests, therefore, the priests themselves could not eat its flesh (Lev 4:11-12; 6:30 [23 HT]), which was the normal priestly practice for sin offerings of commoners (Lev 6:26[19], 29[22]).

[8:15]  ¹⁰⁵ sn Contrary to some English versions (e.g., NAB, NASB, NIV, NLT), Aaron (not Moses) most likely slaughtered the bull, possibly with the help of his sons, although the verb is singular, not plural. Moses then performed the ritual procedures that involved direct contact with the altar. Compare the pattern in Lev 1:5-9, where the offerer does the slaughtering and the priests perform the procedures that involve direct contact with the altar. In Lev 8 Moses is functioning as the priest in order to consecrate the priesthood. The explicit reintroduction of the name of Moses as the subject of the next verb seems to reinforce this understanding of the passage (cf. also vv. 19 and 23 below).

[8:15]  ¹⁰⁶ tn The verb is the Piel of חָטָא (khata’, “to sin”) and means “to de-sin” the altar. This verse is important for confirming the main purpose of the sin offering, which was to decontaminate the tabernacle and its furniture from any impurities. See the note on Lev 4:3.

[8:15]  ¹⁰⁷ tn Similar to v. 10 above, “and consecrated it” refers to the effect of the blood manipulation earlier in the verse. The goal here was to consecrate the altar in order that it might become a place on which it would be appropriate “to make atonement” before the Lord.

[8:16]  ¹⁰⁹ tn Again, Aaron probably performed the slaughter and collected the fat parts (v. 16a), but Moses presented it all on the altar (v. 16b; cf. the note on v. 15 above).

[8:16]  ¹¹⁰ sn See Lev 3:3-4 for the terminology of fat and kidneys here.

[8:16]  ¹¹¹ tn Heb “toward the altar” (see the note on Lev 1:9).

[8:17]  ¹¹³ tn Heb “he burned with fire,” an expression which is sometimes redundant in English, but here means “burned up,” “burned up entirely.”

[8:17]  ¹¹⁴ sn See Lev 4:11-12, 21; 6:30 [23 HT].

[8:19]  ¹¹⁷ tn Aaron probably did the slaughtering (cf. the notes on Lev 8:15-16 above).

[8:20]  ¹²¹ tn Again, Aaron probably cut the ram up into parts (v. 20a), but Moses presented them on the altar (v. 20b; cf. the note on v. 15 above).

[8:20]  ¹²² tn Heb “cut it into its parts.” One could translate here, “quartered it” (J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:133; cf. Lev 1:6, 12 above).

[8:21]  ¹²⁵ tn Again, Aaron probably did the washing (v. 21a), but Moses presented the portions on the altar (v. 21b; cf. the note on v. 15 above).

[8:21]  ¹²⁶ tn See Lev 1:9, 13.

[8:22]  ¹²⁹ tn For “ordination offering” see Lev 7:37

[8:23]  ¹³³ tn Again, Aaron probably did the slaughtering (cf. the notes on Lev 8:15-16 above).

[8:23]  ¹³⁴ tn Heb “on the lobe of the ear of Aaron, the right one.”

[8:23]  ¹³⁵ tn The term for “big toe” (בֹּהֶן, bohen) is the same as that for “thumb.” It refers to the larger appendage on either the hand or the foot.

[8:25]  ¹³⁷ tn See Lev 3:9.

[8:25]  ¹³⁸ tn See Lev 8:16.

[8:25]  ¹³⁹ tn See Lev 7:32-34.

[8:26]  ¹⁴¹ tn See Lev 2:4.

[8:27]  ¹⁴⁵ sn The “palms” refer to the up-turned hands, positioned in such a way that the articles of the offering could be placed on them.

[8:27]  ¹⁴⁶ tn Heb “and he waved.” The subject of the verb “he waved” is Aaron, but Aaron’s sons also performed the action (see “Aaron and his sons” just previously). See the similar shifts from Moses to Aaron as the subject of the action above (vv. 15, 16, 19, 20, 23), and esp. the note on Lev 8:15. In the present translation this is rendered as an adjectival clause (“who waved”) to indicate that the referent is not Moses but Aaron and his sons. Cf. CEV “who lifted it up”; NAB “whom he had wave” (with “he” referring to Moses here).

[8:27]  ¹⁴⁷ sn See Lev 7:30-31, 34.

[8:28]  ¹⁴⁹ tn Heb “toward the altar” (see the note on Lev 1:9).

[8:31]  ¹⁵³ tn Several major ancient versions have the passive form of the verb (see BHS v. 31 note c; cf. Lev 8:35; 10:13). In that case we would translate, “just as I was commanded.”

[8:32]  ¹⁵⁷ tn Heb “but the remainder in the flesh and in the bread”; NAB, CEV “what is left over”; NRSV “what remains.”

[8:33]  ¹⁶¹ tn Heb “because seven days he shall fill your hands”; KJV “for seven days shall he consecrate you”; CEV “ends seven days from now.”

[8:34]  ¹⁶⁵ tn Heb “just as he has done” (cf. the note on v. 33).

[8:34]  ¹⁶⁶ tn Heb “the Lord has commanded to do” (cf. the note on v. 33).

[8:36]  ¹⁶⁹ tn Heb “by the hand of” (so KJV).

[6:9]  ¹⁷³ tn The construction uses the imperfect tense followed by the infinitive absolute, יָמוּת מֵת (yamut met). Because the verb is in a conditional clause, the emphasis that is to be given through the infinitive must stress the contingency. The point is “if someone dies – unexpectedly.” The next words underscore the suddenness of this.

[6:9]  ¹⁷⁴ tn The verb is the Piel perfect with a vav (ו) consecutive; it continues the idea within the conditional clause.

[6:9]  ¹⁷⁵ sn The expression is figurative for the vow that he took; the figure is the metonymy because the reference to the head is a reference to the long hair that symbolizes the oath.

[6:10]  ¹⁷⁷ tn The imperfect tense in this verse is still instructional rather than a simple future. The translations can vary, but the point that it is directive must be caught.

[6:11]  ¹⁸¹ tn The traditional translation of חַטָּאת (khatta’t) is “sin offering,” but it is more precise to render it “purification offering” (as with the other names of sacrifices) to show the outcome, not the cause of the offering (see Lev 4). Besides, this offering was made for ritual defilements (for which no confession was required) as well as certain sins (for which a confession of sin was required). This offering restored the person to the ritual state of purity by purifying the area into which he would be going.

[6:11]  ¹⁸² tn The repetition of “the one…and the one” forms the distributive sense of “the one…and the other.”

[6:11]  ¹⁸³ tn The burnt offering (Lev 1) reflects the essence of atonement: By this sacrifice the worshiper was completely surrendering to God, and God was completely accepting the worshiper.

[6:11]  ¹⁸⁴ tn The verb וְכִפֶּר (vÿkhipper) is the Piel perfect with vav (ו) consecutive. The meaning of the verb is “to expiate, pacify, atone.” It refers to the complete removal of the barrier of fellowship between the person and God, and the total acceptance of that person into his presence. The idea of “to cover,” often linked to this meaning, is derived from a homonym, and not from this word and its usage.

[6:11]  ¹⁸⁵ tn The verb “to sin” has a wide range of meanings, beginning with the idea of “missing the way or the goal.” In view of the nature of this case – the prescribed ritual without confession – the idea is more that he failed to keep the vow’s stipulations in this strange circumstance than that he committed intentional sin.

[6:11]  ¹⁸⁶ tn The verb simply means “to consecrate,” but because it refers to a vow that was interrupted, it must here mean to “reconsecrate.”

[7:28]  ¹⁸⁵ sn See Heb 5:2 where this concept was introduced.