Discovery BoxLeviticus 23:1-22
Context23:1 The Lord spoke to Moses: 23:2 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘These are the Lord’s appointed times which you must proclaim as holy assemblies – my appointed times: 1
23:3 “‘Six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there must be a Sabbath of complete rest, 2 a holy assembly. You must not do any work; it is a Sabbath to the Lord in all the places where you live.
23:4 “‘These are the Lord’s appointed times, holy assemblies, which you must proclaim at their appointed time. 23:5 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at twilight, 3 is a Passover offering to the Lord. 23:6 Then on the fifteenth day of the same month 4 will be the festival of unleavened bread to the Lord; seven days you must eat unleavened bread. 23:7 On the first day there will be a holy assembly for you; you must not do any regular work. 5 23:8 You must present a gift to the Lord for seven days, and the seventh day is a holy assembly; you must not do any regular work.’”
23:9 The Lord spoke to Moses: 23:10 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘When you enter the land that I am about to give to you and you gather in its harvest, 6 then you must bring the sheaf of the first portion of your harvest 7 to the priest, 23:11 and he must wave the sheaf before the Lord to be accepted for your benefit 8 – on the day after the Sabbath the priest is to wave it. 9 23:12 On the day you wave the sheaf you must also offer 10 a flawless yearling lamb 11 for a burnt offering to the Lord, 23:13 along with its grain offering, two tenths of an ephah of 12 choice wheat flour 13 mixed with olive oil, as a gift to the Lord, a soothing aroma, 14 and its drink offering, one fourth of a hin of wine. 15 23:14 You must not eat bread, roasted grain, or fresh grain until this very day, 16 until you bring the offering of your God. This is a perpetual statute throughout your generations 17 in all the places where you live.
23:15 “‘You must count for yourselves seven weeks from the day after the Sabbath, from the day you bring the wave offering sheaf; they must be complete weeks. 18 23:16 You must count fifty days – until the day after the seventh Sabbath – and then 19 you must present a new grain offering to the Lord. 23:17 From the places where you live you must bring two loaves of 20 bread for a wave offering; they must be made from two tenths of an ephah of fine wheat flour, baked with yeast, 21 as first fruits to the Lord. 23:18 Along with the loaves of bread, 22 you must also present seven flawless yearling lambs, 23 one young bull, 24 and two rams. 25 They are to be a burnt offering to the Lord along with their grain offering 26 and drink offerings, a gift of a soothing aroma to the Lord. 27 23:19 You must also offer 28 one male goat 29 for a sin offering and two yearling lambs for a peace offering sacrifice, 23:20 and the priest is to wave them – the two lambs 30 – along with the bread of the first fruits, as a wave offering before the Lord; they will be holy to the Lord for the priest.
23:21 “‘On this very day you must proclaim an assembly; it is to be a holy assembly for you. 31 You must not do any regular work. This is a perpetual statute in all the places where you live throughout your generations. 32 23:22 When you gather in the harvest 33 of your land, you must not completely harvest the corner of your field, 34 and you must not gather up the gleanings of your harvest. You must leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the Lord your God.’” 35
[23:2] 1 tn Heb “these are them, my appointed times.”
[23:3] 2 tn This is a superlative expression, emphasizing the full and all inclusive rest of the Sabbath and certain festival times throughout the chapter (see B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 155). Cf. ASV “a sabbath of solemn rest.”
[23:5] 3 tn Heb “between the two evenings,” perhaps designating the time between the setting of the sun and the true darkness of night. Cf. KJV, ASV “at even”; NAB “at the evening twilight.”
[23:6] 4 tn Heb “to this month.”
[23:7] 5 tn Heb “work of service”; KJV “servile work”; NASB “laborious work”; TEV “daily work.”
[23:10] 6 tn Heb “and you harvest its harvest.”
[23:10] 7 tn Heb “the sheaf of the first of your harvest.”
[23:11] 8 tn Heb “for your acceptance.”
[23:11] 9 sn See Lev 7:30 for a note on the “waving” of a “wave offering.”
[23:12] 10 tn Heb “And you shall make in the day of your waving the sheaf.”
[23:12] 11 tn Heb “a flawless lamb, a son of its year”; KJV “of the first year”; NLT “a year-old male lamb.”
[23:13] 12 sn See the note on Lev 5:11.
[23:13] 13 sn See the note on Lev 2:1.
[23:13] 14 sn See the note on Lev 1:9.
[23:13] 15 tn Heb “wine, one fourth of the hin.” A pre-exilic hin is about 3.6 liters (= ca. 1 quart), so one fourth of a hin would be about one cup.
[23:14] 16 tn Heb “until the bone of this day.”
[23:14] 17 tn Heb “for your generations.”
[23:15] 18 tn Heb “seven Sabbaths, they shall be complete.” The disjunctive accent under “Sabbaths” precludes the translation “seven complete Sabbaths” (as NASB, NIV; cf. NAB, NRSV, NLT). The text is somewhat awkward, which may explain why the LXX tradition is confused here, either adding “you shall count” again at the end of the verse, or leaving out “they shall be,” or keeping “they shall be” and adding “to you.”
[23:16] 19 tn Heb “and.” In the translation “then” is supplied to clarify the sequence.
[23:17] 20 tc Smr, LXX, Syriac, Tg. Onq., and Tg. Ps.-J. insert the word חַלּוֹת (khallot, “loaves”; cf. Lev 2:4 and the note there). Even though “loaves” is not explicit in the MT, the number “two” suggests that these are discrete units, not just a measure of flour, so “loaves” should be assumed even in the MT.
[23:17] 21 tn Heb “with leaven.” The noun “leaven” is traditional in English versions (cf. KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV), but “yeast” is more commonly used today.
[23:18] 22 tn Heb “And you shall present on the bread.”
[23:18] 23 tn Heb “seven flawless lambs, sons of a year.”
[23:18] 24 tn Heb “and one bull, a son of a herd.”
[23:18] 25 tc Smr and LXX add “flawless.”
[23:18] 26 tn Heb “and their grain offering.”
[23:18] 27 sn See the note on Lev 1:9.
[23:19] 28 tn Heb “And you shall make.”
[23:19] 29 tn Heb “a he-goat of goats.”
[23:20] 30 tn Smr and LXX have the Hebrew article on “lambs.” The syntax of this verse is difficult. The object of the verb (two lambs) is far removed from the verb itself (shall wave) in the MT, and the preposition עַל (’al, “upon”), rendered “along with” in this verse, is also added to the far removed subject (literally, “upon [the] two lambs”; see B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 159). It is clear, however, that the two lambs and the loaves (along with their associated grain and drink offerings) constituted the “wave offering,” which served as the prebend “for the priest.” Burnt and sin offerings (vv. 18-19a) were not included in this (see Lev 7:11-14, 28-36).
[23:21] 31 tn Heb “And you shall proclaim [an assembly] in the bone of this day; a holy assembly it shall be to you” (see the remarks in B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 160, and the remarks on the LXX rendering in J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 367).
[23:21] 32 tn Heb “for your generations.”
[23:22] 33 tn Heb “And when you harvest the harvest.”
[23:22] 34 tn Heb “you shall not complete the corner of your field in your harvest.”
[23:22] 35 sn Compare Lev 19:9-10.
