Leviticus 1:2

1:2 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘When ¹  someone ²  among you presents an offering ³  to the Lord, ⁴  you ⁵  must present your offering from the domesticated animals, either from the herd or from the flock. ⁶ 

Leviticus 1:17

1:17 and tear it open by its wings without dividing it into two parts. ⁷  Finally, the priest must offer it up in smoke on the altar on the wood which is in the fire – it is a burnt offering, a gift of a soothing aroma to the Lord.

Leviticus 2:2

2:2 Then he must bring it to the sons of Aaron, the priests, and the priest ⁸  must scoop out from there a handful of its choice wheat flour and some of its olive oil in addition to all of its frankincense, and the priest must offer its memorial portion ⁹  up in smoke on the altar – it is ¹⁰  a gift of a soothing aroma to the Lord.

Leviticus 3:9

3:9 Then he must present a gift to the Lord from the peace offering sacrifice: He must remove all the fatty tail up to the end of the spine, the fat covering the entrails, and all the fat on the entrails, ¹¹ 

Leviticus 4:31

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 ¹²  on his behalf and he will be forgiven. ¹³ 

Leviticus 5:6-7

5:6 and he must bring his penalty for guilt ¹⁴  to the Lord for his sin that he has committed, a female from the flock, whether a female sheep or a female goat, for a sin offering. So the priest will make atonement ¹⁵  on his behalf for ¹⁶  his sin.

5:7 “‘If he cannot afford an animal from the flock, ¹⁷  he must bring his penalty for guilt for his sin that he has committed, ¹⁸  two turtledoves or two young pigeons, ¹⁹  to the Lord, one for a sin offering and one for a burnt offering.

Leviticus 5:15

5:15 “When a person commits a trespass ²⁰  and sins by straying unintentionally ²¹  from the regulations about the Lord’s holy things, ²²  then he must bring his penalty for guilt ²³  to the Lord, a flawless ram from the flock, convertible into silver shekels according to the standard of the sanctuary shekel, ²⁴  for a guilt offering. ²⁵ 

Leviticus 6:15

6:15 and the priest ²⁶  must take up with his hand some of the choice wheat flour of the grain offering ²⁷  and some of its olive oil, and all of the frankincense that is on the grain offering, and he must offer its memorial portion ²⁸  up in smoke on the altar ²⁹  as a soothing aroma to the Lord. ³⁰ 

Leviticus 6:20

6:20 “This is the offering of Aaron and his sons which they must present to the Lord on the day when he is anointed: a tenth of an ephah ³¹  of choice wheat flour ³²  as a continual grain offering, half of it in the morning and half of it in the evening.

Leviticus 7:21

7:21 When a person touches anything unclean (whether human uncleanness, or an unclean animal, or an unclean detestable creature) ³³  and eats some of the meat of the peace offering sacrifice which belongs to the Lord, that person will be cut off from his people.’” ³⁴ 

Leviticus 8:21

8:21 but the entrails and the legs he washed with water, ³⁵  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. ³⁶ 

Leviticus 17:4

17:4 but has not brought it to the entrance of the Meeting Tent ³⁷  to present it as ³⁸  an offering to the Lord before the tabernacle of the Lord. He has shed blood, so that man will be cut off from the midst of his people. ³⁹ 

Leviticus 22:3

22:3 Say to them, ‘Throughout your generations, ⁴⁰  if any man from all your descendants approaches the holy offerings which the Israelites consecrate ⁴¹  to the Lord while he is impure, ⁴²  that person must be cut off from before me. ⁴³  I am the Lord.

Leviticus 22:18

22:18 “Speak to Aaron, his sons, and all the Israelites and tell them, ‘When any man ⁴⁴  from the house of Israel or from the foreigners in Israel ⁴⁵  presents his offering for any of the votive or freewill offerings which they present to the Lord as a burnt offering,

Leviticus 22:21

22:21 If a man presents a peace offering sacrifice to the Lord for a special votive offering ⁴⁶  or for a freewill offering from the herd or the flock, it must be flawless to be acceptable; ⁴⁷  it must have no flaw. ⁴⁸ 

Leviticus 22:27

22:27 “When an ox, lamb, or goat is born, it must be under the care of ⁴⁹  its mother seven days, but from the eighth day onward it will be acceptable as an offering gift ⁵⁰  to the Lord.

Leviticus 23:3

The Weekly Sabbath

23:3 “‘Six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there must be a Sabbath of complete rest, ⁵¹  a holy assembly. You must not do any work; it is a Sabbath to the Lord in all the places where you live.

Leviticus 27:14

Redemption of Vowed Houses

27:14 “‘If a man consecrates his house as holy to the Lord, the priest will establish its conversion value, whether good or bad. Just as the priest establishes its conversion value, thus it will stand. ⁵² 

[1:2]  ¹ tn “When” here translates the MT’s כִּי (ki, “if, when”), which regularly introduces main clauses in legislative contexts (see, e.g., Lev 2:1, 4; 4:2, etc.) in contrast to אִם (’im, “if”), which usually introduces subordinate sections (see, e.g., Lev 1:3, 10, 14; 2:5, 7, 14; 4:3, 13, etc.; cf. כִּי in Exod 21:2 and 7 as opposed to אִם in vv. 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, and 11).

[1:2]  ² tn Heb “a man, human being” (אָדָם, ’adam), which in this case refers to any person among “mankind,” male or female, since women could also bring such offerings (see, e.g., Lev 12:6-8; 15:29-30; cf. HALOT 14 s.v. I אָדָם); cf. NIV “any of you.”

[1:2]  ³ tn The verb “presents” is cognate to the noun “offering” in v. 2 and throughout the book of Leviticus (both from the root קרב [qrb]). One could translate the verb “offers,” but this becomes awkward and, in fact, inaccurate in some passages. For example, in Lev 9:9 this verb is used for the presenting or giving of the blood to Aaron so that he could offer it to the Lord. The blood is certainly not being “offered” as an offering to Aaron there.

[1:2]  ⁴ tn The whole clause reads more literally, “A human being (אָדָם, ’adam), if he brings from among you an offering to the Lord.”

[1:2]  ⁵ tn The shift to the second person plural verb here corresponds to the previous second person plural pronoun “among you.” It is distinct from the regular pattern of third person singular verbs throughout the rest of Lev 1-3. This too labels Lev 1:1-2 as an introduction to all of Lev 1-3, not just the burnt offering regulations in Lev 1 (J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:146; cf. note 3 above).

[1:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “from the domesticated animal, from the herd, and from the flock.” It is clear from the subsequent division between animals from the “herd” (בָּקָר, baqar, in Lev 1:3-9) and the “flock” (צֹאן, tso’n; see Lev 1:10-13) that the term for “domesticated animal” (בְּהֵמָה, bÿhemah) is a general term meant to introduce the category of pastoral quadrupeds. The stronger disjunctive accent over בְּהֵמָה in the MT as well as the lack of a vav (ו) between it and בָּקָר also suggest בְּהֵמָה is an overall category that includes both “herd” and “flock” quadrupeds.

[1:17]  ⁷ tn Heb “he shall not divide it.” Several Hebrew mss, Smr, LXX, and Syriac have a vav on the negative, yielding the translation, “but he shall not divide it into two parts.” Cf. NIV “not severing it completely” (NRSV similar).

[2:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “and he”; the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity. The syntax is strange here and might suggest that it was the offerer who scooped out a handful of the grain offering for the memorial portion (G. J. Wenham, Leviticus [NICOT], 66), but based on v. 9 below it should be understood that it was the priest who performed this act (see, e.g., NRSV “After taking from it a handful of the choice flour and oil…the priest shall…”; see also J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:177, 181 and J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 30).

[2:2]  ¹⁴ sn The “memorial portion” (אַזְכָרָה, ’azkharah) was the part of the grain offering that was burnt on the altar (see the previous clause), as opposed to the remainder, which was normally consumed by the priests (v. 3; see the full regulations in Lev 6:14-23[7-16]). It was probably intended to call to mind (i.e., memorialize) before the Lord the reason for the presentation of the particular offering (see the remarks in R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 1:335-39).

[2:2]  ¹⁵ tn The words “it is” have been supplied. See the notes on Lev 1:9 and 2:3. There is no text critical problem here, but the syntax suggests the same translation.

[3:9]  ¹⁹ sn See the note on this phrase in 3:3.

[4:31]  ²⁵ sn The focus of sin offering “atonement” was purging impurities from the tabernacle (see the note on Lev 1:4).

[4:31]  ²⁶ tn Heb “there shall be forgiveness to him” or “it shall be forgiven to him” (KJV similar).

[5:6]  ³¹ tn In this context the word for “guilt” (אָשָׁם, ’asham) refers to the “penalty” for incurring guilt, the so-called consequential אָשָׁם (J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:303; cf. the note on Lev 5:1).

[5:6]  ³² sn The focus of sin offering “atonement” was purging impurities from the tabernacle (see the note on Lev 1:4).

[5:6]  ³³ tn See the note on 4:26 regarding the use of מִן (min).

[5:7]  ³⁷ tn Heb “and if his hand does not reach enough of a flock animal” (see the note on v. 11 below). The term translated “animal from the flock” (שֶׂה, seh) is often translated “lamb” (e.g., KJV, NASB, NIV, NCV) or “sheep” (e.g., NRSV, TEV, NLT), but it clearly includes either a sheep or a goat here (cf. v. 6), referring to the smaller pasture animals as opposed to the larger ones (i.e., cattle; cf. 4:3). Some English versions use the more generic “animal” (e.g., NAB, CEV).

[5:7]  ³⁸ tn Heb “and he shall bring his guilt which he sinned,” which is an abbreviated form of Lev 5:6, “and he shall bring his [penalty for] guilt to the Lord for his sin which he committed.” The words “for his sin” have been left out in v. 7, and “to the Lord” has been moved so that it follows the mention of the birds.

[5:7]  ³⁹ tn See the note on Lev 1:14 above.

[5:15]  ⁴³ 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 Lord, see further below). See the note on Lev 10:10.

[5:15]  ⁴⁴ tn See Lev 4:2 above for a note on “straying.”

[5:15]  ⁴⁵ sn Heb “from the holy things of the Lord.” The Hebrew expression here has the same structure as Lev 4:2, “from any of the commandments of the Lord.” The latter introduces the sin offering regulations and the former the guilt offering regulations. The sin offering deals with violations of “any of the commandments,” whereas the guilt offering focuses specifically on violations of regulations regarding “holy things” (i.e., things that have been consecrated to the Lord; see the full discussion in J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:320-27).

[5:15]  ⁴⁶ 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).

[5:15]  ⁴⁷ 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).

[5:15]  ⁴⁸ 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.

[6:15]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “and he”; the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity. The “he” refers to the officiating priest. A similar shift between singular and plural occurs in Lev 1:7-9, but see the note on Lev 1:7 and J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 89 for the possibility of textual corruption.

[6:15]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “shall take up from it with his hand some of the choice wheat flour of the grain offering.”

[6:15]  ⁵¹ sn See the note on Lev 2:2.

[6:15]  ⁵² tc Smr reading, which includes the locative ה (hey, translated “on” the altar), is preferred here. This is the normal construction with the verb “offer up in smoke” in Lev 1-7 (see the note on Lev 1:9).

[6:15]  ⁵³ tn Heb “and he shall offer up in smoke [on] the altar a soothing aroma, its memorial portion, to the Lord.”

[6:20]  ⁵⁵ sn A tenth of an ephah is about 2.3 liters, one day’s ration for a single person (J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:306).

[6:20]  ⁵⁶ tn For the rendering “choice wheat flour” see the note on Lev 2:1.

[7:21]  ⁶¹ sn For these categories of unclean animals see Lev 11.

[7:21]  ⁶² sn For the interpretation of this last clause see the note on Lev 7:20.

[8:21]  ⁶⁷ 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]  ⁶⁸ tn See Lev 1:9, 13.

[17:4]  ⁷³ tn Smr and LXX add after “tent of meeting” the following: “to make it a burnt offering or a peace offering to the Lord for your acceptance as a soothing aroma, and slaughters it outside, and at the doorway of the tent of meeting has not brought it.”

[17:4]  ⁷⁴ tc Smr includes the suffix “it,” which is needed in any case in the translation to conform to English style.

[17:4]  ⁷⁵ sn The exact meaning of this penalty clause is not certain. It could mean (1) that he will be executed, whether by God or by man, (2) that he will be excommunicated from sanctuary worship and/or community benefits, or (3) that his line will be terminated by God (i.e., extirpation). See also the note on Lev 7:20.

[22:3]  ⁷⁹ tn Heb “To your generations.”

[22:3]  ⁸⁰ tn The Piel (v. 2) and Hiphil (v. 3) forms of the verb קָדַשׁ (qadash) appear to be interchangeable in this context. Both mean “to consecrate” (Heb “make holy [or “sacred”]”).

[22:3]  ⁸¹ tn Heb “and his impurity [is] on him”; NIV “is ceremonially unclean”; NAB, NRSV “while he is in a state of uncleanness.”

[22:3]  ⁸² sn Regarding the “cut off” penalty, see the note on Lev 7:20. Cf. the interpretive translation of TEV “he can never again serve at the altar.”

[22:18]  ⁸⁵ tn Heb “Man, man.” The reduplication is a way of saying “any man” (cf. Lev 15:2; 17:3, etc.; see the distributive repetition of the noun in GKC 395-96 §123.c).

[22:18]  ⁸⁶ tn Heb “and from the foreigner [singular] in Israel.” Some medieval Hebrew mss, Smr, LXX, Syriac, and Vulgate add “who resides” after “foreigner”: “the foreigner who resides in Israel” (cf., e.g., Lev 20:2 above).

[22:21]  ⁹¹ tn The meaning of the expression לְפַלֵּא־נֶדֶר (lÿfalle’-neder) rendered here “for a special votive offering” is much debated. Some take it as an expression for fulfilling a vow, “to fulfill a vow” (e.g., HALOT 927-28 s.v. פלא piel and NASB; cf. NAB, NRSV “in fulfillment of a vow”) or, alternatively, “to make a vow” or “for making a vow” (HALOT 928 s.v. פלא piel [II פלא]). Perhaps it refers to the making a special vow, from the verb פָלַא (pala’, “to be wonderful, to be remarkable”); cf. J. Milgrom, Numbers (JPSTC), 44. B. A. Levine, Leviticus (JPSTC), 151 and 193, suggests that this is a special term for “setting aside a votive offering” (related to פָלָה [palah, “to set aside”]). In general, the point of the expression seems to be that this sacrifice arises as a special gift to God out of special circumstances in the life of the worshiper.

[22:21]  ⁹² tn Heb “for acceptance”; NAB “if it is to find acceptance.”

[22:21]  ⁹³ tn Heb “all/any flaw shall not be in it.”

[22:27]  ⁹⁷ tn The words “the care of” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied. Although many modern English versions render “with its mother” (e.g., NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT), the literal phrase “under its mother” refers to the young animal nursing from its mother. Cf. KJV, ASV “it shall be seven days under the dam,” which would probably be misunderstood.

[22:27]  ⁹⁸ tn Heb “for an offering of a gift.”

[23:3]  ¹⁰³ tn This is a superlative expression, emphasizing the full and all inclusive rest of the Sabbath and certain festival times throughout the chapter (see B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 155). Cf. ASV “a sabbath of solemn rest.”

[27:14]  ¹⁰⁹ tn The expression “it shall stand” may be a technical term for “it shall be legally valid”; cf. NLT “assessment will be final.”