Leviticus 6:14-18

The Grain Offering of the Common Person

6:14 “‘This is the law of the grain offering. The sons of Aaron are to present it ¹  before the Lord in front of the altar, 6:15 and the priest ²  must take up with his hand some of the choice wheat flour of the grain offering ³  and some of its olive oil, and all of the frankincense that is on the grain offering, and he must offer its memorial portion ⁴  up in smoke on the altar ⁵  as a soothing aroma to the Lord. ⁶  6:16 Aaron and his sons are to eat what is left over from it. It must be eaten unleavened in a holy place; they are to eat it in the courtyard of the Meeting Tent. 6:17 It must not be baked with yeast. ⁷  I have given it as their portion from my gifts. It is most holy, ⁸  like the sin offering and the guilt offering. 6:18 Every male among the sons of Aaron may eat it. It is a perpetual allotted portion ⁹  throughout your generations ¹⁰  from the gifts of the Lord. Anyone who touches these gifts ¹¹  must be holy.’” ¹² 

[6:14]  ¹ tn Heb “offering it, the sons of Aaron.” The verb is a Hiphil infinitive absolute, which is used here in place of the finite verb as either a jussive (GKC 346 §113.cc, “let the sons of Aaron offer”) or more likely an injunctive in light of the verbs that follow (Joüon 2:430 §123.v, “the sons of Aaron shall/must offer”).

[6:15]  ² 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]  ³ tn Heb “shall take up from it with his hand some of the choice wheat flour of the grain offering.”

[6:15]  ⁴ sn See the note on Lev 2:2.

[6:15]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn Heb “and he shall offer up in smoke [on] the altar a soothing aroma, its memorial portion, to the Lord.”

[6:17]  ⁷ tn Heb “It must not be baked leavened” (cf. Lev 2:11). The noun “leaven” is traditional in English versions (cf. KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV), but “yeast” is more commonly used today.

[6:17]  ⁸ tn Heb “holiness of holinesses [or holy of holies] it is”; cf. NAB “most sacred.”

[6:18]  ⁹ tn Or “a perpetual regulation”; cf. NASB “a permanent ordinance”; NRSV “as their perpetual due.”

[6:18]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “for your generations”; cf. NIV “for the generations to come.”

[6:18]  ¹¹ tn Heb “touches them”; the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity. In this context “them” must refer to the “gifts” of the Lord.

[6:18]  ¹² tn Or “anyone/anything that touches them shall become holy” (J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:443-56). The question is whether this refers to the contagious nature of holy objects (cf. NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT) or whether it simply sets forth a demand that anyone who touches the holy gifts of the Lord must be a holy person (cf. CEV). See R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 2:900-902.