Proverbs 18:7

18:7 The mouth of a fool is his ruin,

and his lips are a snare for his life. ¹ 

Leviticus 5:15

5:15 “When a person commits a trespass ²  and sins by straying unintentionally ³  from the regulations about the Lord’s holy things, ⁴  then he must bring his penalty for guilt ⁵  to the Lord, a flawless ram from the flock, convertible into silver shekels according to the standard of the sanctuary shekel, ⁶  for a guilt offering. ⁷ 

Leviticus 22:10-15

22:10 “‘No lay person ⁸  may eat anything holy. Neither a priest’s lodger ⁹  nor a hired laborer may eat anything holy, 22:11 but if a priest buys a person with his own money, ¹⁰  that person ¹¹  may eat the holy offerings, ¹²  and those born in the priest’s ¹³  own house may eat his food. ¹⁴  22:12 If a priest’s daughter marries a lay person, ¹⁵  she may not eat the holy contribution offerings, ¹⁶  22:13 but if a priest’s daughter is a widow or divorced, and she has no children so that she returns to live in ¹⁷  her father’s house as in her youth, ¹⁸  she may eat from her father’s food, but no lay person may eat it.

22:14 “‘If a man eats a holy offering by mistake, ¹⁹  he must add one fifth to it and give the holy offering to the priest. ²⁰  22:15 They ²¹  must not profane the holy offerings which the Israelites contribute ²²  to the Lord, ²³ 

Leviticus 27:30

Redemption of the Tithe

27:30 “‘Any tithe ²⁴  of the land, from the grain of the land or from the fruit of the trees, belongs to the Lord; it is holy to the Lord.

Malachi 3:8-10

3:8 Can a person rob ²⁵  God? You indeed are robbing me, but you say, ‘How are we robbing you?’ In tithes and contributions! ²⁶  3:9 You are bound for judgment ²⁷  because you are robbing me – this whole nation is guilty. ²⁸ 

3:10 “Bring the entire tithe into the storehouse ²⁹  so that there may be food in my temple. Test me in this matter,” says the Lord who rules over all, “to see if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until there is no room for it all.

[18:7]  ¹ tn Heb “his soul” (so KJV, NASB, NIV).

[5:15]  ² tn Heb “trespasses a trespass” (verb and direct object from the same Hebrew root, מַעַל, ma’al); cf. NIV “commits a violation.” The word refers to some kind of overstepping of the boundary between that which is common (i.e., available for common use by common people) and that which is holy (i.e., to be used only for holy purposes because it has been consecrated to the Lord, see further below). See the note on Lev 10:10.

[5:15]  ³ tn See Lev 4:2 above for a note on “straying.”

[5:15]  ⁴ sn Heb “from the holy things of the Lord.” The Hebrew expression here has the same structure as Lev 4:2, “from any of the commandments of the Lord.” The latter introduces the sin offering regulations and the former the guilt offering regulations. The sin offering deals with violations of “any of the commandments,” whereas the guilt offering focuses specifically on violations of regulations regarding “holy things” (i.e., things that have been consecrated to the Lord; see the full discussion in J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:320-27).

[5:15]  ⁵ tn Here the word for “guilt” (אָשָׁם, ’asham) refers to the “penalty” for incurring guilt, the so-called consequential use of אָשָׁם (’asham; see J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:303).

[5:15]  ⁶ tn Heb “in your valuation, silver of shekels, in the shekel of the sanctuary.” The translation offered here suggests that, instead of a ram, the guilt offering could be presented in the form of money (see, e.g., NRSV; J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:326-27). Others still maintain the view that it refers to the value of the ram that was offered (see, e.g., NIV “of the proper value in silver, according to the sanctuary shekel”; also NAB, NLT; J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 72-73, 81).

[5:15]  ⁷ tn The word for “guilt offering” (sometimes translated “reparation offering”) is the same as “guilt” earlier in the verse (rendered there “[penalty for] guilt”). One can tell which is intended only by the context.

[22:10]  ⁸ tn Heb “No stranger” (so KJV, ASV), which refers here to anyone other than the Aaronic priests. Some English versions reverse the negation and state positively: NIV “No one outside a priest’s family”; NRSV “Only a member of a priestly family”; CEV “Only you priests and your families.”

[22:10]  ⁹ tn Heb “A resident [תּוֹשָׁב (toshav) from יָשַׁב (yashav, “to dwell, to reside”)] of a priest.” The meaning of the term is uncertain. It could refer to a “guest” (NIV) or perhaps “bound servant” (NRSV; see B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 149). In the translation “lodger” was used instead of “boarder” precisely because a boarder would be provided meals with his lodging, the very issue at stake here.

[22:11]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and a priest, if he buys a person, the property of his silver.”

[22:11]  ¹¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the person whom the priest has purchased) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[22:11]  ¹² tn Heb “eat it”; the referent (the holy offerings) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[22:11]  ¹³ tn Heb “his”; the referent (the priest) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[22:11]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and the [slave] born of his house, they shall eat in his food.” The LXX, Syriac, Tg. Onq., Tg. Ps.-J., and some mss of Smr have plural “ones born,” which matches the following plural “they” pronoun and the plural form of the verb.

[22:12]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “And a daughter of a priest, if she is to a man, a stranger” (cf. the note on v. 10 above).

[22:12]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “she in the contribution of the holy offerings shall not eat.” For “contribution [offering]” see the note on Lev 7:14 and the literature cited there. Cf. NCV “the holy offerings”; TEV, NLT “the sacred offerings.”

[22:13]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “to”; the words “live in” have been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[22:13]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and seed there is not to her and she returns to the house of her father as her youth.” The mention of having “no children” appears to imply that her children, if she had any, should support her; this is made explicit by NLT’s “and has no children to support her.”

[22:14]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “And a man, if he eats a holy thing in error” (see the Lev 4:2 not on “straying,” which is the term rendered “by mistake” here).

[22:14]  ²⁰ sn When a person trespassed in regard to something sacred to the Lord, reparation was to be made for the trespass, involving restitution of that which was violated plus one fifth of its value as a fine. It is possible that the restoration of the offering and the additional one fifth of its value were made as a monetary payment (see, e.g., B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 150). See the regulations for the “guilt offering” in Lev 5:16; 6:5 [5:24 HT] and the notes there.

[22:15]  ²¹ tn Contextually, “They” could refer either to the people (v. 14a; cf. NRSV “No one”) or the priests (v. 14b; cf. NIV “The priests”), but the latter seems more likely (see J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 356, and B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 150). The priests were responsible to see that the portions of the offerings that were to be consumed by the priests as prebends did not become accessible to the people. Mistakes in this matter (cf. v. 14) would bring “guilt” on the people, requiring punishment (v. 16).

[22:15]  ²² tn The Hebrew verb הֵרִים (herim, rendered “contribute” here) 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).

[22:15]  ²³ tn Heb “the holy offerings of the sons of Israel which they contribute to the Lord.” The subject “they” here refers to the Israelites (“the sons of Israel”) which is the most immediate antecedent. To make this clear, the present translation has “the holy offerings which the Israelites contribute to the Lord.”

[27:30]  ²⁴ tn On the “tithe” system in Israel, see R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 2:1035-55 and esp. pp. 1041-42 on Lev 27:30-33.

[3:8]  ²⁵ tc The LXX presupposes an underlying Hebrew text of עָקַב (’aqav, “deceive”), a metathesis of קָבַע (qava’, “rob”), in all four uses of the verb here (vv. 8-9). The intent probably is to soften the impact of “robbing” God, but the language of the passage is intentionally bold and there is no reason to go against the reading of the MT (which is followed here by most English versions).

[3:8]  ²⁶ sn The tithes and contributions mentioned here are probably those used to sustain the Levites (see Num 18:8, 11, 19, 21-24).

[3:9]  ²⁷ tn Heb “cursed with a curse” that is, “under a curse” (so NIV, NLT, CEV).

[3:9]  ²⁸ tn The phrase “is guilty” is not present in the Hebrew text but is implied, and has been supplied in the translation for clarification and stylistic reasons.

[3:10]  ²⁹ tn The Hebrew phrase בֵּית הָאוֹצָר (bet ha’otsar, here translated “storehouse”) refers to a kind of temple warehouse described more fully in Nehemiah (where the term לִשְׁכָּה גְדוֹלָה [lishkah gÿdolah, “great chamber”] is used) as a place for storing grain, frankincense, temple vessels, wine, and oil (Neh 13:5). Cf. TEV “to the Temple.”