Discovery BoxLeviticus 14:10-32
Context14:10 “On the eighth day he 1 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, 2 and one log of olive oil, 3 14:11 and the priest who pronounces him clean will have the man who is being cleansed stand along with these offerings 4 before the Lord at the entrance of the Meeting Tent.
14:12 “The priest is to take one male lamb 5 and present it for a guilt offering 6 along with the log of olive oil and present them as a wave offering before the Lord. 7 14:13 He must then slaughter 8 the male lamb in the place where 9 the sin offering 10 and the burnt offering 11 are slaughtered, 12 in the sanctuary, because, like the sin offering, the guilt offering belongs to the priest; 13 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, 14 on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe 15 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. 16 14:16 Then the priest is to dip his right forefinger into the olive oil 17 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 18 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 19 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 20 and make atonement for the one being cleansed from his impurity. After that he 21 is to slaughter the burnt offering, 14:20 and the priest is to offer 22 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, 23 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, 24 14:22 and two turtledoves or two young pigeons, 25 which are within his means. 26 One will be a sin offering and the other a burnt offering. 27
14:23 “On the eighth day he must bring them for his purification to the priest at the entrance 28 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 29 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, 30 on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe 31 of his right foot. 14:26 The priest will then pour some of the olive oil into his own left hand, 32 14:27 and sprinkle some of the olive oil that is in his left hand with his right forefinger 33 seven times before the Lord. 14:28 Then the priest is to put some of the olive oil that is in his hand 34 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 35 of the priest he is to put 36 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 37 or young pigeons, which are within his means, 38 14:31 a sin offering and the other a burnt offering along with the grain offering. 39 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, 40 who does not have sufficient means for his purification.” 41
[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] 4 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] 5 tn Heb “And the priest shall take the one lamb.”
[14:12] 6 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] 7 tn Heb “wave them [as] a wave offering before the
[14:13] 8 tn Heb “And he shall slaughter.”
[14:13] 9 tn Heb “in the place which.”
[14:13] 10 sn See the note on Lev 4:3 regarding the term “sin offering.”
[14:13] 11 sn See the note on Lev 1:3 regarding the “burnt offering.”
[14:13] 12 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] 13 tn Heb “the guilt offering, it [is] to the
[14:14] 14 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] 15 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] 16 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] 17 tn Heb “his right finger from the oil.”
[14:17] 18 tn Heb “on his hand.”
[14:18] 19 tn Heb “and the remainder in the oil.”
[14:19] 20 tn Heb “do [or “make”] the sin offering.”
[14:19] 21 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] 22 tn Heb “cause to go up.”
[14:21] 23 tn Heb “and his hand does not reach”; NAB, NRSV “and cannot afford so much (afford these NIV).”
[14:21] 24 tn See the notes on v. 10 above.
[14:22] 25 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] 26 tn Heb “which his hand reaches”; NRSV “such as (which NIV) he can afford.”
[14:22] 27 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] 28 tn Heb “to the doorway of”; KJV, ASV “unto the door of.”
[14:24] 29 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] 30 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] 31 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] 32 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] 33 tn Heb “and the priest shall sprinkle with his right finger from the oil which is on his left hand.”
[14:28] 34 tn Heb “on his hand.”
[14:29] 35 tn Heb “on the hand.”
[14:30] 37 tn Heb “the one from the turtledoves.”
[14:30] 38 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] 39 tn Heb “and the one a burnt offering on the grain offering.”
[14:32] 40 tn Heb “This is the law of who in him [is] a diseased infection.”
[14:32] 41 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.”
