Discovery BoxLeviticus 13:1--21:23
Context13:1 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron: 13:2 “When someone has 1 a swelling 2 or a scab 3 or a bright spot 4 on the skin of his body 5 that may become a diseased infection, 6 he must be brought to Aaron the priest or one of his sons, the priests. 7 13:3 The priest must then examine the infection 8 on the skin of the body, and if the hair 9 in the infection has turned white and the infection appears to be deeper than the skin of the body, 10 then it is a diseased infection, 11 so when the priest examines it 12 he must pronounce the person unclean. 13
13:4 “If 14 it is a white bright spot on the skin of his body, but it does not appear to be deeper than the skin, 15 and the hair has not turned white, then the priest is to quarantine the person with the infection for seven days. 16 13:5 The priest must then examine it on the seventh day, and if, 17 as far as he can see, the infection has stayed the same 18 and has not spread on the skin, 19 then the priest is to quarantine the person for another seven days. 20 13:6 The priest must then examine it again on the seventh day, 21 and if 22 the infection has faded and has not spread on the skin, then the priest is to pronounce the person clean. 23 It is a scab, 24 so he must wash his clothes 25 and be clean. 13:7 If, however, the scab is spreading further 26 on the skin after he has shown himself to the priest for his purification, then he must show himself to the priest a second time. 13:8 The priest must then examine it, 27 and if 28 the scab has spread on the skin, then the priest is to pronounce the person unclean. 29 It is a disease.
13:9 “When someone has a diseased infection, 30 he must be brought to the priest. 13:10 The priest will then examine it, 31 and if 32 a white swelling is on the skin, it has turned the hair white, and there is raw flesh in the swelling, 33 13:11 it is a chronic 34 disease on the skin of his body, 35 so the priest is to pronounce him unclean. 36 The priest 37 must not merely quarantine him, for he is unclean. 38 13:12 If, however, the disease breaks out 39 on the skin so that the disease covers all the skin of the person with the infection 40 from his head to his feet, as far as the priest can see, 41 13:13 the priest must then examine it, 42 and if 43 the disease covers his whole body, he is to pronounce the person with the infection clean. 44 He has turned all white, so he is clean. 45 13:14 But whenever raw flesh appears in it 46 he will be unclean, 13:15 so the priest is to examine the raw flesh 47 and pronounce him unclean 48 – it is diseased. 13:16 If, however, 49 the raw flesh once again turns white, 50 then he must come to the priest. 13:17 The priest will then examine it, 51 and if 52 the infection has turned white, the priest is to pronounce the person with the infection clean 53 – he is clean.
13:18 “When someone’s body has a boil on its skin 54 and it heals, 13:19 and in the place of the boil there is a white swelling or a reddish white bright spot, he must show himself to the priest. 55 13:20 The priest will then examine it, 56 and if 57 it appears to be deeper than the skin 58 and its hair has turned white, then the priest is to pronounce the person unclean. 59 It is a diseased infection that has broken out in the boil. 60 13:21 If, however, 61 the priest examines it, and 62 there is no white hair in it, it is not deeper than the skin, and it has faded, then the priest is to quarantine him for seven days. 63 13:22 If 64 it is spreading further 65 on the skin, then the priest is to pronounce him unclean. 66 It is an infection. 13:23 But if the bright spot stays in its place and has not spread, 67 it is the scar of the boil, so the priest is to pronounce him clean. 68
13:24 “When a body has a burn on its skin 69 and the raw area of the burn becomes a reddish white or white bright spot, 13:25 the priest must examine it, 70 and if 71 the hair has turned white in the bright spot and it appears to be deeper than the skin, 72 it is a disease that has broken out in the burn. 73 The priest is to pronounce the person unclean. 74 It is a diseased infection. 75 13:26 If, however, 76 the priest examines it and 77 there is no white hair in the bright spot, it is not deeper than the skin, 78 and it has faded, then the priest is to quarantine him for seven days. 79 13:27 The priest must then examine it on the seventh day, and if it is spreading further 80 on the skin, then the priest is to pronounce him unclean. It is a diseased infection. 81 13:28 But if the bright spot stays in its place, has not spread on the skin, 82 and it has faded, then it is the swelling of the burn, so the priest is to pronounce him clean, 83 because it is the scar of the burn.
13:29 “When a man or a woman has an infection on the head or in the beard, 84 13:30 the priest is to examine the infection, 85 and if 86 it appears to be deeper than the skin 87 and the hair in it is reddish yellow and thin, then the priest is to pronounce the person unclean. 88 It is scall, 89 a disease of the head or the beard. 90 13:31 But if the priest examines the scall infection and it does not appear to be deeper than the skin, 91 and there is no black hair in it, then the priest is to quarantine the person with the scall infection for seven days. 92 13:32 The priest must then examine the infection on the seventh day, and if 93 the scall has not spread, there is no reddish yellow hair in it, and the scall does not appear to be deeper than the skin, 94 13:33 then the individual is to shave himself, 95 but he must not shave the area affected by the scall, 96 and the priest is to quarantine the person with the scall for another seven days. 97 13:34 The priest must then examine the scall on the seventh day, and if 98 the scall has not spread on the skin and it does not appear to be deeper than the skin, 99 then the priest is to pronounce him clean. 100 So he is to wash his clothes and be clean. 13:35 If, however, the scall spreads further 101 on the skin after his purification, 13:36 then the priest is to examine it, and if 102 the scall has spread on the skin the priest is not to search further for reddish yellow hair. 103 The person 104 is unclean. 13:37 If, as far as the priest can see, the scall has stayed the same 105 and black hair has sprouted in it, the scall has been healed; the person is clean. So the priest is to pronounce him clean. 106
13:38 “When a man or a woman has bright spots – white bright spots – on the skin of their body, 13:39 the priest is to examine them, 107 and if 108 the bright spots on the skin of their body are faded white, it is a harmless rash that has broken out on the skin. The person is clean. 109
13:40 “When a man’s head is bare so that he is balding in back, 110 he is clean. 13:41 If his head is bare on the forehead 111 so that he is balding in front, 112 he is clean. 13:42 But if there is a reddish white infection in the back or front bald area, it is a disease breaking out in his back or front bald area. 13:43 The priest is to examine it, 113 and if 114 the swelling of the infection is reddish white in the back or front bald area like the appearance of a disease on the skin of the body, 115 13:44 he is a diseased man. He is unclean. The priest must surely pronounce him unclean because of his infection on his head. 116
13:45 “As for the diseased person who has the infection, 117 his clothes must be torn, the hair of his head must be unbound, he must cover his mustache, 118 and he must call out ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ 13:46 The whole time he has the infection 119 he will be continually unclean. He must live in isolation, and his place of residence must be outside the camp.
13:47 “When a garment has a diseased infection in it, 120 whether a wool or linen garment, 121 13:48 or in the warp or woof 122 of the linen or the wool, or in leather or anything made of leather, 123 13:49 if the infection 124 in the garment or leather or warp or woof or any article of leather is yellowish green or reddish, it is a diseased infection and it must be shown to the priest. 13:50 The priest is to examine and then quarantine the article with the infection for seven days. 125 13:51 He must then examine the infection on the seventh day. If the infection has spread in the garment, or in the warp, or in the woof, or in the leather – whatever the article into which the leather was made 126 – the infection is a malignant disease. It is unclean. 13:52 He must burn the garment or the warp or the woof, whether wool or linen, or any article of leather which has the infection in it. Because it is a malignant disease it must be burned up in the fire. 13:53 But if the priest examines it and 127 the infection has not spread in the garment or in the warp or in the woof or in any article of leather, 13:54 the priest is to command that they wash whatever has the infection and quarantine it for another seven days. 128 13:55 The priest must then examine it after the infection has been washed out, and if 129 the infection has not changed its appearance 130 even though the infection has not spread, it is unclean. You must burn it up in the fire. It is a fungus, whether on the back side or front side of the article. 131 13:56 But if the priest has examined it and 132 the infection has faded after it has been washed, he is to tear it out of 133 the garment or the leather or the warp or the woof. 13:57 Then if 134 it still appears again in the garment or the warp or the woof, or in any article of leather, it is an outbreak. Whatever has the infection in it you must burn up in the fire. 13:58 But the garment or the warp or the woof or any article of leather which you wash and infection disappears from it 135 is to be washed a second time and it will be clean.”
13:59 This is the law 136 of the diseased infection in the garment of wool or linen, or the warp or woof, or any article of leather, for pronouncing it clean or unclean. 137
14:1 The Lord spoke to Moses: 14:2 “This is the law of the diseased person on the day of his purification, when 138 he is brought to the priest. 139 14:3 The priest is to go outside the camp and examine the infection. 140 If the infection of the diseased person has been healed, 141 14:4 then the priest will command that two live clean birds, a piece of cedar wood, a scrap of crimson fabric, 142 and some twigs of hyssop 143 be taken up 144 for the one being cleansed. 145 14:5 The priest will then command that one bird be slaughtered 146 into a clay vessel over fresh water. 147 14:6 Then 148 he is to take the live bird along with the piece of cedar wood, the scrap of crimson fabric, and the twigs of hyssop, and he is to dip them and the live bird in the blood of the bird slaughtered over the fresh water, 14:7 and sprinkle it seven times on the one being cleansed 149 from the disease, pronounce him clean, 150 and send the live bird away over the open countryside. 151
14:8 “The one being cleansed 152 must then wash his clothes, shave off all his hair, and bathe in water, and so be clean. 153 Then afterward he may enter the camp, but he must live outside his tent seven days. 14:9 When the seventh day comes 154 he must shave all his hair – his head, his beard, his eyebrows, all his hair – and he must wash his clothes, bathe his body in water, and so be clean. 155
14:10 “On the eighth day he 156 must take two flawless male lambs, one flawless yearling female lamb, three-tenths of an ephah of choice wheat flour as a grain offering mixed with olive oil, 157 and one log of olive oil, 158 14:11 and the priest who pronounces him clean will have the man who is being cleansed stand along with these offerings 159 before the Lord at the entrance of the Meeting Tent.
14:12 “The priest is to take one male lamb 160 and present it for a guilt offering 161 along with the log of olive oil and present them as a wave offering before the Lord. 162 14:13 He must then slaughter 163 the male lamb in the place where 164 the sin offering 165 and the burnt offering 166 are slaughtered, 167 in the sanctuary, because, like the sin offering, the guilt offering belongs to the priest; 168 it is most holy. 14:14 Then the priest is to take some of the blood of the guilt offering and put it on the right earlobe of the one being cleansed, 169 on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe 170 of his right foot. 14:15 The priest will then take some of the log of olive oil and pour it into his own left hand. 171 14:16 Then the priest is to dip his right forefinger into the olive oil 172 that is in his left hand, and sprinkle some of the olive oil with his finger seven times before the Lord. 14:17 The priest will then put some of the rest of the olive oil that is in his hand 173 on the right earlobe of the one being cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, on the blood of the guilt offering, 14:18 and the remainder of the olive oil 174 that is in his hand the priest is to put on the head of the one being cleansed. So the priest is to make atonement for him before the Lord.
14:19 “The priest must then perform the sin offering 175 and make atonement for the one being cleansed from his impurity. After that he 176 is to slaughter the burnt offering, 14:20 and the priest is to offer 177 the burnt offering and the grain offering on the altar. So the priest is to make atonement for him and he will be clean.
14:21 “If the person is poor and does not have sufficient means, 178 he must take one male lamb as a guilt offering for a wave offering to make atonement for himself, one-tenth of an ephah of choice wheat flour mixed with olive oil for a grain offering, a log of olive oil, 179 14:22 and two turtledoves or two young pigeons, 180 which are within his means. 181 One will be a sin offering and the other a burnt offering. 182
14:23 “On the eighth day he must bring them for his purification to the priest at the entrance 183 of the Meeting Tent before the Lord, 14:24 and the priest is to take the male lamb of the guilt offering and the log of olive oil and wave them 184 as a wave offering before the Lord. 14:25 Then he is to slaughter the male lamb of the guilt offering, and the priest is to take some of the blood of the guilt offering and put it on the right earlobe of the one being cleansed, 185 on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe 186 of his right foot. 14:26 The priest will then pour some of the olive oil into his own left hand, 187 14:27 and sprinkle some of the olive oil that is in his left hand with his right forefinger 188 seven times before the Lord. 14:28 Then the priest is to put some of the olive oil that is in his hand 189 on the right earlobe of the one being cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, on the place of the blood of the guilt offering, 14:29 and the remainder of the olive oil that is in the hand 190 of the priest he is to put 191 on the head of the one being cleansed to make atonement for him before the Lord.
14:30 “He will then make one of the turtledoves 192 or young pigeons, which are within his means, 193 14:31 a sin offering and the other a burnt offering along with the grain offering. 194 So the priest is to make atonement for the one being cleansed before the Lord. 14:32 This is the law of the one in whom there is a diseased infection, 195 who does not have sufficient means for his purification.” 196
14:33 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron: 14:34 “When you enter the land of Canaan which I am about to give 197 to you for a possession, and I put 198 a diseased infection in a house in the land you are to possess, 199 14:35 then whoever owns the house 200 must come and declare to the priest, ‘Something like an infection is visible to me in the house.’ 14:36 Then the priest will command that the house be cleared 201 before the priest enters to examine the infection 202 so that everything in the house 203 does not become unclean, 204 and afterward 205 the priest will enter to examine the house. 14:37 He is to examine the infection, and if 206 the infection in the walls of the house consists of yellowish green or reddish eruptions, 207 and it appears to be deeper than the surface of the wall, 208 14:38 then the priest is to go out of the house to the doorway of the house and quarantine the house for seven days. 209 14:39 The priest must return on the seventh day and examine it, and if 210 the infection has spread in the walls of the house, 14:40 then the priest is to command that the stones that had the infection in them be pulled and thrown 211 outside the city 212 into an unclean place. 14:41 Then he is to have the house scraped 213 all around on the inside, 214 and the plaster 215 which is scraped off 216 must be dumped outside the city 217 into an unclean place. 14:42 They are then to take other stones and replace those stones, 218 and he is to take other plaster and replaster the house.
14:43 “If the infection returns and breaks out in the house after he has pulled out the stones, scraped the house, and it is replastered, 219 14:44 the priest is to come and examine it, and if 220 the infection has spread in the house, it is a malignant disease in the house. It is unclean. 14:45 He must tear down the house, 221 its stones, its wood, and all the plaster of the house, and bring all of it 222 outside the city to an unclean place. 14:46 Anyone who enters 223 the house all the days the priest 224 has quarantined it will be unclean until evening. 14:47 Anyone who lies down in the house must wash his clothes. Anyone who eats in the house must wash his clothes.
14:48 “If, however, the priest enters 225 and examines it, and the 226 infection has not spread in the house after the house has been replastered, then the priest is to pronounce the house clean because the infection has been healed. 14:49 Then he 227 is to take two birds, a piece of cedar wood, a scrap of crimson fabric, and some twigs of hyssop 228 to decontaminate 229 the house, 14:50 and he is to slaughter one bird into a clay vessel over fresh water. 230 14:51 He must then take the piece of cedar wood, the twigs of hyssop, the scrap of crimson fabric, and the live bird, and dip them in the blood of the slaughtered bird and in the fresh water, and sprinkle the house seven times. 14:52 So he is to decontaminate the house with the blood of the bird, the fresh water, the live bird, the piece of cedar wood, the twigs of hyssop, and the scrap of crimson fabric, 14:53 and he is to send the live bird away outside the city 231 into the open countryside. So he is to make atonement for the house and it will be clean.
14:54 “This is the law for all diseased infections, for scall, 232 14:55 for the diseased garment, 233 for the house, 234 14:56 for the swelling, 235 for the scab, 236 and for the bright spot, 237 14:57 to teach when something is unclean and when it is clean. 238 This is the law for dealing with infectious disease.” 239
15:1 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron: 15:2 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘When any man 240 has a discharge 241 from his body, 242 his discharge is unclean. 15:3 Now this is his uncleanness in regard to his discharge 243 – whether his body secretes his discharge or blocks his discharge, he is unclean. All the days that his body has a discharge or his body blocks his discharge, 244 this is his uncleanness. 245
15:4 “‘Any bed the man with a discharge lies on will be unclean, 246 and any furniture he sits on will be unclean. 247 15:5 Anyone who touches his bed 248 must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 249 15:6 The one who sits on the furniture the man with a discharge sits on must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 15:7 The one who touches the body 250 of the man with a discharge must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 15:8 If the man with a discharge spits on a person who is ceremonially clean, 251 that person must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 15:9 Any means of riding 252 the man with a discharge rides on will be unclean. 15:10 Anyone who touches anything that was under him 253 will be unclean until evening, and the one who carries those items 254 must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 15:11 Anyone whom the man with the discharge touches without having rinsed his hands in water 255 must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 15:12 A clay vessel 256 which the man with the discharge touches must be broken, and any wooden utensil must be rinsed in water.
15:13 “‘When the man with the discharge becomes clean from his discharge he is to count off for himself seven days for his purification, and he must wash his clothes, bathe in fresh water, 257 and be clean. 15:14 Then on the eighth day he is to take for himself two turtledoves or two young pigeons, 258 and he is to present himself 259 before the Lord at the entrance of the Meeting Tent and give them to the priest, 15:15 and the priest is to make one of them a sin offering 260 and the other a burnt offering. 261 So the priest 262 is to make atonement for him before the Lord for 263 his discharge.
15:16 “‘When a man has a seminal emission, 264 he must bathe his whole body in water 265 and be unclean until evening, 15:17 and he must wash in water any clothing or leather that has semen on it, and it will be unclean until evening. 15:18 When a man has sexual intercourse with a woman and there is a seminal emission, 266 they must bathe in water and be unclean until evening.
15:19 “‘When a woman has a discharge 267 and her discharge is blood from her body, 268 she is to be in her menstruation 269 seven days, and anyone who touches her will be unclean until evening. 15:20 Anything she lies on during her menstruation will be unclean, and anything she sits on will be unclean. 15:21 Anyone who touches her bed must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 15:22 Anyone who touches any furniture she sits on must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 15:23 If there is something on the bed or on the furniture she sits on, 270 when he touches it 271 he will be unclean until evening, 15:24 and if a man actually has sexual intercourse with her so that her menstrual impurity touches him, 272 then he will be unclean seven days and any bed he lies on will be unclean.
15:25 “‘When a woman’s discharge of blood flows 273 many days not at the time of her menstruation, or if it flows beyond the time of her menstruation, 274 all the days of her discharge of impurity will be like the days of her menstruation – she is unclean. 15:26 Any bed she lies on all the days of her discharge will be to her like the bed of her menstruation, any furniture she sits on will be unclean like the impurity of her menstruation, 15:27 and anyone who touches them will be unclean, and he must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 275
15:28 “‘If 276 she becomes clean from her discharge, then she is to count off for herself seven days, and afterward she will be clean. 15:29 Then on the eighth day she must take for herself two turtledoves or two young pigeons 277 and she must bring them to the priest at the entrance of the Meeting Tent, 15:30 and the priest is to make one a sin offering and the other a burnt offering. 278 So the priest 279 is to make atonement for her before the Lord from her discharge of impurity.
15:31 “‘Thus you 280 are to set the Israelites apart from their impurity so that they 281 do not die in their impurity by defiling my tabernacle which is in their midst. 15:32 This is the law of the one with a discharge: the one who has a seminal emission 282 and becomes unclean by it, 283 15:33 the one who is sick in her menstruation, the one with a discharge, whether male or female, 284 and a man 285 who has sexual intercourse with an unclean woman.’”
16:1 The Lord spoke to Moses after the death of Aaron’s two sons when they approached the presence of the Lord 286 and died, 16:2 and the Lord said to Moses: “Tell Aaron your brother that he must not enter at any time into the holy place inside the veil-canopy 287 in front of the atonement plate 288 that is on the ark so that he may not die, for I will appear in the cloud over the atonement plate.
16:3 “In this way Aaron is to enter into the sanctuary – with a young bull 289 for a sin offering 290 and a ram for a burnt offering. 291 16:4 He must put on a holy linen tunic, 292 linen leggings are to cover his body, 293 and he is to wrap himself with a linen sash 294 and wrap his head with a linen turban. 295 They are holy garments, so he must bathe 296 his body in water and put them on. 16:5 He must also take 297 two male goats 298 from the congregation of the Israelites for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering. 16:6 Then Aaron is to present the sin offering bull which is for himself and is to make atonement on behalf of himself and his household. 16:7 He must then take the two goats 299 and stand them before the Lord at the entrance of the Meeting Tent, 16:8 and Aaron is to cast lots over the two goats, 300 one lot for the Lord and one lot for Azazel. 301 16:9 Aaron must then present the goat which has been designated by lot for the Lord, 302 and he is to make it a sin offering, 16:10 but the goat which has been designated by lot for Azazel is to be stood alive 303 before the Lord to make atonement on it by sending it away to Azazel into the wilderness. 304
16:11 “Aaron is to present the sin offering bull which is for himself, and he is to make atonement on behalf of himself and his household. He is to slaughter the sin offering bull which is for himself, 16:12 and take a censer full of coals of fire from the altar before the Lord 305 and a full double handful of finely ground fragrant incense, 306 and bring them inside the veil-canopy. 307 16:13 He must then put the incense on the fire before the Lord, and the cloud of incense will cover the atonement plate which is above the ark of the testimony, 308 so that he will not die. 309 16:14 Then he is to take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the eastern face of the atonement plate, 310 and in front of the atonement plate he is to sprinkle some of the blood seven times with his finger. 311
16:15 “He must then slaughter the sin offering goat which is for the people. He is to bring its blood inside the veil-canopy, 312 and he is to do with its blood just as he did to the blood of the bull: He is to sprinkle it on the atonement plate and in front of the atonement plate. 16:16 So 313 he is to make atonement for the holy place from the impurities of the Israelites and from their transgressions with regard to all their sins, 314 and thus he is to do for the Meeting Tent which resides with them in the midst of their impurities. 16:17 Nobody is to be in the Meeting Tent 315 when he enters to make atonement in the holy place until he goes out, and he has made atonement on his behalf, on behalf of his household, and on behalf of the whole assembly of Israel.
16:18 “Then 316 he is to go out to the altar which is before the Lord and make atonement for it. He is to take 317 some of the blood of the bull and some of the blood of the goat, and put it all around on the horns of the altar. 16:19 Then he is to sprinkle on it some of the blood with his finger seven times, and cleanse and consecrate it 318 from the impurities of the Israelites.
16:20 “When he has finished purifying the holy place, 319 the Meeting Tent, and the altar, he is to present the live goat. 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, 320 and thus he is to put them 321 on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man standing ready. 322 16:22 The goat is to bear on itself all their iniquities into an inaccessible land, 323 so he is to send the goat away 324 in the wilderness.
16:23 “Aaron must then enter 325 the Meeting Tent and take off the linen garments which he had put on when he entered the sanctuary, and leave them there. 16:24 Then he must bathe his body in water in a holy place, put on his clothes, and go out and make his burnt offering and the people’s burnt offering. So he is to make atonement 326 on behalf of himself and the people. 327
16:25 “Then he is to offer up the fat of the sin offering 328 in smoke on the altar, 16:26 and the one who sent the goat away to Azazel 329 must wash his clothes, bathe his body in water, and afterward he may reenter the camp. 16:27 The bull of the sin offering and the goat of the sin offering, whose blood was brought to make atonement in the holy place, must be brought outside the camp 330 and their hide, their flesh, and their dung must be burned up, 331 16:28 and the one who burns them must wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward he may reenter the camp.
16:29 “This is to be a perpetual statute for you. 332 In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you must humble yourselves 333 and do no work of any kind, 334 both the native citizen and the foreigner who resides 335 in your midst, 16:30 for on this day atonement is to be made for you to cleanse you from all your sins; you must be clean before the Lord. 336 16:31 It is to be a Sabbath of complete rest for you, and you must humble yourselves. 337 It is a perpetual statute. 338
16:32 “The priest who is anointed and ordained to act as high priest in place of his father 339 is to make atonement. He is to put on the linen garments, the holy garments, 16:33 and he is to purify 340 the Most Holy Place, 341 he is to purify the Meeting Tent and the altar, 342 and he is to make atonement for 343 the priests and for all the people of the assembly. 16:34 This is to be a perpetual statute for you 344 to make atonement for the Israelites for 345 all their sins once a year.” 346 So he did just as the Lord had commanded Moses. 347
17:1 The Lord spoke to Moses: 17:2 “Speak to Aaron, his sons, and all the Israelites, and tell them: ‘This is the word that the Lord has commanded: 17:3 “Blood guilt 348 will be accounted to any man 349 from the house of Israel 350 who slaughters an ox or a lamb or a goat inside the camp or outside the camp, 351 17:4 but has not brought it to the entrance of the Meeting Tent 352 to present it as 353 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. 354 17:5 This is so that 355 the Israelites will bring their sacrifices that they are sacrificing in the open field 356 to the Lord at the entrance of the Meeting Tent to the priest and sacrifice them there as peace offering sacrifices to the Lord. 17:6 The priest is to splash 357 the blood on the altar 358 of the Lord at the entrance of the Meeting Tent, and offer the fat up in smoke for a soothing aroma to the Lord. 17:7 So they must no longer offer 359 their sacrifices to the goat demons, 360 acting like prostitutes by going after them. 361 This is to be a perpetual statute for them throughout their generations. 362
17:8 “You are to say to them: ‘Any man 363 from the house of Israel or 364 from the foreigners who reside 365 in their 366 midst, who offers 367 a burnt offering or a sacrifice 17:9 but does not bring it to the entrance of the Meeting Tent to offer it 368 to the Lord – that person will be cut off from his people. 369
17:10 “‘Any man 370 from the house of Israel or from the foreigners who reside 371 in their 372 midst who eats any blood, I will set my face against that person who eats the blood, and I will cut him off from the midst of his people, 373 17:11 for the life of every living thing 374 is in the blood. 375 So I myself have assigned it to you 376 on the altar to make atonement for your lives, for the blood makes atonement by means of the life. 377 17:12 Therefore, I have said to the Israelites: No person among you is to eat blood, 378 and no resident foreigner who lives among you is to eat blood. 379
17:13 “‘Any man from the Israelites 380 or from the foreigners who reside 381 in their 382 midst who hunts a wild animal 383 or a bird that may be eaten 384 must pour out its blood and cover it with soil, 17:14 for the life of all flesh is its blood. 385 So I have said to the Israelites: You must not eat the blood of any living thing 386 because the life of every living thing is its blood – all who eat it will be cut off. 387
17:15 “‘Any person 388 who eats an animal that has died of natural causes 389 or an animal torn by beasts, whether a native citizen or a foreigner, 390 must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening; then he becomes clean. 17:16 But if he does not wash his clothes 391 and does not bathe his body, he will bear his punishment for iniquity.’” 392
18:1 The Lord spoke to Moses: 18:2 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘I am the Lord your God! 18:3 You must not do as they do in the land of Egypt where you have been living, 393 and you must not do as they do in the land of Canaan into which I am about to bring you; 394 you must not 395 walk in their statutes. 18:4 You must observe my regulations 396 and you must be sure to walk in my statutes. 397 I am the Lord your God. 18:5 So you must keep 398 my statutes and my regulations; anyone who does so will live by keeping them. 399 I am the Lord.
18:6 “‘No man is to approach any close relative 400 to have sexual intercourse with her. 401 I am the Lord. 402 18:7 You must not 403 expose your father’s nakedness by having sexual intercourse with your mother. 404 She is your mother; you must not have intercourse with her. 18:8 You must not have sexual intercourse with your father’s wife; she is your father’s nakedness. 405 18:9 You must not have sexual intercourse with your sister, whether she is your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, 406 whether she is born in the same household or born outside it; 407 you must not have sexual intercourse with either of them. 408 18:10 You must not expose the nakedness of your son’s daughter or your daughter’s daughter by having sexual intercourse with them, because they are your own nakedness. 409 18:11 You must not have sexual intercourse with the daughter of your father’s wife born of your father; she is your sister. You must not have intercourse with her. 410 18:12 You must not have sexual intercourse with your father’s sister; she is your father’s flesh. 411 18:13 You must not have sexual intercourse with your mother’s sister, because she is your mother’s flesh. 18:14 You must not expose the nakedness of your father’s brother; you must not approach his wife to have sexual intercourse with her. 412 She is your aunt. 413 18:15 You must not have sexual intercourse with your daughter-in-law; she is your son’s wife. You must not have intercourse with her. 18:16 You must not have sexual intercourse with your brother’s wife; she is your brother’s nakedness. 414 18:17 You must not have sexual intercourse with both a woman and her daughter; you must not take as wife either her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter to have intercourse with them. 415 They are closely related to her 416 – it is lewdness. 417 18:18 You must not take a woman in marriage and then marry her sister as a rival wife 418 while she is still alive, 419 to have sexual intercourse with her.
18:19 “‘You must not approach a woman in her menstrual impurity 420 to have sexual intercourse with her. 18:20 You must not have sexual intercourse 421 with the wife of your fellow citizen to become unclean with her. 18:21 You must not give any of your children as an offering to Molech, 422 so that you do not profane 423 the name of your God. I am the Lord! 18:22 You must not have sexual intercourse with a male as one has sexual intercourse with a woman; 424 it is a detestable act. 425 18:23 You must not have sexual intercourse 426 with any animal to become defiled with it, and a woman must not stand before an animal to have sexual intercourse with it; 427 it is a perversion. 428
18:24 “‘Do not defile yourselves with any of these things, for the nations which I am about to drive out before you 429 have been defiled with all these things. 18:25 Therefore 430 the land has become unclean and I have brought the punishment for its iniquity upon it, 431 so that the land has vomited out its inhabitants. 18:26 You yourselves must obey 432 my statutes and my regulations and must not do any of these abominations, both the native citizen and the resident foreigner in your midst, 433 18:27 for the people who were in the land before you have done all these abominations, 434 and the land has become unclean. 18:28 So do not make the land vomit you out because you defile it 435 just as it has vomited out the nations 436 that were before you. 18:29 For if anyone does any of these abominations, the persons who do them will be cut off from the midst of their people. 437 18:30 You must obey my charge to not practice any of the abominable statutes 438 that have been done before you, so that you do not 439 defile yourselves by them. I am the Lord your God.’”
19:1 The Lord spoke to Moses: 19:2 “Speak to the whole congregation of the Israelites and tell them, ‘You must be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy. 19:3 Each of you must respect his mother and his father, 440 and you must keep my Sabbaths. I am the Lord your God. 19:4 Do not turn to idols, 441 and you must not make for yourselves gods of cast metal. I am the Lord your God.
19:5 “‘When you sacrifice a peace offering sacrifice to the Lord, you must sacrifice it so that it is accepted for you. 442 19:6 It must be eaten on the day of your sacrifice and on the following day, 443 but what is left over until the third day must be burned up. 444 19:7 If, however, it is eaten 445 on the third day, it is spoiled, 446 it will not be accepted, 19:8 and the one who eats it will bear his punishment for iniquity 447 because he has profaned 448 what is holy to the Lord. 449 That person will be cut off from his people. 450
19:9 “‘When you gather in the harvest 451 of your land, you must not completely harvest the corner of your field, 452 and you must not gather up the gleanings of your harvest. 19:10 You must not pick your vineyard bare, 453 and you must not gather up the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You must leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the Lord your God.
19:11 “‘You must not steal, you must not tell lies, and you must not deal falsely with your fellow citizen. 454 19:12 You must not swear falsely 455 in my name, so that you do not profane 456 the name of your God. I am the Lord. 19:13 You must not oppress your neighbor or commit robbery against him. 457 You must not withhold 458 the wages of the hired laborer overnight until morning. 19:14 You must not curse a deaf person or put a stumbling block in front of a blind person. 459 You must fear 460 your God; I am the Lord.
19:15 “‘You 461 must not deal unjustly in judgment: 462 you must neither show partiality to the poor nor honor the rich. 463 You must judge your fellow citizen fairly. 464 19:16 You must not go about as a slanderer among your people. 465 You must not stand idly by when your neighbor’s life is at stake. 466 I am the Lord. 19:17 You must not hate your brother in your heart. You must surely reprove your fellow citizen so that you do not incur sin on account of him. 467 19:18 You must not take vengeance or bear a grudge 468 against the children of your people, but you must love your neighbor as yourself. 469 I am the Lord. 19:19 You must keep my statutes. You must not allow two different kinds of your animals to breed, 470 you must not sow your field with two different kinds of seed, and you must not wear 471 a garment made of two different kinds of fabric. 472
19:20 “‘When a man has sexual intercourse with a woman, 473 although she is a slave woman designated for another man and she has not yet been ransomed, or freedom has not been granted to her, there will be an obligation to pay compensation. 474 They must not be put to death, because she was not free. 19:21 He must bring his guilt offering to the Lord at the entrance of the Meeting Tent, a guilt offering ram, 475 19:22 and the priest is to make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt offering before the Lord for his sin that he has committed, 476 and he will be forgiven 477 of his sin 478 that he has committed.
19:23 “‘When you enter the land and plant any fruit tree, 479 you must consider its fruit to be forbidden. 480 Three years it will be forbidden to you; 481 it must not be eaten. 19:24 In the fourth year all its fruit will be holy, praise offerings 482 to the Lord. 19:25 Then in the fifth year you may eat its fruit to add its produce to your harvest. 483 I am the Lord your God.
19:26 “‘You must not eat anything with the blood still in it. 484 You must not practice either divination or soothsaying. 485 19:27 You must not round off the corners of the hair on your head or ruin the corners of your beard. 486 19:28 You must not slash your body for a dead person 487 or incise a tattoo on yourself. 488 I am the Lord. 19:29 Do not profane your daughter by making her a prostitute, 489 so that the land does not practice prostitution and become full of lewdness. 490
19:30 “‘You must keep my Sabbaths and fear my sanctuary. I am the Lord. 19:31 Do not turn to the spirits of the dead and do not seek familiar spirits 491 to become unclean by them. I am the Lord your God. 19:32 You must stand up in the presence of the aged, honor the presence of an elder, and fear your God. I am the Lord. 19:33 When a foreigner resides 492 with you in your land, you must not oppress him. 19:34 The foreigner who resides with you must be to you like a native citizen among you; so 493 you must love him as yourself, because you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God. 19:35 You must not do injustice in the regulation of measures, whether of length, weight, or volume. 494 19:36 You must have honest balances, 495 honest weights, an honest ephah, and an honest hin. 496 I am the Lord your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt. 19:37 You must be sure to obey all my statutes and regulations. 497 I am the Lord.’”
20:1 The Lord spoke to Moses: 20:2 “You are to say to the Israelites, ‘Any man from the Israelites or from the foreigners who reside in Israel 498 who gives any of his children 499 to Molech 500 must be put to death; the people of the land must pelt him with stones. 501 20:3 I myself will set my face 502 against that man and cut him off from the midst of his people, 503 because he has given some of his children to Molech and thereby defiled my sanctuary and profaned my holy name. 504 20:4 If, however, the people of the land shut their eyes 505 to that man 506 when he gives some of his children to Molech so that they do not put him to death, 20:5 I myself will set my face against that man and his clan. I will cut off from the midst of their people both him and all who follow after him in spiritual prostitution, 507 to commit prostitution by worshiping Molech. 508
20:6 “‘The person who turns to the spirits of the dead and familiar spirits 510 to commit prostitution by going after them, I will set my face 511 against that person and cut him off from the midst of his people.
20:7 “‘You must sanctify yourselves and be holy, because I am the Lord your God. 20:8 You must be sure to obey my statutes. 512 I am the Lord who sanctifies you.
20:9 “‘If anyone 514 curses his father and mother 515 he must be put to death. He has cursed his father and mother; his blood guilt is on himself. 516 20:10 If a man 517 commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, 518 both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death. 20:11 If a man has sexual intercourse with his father’s wife, he has exposed his father’s nakedness. 519 Both of them must be put to death; their blood guilt is on themselves. 520 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; 521 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, 522 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, 523 it is lewdness. 524 Both he and they must be burned to death, 525 so there is no lewdness in your midst. 20:15 If a man has sexual intercourse 526 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, 527 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 528 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. 529 He has exposed his sister’s nakedness; he will bear his punishment for iniquity. 530 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 531 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. 532 They must bear their punishment for iniquity. 533 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 534 his brother’s wife, it is indecency. He has exposed his brother’s nakedness; 535 they will be childless.
20:22 “‘You must be sure to obey all my statutes and regulations, 536 so that 537 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 538 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. 539 20:25 Therefore you must distinguish 540 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 541 I have distinguished for you as unclean. 542 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.
20:27 “‘A man or woman who 543 has in them a spirit of the dead or a familiar spirit 544 must be put to death. They must pelt them with stones; 545 their blood guilt is on themselves.’”
21:1 The Lord said to Moses: “Say to the priests, the sons of Aaron – say to them, ‘For a dead person 546 no priest 547 is to defile himself among his people, 548 21:2 except for his close relative who is near to him: 549 his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, his brother, 21:3 and his virgin sister who is near to him, 550 who has no husband; he may defile himself for her. 21:4 He must not defile himself as a husband among his people so as to profane himself. 551 21:5 Priests 552 must not have a bald spot shaved on their head, they must not shave the corner of their beard, and they must not cut slashes in their body. 553
21:6 “‘They must be holy to their God, and they must not profane 554 the name of their God, because they are the ones who present the Lord’s gifts, 555 the food of their God. Therefore they must be holy. 556 21:7 They must not take a wife defiled by prostitution, 557 nor are they to take a wife divorced from her husband, 558 for the priest 559 is holy to his God. 560 21:8 You must sanctify him because he presents the food of your God. He must be holy to you because I, the Lord who sanctifies you all, 561 am holy. 21:9 If a daughter of a priest profanes herself by engaging in prostitution, she is profaning her father. She must be burned to death. 562
21:10 “‘The high 563 priest – who is greater than his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil is poured, who has been ordained 564 to wear the priestly garments – must neither dishevel the hair of his head nor tear his garments. 565 21:11 He must not go where there is any dead person; 566 he must not defile himself even for his father and his mother. 21:12 He must not go out from the sanctuary and must not profane 567 the sanctuary of his God, because the dedication of the anointing oil of his God is on him. I am the Lord. 21:13 He must take a wife who is a virgin. 568 21:14 He must not marry 569 a widow, a divorced woman, or one profaned by prostitution; he may only take a virgin from his people 570 as a wife. 21:15 He must not profane his children among his people, 571 for I am the Lord who sanctifies him.’”
21:16 The Lord spoke to Moses: 21:17 “Tell Aaron, ‘No man from your descendants throughout their generations 572 who has a physical flaw 573 is to approach to present the food of his God. 21:18 Certainly 574 no man who has a physical flaw is to approach: a blind man, or one who is lame, or one with a slit nose, 575 or a limb too long, 21:19 or a man who has had a broken leg or arm, 576 21:20 or a hunchback, or a dwarf, 577 or one with a spot in his eye, 578 or a festering eruption, or a feverish rash, 579 or a crushed testicle. 21:21 No man from the descendants of Aaron the priest who has a physical flaw may step forward 580 to present the Lord’s gifts; he has a physical flaw, so he must not step forward to present the food of his God. 21:22 He may eat both the most holy and the holy food of his God, 21:23 but he must not go into the veil-canopy 581 or step forward to the altar because he has a physical flaw. Thus 582 he must not profane my holy places, for I am the Lord who sanctifies them.’”
[13:2] 1 tn Heb “A man, if [or when] he has….” The term for “a man, human being” (אָדָם, ’adam; see the note on Lev 1:2) in this case refers to any person among “mankind,” male or female, since either could be afflicted with infections on the skin.
[13:2] 2 tn Some of the terms for disease or symptoms of disease in this chapter present difficulties for the translator. Most modern English versions render the Hebrew term שְׂאֵת (sÿ’et) as “swelling,” which has been retained here (see the explanation in J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 189). Some have argued that “deeper (עָמֹק, ’amoq) than the skin of his body” in v. 3 means that “this sore was lower than the surrounding skin” (J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:773), in which case “swelling” would be an inappropriate translation of שְׂאֵת in v. 2. Similarly, שְׂאֵת also occurs in v. 19, and then v. 20 raises the issue of whether or not it appears to be “lower (שָׁפָל, shafal) than the skin” (cf. also 14:37 for a mark on the wall of a house), which may mean that the sore sinks below the surface of the skin rather than protruding above it as a swelling would (B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 76-77). Thus, one could translate here, for example, “discoloration” (so Milgrom and II שְׂאֵת “spot, blemish on the skin” in HALOT 1301 s.v. II שְׂאֵת) or “local inflammation, boil, mole” (so Levine). However, one could interpret “lower” as “deeper,” i.e., visibly extending below the surface of the skin into the deeper layers as suggested by J. E. Hartley, Leviticus (WBC), 188, 192. “Swelling” often extends deeply below the surface of the skin, it is certainly a common symptom of skin diseases, and the alternation of these two terms (i.e., “deeper” and “lower”) in vv. 25-26 below shows that they both refer to the same phenomenon (see also the note on v. 20 below), so it is retained in the present translation.
[13:2] 3 tn The etymology and meaning of this term is unknown. It could mean “scab” (KJV, ASV, NASB) or possibly “rash” (NIV, NLT), “flaking skin,” or an “eruption” (NRSV) of some sort.
[13:2] 4 tn Heb “shiny spot” or “white spot,” but to render this term “white spot” in this chapter would create redundancy in v. 4 where the regular term for “white” occurs alongside this word for “bright spot.”
[13:2] 5 tn Heb “in the skin of his flesh” as opposed to the head or the beard (v. 29).
[13:2] 6 tn Heb “a mark [or stroke; or plague] of disease.” In some places in this context (vv. 2, 3) it could be translated “a contagious skin disease.” Although the Hebrew term צָרָעַת (tsara’at) rendered here “diseased” is translated in many English versions as “leprosy,” it does not refer to Hanson’s disease, which is the modern technical understanding of the term “leprosy” (HALOT 1057 s.v. צָרְעַת a). There has been much discussion of the proper meaning of the term and the disease(s) to which it may refer (see, e.g., J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:774-76, 816-26; J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 187-89; and the literature cited by them). The further description of the actual condition in the text suggests that the regulations are concerned with any kind of infectious diseases that are observable on the surface of the skin and, in addition to that, penetrate below the surface of the skin (vv. 3-4) or spread further across the surface of the skin (vv. 5-8). It is true that, in the OT, the term “disease” is often associated specifically with white “scaly” skin diseases that resemble the wasting away of the skin after death (see Milgrom who, in fact, translates “scale disease”; cf., e.g., Exod 4:6-7 and Num 12:9-12, esp. v. 12), but here it appears to be a broader term for any skin disease that penetrates deep or spreads far on the body. Scaly skin diseases would be included in this category, but also other types. Thus, a “swelling,” “scab,” or “bright spot” on the skin might be a symptom of disease, but not necessarily so. In this sense, “diseased” is a technical term. The term “infection” can apply to any “mark” on the skin whether it belongs to the category of “disease” or not (compare and contrast v. 3, where the “infection” is not “diseased,” with v. 4, where the “infection” is found to be “diseased”).
[13:2] 7 tn Or “it shall be reported to Aaron the priest.” This alternative rendering may be better in light of the parallel use of the same expression in Lev 14:2, where the priest had to go outside the camp in order to inspect the person who had been diseased. Since the rendering “he shall be brought to Aaron the priest” might confuse matters there, this expression should be rendered “it shall be reported” both here in 13:2 (cf. also v. 9) and in 14:2. See, however, the further note on 14:2 below, where it is argued that the diseased person would still need to “be brought” to the priest even if this happened outside the camp. Most English versions retain the idea of the afflicted person being “brought” to the priest for inspection.
[13:3] 1 tn Heb “and the priest shall see the infection.”
[13:3] 2 tn There is no “if” expressed, but the contrast between the priestly finding in this verse and the next verse clearly implies it.
[13:3] 3 tn Heb “and the appearance of the infection is deep ‘from’ (comparative מִן, min, “deeper than”) the skin of the his flesh.” See the note on v. 20 below.
[13:3] 4 tn For the translation “diseased infection” see the note on v. 2 above. Cf. TEV “a dreaded skin disease”; NIV “an infectious skin disease”; NLT “a contagious skin disease.”
[13:3] 5 tn The pronoun “it” here refers to the “infection,” not the person who has the infection (cf. the object of “examine” at the beginning of the verse).
[13:3] 6 tn Heb “he shall make him unclean.” The verb is the Piel of טָמֵא (tame’) “to be unclean.” Here it is a so-called “declarative” Piel (i.e., “to declare unclean”), but it also implies that the person is put into the category of actually being “unclean” by the pronouncement itself (J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 175; cf. the corresponding opposite in v. 6 below).
[13:4] 2 tn Heb “and deep is not its appearance from the skin”; cf. NAB “does not seem to have penetrated below the skin.”
[13:4] 3 tn Heb “and the priest will shut up the infection seven days.”
[13:5] 1 tn Heb “and behold” (so KJV, ASV).
[13:5] 2 tn Heb “the infection has stood in his eyes”; ASV “if in his eyes the plague be at a stay.”
[13:5] 3 tn Although there is no expressed “and” at the beginning of this clause, there is in the corresponding clause of v. 6, so it should be assumed here as well.
[13:5] 4 tn Heb “a second seven days.”
[13:6] 1 tn That is, at the end of the second set of seven days referred to at the end of v. 5, a total of fourteen days after the first appearance before the priest.
[13:6] 3 tn Heb “he shall make him clean.” The verb is the Piel of טָהֵר (taher, “to be clean”). Here it is a so-called “declarative” Piel (i.e., “to declare clean”), but it also implies that the person is put into the category of being “clean” by the pronouncement itself (J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 176; cf. the corresponding opposite in v. 3 above).
[13:6] 4 tn On the term “scab” see the note on v. 2 above. Cf. NAB “it was merely eczema”; NRSV “only an eruption”; NLT “only a temporary rash.”
[13:6] 5 tn Heb “and he shall wash his clothes.”
[13:7] 1 tn Heb “And if spreading [infinitive absolute] it spreads [finite verb].” For the infinitive absolute used to highlight contrast rather than emphasis see GKC 343 §113.p.
[13:8] 1 tn The “it” is not expressed but is to be understood. It refers to the “infection” (cf. the note on v. 2 above).
[13:8] 2 tn Heb “and behold” (so KJV, ASV).
[13:8] 3 tn This is the declarative Piel of the verb טָמֵא (tame’, cf. the note on v. 3 above).
[13:9] 1 tn Heb “When there is an infection of disease in a man.” The term for “a man; a human being” (אָדָם, ’adam; see the note on Lev 1:2 and cf. v. 2 above) refers to any person among “mankind,” male or female. For the rendering “diseased infection” see the note on v. 2 above.
[13:10] 1 tn Heb “and the priest shall see.” The pronoun “it” is unexpressed, but it should be assumed and it refers to the infection (cf. the note on v. 8 above).
[13:10] 2 tn Heb “and behold” (so KJV, ASV).
[13:10] 3 tn Heb “and rawness [i.e., something living] of living flesh is in the swelling”; KJV, NASB, NRSV “quick raw flesh.”
[13:11] 1 tn The term rendered here “chronic” is a Niphal participle meaning “grown old” (HALOT 448 s.v. II ישׁן nif.2). The idea is that this is an old enduring skin disease that keeps on developing or recurring.
[13:11] 2 tn Heb “in the skin of his flesh” as opposed to the head or the beard (v. 29; cf. v. 2 above).
[13:11] 3 tn This is the declarative Piel of the verb טָמֵא (tame’, cf. the note on v. 3 above).
[13:11] 4 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the priest) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[13:11] 5 sn Instead of just the normal quarantine isolation, this condition calls for the more drastic and enduring response stated in Lev 13:45-46. Raw flesh, of course, sometimes oozes blood to one degree or another, and blood flows are by nature impure (see, e.g., Lev 12 and 15; cf. J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 191).
[13:12] 1 tn Heb “And if spreading [infinitive absolute] it spreads out [finite verb].” For the infinitive absolute used to highlight contrast rather than emphasis see GKC 343 §113.p.
[13:12] 2 tn Heb “all the skin of the infection,” but see v. 4 above.
[13:12] 3 tn Heb “to all the appearance of the eyes of the priest.”
[13:13] 1 tn Heb “and the priest shall see.” The pronoun “it” is unexpressed, but it should be assumed and it refers to the infection (cf. the note on v. 8 above).
[13:13] 2 tn Heb “and behold” (so KJV, ASV, NASB).
[13:13] 3 tn Heb “he shall pronounce the infection clean,” but see v. 4 above. Also, this is another use of the declarative Piel of the verb טָהֵר (taher; cf. the note on v. 6 above).
[13:13] 4 tn Heb “all of him has turned white, and he is clean.”
[13:14] 1 tn Heb “and in the day of there appears in it living flesh.” Some English versions render this as “open sores” (cf. NCV, TEV, NLT).
[13:15] 1 tn Heb “and the priest shall see the living flesh.”
[13:15] 2 tn This is the declarative Piel of the verb טָמֵא (tame’; cf. the note on v. 3 above).
[13:16] 1 tn Heb “Or if/when.”
[13:16] 2 tn Heb “the living flesh returns and is turned/changed to white.” The Hebrew verb “returns” is שׁוּב (shuv), which often functions adverbially when combined with a second verb as it is here (cf. “and is turned”) and, in such cases, is usually rendered “again” (see, e.g., GKC 386-87 §120.g). Another suggestion is that here שׁוּב means “to recede” (cf., e.g., 2 Kgs 20:9), so one could translate “the raw flesh recedes and turns white.” This would mean that the new “white” skin “has grown over” the raw flesh (B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 79).
[13:17] 1 tn Heb “and the priest shall see it.”
[13:17] 2 tn Heb “and behold” (so KJV, ASV, NASB).
[13:17] 3 tn Heb “the priest shall pronounce the infection clean,” but see v. 4 above. Also, this is another use of the declarative Piel of the verb טָהֵר (taher, cf. the note on v. 6 above).
[13:18] 1 tc Heb (MT) reads, “And flesh if/when there is in it, in its skin, a boil.” Smr has only “in it,” not “in its skin,” and a few medieval Hebrew
[13:19] 1 tn Some English versions translate “it shall be shown to [or “be seen by”] the priest,” taking the infection to be the subject of the verb (e.g., KJV, NASB, RSV, NRSV). Based on the Hebrew grammar there is no way to be sure which is intended.
[13:20] 1 tn Heb “and the priest shall see.” The pronoun “it” is unexpressed, but it should be assumed and it refers to the infection (cf. the note on v. 8 above).
[13:20] 2 tn Heb “and behold.”
[13:20] 3 tn Heb “and behold its appearance is low (שָׁפָל, shafal) ‘from’ (comparative מִן, min, “lower than”) the skin.” Compare “deeper” in v. 3 above where, however, a different word is used (עָמֹק, ’amoq), and see the note on “swelling” in v. 1 above (cf. J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 192; note that, contrary to the MT, Tg. Onq. has עָמֹק in this verse as well as v. 4). The alternation of these two terms (i.e., “deeper” and “lower”) in vv. 25-26 below shows that they both refer to the same phenomenon. Some have argued that “this sore was lower than the surrounding skin” (J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:773, 788), in which case “swelling” would be an inappropriate translation of שְׂאֵת (sÿ’et) in v. 19. It seems unlikely, however, that the surface of a “boil” would sink below the surface of the surrounding skin. The infectious pus etc. that makes up a boil normally causes swelling.
[13:20] 4 tn The declarative Piel of the verb טָמֵא (tame’, cf. the note on v. 3 above).
[13:20] 5 tn Heb “It is an infection of disease. In the boil it has broken out.” For the rendering “diseased infection” see the note on v. 2 above.
[13:21] 2 tn Heb “and behold” (so KJV, ASV, NASB).
[13:21] 3 tn Heb “and the priest will shut him up seven days.”
[13:22] 2 tn Heb “is indeed spreading.”
[13:22] 3 tn This is the declarative Piel of the verb טָמֵא (tame’, cf. the note on v. 3 above).
[13:23] 1 tn Heb “and if under it the bright spot stands, it has not spread.”
[13:23] 2 tn This is the declarative Piel of the verb טָהֵר (taher, cf. the note on v. 6 above).
[13:24] 1 tn Heb “Or a body, if there is in its skin a burn of fire.”
[13:25] 1 tn Heb “and the priest shall see it.”
[13:25] 2 tn Heb “and behold” (so KJV, ASV).
[13:25] 3 tn Heb “and its appearance is deep ‘from’ [comparative מִן (min) meaning ‘deeper than’] the skin.”
[13:25] 4 tn Heb “it is a disease. In the burn it has broken out.”
[13:25] 5 tn This is the declarative Piel of the verb טָמֵא (tame’; cf. the note on v. 3 above).
[13:25] 6 tn For the rendering “diseased infection” see the note on v. 2 above.
[13:26] 2 tn Heb “and behold” (so KJV, ASV); NASB “and indeed.”
[13:26] 3 tn Heb “and low it is not ‘from’ (comparative מִן, min, “lower than”) the skin.” See the note on v. 20 above. Cf. TEV “not deeper than the surrounding skin.”
[13:26] 4 tn Heb “and the priest will shut him up seven days.”
[13:27] 1 tn Heb “is indeed spreading.”
[13:27] 2 tn For the rendering “diseased infection” see the note on v. 2 above.
[13:28] 1 tn Heb “and if under it the bright spot stands, it has not spread in the skin.”
[13:28] 2 tn This is the declarative Piel of the verb טָהֵר (taher; cf. the note on v. 6 above).
[13:29] 1 tn Heb “And a man or a woman if there is in him an infection in head or in beard.”
[13:30] 1 tn Heb “and the priest shall see the infection.”
[13:30] 2 tn Heb “and behold.”
[13:30] 3 tn Heb “its appearance is deep ‘from’ (comparative מִן, min, “deeper than”) the skin.”
[13:30] 4 tn This is the declarative Piel of the verb טָמֵא (tame’; cf. the note on v. 3 above).
[13:30] 5 tn The exact identification of this disease is unknown. Cf. KJV “dry scall”; NASB “a scale”; NIV, NCV, NRSV “an itch”; NLT “a contagious skin disease.” For a discussion of “scall” disease in the hair, which is a crusty scabby disease of the skin under the hair that also affects the hair itself, see J. E. Hartley, Leviticus (WBC), 192-93, and J. Milgrom, Leviticus (AB), 1:793-94. The Hebrew word rendered “scall” (נֶתֶק, neteq) is related to a verb meaning “to tear; to tear out; to tear apart.” It may derive from the scratching and/or the tearing out of the hair or the scales of the skin in response to the itching sensation caused by the disease.
[13:30] 6 tn Heb “It is scall. It is the disease of the head or the beard.”
[13:31] 1 tn Heb “and behold there is not its appearance deep ‘from’ (comparative מִן, min, meaning “deeper than”) the skin.”
[13:31] 2 tn Heb “and the priest will shut up the infection of the scall seven days.”
[13:32] 1 tn Heb “and behold” (so KJV, ASV).
[13:32] 2 tn Heb “and the appearance of the scall is not deep ‘from’ (comparative מִן, min, meaning “deeper than”) the skin.”
[13:33] 1 tn The shaving is done by the one who has the infection. Although KJV, ASV have the passive “he shall be shaven” here, most modern English versions have the reflexive “shall shave himself” (so NAB).
[13:33] 2 tn Heb “but the scall shall he not shave” (so KJV, ASV); NIV “except for the diseased area.”
[13:33] 3 tn Heb “and the priest will shut up the scall a second seven days.”
[13:34] 1 tn Heb “and behold” (so KJV, ASV).
[13:34] 2 tn Heb “and its appearance is not deep ‘from’ (comparative מִן, min, meaning “deeper than”) the skin.”
[13:34] 3 tn This is the declarative Piel of the verb טָהֵר (taher, cf. the note on v. 6 above).
[13:35] 1 tn Heb “And if spreading (infinitive absolute) it spreads further (finite verb).” For the infinitive absolute used to highlight contrast rather than emphasis see GKC 343 §113.p.
[13:36] 1 tn Heb “and behold.”
[13:36] 2 tn Heb “the priest shall not search to the reddish yellow hair.”
[13:36] 3 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the affected person) is specified in the translation for clarity (likewise in the following verse).
[13:37] 1 tn Heb “and if in his eyes the infection has stood.”
[13:37] 2 tn This is the declarative Piel of the verb טָהֵר (taher, cf. the note on v. 6 above).
[13:39] 1 tn Heb “and the priest shall see.”
[13:39] 2 tn Heb “and behold” (so KJV, ASV).
[13:39] 3 tn Heb “he,” but the regulation applies to a man or a woman (v. 38a). In the translation “the person” is used to specify the referent more clearly.
[13:40] 1 tn Heb “And a man, when his head is rubbed bare, he is bald-headed.” The translation offered here, referring to the back of the head (i.e., the area from the top of the head sloping backwards), is based on the contrast between this condition and that of the following verse. See also B. A. Levine, Leviticus (JPSTC), 82.
[13:41] 1 tn Heb “And if from the front edge of his face, his head is rubbed bare.” See the note on v. 40 above.
[13:41] 2 tn The rendering “balding in front” corresponds to the location of the bareness at the beginning of the verse.
[13:43] 1 tn Heb “and the priest shall see it” (cf. KJV). The MT has “him/it” which some take to refer to the person as a whole (i.e., “him”; see, e.g., J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:770; NIV, NRSV, etc.), while others take it as a reference to the “infection” (נֶגַע, nega’) in v. 42 (J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 172, 177). Smr has “her/it,” which would probably refer to “disease” (צָרַעַת, tsara’at) in v. 42. The general pattern in the chapter suggests that “it,” either the infection or the disease, is the object of the examination (see, e.g., v. 3 above and v. 50 below).
[13:43] 2 tn Heb “and behold.”
[13:43] 3 tn Heb “like appearance of disease of skin of flesh.”
[13:44] 1 tn Or perhaps translate, “His infection [is] on his head,” as a separate independent sentence (cf. KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV). There is no causal expression in the Hebrew text connecting these two clauses, but the logical relationship between them seems to be causal.
[13:45] 1 tn Heb “And the diseased one who in him is the infection.”
[13:45] 2 tn Heb “and his head shall be unbound, and he shall cover on [his] mustache.” Tearing one’s clothing, allowing the hair to hang loose rather than bound up in a turban, and covering the mustache on the upper lip are all ways of expressing shame, grief, or distress (cf., e.g., Lev 10:6 and Micah 3:7).
[13:46] 1 tn Heb “All the days which the infection is in him.”
[13:47] 1 tn Heb “And the garment, if there is in it a mark of disease.”
[13:47] 2 tn Heb “in a wool garment or in a linen garment.”
[13:48] 1 sn The warp (vertical) and woof (horizontal) thread may be two different sets of thread not yet woven together, or they may refer to two different kinds of thread already woven, in which case one might have the disease in it while the other does not. See the explanation in J. Milgrom, Leviticus (AB), 1:809-10.
[13:48] 2 tn Heb “in any handiwork of skin” (cf. KJV, ASV, NRSV); most other modern English versions have “leather.”
[13:49] 1 tn Heb “and the infection is.” This clause is conditional in force, and is translated as such by almost all English versions.
[13:50] 1 tn Heb “And the priest shall see the infection and he shall shut up the infection seven days.”
[13:51] 1 tn Heb “to all which the leather was made into a handiwork.”
[13:53] 1 tn Heb “And if the priest sees and behold”; NASB “and indeed.”
[13:54] 1 tn Heb “a second seven days.”
[13:55] 1 tn Heb “and behold” (so KJV, ASV).
[13:55] 2 tn Heb “the infection has not changed its eye.” Smr has “its/his eyes,” as in vv. 5 and 37, but here it refers to the appearance of the article of cloth or leather, unlike vv. 5 and 37 where there is a preposition attached and it refers to the eyes of the priest.
[13:55] 3 tn The terms “back side” and “front side” are the same as those used in v. 42 for the “back or front bald area” of a man’s head. The exact meaning of these terms when applied to articles of cloth or leather is uncertain. It could refer, for example, to the inside versus the outside of a garment, or the back versus the front side of an article of cloth or leather. See J. Milgrom, Leviticus (AB), 1:814, for various possibilities.
[13:56] 1 tn Heb “And if the priest saw and behold….”
[13:56] 2 tn Heb “and he shall tear it from.”
[13:57] 1 tn Heb “And if”; NIV, NCV “But if”; NAB “If, however.”
[13:58] 1 tn Heb “and the infection turns aside from them.”
[13:59] 1 sn The Hebrew term translated “law” (תוֹרָה, torah) introduces here a summary or colophon for all of Lev 13. Similar summaries are found in Lev 7:37-38; 11:46-47; 14:54-57; and 15:32-33.
[13:59] 2 tn These are declarative Piel forms of the verbs טָהֵר (taher) and טָמֵא (tame’) respectively (cf. the notes on vv. 3 and 6 above).
[14:2] 1 tn Heb “and.” Here KJV, ASV use a semicolon; NASB begins a new sentence with “Now.”
[14:2] 2 tn The alternative rendering, “when it is reported to the priest” may be better in light of the fact that the priest had to go outside the camp. Since he or she had been declared “unclean” by a priest (Lev 13:3) and was, therefore, required to remain outside the camp (13:46), the formerly diseased person could not reenter the camp until he or she had been declared “clean” by a priest (cf. Lev 13:6 for “declaring clean.”). See especially J. Milgrom, Leviticus (AB), 1:831, who supports this rendering both here and in Lev 13:2 and 9. B. A. Levine, however, prefers the rendering in the text (Leviticus [JPSTC], 76 and 85). It is the most natural meaning of the verb (i.e., “to be brought” from בּוֹא [bo’, “to come”] in the Hophal stem, which means “to be brought” in all other occurrences in Leviticus other than 13:2, 9, and 14:2; see only 6:30; 10:18; 11:32; and 16:27), it suits the context well in 13:2, and the rendering “to be brought” is supported by 13:7b, “he shall show himself to the priest a second time.” Although it is true that the priest needed to go outside the camp to examine such a person, the person still needed to “be brought” to the priest there. The translation of vv. 2-3 employed here suggests that v. 2 introduces the proceeding and then v. 3 goes on to describe the specific details of the examination and purification.
[14:3] 1 tn Heb “and he shall be brought to the priest and the priest shall go out to from outside to the camp and the priest shall see [it].” The understood “it” refers to the skin infection itself (see the note on 13:3 above). The referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[14:3] 2 tn Heb “And behold, the diseased infection has been healed from the diseased person.” The expression “diseased infection” has been translated as simply “infection” to avoid redundancy here in terms of English style.
[14:4] 1 tn The term rendered here “crimson fabric” consists of two Hebrew words and means literally, “crimson of worm” (in this order only in Lev 14:4, 6, 49, 51, 52 and Num 19:6; for the more common reverse order, “worm of crimson,” see, e.g., the colored fabrics used in making the tabernacle, Exod 25:4, etc.). This particular “worm” is an insect that lives on the leaves of palm trees, the eggs of which are the source for a “crimson” dye used to color various kinds of cloth (B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 86). That a kind of dyed “fabric” is intended, not just the dye substance itself, is made certain by the dipping of it along with the other ritual materials listed here into the blood and water mixture for sprinkling on the person being cleansed (Lev 14:6; cf. also the burning of it in the fire of the red heifer in Num 19:6). Both the reddish color of cedar wood and the crimson colored fabric seem to correspond to the color of blood and may, therefore, symbolize either “life,” which is in the blood, or the use of blood to “make atonement” (see, e.g., Gen 9:4 and Lev 17:11). See further the note on v. 7 below.
[14:4] 2 sn Twigs of hyssop (probably one or several species of marjoram thymus), a spice and herb plant that grows out of walls in Palestine (see 1 Kgs 4:33 [5:13 HT], HALOT 27 s.v. אֵזוֹב, and J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 195), were particularly leafy and therefore especially useful for sprinkling the purifying liquid (cf. vv. 5-7). Many of the details of the ritual procedure are obscure. It has been proposed, for example, that the “cedar wood” was a stick to which the hyssop was bound with the crimson material to make a sort of sprinkling instrument (Hartley, 195). In light of the burning of these three materials as part of the preparation of the ashes of the red heifer in Num 19:5-6, however, this seems unlikely.
[14:4] 3 tn The MT reads literally, “And the priest shall command and he shall take.” Clearly, the second verb (“and he shall take”) contains the thrust of the priest’s command, which suggests the translation “that he take” (cf. also v. 5a). Since the priest issues the command here, he cannot be the subject of the second verb because he cannot be commanding himself to “take” up these ritual materials. Moreover, since the ritual is being performed “for the one being cleansed,” the antecedent of the pronoun “he” cannot refer to him. The LXX, Smr, and Syriac versions have the third person plural here and in v. 5a, which corresponds to other combinations with the verb וְצִוָּה (vÿtsivvah) “and he (the priest) shall command” in this context (see Lev 13:54; 14:36, 40). This suggests an impersonal (i.e., “someone shall take” and “someone shall slaughter,” respectively) or perhaps even passive rendering of the verbs in 14:4, 5 (i.e., “there shall be taken” and “there shall be slaughtered,” respectively). The latter option has been chosen here.
[14:4] 4 tn Heb “the one cleansing himself” (i.e., Hitpael participle of טָהֵר, taher, “to be clean”).
[14:5] 1 tn Heb “And the priest shall command and he shall slaughter.” See the note on “be taken up” (v. 4).
[14:5] 2 tn Heb “into a vessel of clay over living water.” The expression “living [i.e., ‘fresh’] water” (cf. Lev 14:50; 15:13; Num 19:17) refers to water that flows. It includes such water sources as artesian wells (Gen 26:19; Song of Songs 4:15), springs (Jer 2:13, as opposed to cisterns; cf. 17:13), and flowing streams (Zech 14:8). In other words, this is water that has not stood stagnant as, for example, in a sealed-off cistern.
[14:6] 1 tc Heb “the live bird he [i.e., the priest] shall take it.” Although the MT has no ו (vav, “and”) at the beginning of this clause, a few medieval Hebrew
[14:7] 1 tn Heb “the one cleansing himself” (i.e., Hitpael participle of טָהֵר [taher, “to be clean”]).
[14:7] 2 tn Heb “and he shall make him clean.” The verb is the Piel of טָהֵר (taher, “to be clean”), here used as a so-called “declarative” Piel (i.e., “to declare clean”; cf. 13:6, etc.).
[14:7] 3 sn The reddish color of cedar wood and the crimson colored fabric called for in v. 4 (see the note there, esp. the association with the color of blood) as well as the priestly commands to bring “two live” birds (v. 4a), to slaughter one of them “over fresh water” (literally “living water,” v. 5b), and the subsequent ritual with the (second) “live” bird (vv. 6-7) combine to communicate the concept of “life” and “being alive” in this passage. This contrasts with the fear of death associated with the serious skin diseases in view here (see, e.g., Aaron’s description of Miriam’s skin disease in Num 12:12, “Do not let her be like the dead one when it goes out from its mother’s womb and its flesh half eaten away”). Since the slaughtered bird here is not sacrificed at the altar and is not designated as an expiatory “sin offering,” this ritual procedure probably symbolizes the renewed life of the diseased person and displays it publicly for all to see. It is preparatory to the expiatory rituals that will follow (vv. 10-20, esp. vv. 18-20), but is not itself expiatory. Thus, although there are important similarities between the bird ritual here, the scapegoat on the Day of Atonement (Lev 16:20-22), and the red heifer for cleansing from corpse contamination (Num 19), this bird ritual is different in that the latter two constitute “sin offerings” (Lev 16:5, 8-10; Num 19:9, 17). Neither of the birds in Lev 14:4-7 is designated or treated as a “sin offering.” Nevertheless, the very nature of the live bird ritual itself and its obvious similarity to the scapegoat ritual suggests that the patient’s disease has been removed far away so that he or she is free from its effects both personally and communally.
[14:8] 1 tn Heb “the one cleansing himself” (i.e., Hitpael participle of טָהֵר [taher, “to be clean”]).
[14:8] 2 tn Heb “and he shall be clean” (so ASV). The end result of the ritual procedures in vv. 4-7 and the washing and shaving in v. 8a is that the formerly diseased person has now officially become clean in the sense that he can reenter the community (see v. 8b; contrast living outside the community as an unclean diseased person, Lev 13:46). There are, however, further cleansing rituals and pronouncements for him to undergo in the tabernacle as outlined in vv. 10-20 (see Qal “be[come] clean” in vv. 9 and 20, Piel “pronounce clean” in v. 11, and Hitpael “the one being cleansed” in vv. 11, 14, 17, 18, and 19). Obviously, in order to enter the tabernacle he must already “be clean” in the sense of having access to the community.
[14:9] 1 tn Heb “And it shall be on the seventh day.”
[14:9] 2 tn Heb “and he shall be clean” (see the note on v. 8).
[14:10] 1 tn The subject “he” probably refers to the formerly diseased person in this case (see the notes on Lev 1:5a, 6a, and 9a).
[14:10] 2 tn This term is often rendered “fine flour,” but it refers specifically to wheat as opposed to barley (B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 10) and, although the translation “flour” is used here, it may indicate “grits” rather than finely ground flour (J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:179; see the note on Lev 2:1). The unit of measure is most certainly an “ephah” even though it is not stated explicitly (see, e.g., Num 28:5; cf. 15:4, 6, 8), and three-tenths of an ephah would amount to about a gallon, or perhaps one-third of a bushel (J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 196; Milgrom, 845). Since the normal amount of flour for a lamb is one-tenth of an ephah (Num 28:4-5; cf. 15:4), three-tenths is about right for the three lambs offered in Lev 14:10-20.
[14:10] 3 tn A “log” (לֹג, log) of oil is about one-sixth of a liter, or one-third of a pint, or two-thirds of a cup.
[14:11] 1 tn The MT here is awkward to translate into English. It reads literally, “and the priest who pronounces clean (Piel participle of טָהֵר, taher) shall cause to stand (Hiphil of עָמַד, ’amad) the man who is cleansing himself (Hitpael participle of טָהֵר) and them” (i.e., the offerings listed in v. 10; the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity). Alternatively, the Piel of טָהֵר could be rendered “who performs the cleansing/purification” (J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:827), perhaps even as a technical term for one who holds the office of “purification priest” (B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 87). It is probably better, however, to retain the same meaning here as in v. 7 above (see the note there regarding the declarative Piel use of this verb).
[14:12] 1 tn Heb “And the priest shall take the one lamb.”
[14:12] 2 tn See the note on Lev 5:15 above. The primary purpose of the “guilt offering” (אָשָׁם, ’asham) was to “atone” (כִּפֶּר, kipper, “to make atonement,” see v. 18 below and the note on Lev 1:4) for “trespassing” on the
[14:12] 3 tn Heb “wave them [as] a wave offering before the
[14:13] 1 tn Heb “And he shall slaughter.”
[14:13] 2 tn Heb “in the place which.”
[14:13] 3 sn See the note on Lev 4:3 regarding the term “sin offering.”
[14:13] 4 sn See the note on Lev 1:3 regarding the “burnt offering.”
[14:13] 5 tn Since the priest himself presents this offering as a wave offering (v. 12), it would seem that the offering is already in his hands and he would, therefore, be the one who slaughtered the male lamb in this instance rather than the offerer. Smr and LXX make the second verb “to slaughter” plural rather than singular, which suggests that it is to be taken as an impersonal passive (see J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:852).
[14:13] 6 tn Heb “the guilt offering, it [is] to the
[14:14] 1 tn Heb “and the priest shall put [literally ‘give’] on the lobe of the ear of the one being cleansed, the right one.”
[14:14] 2 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.
[14:15] 1 tn Heb “And the priest…shall pour on the left hand of the priest.” As the Rabbis observe, the repetition of “priest” as the expressed subject of both verbs in this verse may suggest that two priests were involved in this ritual (see m. Nega’im 14:8, referred to by J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:852), but the seemingly unnecessary repetition of “priest” in several verses throughout the chapter argues against this (see esp. vv. 3, 14, 18, 20, 24, and 26). Moreover, in this case, “priest” may be repeated to avoid confusing the priest’s hand with that of the one being cleansed (cf. v. 14).
[14:16] 1 tn Heb “his right finger from the oil.”
[14:17] 1 tn Heb “on his hand.”
[14:18] 1 tn Heb “and the remainder in the oil.”
[14:19] 1 tn Heb “do [or “make”] the sin offering.”
[14:19] 2 tn Heb “And after[ward] he [i.e., the offerer] shall slaughter.” The LXX adds “the priest” as the subject of the verb (as do several English versions, e.g., NAB, NIV, NCV, NLT), but the offerer is normally the one who does the actually slaughtering of the sacrificial animal (cf. the notes on Lev 1:5a, 6a, and 9a).
[14:20] 1 tn Heb “cause to go up.”
[14:21] 1 tn Heb “and his hand does not reach”; NAB, NRSV “and cannot afford so much (afford these NIV).”
[14:21] 2 tn See the notes on v. 10 above.
[14:22] 1 tn Heb “from the sons of the pigeon,” referring either to “young pigeons” or “various species of pigeon” (contrast J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:168 with J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 14; cf. Lev 1:14 and esp. 5:7-10).
[14:22] 2 tn Heb “which his hand reaches”; NRSV “such as (which NIV) he can afford.”
[14:22] 3 tn Heb “and one shall be a sin offering and the one a burnt offering.” The versions struggle with whether or not “one” should or should not have the definite article in its two occurrences in this verse (KJV, ASV, NAB, NASB all have the English definite article with both). The MT has the first without and the second with the article.
[14:23] 1 tn Heb “to the doorway of”; KJV, ASV “unto the door of.”
[14:24] 1 tn Heb “and the priest shall wave them.” In the present translation “priest” is not repeated a second time in the verse for stylistic reasons. With regard to the “waving” of the “wave offering,” see the note on v. 12 above.
[14:25] 1 tn Heb “and the priest shall put [literally ‘give’] on the lobe of the ear of the one being cleansed, the right one.”
[14:25] 2 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.
[14:26] 1 tn Heb “And from the oil the priest shall pour out on the left hand of the priest.” Regarding the repetition of “priest” in this verse see the note on v. 15 above.
[14:27] 1 tn Heb “and the priest shall sprinkle with his right finger from the oil which is on his left hand.”
[14:28] 1 tn Heb “on his hand.”
[14:29] 1 tn Heb “on the hand.”
[14:30] 1 tn Heb “the one from the turtledoves.”
[14:30] 2 tc Heb “from which his hand reaches.” The repetition of virtually the same expression at the beginning of v. 31 in the MT is probably due to dittography (cf. the LXX and Syriac). However, the MT may be retained if it is understood as “one of the turtledoves or young pigeons that are within his means – whichever he can afford” (see J. Milgrom’s translation in Leviticus [AB], 1:828, contra his commentary, 862; cf. REB).
[14:31] 1 tn Heb “and the one a burnt offering on the grain offering.”
[14:32] 1 tn Heb “This is the law of who in him [is] a diseased infection.”
[14:32] 2 tn Heb “who his hand does not reach in his purification”; NASB “whose means are limited for his cleansing”; NIV “who cannot afford the regular offerings for his cleansing.”
[14:34] 1 tn Heb “which I am giving” (so NAB, NIV).
[14:34] 3 tn Heb “in the house of the land of your possession” (KJV and ASV both similar).
[14:35] 1 tn Heb “who to him the house.”
[14:36] 1 tn Heb “And the priest shall command and they shall clear the house.” The second verb (“and they shall clear”) states the thrust of the priest’s command, which suggests the translation “that they clear” (cf. also vv. 4a and 5a above), and for the impersonal passive rendering of the active verb (“that the house be cleared”) see the note on v. 4 above.
[14:36] 2 tn Heb “to see the infection”; KJV “to see the plague”; NASB “to look at the mark (mildew NCV).”
[14:36] 3 tn Heb “all which [is] in the house.”
[14:36] 4 sn Once the priest pronounced the house “unclean” everything in it was also officially unclean. Therefore, if they emptied the house of its furniture, etc. before the official pronouncement by the priest those possessions would thereby remain officially “clean” and avoid destruction or purification procedures.
[14:36] 5 tn Heb “and after thus.”
[14:37] 1 tn Heb “and behold” (so KJV, ASV).
[14:37] 2 tn For “yellowish green and reddish” see Lev 13:49. The Hebrew term translated “eruptions” occurs only here and its meaning is uncertain. For a detailed summary of the issues and views see J. Milgrom, Leviticus (AB), 1:870. The suggestions include, among others: (1) “depressions” from Hebrew שׁקע (“sink”) or קער as the root of the Hebrew term for “bowl” (LXX, Targums, NAB, NASB, NIV; see also B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 90), (2) “streaks” (ASV, NJPS), (3) and “eruptions” as a loan-word from Egyptian sqr r rwtj (“eruption; rash”); cf. Milgrom, 870; J. E. Hartley, Leviticus (WBC), 198-99. The latter view is taken here.
[14:37] 3 tn The Hebrew term קִיר (qir,“wall”) refers to the surface of the wall in this case, which normally consisted of a coating of plaster made of limestone and sand (see HALOT 1099 s.v. קִיר 1.a; J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:871; J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 199).
[14:38] 1 tn Heb “and he shall shut up the house seven days.”
[14:39] 1 tn Heb “and behold” (so KJV, ASV); NASB “If the mark has indeed spread.”
[14:40] 1 tn Heb “and the priest shall command and they shall pull out the stones which in them is the infection, and they shall cast them.” The second and third verbs (“they shall pull out” and “they shall throw”) state the thrust of the priest’s command, which suggests the translation “that they pull out…and throw” (cf. also vv. 4a, 5a, and 36a above), and for the impersonal passive rendering of the active verb (“be pulled and thrown”) see the note on v. 4 above.
[14:40] 2 tn Heb “into from outside to the city.”
[14:41] 1 tn Or, according to the plurality of the verb in Smr, LXX, Syriac, and Targums, “Then the house shall be scraped” (cf. NAB, NLT, and the note on v. 40).
[14:41] 2 tn Heb “from house all around.”
[14:41] 3 tn Heb “dust” (so KJV) or “rubble”; NIV “the material”; NLT “the scrapings.”
[14:41] 4 tn Heb “which they have scraped off.” The MT term קִיר (qir, “wall” from קָצָה, qatsah, “to cut off”; BDB 892), the original Greek does not have this clause, Smr has הקיצו (with uncertain meaning), and the BHS editors and HALOT 1123-24 s.v. I קצע hif.a suggest emending the verb to הִקְצִעוּ (hiqtsi’u, see the same verb at the beginning of this verse; cf. some Greek
[14:41] 5 tn Heb “into from outside to the city.”
[14:42] 1 tn Heb “and bring into under the stones.”
[14:43] 1 tn Heb “after he has pulled out the stones, and after scraping (variant form of the Hiphil infinitive construct, GKC 531) the house, and after being replastered (Niphal infinitive construct).”
[14:44] 1 tn Heb “and behold” (so KJV, ASV); NASB “If he sees that the mark has indeed spread.”
[14:45] 1 tn Smr, LXX, Syriac, and Tg. Ps.-J. have the plural verb, perhaps suggesting a passive translation, “The house…shall be torn down” (cf. NAB, NIV, TEV, NLT, and see the note on v. 4b above).
[14:45] 2 tn Once again, Smr, LXX, and Syriac have the plural verb, perhaps to be rendered passive, “shall be brought.”
[14:46] 1 tn Heb “the one who comes into.”
[14:46] 2 tn Heb “he,” referring to the priest (see v. 38). The referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[14:48] 1 tn Heb “And if the priest entering [infinitive absolute] enters [finite verb]” For the infinitive absolute used to highlight contrast rather than emphasis see GKC 343 §113.p.
[14:48] 2 tn Heb “and behold” (so KJV, ASV); NASB “and the mark has not indeed spread.”
[14:49] 1 tn The pronoun “he” refers to the priest mentioned in the previous verse.
[14:49] 2 tn Regarding these ritual materials, see the note on v. 4 above.
[14:49] 3 tn Regarding the Piel of חָטָא (khata’, cf. v. 52) meaning to “decontaminate” or “perform a decontamination,” see the notes on Lev 8:15 and 9:15.
[14:50] 1 tn See the note on v. 5 above.
[14:53] 1 tn Heb “to from outside to the city.”
[14:54] 1 tn Heb “and for the scall”; NASB “a scale”; NIV “any infectious skin disease.” Cf. Lev 13:29-37.
[14:55] 1 sn Cf. Lev 13:47-59.
[14:55] 2 sn Cf. Lev 14:33-53.
[14:56] 1 sn Cf. Lev 13:9-28, 43.
[14:56] 3 sn Cf. Lev 13:4, 18-28, 38-39. For explanations of all these terms for disease in Lev 14:56 see 13:2.
[14:57] 1 tn Heb “to teach in the day of the unclean and in the day of the clean.”
[14:57] 2 tn Heb “This is the law of the disease.” Some English versions specify this as “skin disease” (e.g., NIV, NLT), but then have to add “and (+ infectious NLT) mildew” (so NIV) because a house would not be infected with a skin disease.
[15:2] 1 tn Heb “Man man.” The reduplication is a way of saying “any man” (cf. Lev 17:3; 22:18, etc.; see the distributive repetition of the noun in GKC 395-96 §123.c).
[15:2] 2 tn The term “discharge” actually means “to flow,” whether referring to a full flow as at a spring of water (Ps 78:20 and parallels) or in reference to the promised land as “a land flowing with milk and honey” (Exod 3:8 and parallels).
[15:2] 3 tn Heb “man, man when there is a discharge from his flesh.” The repetition of the word “man” is distributive, meaning “any [or “every”] man” (GKC 395-96 §123.c). It is well-recognized that the term “flesh” (i.e., “body”) in this chapter refers regularly and euphemistically to the male and female genital members or areas of the body (HALOT 164 s.v. בָּשָׂר 5.b; see also, e.g., B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 93). The euphemism has been retained in this translation since it is, in fact, intended in the Hebrew text. Some English versions partially remove the euphemism (e.g., NAB “from his private parts”; NRSV “from his member”) while some remove it completely (e.g., NLT “a genital discharge”; TEV “from his penis”; CEV “with an infected penis”).
[15:3] 1 tn The LXX has “this the law of his uncleanness…” (cf. v. 32 and compare, e.g., 13:59; 14:2, 56).
[15:3] 2 tc Smr, LXX, and the Paleo-Hebrew Leviticus Scroll from Qumran (11QpaleoLev; Fragment G contains Lev 14:52-15:5 and 16:2-4, and agrees with the LXX of Lev 15:3b) are in essential (although not complete) agreement against the MT in Lev 15:3b and are to be preferred in this case. The shorter MT text has probably arisen due to a lengthy haplography. See K. A. Mathews, “The Leviticus Scroll (11QpaleoLev) and the Text of the Hebrew Bible,” CBQ 48 (1986): 177-78, 198; D. N. Freedman, “Variant Readings in the Leviticus Scroll from Qumran Cave 11,” CBQ 36 (1974): 528-29; D. N. Freedman and K. A. Mathews, The Paleo-Hebrew Leviticus Scroll, 32. The MT of Lev 15:3 reads: “Now this is his uncleanness in [regard to] his discharge – whether his body secretes his discharge or blocks his discharge, this is his uncleanness.” Smr adds after MT’s “blocks his discharge” the following: “he is unclean; all the days that his body has a discharge or his body blocks his discharge, this is his uncleanness.” Thus, the MT appears to skip from Smr טמא הוא “he is unclean” in the middle of the verse to יא/טמאתו הו “this is his uncleanness” at the end of the verse, leaving out “he is unclean; all the days that his body has a discharge or his body blocks his discharge” (cf. the BHS footnote). 11Q1 (paleoLeva frag. G) is indeed fragmentary, but it does have ימי ז בו כל “…in him, all the days of the fl[ow],” supporting Smr and LXX tradition. The LXX adds after MT “blocks his discharge” the following: “all the days of the flow of his body, by which his body is affected by the flow,” followed by “it is his uncleanness” (i.e., the last two words of the MT).
[15:3] 3 tn Heb “it is his uncleanness,” but the last clause recapitulates the effect of the first clause in this verse, both of which introduce the regulations for such uncleanness in the following verses. In other words, whether his discharge flows from his penis or is blocked in it, he is still unclean and must proceed according to the following regulations (vv. 4ff).
[15:4] 1 tn Heb “All the bed which the man with a discharge sits on it shall be unclean”; cf. NLT “Any bedding.”
[15:4] 2 tn Heb “and all the vessel which he sits on it shall be unclean”; NASB “everything on which he sits.”
[15:5] 1 tn Heb “And a man who touches in his bed”; NLT “touch the man’s bedding.”
[15:5] 2 tn Heb “he shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until the evening” (cf. also vv. 6-8, 10-11, etc.).
[15:7] 1 tn Heb “And the one who touches in the flesh.” In this instance, “flesh” (or “body”) probably refers literally to any part of the body, not the genitals specifically (see the discussion in J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:914).
[15:8] 1 tn Heb “And if the man with a discharge spits in the clean one.”
[15:9] 1 tn The Hebrew term for “means of riding” is a cognate noun from the verb “ride” later in this verse. It refers to anything on which one may ride without the feet touching the ground including, for example, a saddle, a (saddle) blanket, or a seat on a chariot (see, e.g., J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:916).
[15:10] 1 tn Heb “which shall be under him.” The verb is perhaps a future perfect, “which shall have been.”
[15:10] 2 tn Heb “them”; the referent (the previously mentioned items which were under the unclean person) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[15:11] 1 tn Heb “And all who the man with the discharge touches in him and his hands he has not rinsed in water.”
[15:12] 1 tn The Hebrew term כְּלִי (kÿli) can mean “vessel” (v. 12a) or “utensil, implement, article” (v. 12b). An article of clay would refer to a vessel or container of some sort, while one made of wood would refer to some kind of tool or instrument.
[15:13] 1 tn For the expression “fresh water” see the note on Lev 14:5 above.
[15:14] 1 tn Heb “from the sons of the pigeon,” referring either to “young pigeons” or “various species of pigeon” (contrast J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:168 with J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 14; cf. Lev 1:14 and esp. 5:7-10).
[15:14] 2 tc The MT has the Qal form of the verb בּוֹא (bo’) “to come” here, but the LXX (followed generally by the Syriac and Tg. Ps.-J.) reflects the Hiphil form of the same verb, “to bring” as in v. 29 below. In v. 29, however, there is no additional clause “and give them to the priest,” so the Hiphil is necessary in that context while it is not necessary here in v. 14.
[15:15] 1 sn See the note on Lev 4:3 regarding the term “sin offering.”
[15:15] 2 tn Heb “and the priest shall make them one a sin offering and the one a burnt offering.” See the note on Lev 1:3 regarding the “burnt offering.”
[15:15] 3 tn Heb “And the priest.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) can be considered to have resultative force here.
[15:15] 4 tn Heb “from”; see the note on 4:26.
[15:16] 1 tn Heb “And a man when a lying of seed goes out from him”; KJV, ASV “any man’s seed of copulation”; NIV, NRSV, TEV, NLT “an emission of semen.”
[15:16] 2 tn Heb “and he shall bathe all his flesh in water.”
[15:18] 1 tn Heb “And a woman who a man lies with her a lying of seed.”
[15:19] 1 tn See the note on Lev 15:2 above.
[15:19] 2 tn Heb “blood shall be her discharge in her flesh.” The term “flesh” here refers euphemistically to the female sexual area (cf. the note on v. 2 above).
[15:19] 3 tn See the note on Lev 12:2 and R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 1:925-27.
[15:23] 1 tn Heb “and if on the bed it (הוּא, hu’) is or on the vessel which she sits on it, when he touches it….” The translation and meaning of this verse is a subject of much debate in the commentaries (see the summary in J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:938-40). It is difficult to determine what הוּא refers to, whether it means “he” referring to the one who does the touching, “it” for the furniture or the seat in v. 22, “she” referring to the woman herself (see Smr היא rather than הוא), or perhaps anything that was lying on the furniture or the bed of vv. 21-22. The latter view is taken here (cf. J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 202).
[15:23] 2 tn The MT accent suggest that “when he touches it” goes with the preceding line, but it seems to be better to take it as an introduction to what follows (see J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 202).
[15:24] 1 tn Heb “and if a man indeed lies with her and her menstrual impurity is on him.”
[15:25] 1 tn Heb “And a woman when the flow of her blood flows.”
[15:25] 2 tn Heb “in not the time of her menstruation or when it flows on her menstruation.”
[15:27] 1 tn See the note on v. 5 above.
[15:28] 1 tn Heb “And if…” Although this clause is parallel to v. 13 above, it begins with וְאִם (vÿ’im, “and if”) here rather than וְכִי (vÿkhi, “and when/if”) there.
[15:29] 1 tn Heb “from the sons of the pigeon,” referring either to “young pigeons” or “various species of pigeon” (contrast J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:168 with J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 14; cf. Lev 1:14 and esp. 5:7-10).
[15:30] 1 tn Heb “And the priest shall make the one a sin offering and the one a burnt offering.”
[15:30] 2 tn Heb “And the priest.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) can be considered to have resultative force here.
[15:31] 1 tn Heb “And you shall.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) can be considered to have resultative force here (cf. KJV, ASV, NASB, NCV, NRSV).
[15:31] 2 tn Heb “and they.” Here the Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) indicates a negative purpose (“lest,” so NAB, NASB).
[15:32] 1 tn Heb “and who a lying of seed goes out from him.”
[15:32] 2 tn Heb “to become unclean in it.”
[15:33] 1 tn Heb “and the one with a discharge, his discharge to the male and the female.”
[15:33] 2 tn Heb “and for a man.”
[16:1] 1 tn Heb “in their drawing near to the faces of the
[16:2] 1 tn Heb “into the holy place from house to the veil-canopy.” In this instance, the Hebrew term “the holy place” refers to “the most holy place” (lit. “holy of holies”), since it is the area “inside the veil-canopy” (cf. Exod 26:33-34). The Hebrew term פָּרֹכֶת (parokhet) is usually translated “veil” or “curtain,” 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, and thus formed more of a canopy than simply a curtain (see R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 3:687-89).
[16:2] 2 tn Heb “to the faces of the atonement plate.” The exact meaning of the Hebrew term כַּפֹּרֶת (kapporet) here rendered “atonement plate” is much debated. The traditional “mercy seat” (KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV) does not suit the cognate relationship between this term and the Piel verb כִּפֶּר (kipper, “to make atonement, to make expiation”). The translation of the word should also reflect the fact that the most important atonement procedures on the Day of Atonement were performed in relation to it. Since the
[16:3] 1 tn Heb “with a bull, a son of the herd.”
[16:3] 2 sn See the note on Lev 4:3 regarding the term “sin offering.”
[16:3] 3 sn For the “burnt offering” see the note on Lev 1:3.
[16:4] 1 sn The term “tunic” refers to a shirt-like garment worn next to the skin and, therefore, put on first (cf. Exod 28:4, 39-40; 29:5, 8; 39:27). It covered the upper body only. For detailed remarks on the terminology for the priestly clothing in this verse (except the “linen leggings”) see the notes on Lev 8:7-9 and the literature cited there.
[16:4] 2 tn Heb “shall be on his flesh.” As in many instances in Lev 15, the term “flesh” or “body” here is euphemistic for the male genitals (J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:1017, and J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 222; cf. the note on Lev 15:2), which the priest must be careful not to expose during such ritual procedures (see Exod 20:26 with 28:42-43).
[16:4] 3 sn The sash fastened the tunic around the waist (Exod 28:4, 39; 29:9; 39:29).
[16:4] 4 tn Heb “and in a turban of linen he shall wrap.”
[16:4] 5 tn Heb “and he shall bathe….”
[16:5] 1 tn Heb “And he shall take.”
[16:5] 2 tn Heb “he-goats of goats”; CEV “two goats, both of them males.”
[16:7] 1 tn Heb “the two he-goats,” referred to as “two he-goats of goats” in v. 5.
[16:8] 1 tn Heb “and Aaron shall give lots on the two he-goats.” See the note on Lev 8:8 for the priestly casting of lots in Israel and the explanation in B. A. Levine, Leviticus (JPSTC), 102, on Lev 16:8-9. J. Milgrom, Leviticus (AB), 1:1019-20, suggests, however, that the expression here signifies that, the lots having been cast, the priest was to literally “place” (Heb “give”) the one marked “for the
[16:8] 2 tn The meaning of the Hebrew term עֲזָאזֵל (’aza’zel, four times in the OT, all of them in this chapter; vv. 8, 10 [2 times], and 26) is much debated. There are three or perhaps four major views (see the summaries and literature cited in J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:1020-21; B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 102; J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 237-38; D. P. Wright, The Disposal of Impurity [SBLDS], 21-25; M. V. Van Pelt and W. C. Kaiser, NIDOTTE 3:362-63; and M. S. Moore, NIDOTTE 4:421-22). (1) Some derive the term from a combination of the Hebrew word עֵז (’ez, “goat”; i.e., the word for “goats” in v. 5) and אָזַל (’azal, “to go away”), meaning “the goat that departs” or “scapegoat” (cf., e.g., the LXX and KJV, NASB, NIV, NLT). This meaning suits the ritual practice of sending the so-called “scapegoat” away into the wilderness (vv. 10, 21-22, 26). Similarly, some derive the term from Arabic ’azala (“to banish, remove”), meaning “entire removal” as an abstract concept (see BDB 736 s.v. עֲזָאזֵל). (2) Some see the term as a description of the wilderness area to which the goat was dispatched, deriving it somehow from Arabic ’azazu (“rough ground”) or perhaps עָזָז, (’azaz, “to be strong, fierce”). (3) The most common view among scholars today is that it is the proper name of a particular demon (perhaps even the Devil himself) associated with the wilderness desert regions. Levine has proposed that it may perhaps derive from a reduplication of the ז (zayin) in עֵז combined with אֵל (’el, “mighty”), meaning “mighty goat.” The final consonantal form of עֲזָאזֵל would have resulted from the inversion of the א (aleph) with the second ז. He makes the point that the close association between עֵז and שְׂעִירִים (shÿ’irim), which seems to refer to “goat-demons” of the desert in Lev 17:7 (cf. Isa 13:21, etc.), should not be ignored in the derivation of Azazel, although the term ultimately became the name of “the demonic ruler of the wilderness.” The latter view is supported by the parallel between the one goat “for (לְ, lamed preposition) the
[16:9] 1 tn Heb “which the lot has gone up on it for the
[16:10] 1 tn The LXX has “he shall stand it” (cf. v. 7).
[16:10] 2 tn Heb “to make atonement on it to send it away to Azazel toward the wilderness.”
[16:12] 1 tn Heb “and he shall take the fullness of the censer, coals of fire, from on the altar from to the faces of the
[16:12] 2 tn Heb “and the fullness of the hollow of his two hands, finely ground fragrant incense.”
[16:12] 3 tn Heb “and he shall bring from house to the veil-canopy.”
[16:13] 1 tn The text here has only “above the testimony,” but this is surely a shortened form of “above the ark of the testimony” (see Exod 25:22 etc.; cf. Lev 16:2). The term “testimony” in this expression refers to the ark as the container of the two stone tablets with the Ten Commandments written on them (see Exod 25:16 with Deut 10:1, 5, etc.).
[16:13] 2 tn Heb “and he will not die,” but it is clear that the purpose for the incense cloud was to protect the priest from death in the presence of the
[16:14] 1 tn Heb “on the faces of the atonement plate toward the east.” Some have taken this to mean that the ark was stationed just behind the veil-canopy on the eastern side of the most holy place. Thus, the high priest would need to enter and walk toward the west end of the most holy place and then turn eastward in order to face the ark and sprinkle the blood in an eastward direction. The rendering here, however, requires that the ark was stationed on the western end, or perhaps in the middle of the area, so that as the priest entered he was already facing the ark and would sprinkle the blood on the eastern face of the atonement plate, in a westward direction (see, e.g., J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 239 versus J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:1032).
[16:14] 2 sn Presumably in this case the blood was sprinkled seven times on the ground in front of the ark on which the atonement plate was mounted.
[16:15] 1 tn Heb “and he shall bring its blood into from house to the veil-canopy.”
[16:16] 1 tn Heb “And.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) can be considered to have resultative or even inferential force here.
[16:16] 2 tn Heb “to all their sins.”
[16:17] 1 tn Heb “And all man shall not be in the tent of meeting.” The term for “a man, human being” (אָדָם, ’adam; see the note on Lev 1:2) refers to any person among “mankind,” male or female.
[16:18] 1 tn Heb “And.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) indicates the sequence of events here.
[16:18] 2 tn Heb “And he shall take.”
[16:19] 1 tn Heb “and he shall purify it and he shall consecrate it.”
[16:20] 1 tn Heb “And he shall finish from atoning the holy place.” In this case, the “holy place” etc. are direct objects of the verb “to atone” (cf. v. 33a below). In this case, therefore, the basic meaning of the verb (i.e., “to purge” or “wipe clean”) comes to the forefront. When the prepositions עַל (’al) or בֲּעַד (ba’ad) occur with the verb כִּפֶּר (kipper) the purging is almost always being done “for” or “on behalf of” priests or people (see the note on Lev 1:4 as well as R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 2:698, the literature cited there, and B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 110, for more details).
[16:21] 1 tn Heb “transgressions to all their sins.”
[16:21] 2 tn Heb “and he shall give them.”
[16:21] 3 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] 1 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] 2 tn Heb “and he [the man (standing) ready, v. 21] shall send the goat away.”
[16:23] 1 tn Heb “And Aaron shall enter.”
[16:24] 1 tn Heb “And he shall make atonement.”
[16:24] 2 tn Heb “on behalf of himself and on behalf of the people.” After “on behalf of himself” the LXX adds the expected “and on behalf of his household” (cf. vv. 6, 11, and 17).
[16:25] 1 tn Heb “And the fat of the sin offering he is to offer up.”
[16:26] 1 tn For “Azazel” see the note on v. 8 above.
[16:27] 1 tn Heb “he shall bring into from outside to the camp.”
[16:27] 2 tn Heb “they shall burn with fire”; KJV “burn in the fire.” Because “to burn with fire” is redundant in contemporary English the present translation simply has “must be burned up.”
[16:29] 1 tn Heb “And it [feminine] shall be for you a perpetual statute.” Verse 34 begins with the same clause except for the missing demonstrative pronoun “this” here in v. 29. The LXX has “this” in both places and it suits the sense of the passage, although both the verb and the pronoun are sometimes missing in this clause elsewhere in the book (see, e.g., Lev 3:17).
[16:29] 2 tn Heb “you shall humble your souls.” The verb “to humble” here refers to various forms of self-denial, including but not limited to fasting (cf. Ps 35:13 and Isa 58:3, 10). The Mishnah (m. Yoma 8:1) lists abstentions from food and drink, bathing, using oil as an unguent to moisten the skin, wearing leather sandals, and sexual intercourse (cf. 2 Sam 12:16-17, 20; see the remarks in J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:1054; B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 109; and J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 242).
[16:29] 3 tn Heb “and all work you shall not do.”
[16:29] 4 tn Heb “the native and the sojourner who sojourns.”
[16:30] 1 tn The phrase “from all your sins” could go with the previous clause as the verse is rendered here (see, e.g., B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 109, and J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:1011), or it could go with the following clause (i.e., “you shall be clean from all your sins before the
[16:31] 1 tn See the note on v. 29 above.
[16:31] 2 tn Compare v. 29a above.
[16:32] 1 tn Heb “And the priest whom he shall anointed him and whom he shall fill his hand to act as priest under his father.” Imperfect active verbs are often used as passives (see, e.g., v. 27 above and the note on Lev 14:4).
[16:33] 1 tn Heb “to atone” (also later in this verse); see the note on “purifying the holy place” in 16:20.
[16:33] 2 tn Heb “the sanctuary of the holy place.” Although this is the only place this expression occurs in the OT, it clearly refers to the innermost shrine behind the veil-canopy, where the ark of the covenant was located.
[16:33] 3 tn Heb “and the tent of meeting and the alter he shall atone.” The repetition of the verb כִּפֶּר (kipper, “to atone”) at the beginning and end of the sequence appears to be strange, but the MT accents suggest that only “the Most Holy Place” goes with the verb at the beginning of the verse. Of course, the purging of “the Most Holy Place” has been the main emphasis of this chapter from the start (see vv. 2-3 and 11-17).
[16:33] 4 tn At this point in the verse the verb כִּפֶּר (kipper, “to make atonement”) takes its object with the preposition עַל (’al, “for”; literally, “upon”; contrast the first part of the verse and cf. the notes on Lev 1:4 and 16:20 above).
[16:34] 1 tn Heb “And this shall be for you to a statute of eternity” (cf. v. 29a above). cf. NASB “a permanent statute”; NIV “a lasting ordinance.”
[16:34] 2 tn Heb “from”; see note on 4:26.
[16:34] 3 tn Heb “one [feminine] in the year.”
[16:34] 4 tn The MT of Lev 16:34b reads literally, “and he did just as the
[17:3] 1 tn The complex wording of vv. 3-4 requires stating “blood guilt” at the beginning of v. 3 even though it is not mentioned until the middle of v. 4. The Hebrew text has simply “blood,” but in this case it refers to the illegitimate shedding of animal blood, similar to the shedding of the blood of an innocent human being (Deut 19:10, etc.). In order for it to be legitimate the animal must be slaughtered at the tabernacle and its blood handled by the priests in the prescribed way (see, e.g., Lev 1:5; 3:2, 17; 4:5-7; 7:26-27, etc.; cf. vv. 10-16 below for more details).
[17:3] 2 tn Heb “Man man.” The reduplication is way of saying “any man” (cf. Lev 15:2; 22:18, etc.). See the note on Lev 15:2.
[17:3] 3 tn The original LXX adds “or the sojourners who sojourn in your midst” (cf. Lev 16:29, etc., and note esp. 17:8, 10, and 13 below).
[17:3] 4 tn Heb “or who slaughters from outside to the camp.”
[17:4] 1 tn Smr and LXX add after “tent of meeting” the following: “to make it a burnt offering or a peace offering to the
[17:4] 2 tc Smr includes the suffix “it,” which is needed in any case in the translation to conform to English style.
[17:4] 3 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.
[17:5] 1 tn Heb “So that which.”
[17:5] 2 tn Heb “on the faces of the field.”
[17:6] 1 tn For the translation “splash” see the note on Lev 1:5.
[17:6] 2 tn The LXX adds “all around” (i.e., Hebrew סָבִיב [saviv, “all around”]), which is normal for this overall construction (see, e.g., Lev 1:5; 3:8, etc.).
[17:7] 1 tn Heb “sacrifice.” This has been translated as “offer” for stylistic reasons to avoid the redundancy of “sacrifice their sacrifices.”
[17:7] 2 tn On “goat demons” of the desert regions see the note on Lev 16:8.
[17:7] 3 tn Heb “which they are committing harlotry after them.”
[17:7] 4 tn Heb “for your generations.”
[17:8] 1 tn Heb “Man, man.” The repetition of the word “man” is distributive, meaning “any [or “every”] man” (GKC 395-96 §123.c; cf. Lev 15:2).
[17:8] 2 tn Heb “and.” Here the Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) has an alternative sense (“or”).
[17:8] 3 tn Heb “from the sojourner who sojourns.”
[17:8] 4 tc The LXX, Syriac, and Vulgate have “your” (plural) rather than “their.”
[17:8] 5 tn Heb “causes to go up.”
[17:9] 1 tn Heb “to make it,” meaning “to make the sacrifice.”
[17:9] 2 tn For remarks on the “cut off” penalty see the note on v. 4 above.
[17:10] 1 tn Heb “And man, man.” The repetition of the word “man” is distributive, meaning “any (or every) man” (GKC 395-96 §123.c; cf. Lev 15:2).
[17:10] 2 tn Heb “from the sojourner who sojourns.”
[17:10] 3 tc The LXX, Syriac, and Vulgate have “your” (plural) rather than “their.”
[17:10] 4 tn Heb “I will give my faces against [literally “in”] the soul/person/life [נֶפֶשׁ, nefesh, feminine] who eats the blood and I will cut it [i.e., that נֶפֶשׁ, nefesh] off from the midst of its people.” The uses of נֶפֶשׁ in this and the following verse are most significant for the use of animal blood in Israel’s sacrificial system. Unfortunately, it is a most difficult word to translate accurately and consistently, and this presents a major problem for the rendering of these verses (see, e.g., G. J. Wenham, Leviticus [NICOT], 244-45). No matter which translation of נֶפֶשׁ one uses here, it is important to see that both man and animal have נֶפֶשׁ and that this נֶפֶשׁ is identified with the blood. See the further remarks on v. 11 below. On the “cutting off” penalty see the note on v. 4 above. In this instance, God takes it on himself to “cut off” the person (i.e., extirpation).
[17:11] 1 tn Heb “the life of the flesh.” Here “flesh” stands for “every living thing,” that is, all creatures (cf. NIV, NRSV, NLT “every creature”; CEV “every living creature.”
[17:11] 2 tn Heb “for the soul/life (נֶפֶשׁ, nefesh) of the flesh, it is in the blood” (cf. the note of v. 10 above and v. 14 below). Although most modern English versions begin a new sentence in v. 11, “For the life of the flesh is in the blood” (see, e.g., NJPS, NASB, NIV, NRSV), the כִּי (ki, “for, because”) at the beginning of the verse suggests continuation from v. 10, as the rendering here indicates (see, e.g., NEB, NLT; J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 261; and G. J. Wenham, Leviticus [NICOT], 239).
[17:11] 3 tn Heb “And I myself have given it to you.”
[17:11] 4 tn Heb “for the blood, it by (בְּ, bet preposition, “in”] the life makes atonement.” The interpretation of the preposition is pivotal here. Some scholars have argued that it is a bet of exchange; that is, “the blood makes atonement in exchange for the life [of the slaughtered animal]” (see R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 2:694-95, 697 for analysis and criticism of this view). It is more likely that, as in the previous clause (“your lives”), “life/soul” (נֶפֶשׁ, nefesh) here refers to the person who makes the offering, not the animal offered. The blood of the animal makes atonement for the person who offers it either “by means of” (instrumental bet) the “life/soul” of the animal, which it symbolizes or embodies (the meaning of the translation given here); or perhaps the blood of the animal functions as “the price” (bet of price) for ransoming the “life/soul” of the person.
[17:12] 1 tn Heb “all/any person from you shall not eat blood.”
[17:12] 2 tn Heb “and the sojourner, the one sojourning in your midst, shall not eat blood.”
[17:13] 1 tc A few medieval Hebrew
[17:13] 2 tn Heb “from the sojourner who sojourns.”
[17:13] 3 tc The LXX, Syriac, Vulgate, and certain
[17:13] 4 tn Heb “[wild] game of animal.”
[17:13] 5 tn That is, it must be a clean animal, not an unclean animal (cf. Lev 11).
[17:14] 1 tn Heb “for the life/soul (נֶפֶשׁ, nefesh) of all flesh, its blood in its life/soul (נֶפֶשׁ) it is.” The LXX, Syriac, and Vulgate leave out “in its life/soul,” which would naturally yield “for the life of all flesh, its blood it is” (see J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 261, 263). The present translation is something of an oversimplification, but the meaning is basically the same in any case. Cf. NRSV “For the life of every creature – its blood is its life.”
[17:14] 2 tn Heb “of all flesh” (also later in this verse). See the note on “every living thing” in v. 11.
[17:14] 3 tn For remarks on the “cut off” penalty see the note on v. 4 above.
[17:15] 1 tn Heb “And any soul” (נֶפֶשׁ, nefesh).
[17:15] 2 tn Heb “carcass,” referring to the carcass of an animal that has died on its own, not the carcass of an animal slaughtered for sacrifice or killed by wild beasts. This has been clarified in the translation by supplying the phrase “of natural causes”; cf. NAB “that died of itself”; TEV “that has died a natural death.”
[17:15] 3 tn Heb “in the native or in the sojourner.”
[17:16] 1 tn The words “his clothes” are not in the Hebrew text, but are repeated in the translation for clarity.
[17:16] 2 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. This is sometimes referred to as the consequential use of the term (cf. Lev 5:17; 7:18; 10:17; etc.).
[18:3] 1 tn Heb “As the work [or “deed”] of the land of Egypt, which you were dwelling in it, you must not do.”
[18:3] 2 tn Heb “and as the work [or “deed”] of the land of Canaan which I am bringing you to there, you must not do.” The participle “I am bringing” is inceptive; the
[18:3] 3 tn Heb “and you shall not walk.”
[18:4] 1 tn Heb “My regulations you shall do”; KJV, NASB “my judgments”; NRSV “My ordinances”; NIV, TEV “my laws.”
[18:4] 2 tn Heb “and my statutes you shall keep [or “watch; guard”] to walk in them.”
[18:5] 1 tn Heb “And you shall keep.”
[18:5] 2 tn Heb “which the man shall do them and shall live in them.” The term for “a man, human being; mankind” (אָדָם, ’adam; see the note on Lev 1:2) in this case refers to any person among “mankind,” male or female. The expression וָחַי (vakhay, “and shall live”) looks like the adjective “living” so it is written וְחָיָה (vÿkhayah) in Smr, but the MT form is simply the same verb written as a double ayin verb (see HALOT 309 s.v. חיה qal and GKC 218 §76.i; cf. Lev 25:35).
[18:6] 1 tn Heb “Man, man shall not draw near to any flesh (שְׁאֵר, shÿ’er) of his body/flesh (בָּשָׂר, basar).” The repetition of the word “man” is distributive, meaning “any (or “every”) man” (GKC 395-96 §123.c; cf. Lev 15:2). The two words for “flesh” are combined to refer to emphasize the physical familial relatedness (see J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 282, and B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 119).
[18:6] 2 tn Heb “to uncover [her] nakedness” (cf. KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV), which is clearly euphemistic for sexual intercourse (see J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 282, and B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 119). This expression occurs a number of times in the following context and is generally translated “have sexual intercourse with [someone],” although in the case of the father mentioned in the following verse the expression may be connected to the shame or disgrace that would belong to the father whose wife’s sexuality is violated by his son. See the note on the word “mother” in v. 7.
[18:6] 3 sn The general statement prohibiting sexual intercourse between close relatives serves as an opening summary statement for the following section, which gives details concerning which degrees of relationship are specifically forbidden.
[18:7] 1 tn The verbal negative here is the same as that used in the Ten Commandments (Exod 20:4-5, 7, 13-17). It suggests permanent prohibition rather than a simple negative command and could, therefore, be rendered “must not” here and throughout the following section as it is in vv. 3-4 above.
[18:7] 2 tn Heb “The nakedness of your father and [i.e., even] the nakedness of your mother you shall not uncover.”
[18:8] 1 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).
[18:9] 1 tn Heb “the daughter of your father or the daughter of your mother.”
[18:9] 2 tn Heb “born of house or born of outside.” CEV interprets as “whether you grew up together or not” (cf. also TEV, NLT).
[18:9] 3 tc Several medieval Hebrew
[18:10] 1 sn That is, to have sexual intercourse with one’s granddaughter would be like openly exposing one’s own shameful nakedness (see the note on v. 7 above).
[18:11] 1 tn Heb “The nakedness of the daughter of your father’s wife born of your father, she is your sister; you must not uncover her nakedness.” That is, a half sister, the daughter of the man’s father by another wife, who is not the man’s mother, is to be considered a true sister. Therefore, the man must not have sexual intercourse with her.
[18:12] 1 tc A few medieval Hebrew
[18:14] 1 tn Heb “you must not draw near to his wife.” In the context this refers to approaching one’s aunt to have sexual intercourse with her, so this has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[18:14] 2 tn As in v. 12 (see the note there), some
[18:16] 1 sn Regarding the last clause, see the notes on vv. 7 and 10 above.
[18:17] 1 tn Heb “You must not uncover the nakedness of both a woman and her daughter; the daughter of her son and the daughter of her daughter you must not take to uncover her nakedness.” Translating “her” as “them” provides consistency in the English. In this kind of context, “take” means to “take in marriage” (cf. also v. 18). The LXX and Syriac have “their nakedness,” referring to the nakedness of the woman’s granddaughters, rather than the nakedness of the woman herself.
[18:17] 2 tc Heb “they are her flesh.” The LXX reads “your” here (followed by NRSV). If the LXX reading were followed by the present translation, the result would be “They are closely related to you.”
[18:17] 3 tn The term rendered “lewdness” almost always carries a connotation of cunning, evil device, and divisiveness (cf. HALOT 272 s.v. I זִמָּה 2, “infamy”), and is closely associated with sexual and religious infidelity (cf., e.g., Lev 19:29; 20:14; Job 31:11; Jer 13:27; Ezek 16:27; 22:9). Recent English versions differ on how they handle this: NAB “would be shameful”; CEV “would make you unclean”; NIV “wickedness”; NLT “horrible wickedness”; NRSV “depravity”; TEV “incest.”
[18:18] 1 tn Or “as a concubine”; Heb “And a woman to her sister you shall not take to be a second wife [or “to be a concubine”].” According to HALOT 1059 s.v. III צרר, the infinitive “to be a second wife” (לִצְרֹר, litsror) is a denominative verb from II צָרָה A (“concubine; second wife”), which, in turn, derives from II צר “to treat with hostility” (cf. J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 283, and B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 122).
[18:18] 2 tn Heb “on her in her life.”
[18:19] 1 tn Heb “in the menstruation of her impurity”; NIV “during the uncleanness of her monthly period.”
[18:20] 1 tn Heb “And to the wife of your fellow citizen you shall not give your layer for seed.” The meaning of “your layer” (שְׁכָבְתְּךָ, shÿkhavtÿkha) is uncertain (see B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 122, “you shall not place your layer of semen”; but cf. also J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 283, and the literature cited there for the rendering, “you shall not give your penis for seed”).
[18:21] 1 tn Heb “And from your seed you shall not give to cause to pass over to Molech.” Smr (cf. also the LXX) has “to cause to serve” rather than “to cause to pass over.” For detailed remarks on Molech and Molech worship see N. H. Snaith, Leviticus and Numbers (NCBC), 87-88; P. J. Budd, Leviticus (NCBC), 259-60; and J. E. Hartley, Leviticus (WBC), 333-37, and the literature cited there. It could refer to either human sacrifice or a devotion of children to some sort of service of Molech, perhaps of a sexual sort (cf. Lev 20:2-5; 2 Kgs 23:10, etc.). The inclusion of this prohibition against Molech worship here may be due to some sexual connection of this kind, or perhaps simply to the lexical link between זֶרַע (zera’) meaning “seed, semen” in v. 20 but “offspring” in v. 21.
[18:21] 2 tn Heb “and you shall not profane.” Regarding “profane,” see the note on Lev 10:10 above.
[18:22] 1 tn Heb “And with a male you shall not lay [as the] lyings of a woman” (see B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 123). The specific reference here is to homosexual intercourse between males.
[18:22] 2 tn The Hebrew term תּוֹעֵבָה (to’evah, rendered “detestable act”) refers to the repugnant practices of foreigners, whether from the viewpoint of other peoples toward the Hebrews (e.g., Gen 43:32; 46:34; Exod 8:26) or of the
[18:23] 1 tn See the note on v. 20 above.
[18:23] 2 tn Heb “to copulate with it” (cf. Lev 20:16).
[18:23] 3 tn The Hebrew term תֶּבֶל (tevel, “perversion”) derives from the verb “to mix; to confuse” and therefore refers to illegitimate mixtures of species or violation of the natural order of things.
[18:24] 1 tn Heb “which I am sending away (Piel participle of שָׁלַח [shalakh, “to send”]) from your faces.” The rendering here takes the participle as anticipatory of the coming conquest events.
[18:25] 1 tn Heb “And.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) can be considered to have resultative or even inferential force here.
[18:25] 2 tn Heb “and I have visited its [punishment for] iniquity on it.” See the note on Lev 17:16 above.
[18:26] 1 tn Heb “And you shall keep, you.” The latter emphatic personal pronoun “you” is left out of a few medieval Hebrew
[18:26] 2 tn Heb “the native and the sojourner”; NIV “The native-born and the aliens”; NAB “whether natives or resident aliens.”
[18:27] 1 tn Heb “for all these abominations the men of the land who were before you have done.”
[18:28] 1 tn Heb “And the land will not vomit you out in your defiling it.”
[18:28] 2 tc The MT reads the singular “nation” and is followed by ASV, NASB, NRSV; the LXX, Syriac, and Targum have the plural “nations” (cf. v. 24).
[18:29] 1 sn Regarding the “cut off” penalty see the note on Lev 7:20.
[18:30] 1 tn Heb “to not do from the statutes of the detestable acts.”
[18:30] 2 tn Heb “and you will not.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) can be considered to have resultative force here.
[19:3] 1 tn Heb “A man his mother and his father you [plural] shall fear.” The LXX, Syriac, Vulgate, and certain Targum
[19:4] 1 sn Regarding the difficult etymology and meaning of the term for “idols” (אֱלִילִים, ’elilim), see B. A. Levine, Leviticus (JPSTC), 126; J. E. Hartley, Leviticus (WBC), 304; N. H. Snaith, Leviticus and Numbers (NBC), 89; and Judith M. Hadley, NIDOTTE 1:411. It appears to be a diminutive play on words with אֵל (’el, “god; God”) and, perhaps at the same time, recalls a common Semitic word for “worthless; weak; powerless; nothingness.” Snaith suggests a rendering of “worthless godlings.”
[19:5] 1 tn Heb “for your acceptance”; cf. NIV, NLT “it will be accepted on your behalf.”
[19:6] 1 tn Heb “from the following day” (HALOT 572 s.v. מָחֳרָת 2.b).
[19:6] 2 tn Heb “shall be burned with fire”; KJV “shall be burnt in the fire.” Because “to burn with fire” is redundant in contemporary English the present translation simply has “must be burned up.”
[19:7] 1 tn Heb “And if being eaten [infinitive absolute] it is eaten [finite verb].” For the infinitive absolute used to highlight contrast rather than emphasis see GKC 343 §113.p.
[19:7] 2 tn Or “desecrated,” or “defiled,” or “forbidden.” For this difficult term see J. Milgrom, Leviticus (AB), 1:422, on Lev 7:18.
[19:8] 1 tn See the note on Lev 17:16 above.
[19:8] 2 sn Regarding “profaned,” see the note on Lev 10:10 above.
[19:8] 3 tn Heb “the holiness of the
[19:8] 4 sn On the “cut off” penalty see the note on Lev 7:20.
[19:9] 1 tn Heb “And in your harvesting the harvest.”
[19:9] 2 tn Heb “you shall not complete the corner of your field to harvest.”
[19:10] 1 tn Heb “And you shall not deal severely with your vineyard.”
[19:11] 1 tn Heb “you shall not deal falsely a man with his fellow citizen.”
[19:12] 1 tn Heb “And you shall not swear to the falsehood.”
[19:12] 2 tn Heb “and you shall not profane”; NAB “thus profaning.”
[19:13] 1 tn Heb “You shall not oppress your neighbor and you shall not rob.”
[19:13] 2 tn Heb “hold back with you”; perhaps “hold back for yourself” (cf. NRSV “keep for yourself”).
[19:14] 1 tn Heb “You shall not curse a deaf [person] and before a blind [person] you shall not put a stumbling block.”
[19:14] 2 tn Heb “And you shall fear.” Many English versions (e.g., KJV, ASV, NAB, NASB, NIV) regard the Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) as adversative in force here (“but”).
[19:15] 1 tc Smr has the singular rather than the plural “you” of the MT, which brings this verb form into line with the ones surrounding it.
[19:15] 2 tn Heb “You shall not do injustice in judgment” (NASB similar); cf. NIV “do not pervert justice.”
[19:15] 3 tn Heb “You shall not lift up faces of poor [people] and you shall not honor faces of great.”
[19:15] 4 tn Heb “In righteousness you shall judge your fellow citizen.”
[19:16] 1 tn The term רָכִיל (rakhil) is traditionally rendered “slanderer” here (so NASB, NIV, NRSV; see also J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 304, 316), but the exact meaning is uncertain (see the discussion in B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 129). It is sometimes related to I רָכַל (“to go about as a trader [or “merchant”]”; BDB 940 s.v. רָכַל), and taken to refer to cutthroat business dealings, but there may be a II רָכַל, the meaning of which is dubious (HALOT 1237 s.v. II *רכל). Some would render it “to go about as a spy.”
[19:16] 2 tn Heb “You shall not stand on the blood of your neighbor.” This part of the verse is also difficult to interpret. The rendering here suggests that one will not allow a neighbor to be victimized, whether in court (cf. v. 15) or in any other situation (see the discussion in B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 129).
[19:17] 1 tn Heb “and you will not lift up on him sin.” The meaning of the line is somewhat obscure. It means either (1) that one should rebuke one’s neighbor when he sins lest one also becomes guilty, which is the way it is rendered here (see NIV, NRSV, NEB, JB; see also B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 129-30, and J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 303, and the discussion on pp. 316-17), or (2) one may rebuke one’s neighbor without incurring sin just as long as he does not hate him in his heart (see the first part of the verse; cf. NASB, NAB).
[19:18] 1 tn Heb “and you shall not retain [anger?].” This line seems to refer to the retaining or maintaining of some vengeful feelings toward someone. Compare the combination of the same terms for taking vengeance and maintaining wrath against enemies in Nahum 1:2 (see J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 305).
[19:18] 2 sn Some scholars make a distinction between the verb אָהַב (’ahav, “to love”) with the direct object and the more unusual construction with the preposition לְ (lamed) as it is here and in Lev 19:34 and 2 Chr 19:2 only. If there is a distinction, the construction here probably calls for direct and helpful action toward one’s neighbor (see the discussion in J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 305, and esp. 317-18). Such love stands in contrast to taking vengeance or bearing a grudge against someone and, in NT terms, amounts to fulfilling the so-called “golden rule” (Matt 7:12).
[19:19] 1 tn Heb “Your animals, you shall not cross-breed two different kinds.”
[19:19] 2 tn Heb “you shall not cause to go up on you.”
[19:19] 3 sn Cf. Deut 22:11 where the Hebrew term translated “two different kinds” (כִּלְאַיִם, kil’ayim) refers to a mixture of linen and wool woven together in a garment.
[19:20] 1 tn Heb “And a man when he lies with a woman the lying of seed.”
[19:20] 2 sn That is, the woman had previously been assigned for marriage to another man but the marriage deal had not yet been consummated. In the meantime, the woman has lost her virginity and has, therefore, lost part of her value to the master in the sale to the man for whom she had been designated. Compensation was, therefore, required (see the explanation in B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 130-31).
[19:21] 1 sn On the guilt offering see the note on Lev 5:15 above.
[19:22] 1 tn Heb “on his sin which he has sinned.”
[19:22] 2 tn Heb “there shall be forgiveness to him” or “it shall be forgiven to him.”
[19:22] 3 tn Heb “from his sin.”
[19:23] 1 tn Heb “tree of food”; KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV “trees for food.”
[19:23] 2 tn Heb “you shall circumcise its fruit [as] its foreskin,” taking the fruit to be that which is to be removed and, therefore, forbidden. Since the fruit is uncircumcised it is forbidden (see J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 306, and esp. B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 131-32).
[19:23] 3 tn Heb “it shall be to you uncircumcised.”
[19:24] 1 tn See B. A. Levine, Leviticus (JPSTC), 132, where the translation reads “set aside for jubilation”; a special celebration before the
[19:25] 1 tn Heb “to add to you its produce.” The rendering here assumes that the point of this clause is simply that finally being allowed to eat the fruit in the fifth year adds the fruit of the tree to their harvest. Some take the verb to be from אָסַף (’asaf, “to gather”) rather than יָסַף (yasaf, “to add; to increase”), rendering the verse, “to gather to you the produce” (E. S. Gerstenberger, Leviticus [OTL], 260, and see the versions referenced in J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 306). Others take it to mean that by following the regulations given previously they will honor the
[19:26] 1 tn Heb “You shall not eat on the blood.” See the extensive remarks in J. E. Hartley, Leviticus (WBC), 319-20, and B. A. Levine, Leviticus (JPSTC), 132-33. The LXX has “on the mountains,” suggesting that this is a prohibition against illegitimate places and occasions of worship, not the eating of blood.
[19:26] 2 tn Heb “You shall not practice divination and you shall not practice soothsaying”; cf. NRSV “practice augury or witchcraft.” For suggestions regarding the practices involved see B. A. Levine, Leviticus (JPSTC), 133, and J. E. Hartley, Leviticus (WBC), 320.
[19:27] 1 tc Heb “and you [singular] shall not ruin the corner of your [singular] beard.” Smr, LXX, Syriac, and Tg. Ps.-J. have the plural pronouns (i.e., “you” and “your” plural) rather than the singular of the MT.
[19:28] 1 tn Heb “And slash for the soul you shall not give.” The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “soul, person, life”) can sometimes refer to a “dead person” (cf. Lev 21:1, 5; 22:5). See J. E. Hartley, Leviticus (WBC), 306, 320-21.
[19:28] 2 tn Heb “and a writing of incision you shall not give in you.”
[19:29] 1 tn Heb “to make her practice harlotry.” Some recent English versions regard this as religious or temple prostitution (cf. TEV, CEV).
[19:29] 2 tn Heb “and the land become full of lewdness.” Regarding the term “lewdness,” see the note on Lev 18:17 above.
[19:31] 1 sn The prohibition here concerns those who would seek special knowledge through the spirits of the dead, whether the dead in general or dead relatives in particular (i.e., familiar spirits; see J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 321, and B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 134). Cf. Lev 20:6 below.
[19:33] 1 tn Heb “And when a sojourner sojourns.”
[19:34] 1 tn Heb “and.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) can be considered to have resultative force here.
[19:35] 1 tn That is, liquid capacity (HALOT 640 s.v. מְשׂוּרָה). Cf. ASV, NIV, NRSV, TEV “quantity”; NAB, NASB “capacity.”
[19:36] 1 tn Heb “balances of righteousness,” and so throughout this sentence.
[19:36] 2 sn An ephah is a dry measure which measures about four gallons, or perhaps one third of a bushel, while a hin is a liquid measure of about 3.6 liters (= approximately 1 quart).
[19:37] 1 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).
[20:2] 1 tn Heb “or from the sojourner who sojourns”; NAB “an alien residing in Israel.”
[20:2] 2 tn Heb “his seed” (so KJV, ASV); likewise in vv. 3-4.
[20:2] 3 tn Regarding Molech and Molech worship see the note on Lev 18:21.
[20:2] 4 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).
[20:3] 1 tn Heb “And I, I shall give my faces.”
[20:3] 2 sn On the “cut off” penalty see the notes on Lev 7:20 and 17:4.
[20:3] 3 tn Heb “for the sake of defiling my sanctuary and to profane my holy name.”
[20:4] 1 tn Heb “And if shutting [infinitive absolute] they shut [finite verb].” For the infinitive absolute used to highlight contrast rather than emphasis see GKC 343 §113.p.
[20:4] 2 tn Heb “from that man” (so ASV); NASB “disregard that man.”
[20:5] 1 tn The adjective “spiritual” has been supplied in the translation to clarify that this is not a reference to literal prostitution, but figuratively compares idolatry to prostitution.
[20:5] 2 tn Heb “to commit harlotry after Molech.” The translation employs “worshiping” here for clarity (cf. NAB, NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT). On the “cut off” penalty see the note on Lev 7:20.
[20:6] 1 sn For structure and coherence in Lev 20:6-27 see the note on v. 27 below.
[20:6] 2 tn See the note on the phrase “familiar spirits” in Lev 19:31 above.
[20:6] 3 tn Heb “I will give my faces.”
[20:8] 1 tn Heb “And you shall keep my statutes 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.).
[20:9] 1 sn Compare the regulations in Lev 18:6-23.
[20:9] 2 tn Heb “If a man a man who.”
[20:9] 3 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] 4 tn Heb “his blood [plural] is in him.” Cf. NAB “he has forfeited his life”; TEV “is responsible for his own death.”
[20:10] 1 tn Heb “And a man who.” The syntax here and at the beginning of the following verses elliptically mirrors that of v. 9, which justifies the rendering as a conditional clause.
[20:10] 2 tc The reading of the LXX minuscule
[20:11] 1 sn See the note on Lev 18:7 above.
[20:11] 2 tn See the note on v. 9 above.
[20:12] 1 tn The Hebrew term תֶּבֶל (tevel, “perversion”) derives from the verb “to mix; to confuse” (cf. KJV, ASV “they have wrought confusion”).
[20:13] 1 tn Heb “[as the] lyings of a woman.” The specific reference here is to homosexual intercourse between males.
[20:14] 1 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] 2 tn Regarding “lewdness,” see the note on Lev 18:17 above.
[20:14] 3 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] 1 tn See the note on Lev 18:20 above.
[20:16] 1 tn Heb “to copulate with it” (cf. Lev 20:16).
[20:17] 1 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] 2 tn Regarding the “cut off” penalty, see the note on Lev 7:20.
[20:17] 3 tn See the note on Lev 17:16 above.
[20:18] 1 tn Heb “and the two of them.”
[20:19] 2 tn See the note on Lev 17:16 above.
[20:21] 1 tn Heb “takes.” The verb “to take” in this context means “to engage in sexual intercourse.”
[20:21] 2 sn See the note on Lev 18:7 above.
[20:22] 1 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] 2 tn Heb “and.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) can be considered to have resultative force here.
[20:23] 1 tc One medieval Hebrew
[20:24] 1 tc Here and with the same phrase in v. 26, the LXX adds “all,” resulting in the reading “all the peoples.”
[20:25] 1 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] 2 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] 3 tc The MT has “to defile,” but Smr, LXX, and Syriac have “to uncleanness.”
[20:27] 1 tc Smr, LXX, Syriac, and some Targum
[20:27] 2 tn See the note on the phrase “familiar spirit” in Lev 19:31 above.
[20:27] 3 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.”
[21:1] 1 tn The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “soul, person, life”) can sometimes refer to a “dead person” (cf. Lev 19:28 above and the literature cited there).
[21:1] 2 tn Heb “no one,” but “priest” has been used in the translation to clarify that these restrictions are limited to the priests, not to the Israelites in general (note the introductory formula, “say to the priests, the sons of Aaron”).
[21:1] 3 tc The MT has “in his peoples,” but Smr, LXX, Syriac, Targum, and Tg. Ps.-J. have “in his people,” referring to the Israelites as a whole.
[21:2] 1 tn Heb “except for his flesh, the one near to him.”
[21:4] 1 tn Heb “He shall not defile himself a husband in his peoples, to profane himself.” The meaning of the line is disputed, but it appears to prohibit a priest from burying any relative by marriage (as opposed to the blood relatives of vv. 2-3), including his wife (compare B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 142-43 with J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 343, 348).
[21:5] 1 tn Heb “they”; the referent (priests, see the beginning of v. 1) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[21:5] 2 tn Heb “and in their body they shall not [cut] slash[es]” (cf. Lev 19:28). The context connects these sorts of mutilations with mourning rites (cf. Lev 19:27-28 above).
[21:6] 1 sn Regarding “profane,” see the note on Lev 10:10 above.
[21:6] 2 sn Regarding the Hebrew term for “gifts,” see the note on Lev 1:9 above (cf. also 3:11 and 16 in combination with the word for “food” that follows in the next phrase here).
[21:6] 3 tc Smr and all early versions have the plural adjective “holy” rather than the MT singular noun “holiness.”
[21:7] 1 tn Heb “A wife harlot and profaned they shall not take.” The structure of the verse (e.g., “wife” at the beginning of the two main clauses) suggests that “harlot and profaned” constitutes a hendiadys, meaning “a wife defiled by harlotry” (see the explanation in B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 143, as opposed to that in J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 343, 348; cf. v. 14 below). Cf. NASB “a woman who is profaned by harlotry.”
[21:7] 2 sn For a helpful discussion of divorce in general and as it relates to this passage see B. A. Levine, Leviticus (JPSTC), 143-44.
[21:7] 3 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the priest) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[21:7] 4 tn The pronoun “he” in this clause refers to the priest, not the former husband of the divorced woman.
[21:8] 1 tn The three previous second person references in this verse are all singular, but this reference is plural. By adding “all” this grammatical distinction is preserved in the translation.
[21:9] 1 tn See the note on “burned to death” in 20:14.
[21:10] 1 tn The adjective “high” has been supplied in the translation for clarity, as in many English versions.
[21:10] 2 tn Heb “and he has filled his hand.” For this expression see the note on Lev 8:33.
[21:10] 3 tn Regarding these signs of mourning see the note on Lev 10:6. His head had been anointed (v. 10a) so it must not be unkempt (v. 10b), and his garments were special priestly garments (v. 10a) so he must not tear them (v. 10b). In the translation “garments” has been employed rather than “clothes” to suggest that the special priestly garments are referred to here; cf. NRSV “nor tear his vestments.”
[21:11] 1 tc Although the MT has “persons” (plural), the LXX and Syriac have the singular “person” corresponding to the singular adjectival participle “dead” (cf. also Num 6:6).
[21:12] 1 sn Regarding “profane,” see the note on Lev 10:10 above.
[21:13] 1 tn Heb “And he, a wife in her virginity he shall take.”
[21:14] 1 tn Heb “take.” In context this means “take as wife,” i.e., “marry.”
[21:14] 2 tc The MT has literally, “from his peoples,” but Smr, LXX, Syriac, Targum, and Tg. Ps.-J. have “from his people,” referring to the Israelites as a whole.
[21:15] 1 tc The MT has literally, “in his peoples,” but Smr, LXX, Syriac, Targum, and Tg. Ps.-J. have “in his people,” referring to the Israelites as a whole.
[21:17] 1 tn Heb “to their generations.”
[21:17] 2 tn Heb “who in him is a flaw”; cf. KJV, ASV “any blemish”; NASB, NIV “a defect.” The rendering “physical flaw” is used to refer to any birth defect or physical injury of the kind described in the following verses (cf. the same Hebrew word also in Lev 24:19-20). The same term is used for “flawed” animals, which must not be offered to the
[21:18] 1 tn The particle כִּי (ki) in this context is asseverative, indicating absolutely certainty (GKC 498 §159.ee).
[21:18] 2 tn Lexically, the Hebrew term חָרֻם (kharum) seems to refer to a split nose or perhaps any number of other facial defects (HALOT 354 s.v. II חרם qal; cf. G. J. Wenham, Leviticus [NICOT], 292, n. 7); cf. KJV, ASV “a flat nose”; NASB “a disfigured face.” The NJPS translation is “a limb too short” as a balance to the following term which means “extended, raised,” and apparently refers to “a limb too long” (see the explanation in B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 146).
[21:19] 1 tn Heb “who there is in him a broken leg or a broken arm,” or perhaps “broken foot or broken hand.” The Hebrew term רֶגֶל (regel) is commonly rendered “foot,” but it can also refer to the “leg,” and the Hebrew יָד (yad) is most often translated “hand,” but can also refer to the “[fore]arm” (as opposed to כַּף, kaf, “palm of the hand” or “hand”). See HALOT 386 s.v. יָד and 1184 s.v. רֶגֶל respectively (cf. the NJPS translation). In this context, these terms probably apply to any part of the limb that was broken, including hand and the foot. B. A. Levine (Leviticus [JPSTC], 146) points out that such injuries often did not heal properly in antiquity because they were not properly set and, therefore, remained a “physical flaw” permanently.
[21:20] 1 tn Heb “thin”; cf. NAB “weakly.” This could refer to either an exceptionally small (i.e., dwarfed) man (B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 146) or perhaps one with a “withered limb” (J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 342, 344).
[21:20] 2 tn The term rendered “spot” derives from a root meaning “mixed” or “confused” (cf. NAB “walleyed”). It apparently refers to any kind of marked flaw in the eye that can be seen by others. Smr, Syriac, Tg. Onq., and Tg. Ps.-J. have plural “his eyes.”
[21:20] 3 tn The exact meaning and medical reference of the terms rendered “festering eruption” and “feverish rash” is unknown, but see the translations and remarks in B. A. Levine, Leviticus (JPSTC), 146; J. E. Hartley, Leviticus (WBC), 342, 344, 349-50; and R. K. Harrison, NIDOTTE 1:890 and 2:461.
[21:21] 1 tn Or “shall approach” (see HALOT 670 s.v. נגשׁ).
[21:23] 1 sn See the note on Lev 16:2 for the rendering “veil-canopy.”
[21:23] 2 tn Heb “And.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) can be considered to have resultative force here.
