Leviticus 16:3

Day of Atonement Offerings

16:3 “In this way Aaron is to enter into the sanctuary – with a young bull ¹  for a sin offering ²  and a ram for a burnt offering. ³ 

Leviticus 21:11

21:11 He must not go where there is any dead person; ⁴  he must not defile himself even for his father and his mother.

Leviticus 14:36

14:36 Then the priest will command that the house be cleared ⁵  before the priest enters to examine the infection ⁶  so that everything in the house ⁷  does not become unclean, ⁸  and afterward ⁹  the priest will enter to examine the house.

Leviticus 14:48

14:48 “If, however, the priest enters ¹⁰  and examines it, and the ¹¹  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.

Leviticus 16:2

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 ¹²  in front of the atonement plate ¹³  that is on the ark so that he may not die, for I will appear in the cloud over the atonement plate.

Leviticus 21:23

21:23 but he must not go into the veil-canopy ¹⁴  or step forward to the altar because he has a physical flaw. Thus ¹⁵  he must not profane my holy places, for I am the Lord who sanctifies them.’”

[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.

[21:11]  ⁴ 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).

[14:36]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ tn Heb “to see the infection”; KJV “to see the plague”; NASB “to look at the mark (mildew NCV).”

[14:36]  ⁹ tn Heb “all which [is] in the house.”

[14:36]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and after thus.”

[14:48]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and behold” (so KJV, ASV); NASB “and the mark has not indeed spread.”

[16:2]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ 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 Lord would “appear in the cloud over the atonement plate,” and since it was so closely associated with the ark of the covenant (the ark being his “footstool”; cf. 1 Chr 28:2 and Ps 132:7-8), one could take it to be the place of his throne at which he accepts atonement. See J. Milgrom, Leviticus (AB), 1:1014; J. E. Hartley, Leviticus (WBC), 234-35; and R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 2:691, 699. Cf. NIV “the atonement cover”; NCV “the lid on the Ark”; NLT “the Ark’s cover – the place of atonement.”

[21:23]  ¹⁶ sn See the note on Lev 16:2 for the rendering “veil-canopy.”

[21:23]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “And.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) can be considered to have resultative force here.