Leviticus 13:39

13:39 the priest is to examine them, ¹  and if ²  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. ³ 

Leviticus 14:44

14:44 the priest is to come and examine it, and if ⁴  the infection has spread in the house, it is a malignant disease in the house. It is unclean.

Leviticus 15:23

15:23 If there is something on the bed or on the furniture she sits on, ⁵  when he touches it ⁶  he will be unclean until evening,

Leviticus 17:11

17:11 for the life of every living thing ⁷  is in the blood. ⁸  So I myself have assigned it to you ⁹  on the altar to make atonement for your lives, for the blood makes atonement by means of the life. ¹⁰ 

[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.

[14:44]  ⁴ tn Heb “and behold” (so KJV, ASV); NASB “If he sees that the mark has indeed spread.”

[15:23]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ 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).

[17:11]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² tn Heb “And I myself have given it to you.”

[17:11]  ¹³ 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.