Leviticus 8:35

8:35 You must reside at the entrance of the Meeting Tent day and night for seven days and keep the charge of the Lord so that you will not die, for this is what I have been commanded.”

Leviticus 12:2

12:2 “Tell the Israelites, ‘When a woman produces offspring ¹  and bears a male child, ²  she will be unclean seven days, as she is unclean during the days of her menstruation. ³ 

Leviticus 13:4-5

A Bright Spot on the Skin

13:4 “If ⁴  it is a white bright spot on the skin of his body, but it does not appear to be deeper than the skin, ⁵  and the hair has not turned white, then the priest is to quarantine the person with the infection for seven days. ⁶  13:5 The priest must then examine it on the seventh day, and if, ⁷  as far as he can see, the infection has stayed the same ⁸  and has not spread on the skin, ⁹  then the priest is to quarantine the person for another seven days. ¹⁰ 

Leviticus 13:21

13:21 If, however, ¹¹  the priest examines it, and ¹²  there is no white hair in it, it is not deeper than the skin, and it has faded, then the priest is to quarantine him for seven days. ¹³ 

Leviticus 13:26

13:26 If, however, ¹⁴  the priest examines it and ¹⁵  there is no white hair in the bright spot, it is not deeper than the skin, ¹⁶  and it has faded, then the priest is to quarantine him for seven days. ¹⁷ 

Leviticus 13:31

13:31 But if the priest examines the scall infection and it does not appear to be deeper than the skin, ¹⁸  and there is no black hair in it, then the priest is to quarantine the person with the scall infection for seven days. ¹⁹ 

Leviticus 14:7-8

14:7 and sprinkle it seven times on the one being cleansed ²⁰  from the disease, pronounce him clean, ²¹  and send the live bird away over the open countryside. ²² 

The Seven Days of Purification

14:8 “The one being cleansed ²³  must then wash his clothes, shave off all his hair, and bathe in water, and so be clean. ²⁴  Then afterward he may enter the camp, but he must live outside his tent seven days.

Leviticus 14:51

14:51 He must then take the piece of cedar wood, the twigs of hyssop, the scrap of crimson fabric, and the live bird, and dip them in the blood of the slaughtered bird and in the fresh water, and sprinkle the house seven times.

Leviticus 15:13

Purity Regulations for Male Bodily Discharges

15:13 “‘When the man with the discharge becomes clean from his discharge he is to count off for himself seven days for his purification, and he must wash his clothes, bathe in fresh water, ²⁵  and be clean.

Leviticus 15:19

Female Bodily Discharges

15:19 “‘When a woman has a discharge ²⁶  and her discharge is blood from her body, ²⁷  she is to be in her menstruation ²⁸  seven days, and anyone who touches her will be unclean until evening.

Leviticus 16:14

16:14 Then he is to take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the eastern face of the atonement plate, ²⁹  and in front of the atonement plate he is to sprinkle some of the blood seven times with his finger. ³⁰ 

Leviticus 22:27

22:27 “When an ox, lamb, or goat is born, it must be under the care of ³¹  its mother seven days, but from the eighth day onward it will be acceptable as an offering gift ³²  to the Lord.

Leviticus 23:8

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.’”

Leviticus 23:40

23:40 On the first day you must take for yourselves branches from majestic trees ³³  – palm branches, branches of leafy trees, and willows of the brook – and you must rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days.

[12:2]  ¹ tn Heb “produces seed” (Hiphil of זָרַע, zara’; used only elsewhere in Gen 1:11-12 for plants “producing” their own “seed”), referring to the process of childbearing as a whole, from conception to the time of birth (H. D. Preuss, TDOT 4:144; cf. J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 164-65; and J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:742-43). Smr and LXX have Niphal “be impregnated” (see, e.g., Num 5:28); note KJV “If a woman have conceived seed” (cf. ASV, NAB, NRSV; also NIV, NLT “becomes pregnant”).

[12:2]  ² sn The regulations for the “male child” in vv. 2-4 contrast with those for the “female child” in v. 5 (see the note there).

[12:2]  ³ tn Heb “as the days of the menstrual flow [nom.] of her menstruating [q. inf.] she shall be unclean” (R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 1:925-26; the verb appears only in this verse in the OT). Cf. NASB “as in the days of her menstruation”; NLT “during her menstrual period”; NIV “during her monthly period.”

[13:4]  ¹ tn Heb “and if.”

[13:4]  ² tn Heb “and deep is not its appearance from the skin”; cf. NAB “does not seem to have penetrated below the skin.”

[13:4]  ³ tn Heb “and the priest will shut up the infection seven days.”

[13:5]  ¹ tn Heb “and behold” (so KJV, ASV).

[13:5]  ² tn Heb “the infection has stood in his eyes”; ASV “if in his eyes the plague be at a stay.”

[13:5]  ³ tn Although there is no expressed “and” at the beginning of this clause, there is in the corresponding clause of v. 6, so it should be assumed here as well.

[13:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “a second seven days.”

[13:21]  ¹ tn Heb “and if.”

[13:21]  ² tn Heb “and behold” (so KJV, ASV, NASB).

[13:21]  ³ tn Heb “and the priest will shut him up seven days.”

[13:26]  ¹ tn Heb “and if.”

[13:26]  ² tn Heb “and behold” (so KJV, ASV); NASB “and indeed.”

[13:26]  ³ tn Heb “and low it is not ‘from’ (comparative מִן, min, “lower than”) the skin.” See the note on v. 20 above. Cf. TEV “not deeper than the surrounding skin.”

[13:26]  ⁴ tn Heb “and the priest will shut him up seven days.”

[13:31]  ¹ tn Heb “and behold there is not its appearance deep ‘from’ (comparative מִן, min, meaning “deeper than”) the skin.”

[13:31]  ² tn Heb “and the priest will shut up the infection of the scall seven days.”

[14:7]  ¹ tn Heb “the one cleansing himself” (i.e., Hitpael participle of טָהֵר [taher, “to be clean”]).

[14:7]  ² tn Heb “and he shall make him clean.” The verb is the Piel of טָהֵר (taher, “to be clean”), here used as a so-called “declarative” Piel (i.e., “to declare clean”; cf. 13:6, etc.).

[14:7]  ³ sn The reddish color of cedar wood and the crimson colored fabric called for in v. 4 (see the note there, esp. the association with the color of blood) as well as the priestly commands to bring “two live” birds (v. 4a), to slaughter one of them “over fresh water” (literally “living water,” v. 5b), and the subsequent ritual with the (second) “live” bird (vv. 6-7) combine to communicate the concept of “life” and “being alive” in this passage. This contrasts with the fear of death associated with the serious skin diseases in view here (see, e.g., Aaron’s description of Miriam’s skin disease in Num 12:12, “Do not let her be like the dead one when it goes out from its mother’s womb and its flesh half eaten away”). Since the slaughtered bird here is not sacrificed at the altar and is not designated as an expiatory “sin offering,” this ritual procedure probably symbolizes the renewed life of the diseased person and displays it publicly for all to see. It is preparatory to the expiatory rituals that will follow (vv. 10-20, esp. vv. 18-20), but is not itself expiatory. Thus, although there are important similarities between the bird ritual here, the scapegoat on the Day of Atonement (Lev 16:20-22), and the red heifer for cleansing from corpse contamination (Num 19), this bird ritual is different in that the latter two constitute “sin offerings” (Lev 16:5, 8-10; Num 19:9, 17). Neither of the birds in Lev 14:4-7 is designated or treated as a “sin offering.” Nevertheless, the very nature of the live bird ritual itself and its obvious similarity to the scapegoat ritual suggests that the patient’s disease has been removed far away so that he or she is free from its effects both personally and communally.

[14:8]  ¹ tn Heb “the one cleansing himself” (i.e., Hitpael participle of טָהֵר [taher, “to be clean”]).

[14:8]  ² tn Heb “and he shall be clean” (so ASV). The end result of the ritual procedures in vv. 4-7 and the washing and shaving in v. 8a is that the formerly diseased person has now officially become clean in the sense that he can reenter the community (see v. 8b; contrast living outside the community as an unclean diseased person, Lev 13:46). There are, however, further cleansing rituals and pronouncements for him to undergo in the tabernacle as outlined in vv. 10-20 (see Qal “be[come] clean” in vv. 9 and 20, Piel “pronounce clean” in v. 11, and Hitpael “the one being cleansed” in vv. 11, 14, 17, 18, and 19). Obviously, in order to enter the tabernacle he must already “be clean” in the sense of having access to the community.

[15:13]  ¹ tn For the expression “fresh water” see the note on Lev 14:5 above.

[15:19]  ¹ tn See the note on Lev 15:2 above.

[15:19]  ² tn Heb “blood shall be her discharge in her flesh.” The term “flesh” here refers euphemistically to the female sexual area (cf. the note on v. 2 above).

[15:19]  ³ tn See the note on Lev 12:2 and R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 1:925-27.

[16:14]  ¹ tn Heb “on the faces of the atonement plate toward the east.” Some have taken this to mean that the ark was stationed just behind the veil-canopy on the eastern side of the most holy place. Thus, the high priest would need to enter and walk toward the west end of the most holy place and then turn eastward in order to face the ark and sprinkle the blood in an eastward direction. The rendering here, however, requires that the ark was stationed on the western end, or perhaps in the middle of the area, so that as the priest entered he was already facing the ark and would sprinkle the blood on the eastern face of the atonement plate, in a westward direction (see, e.g., J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 239 versus J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:1032).

[16:14]  ² sn Presumably in this case the blood was sprinkled seven times on the ground in front of the ark on which the atonement plate was mounted.

[22:27]  ¹ tn The words “the care of” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied. Although many modern English versions render “with its mother” (e.g., NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT), the literal phrase “under its mother” refers to the young animal nursing from its mother. Cf. KJV, ASV “it shall be seven days under the dam,” which would probably be misunderstood.

[22:27]  ² tn Heb “for an offering of a gift.”

[23:40]  ¹ tn Heb “fruit of majestic trees,” but the following terms and verses define what is meant by this expression. For extensive remarks on the celebration of this festival in history and tradition see B. A. Levine, Leviticus (JPSTC), 163; J. E. Hartley, Leviticus (WBC), 389-90; and P. J. Budd, Leviticus (NCBC), 328-29.