Leviticus 14:7

14:7 and sprinkle it seven times on the one being cleansed ¹  from the disease, pronounce him clean, ²  and send the live bird away over the open countryside. ³ 

Leviticus 14:53

14:53 and he is to send the live bird away outside the city ⁴  into the open countryside. So he is to make atonement for the house and it will be clean.

Leviticus 16:10

16:10 but the goat which has been designated by lot for Azazel is to be stood alive ⁵  before the Lord to make atonement on it by sending it away to Azazel into the wilderness. ⁶ 

Leviticus 16:22

16:22 The goat is to bear on itself all their iniquities into an inaccessible land, ⁷  so he is to send the goat away ⁸  in the wilderness.

Leviticus 16:26

16:26 and the one who sent the goat away to Azazel ⁹  must wash his clothes, bathe his body in water, and afterward he may reenter the camp.

Leviticus 18:24

Warning against the Abominations of the Nations

18:24 “‘Do not defile yourselves with any of these things, for the nations which I am about to drive out before you ¹⁰  have been defiled with all these things.

Leviticus 20:23

20:23 You must not walk in the statutes of the nation ¹¹  which I am about to drive out before you, because they have done all these things and I am filled with disgust against them.

Leviticus 26:22

26:22 I will send the wild animals ¹²  against you and they will bereave you of your children, ¹³  annihilate your cattle, and diminish your population ¹⁴  so that your roads will become deserted.

Leviticus 26:25

26:25 I will bring on you an avenging sword, a covenant vengeance. ¹⁵  Although ¹⁶  you will gather together into your cities, I will send pestilence among you and you will be given into enemy hands. ¹⁷ 

[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.

[14:53]  ⁴ tn Heb “to from outside to the city.”

[16:10]  ⁷ tn The LXX has “he shall stand it” (cf. v. 7).

[16:10]  ⁸ tn Heb “to make atonement on it to send it away to Azazel toward the wilderness.”

[16:22]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and he [the man (standing) ready, v. 21] shall send the goat away.”

[16:26]  ¹³ tn For “Azazel” see the note on v. 8 above.

[18:24]  ¹⁶ 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.

[20:23]  ¹⁹ tc One medieval Hebrew ms, Smr, and all the major ancient versions have the plural “nations.” Some English versions retain the singular (e.g., KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV); others have the plural “nations” (e.g., NAB, NIV) and still others translate as “people” (e.g., TEV, NLT).

[26:22]  ²² tn Heb “the animal of the field.” This collective singular has been translated as a plural. The expression “animal of the field” refers to a wild (i.e., nondomesticated) animal.

[26:22]  ²³ tn The words “of your children” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied.

[26:22]  ²⁴ tn Heb “and diminish you.”

[26:25]  ²⁵ tn Heb “vengeance of covenant”; cf. NAB “the avenger of my covenant.”

[26:25]  ²⁶ tn Heb “and.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) has a concessive force in this context.

[26:25]  ²⁷ tn Heb “in hand of enemy,” but Tg. Ps.-J. and Tg. Neof. have “in the hands of your enemies” (J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 454).