Leviticus 10:1

Nadab and Abihu

10:1 Then ¹  Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu, each took his fire pan and put fire in it, set incense on it, and presented strange fire ²  before the Lord, which he had not commanded them to do.

Leviticus 20:3

20:3 I myself will set my face ³  against that man and cut him off from the midst of his people, ⁴  because he has given some of his children to Molech and thereby defiled my sanctuary and profaned my holy name. ⁵ 

Leviticus 20:17-18

20:17 “‘If a man has sexual intercourse with ⁶  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. ⁷  He has exposed his sister’s nakedness; he will bear his punishment for iniquity. ⁸  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 ⁹  must be cut off from the midst of their people.

Leviticus 21:21

21:21 No man from the descendants of Aaron the priest who has a physical flaw may step forward ¹⁰  to present the Lord’s gifts; he has a physical flaw, so he must not step forward to present the food of his God.

Leviticus 22:3

22:3 Say to them, ‘Throughout your generations, ¹¹  if any man from all your descendants approaches the holy offerings which the Israelites consecrate ¹²  to the Lord while he is impure, ¹³  that person must be cut off from before me. ¹⁴  I am the Lord.

Leviticus 22:21

22:21 If a man presents a peace offering sacrifice to the Lord for a special votive offering ¹⁵  or for a freewill offering from the herd or the flock, it must be flawless to be acceptable; ¹⁶  it must have no flaw. ¹⁷ 

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. ¹⁸ 

Leviticus 27:28

Things Permanently Dedicated to the Lord

27:28 “‘Surely anything which a man permanently dedicates to the Lord ¹⁹  from all that belongs to him, whether from people, animals, or his landed property, must be neither sold nor redeemed; anything permanently dedicated is most holy to the Lord.

[10:1]  ¹ tn Although it has been used elsewhere in this translation as an English variation from the ubiquitous use of vav in Hebrew, in this instance “then” as a rendering for vav is intended to show that the Nadab and Abihu catastrophe took place on the inauguration day described in Lev 9. The tragic incident in Lev 10 happened in close temporal connection to the Lord’s fire that consumed the offerings at the end of Lev 9. Thus, for example, the “sin offering” male goat referred to in Lev 10:16-19 is the very one referred to in Lev 9:15.

[10:1]  ² tn The expression “strange fire” (אֵשׁ זָרָה, ’esh zarah) seems imprecise (cf. NAB “profane fire”; NIV “unauthorized fire”; NRSV “unholy fire”; NLT “a different kind of fire”) and has been interpreted numerous ways (see the helpful summary in J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 132-33). The infraction may have involved any of the following or a combination thereof: (1) using coals from someplace other than the burnt offering altar (i.e., “unauthorized coals” according to J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:598; cf. Lev 16:12 and cf. “unauthorized person” אִישׁ זָר (’ish zar) in Num 16:40 [17:5 HT], NASB “layman”), (2) using the wrong kind of incense (cf. the Exod 30:9 regulation against “strange incense” קְטֹרֶת זָרָה (qÿtoreh zarah) on the incense altar and the possible connection to Exod 30:34-38), (3) performing an incense offering at an unprescribed time (B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 59), or (4) entering the Holy of Holies at an inappropriate time (Lev 16:1-2).

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

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

[20:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “for the sake of defiling my sanctuary and to profane my holy name.”

[20:17]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn Regarding the “cut off” penalty, see the note on Lev 7:20.

[20:17]  ⁷ tn See the note on Lev 17:16 above.

[20:18]  ⁷ tn Heb “and the two of them.”

[21:21]  ⁹ tn Or “shall approach” (see HALOT 670 s.v. נגשׁ).

[22:3]  ¹¹ tn Heb “To your generations.”

[22:3]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ tn Heb “and his impurity [is] on him”; NIV “is ceremonially unclean”; NAB, NRSV “while he is in a state of uncleanness.”

[22:3]  ¹⁴ 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.”

[22:21]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “for acceptance”; NAB “if it is to find acceptance.”

[22:21]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “all/any flaw shall not be in it.”

[27:14]  ¹⁵ tn The expression “it shall stand” may be a technical term for “it shall be legally valid”; cf. NLT “assessment will be final.”

[27:28]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “Surely, any permanently dedicated [thing] which a man shall permanently dedicate to the Lord.” The Hebrew term חֵרֶם (kherem) refers to things that are devoted permanently to the Lord (see the note on v. 21 above).