Leviticus 6:20-30

6:20 “This is the offering of Aaron and his sons which they must present to the Lord on the day when he is anointed: a tenth of an ephah ¹  of choice wheat flour ²  as a continual grain offering, half of it in the morning and half of it in the evening. 6:21 It must be made with olive oil on a griddle and you must bring it well soaked, ³  so you must present a grain offering of broken pieces ⁴  as a soothing aroma to the Lord. 6:22 The high priest who succeeds him ⁵  from among his sons must do it. It is a perpetual statute; it must be offered up in smoke as a whole offering to the Lord. 6:23 Every grain offering of a priest must be a whole offering; it must not be eaten.”

The Sin Offering

6:24 Then the Lord spoke to Moses: ⁶  6:25 “Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is the law of the sin offering. In the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered the sin offering must be slaughtered before the Lord. It is most holy. ⁷  6:26 The priest who offers it for sin is to eat it. It must be eaten in a holy place, in the court of the Meeting Tent. 6:27 Anyone who touches its meat must be holy, and whoever spatters some of its blood on a garment, ⁸  you must wash ⁹  whatever he spatters it on in a holy place. 6:28 Any clay vessel it is boiled in must be broken, and if it was boiled in a bronze vessel, then that vessel ¹⁰  must be rubbed out and rinsed in water. 6:29 Any male among the priests may eat it. It is most holy. ¹¹  6:30 But any sin offering from which some of its blood is brought into the Meeting Tent to make atonement in the sanctuary must not be eaten. It must be burned up in the fire. ¹² 

[6:20]  ¹ sn A tenth of an ephah is about 2.3 liters, one day’s ration for a single person (J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:306).

[6:20]  ² tn For the rendering “choice wheat flour” see the note on Lev 2:1.

[6:21]  ³ tn The term rendered here “well soaked” (see, e.g., NRSV; the Hebrew term is מֻרְבֶּכֶת, murbbekhet) occurs only three times (here; 7:12, and 1 Chr 23:29), and is sometimes translated “well-mixed” (e.g., NIV, NCV, NLT; NASB “well stirred”; NAB “well kneaded”). The meaning is uncertain (J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:399-400), but in Lev 7:12 it stands parallel to already prepared grain offerings either “mixed” (the Hebrew term is בְּלוּלֹת (bÿlulot), not מֻרְבֶּכֶת as in Lev 6:21 [6:14 HT]) or anointed with oil.

[6:21]  ⁴ tn Heb “broken bits [?] of a grain offering of pieces,” but the meaning of the Hebrew term rendered here “broken bits” (תֻּפִינֵי, tufiney) is quite uncertain. Some take it from the Hebrew verb “to break up, to crumble” (פַּת [pat]; e.g., the Syriac, NAB, NIV, NLT “broken” pieces) and others from “to bake” (אָפַה, ’afah; e.g., NRSV “baked pieces”). For a good summary of other proposed options, see J. E. Hartley, Leviticus (WBC), 90. Compare Lev 2:5-6 for the general regulations regarding this manner of grain offering. Similar but less problematic terminology is used there.

[6:22]  ⁵ tn Heb “And the anointed priest under him.”

[6:24]  ⁶ sn See the note on Lev 6:8 [6:1 HT].

[6:25]  ⁷ tn Heb “holiness of holinesses [or holy of holies] it is.” Cf. NAB “most sacred”; CEV “very sacred”; TEV “very holy.”

[6:27]  ⁸ tn Heb “on the garment”; NCV “on any clothes”; CEV “on the clothes of the priest.”

[6:27]  ⁹ tc The translation “you must wash” is based on the MT as it stands (cf. NASB, NIV). Smr, LXX, Syriac, Tg. Ps.-J., and the Vulgate have a third person masculine singular passive form (Pual), “[the garment] must be washed” (cf. NAB, NRSV, NLT). This could also be supported from the verbs in the following verse, and it requires only a repointing of the Hebrew text with no change in consonants. See the remarks in J. E. Hartley, Leviticus (WBC), 90 and J. Milgrom, Leviticus (AB), 1:404.

[6:28]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “it”; the words “that vessel” are supplied in the translation to clarify the referent.

[6:29]  ¹¹ tn Heb “holiness of holinesses [or holy of holies] it is” (also in 7:1).

[6:30]  ¹² tn Heb “burned with fire,” an expression which is sometimes redundant in English, but here means “burned up,” “burned up entirely.”