Leviticus 2:2

2:2 Then he must bring it to the sons of Aaron, the priests, and the priest ¹  must scoop out from there a handful of its choice wheat flour and some of its olive oil in addition to all of its frankincense, and the priest must offer its memorial portion ²  up in smoke on the altar – it is ³  a gift of a soothing aroma to the Lord.

Leviticus 2:9

2:9 Then the priest must take up ⁴  from the grain offering its memorial portion and offer it up in smoke on the altar – it is ⁵  a gift of a soothing aroma to the Lord.

Leviticus 2:16

2:16 Then the priest must offer its memorial portion up in smoke – some of its crushed bits, some of its olive oil, in addition to all of its frankincense – it is ⁶  a gift to the Lord.

Leviticus 6:15

6:15 and the priest ⁷  must take up with his hand some of the choice wheat flour of the grain offering ⁸  and some of its olive oil, and all of the frankincense that is on the grain offering, and he must offer its memorial portion ⁹  up in smoke on the altar ¹⁰  as a soothing aroma to the Lord. ¹¹ 

Numbers 5:26

5:26 Then the priest will take a handful of the grain offering as its memorial portion, burn it on the altar, and afterward make the woman drink the water.

Acts 10:4

10:4 Staring at him and becoming greatly afraid, Cornelius ¹²  replied, ¹³  “What is it, Lord?” The angel ¹⁴  said to him, “Your prayers and your acts of charity ¹⁵  have gone up as a memorial ¹⁶  before God.

Ephesians 5:2

5:2 and live ¹⁷  in love, just as Christ also loved us ¹⁸  and gave himself for us, a sacrificial and fragrant offering ¹⁹  to God.

[2:2]  ¹ tn Heb “and he”; the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity. The syntax is strange here and might suggest that it was the offerer who scooped out a handful of the grain offering for the memorial portion (G. J. Wenham, Leviticus [NICOT], 66), but based on v. 9 below it should be understood that it was the priest who performed this act (see, e.g., NRSV “After taking from it a handful of the choice flour and oil…the priest shall…”; see also J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:177, 181 and J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 30).

[2:2]  ² sn The “memorial portion” (אַזְכָרָה, ’azkharah) was the part of the grain offering that was burnt on the altar (see the previous clause), as opposed to the remainder, which was normally consumed by the priests (v. 3; see the full regulations in Lev 6:14-23[7-16]). It was probably intended to call to mind (i.e., memorialize) before the Lord the reason for the presentation of the particular offering (see the remarks in R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 1:335-39).

[2:2]  ³ tn The words “it is” have been supplied. See the notes on Lev 1:9 and 2:3. There is no text critical problem here, but the syntax suggests the same translation.

[2:9]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew verb הֵרִים (herim, “to take up”; cf. NAB “lift”) is commonly used for setting aside portions of an offering (see, e.g., Lev 4:8-10 and R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 4:335-36). A number of English versions employ the more normal English idiom “take out” here (e.g., NIV, NCV); cf. NRSV “remove.”

[2:9]  ⁵ tn The words “it is” (הוּא, hu’) both here and in vv. 10 and 16 are not in the MT, but are assumed. (cf. vv. 2b and 3b and the notes there).

[2:16]  ⁶ tn See the note on “it is” in 2:9b.

[6:15]  ⁷ tn Heb “and he”; the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity. The “he” refers to the officiating priest. A similar shift between singular and plural occurs in Lev 1:7-9, but see the note on Lev 1:7 and J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 89 for the possibility of textual corruption.

[6:15]  ⁸ tn Heb “shall take up from it with his hand some of the choice wheat flour of the grain offering.”

[6:15]  ⁹ sn See the note on Lev 2:2.

[6:15]  ¹⁰ tc Smr reading, which includes the locative ה (hey, translated “on” the altar), is preferred here. This is the normal construction with the verb “offer up in smoke” in Lev 1-7 (see the note on Lev 1:9).

[6:15]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and he shall offer up in smoke [on] the altar a soothing aroma, its memorial portion, to the Lord.”

[10:4]  ¹² tn Grk “he”; the referent (Cornelius) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:4]  ¹³ tn Grk “said,” but in response to the angel’s address, “replied” is better English style.

[10:4]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “he”; the referent (the angel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:4]  ¹⁵ tn Or “your gifts to the needy.”

[10:4]  ¹⁶ sn The language used in the expression gone up as a memorial before God parallels what one would say of acceptable sacrifices (Ps 141:2; Sir 35:6; 50:16).

[5:2]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “walk.” The NT writers often used the verb “walk” (περιπατέω, peripatew) to refer to ethical conduct (cf. Rom 8:4; Gal 5:16; Col 4:5).

[5:2]  ¹⁸ tc A number of important witnesses have ὑμᾶς (Jumas, “you”; e.g., א* A B P 0159 81 1175 al it co as well as several fathers). Other, equally important witnesses read ἡμᾶς (Jhmas, “us”; Ì⁴⁶ א² D F G Ψ 0278 33 1739 1881 al lat sy). It is possible that ἡμᾶς was accidentally introduced via homoioarcton with the previous word (ἠγάπησεν, hgaphsen). On the other hand, ὑμᾶς may have been motivated by the preceding ὑμῖν (Jumin) in 4:32 and second person verbs in 5:1, 2. Further, the flow of argument seems to require the first person pronoun. A decision is difficult to make, but the first person pronoun has a slightly greater probability of being original.

[5:2]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “an offering and sacrifice to God as a smell of fragrance.” The first expression, προσφορὰν καὶ θυσίαν (prosforan kai qusian), is probably a hendiadys and has been translated such that “sacrificial” modifies “offering.” The second expression, εἰς ὀσμὴν εὐωδίας (ei" osmhn euwdia", “as a smell of fragrance”) has been translated as “a fragrant offering”; see BDAG 728-29 s.v. ὀσμή 2. Putting these two together in a clear fashion in English yields the translation: “a sacrificial and fragrant offering to God.”