Leviticus 21–23

Footnotes

1. 1 The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “soul, person, life”) can sometimes refer to a “dead person” (cf. Lev 19:28 above and the literature cited there).
2. 2 Heb “no one,” but “priest” has been used in the translation to clarify that these restrictions are limited to the priests, not to the Israelites in general (note the introductory formula, “say to the priests, the sons of Aaron”).
3. 3 The has “in his peoples,” but , , , , and . have “in his people,” referring to the Israelites as a whole.
4. 4 Heb “except for his flesh, the one near to him.”
5. 5 Cf. v. 2a.
6. 6 Heb “He shall not defile himself a husband in his peoples, to profane himself.” The meaning of the line is disputed, but it appears to prohibit a priest from burying any relative by marriage (as opposed to the blood relatives of vv. 2–3), including his wife (compare B. A. Levine, Leviticus [], with J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [], , ).
7. 7 Heb “they”; the referent (priests, see the beginning of v. 1) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
8. 8 Heb “and in their body they shall not [cut] slash[es]” (cf. Lev 19:28). The context connects these sorts of mutilations with mourning rites (cf. Lev 19:27–28 above).
9. 9 Regarding “profane,” see the note on above.
10. 10 Regarding the Hebrew term for “gifts,” see the note on above (cf. also 3:11 and 16 in combination with the word for “food” that follows in the next phrase here).
11. 11 and all early versions have the plural adjective “holy” rather than the singular noun “holiness.”
12. 12 Heb “A wife harlot and profaned they shall not take.” The structure of the verse (e.g., “wife” at the beginning of the two main clauses) suggests that “harlot and profaned” constitutes a hendiadys, meaning “a wife defiled by harlotry” (see the explanation in B. A. Levine, Leviticus [], , as opposed to that in J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [], , ; cf. v. 14 below). Cf. “a woman who is profaned by harlotry.”
13. 13 For a helpful discussion of divorce in general and as it relates to this passage see B. A. Levine, Leviticus (), .
14. 14 Heb “he”; the referent (the priest) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
15. 15 The pronoun “he” in this clause refers to the priest, not the former husband of the divorced woman.
16. 16 The three previous second person references in this verse are all singular, but this reference is plural. By adding “all” this grammatical distinction is preserved in the translation.
17. 17 See the note on “burned to death” in .
18. 18 The adjective “high” has been supplied in the translation for clarity, as in many English versions.
19. 19 Heb “and he has filled his hand.” For this expression see the note on .
20. 20 Regarding these signs of mourning see the note on . His head had been anointed (v. 10a) so it must not be unkempt (v. 10b), and his garments were special priestly garments (v. 10a) so he must not tear them (v. 10b). In the translation “garments” has been employed rather than “clothes” to suggest that the special priestly garments are referred to here; cf. “nor tear his vestments.”
21. 21 Although the has “persons” (plural), the and have the singular “person” corresponding to the singular adjectival participle “dead” (cf. also Num 6:6).
22. 22 Regarding “profane,” see the note on above.
23. 23 Heb “And he, a wife in her virginity he shall take.”
24. 24 Heb “take.” In context this means “take as wife,” i.e., “marry.”
25. 25 The has literally, “from his peoples,” but , , , , and . have “from his people,” referring to the Israelites as a whole.
26. 26 The has literally, “in his peoples,” but , , , , and . have “in his people,” referring to the Israelites as a whole.
27. 27 Heb “to their generations.”
28. 28 Heb “who in him is a flaw”; cf. , “any blemish”; , “a defect.” The rendering “physical flaw” is used to refer to any birth defect or physical injury of the kind described in the following verses (cf. the same Hebrew word also in Lev 24:19–20). The same term is used for “flawed” animals, which must not be offered to the Lord in Lev 22:20–25.
29. 29 The particle כִּי (ki) in this context is asseverative, indicating absolutely certainty ( §159.ee).
30. 30 Lexically, the Hebrew term חָרֻם (kharum) seems to refer to a split nose or perhaps any number of other facial defects ( II חרם qal; cf. G. J. Wenham, Leviticus [], , n. 7); cf. , “a flat nose”; “a disfigured face.” The translation is “a limb too short” as a balance to the following term which means “extended, raised,” and apparently refers to “a limb too long” (see the explanation in B. A. Levine, Leviticus [], ).
31. 31 Heb “who there is in him a broken leg or a broken arm,” or perhaps “broken foot or broken hand.” The Hebrew term רֶגֶל (regel) is commonly rendered “foot,” but it can also refer to the “leg,” and the Hebrew יָד (yad) is most often translated “hand,” but can also refer to the “[fore]arm” (as opposed to כַּף, kaf, “palm of the hand” or “hand”). See יָד and רֶגֶל respectively (cf. the translation). In this context, these terms probably apply to any part of the limb that was broken, including hand and the foot. B. A. Levine (Leviticus [], ) points out that such injuries often did not heal properly in antiquity because they were not properly set and, therefore, remained a “physical flaw” permanently.
32. 32 Heb “thin”; cf. “weakly.” This could refer to either an exceptionally small (i.e., dwarfed) man (B. A. Levine, Leviticus [], ) or perhaps one with a “withered limb” (J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [], , ).
33. 33 The term rendered “spot” derives from a root meaning “mixed” or “confused” (cf. “walleyed”). It apparently refers to any kind of marked flaw in the eye that can be seen by others. , , ., and . have plural “his eyes.”
34. 34 The exact meaning and medical reference of the terms rendered “festering eruption” and “feverish rash” is unknown, but see the translations and remarks in B. A. Levine, Leviticus (), ; J. E. Hartley, Leviticus (), , , ; and R. K. Harrison, 1: and 2:.
35. 35 Or “shall approach” (see נגשׁ).
36. 36 See the note on for the rendering “veil-canopy.”
37. 37 Heb “And.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) can be considered to have resultative force here.
38. 38 Heb “And.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) introduces a concluding statement for all the preceding material.
39. 39 The words “these things” are not in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation for clarity.
40. 1 Heb “holy things,” which means the “holy offerings” in this context, as the following verses show. The referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.
41. 2 Heb “from the holy things of the sons of Israel, and they shall not profane my holy name, which they are consecrating to me.” The latter (relative) clause applies to the “the holy things of the sons of Israel” (the first clause), not the Lord’s name (i.e., the immediately preceding clause). The clause order in the translation has been rearranged to indicate this.
42. 3 Heb “To your generations.”
43. 4 The Piel (v. 2) and Hiphil (v. 3) forms of the verb קָדַשׁ (qadash) appear to be interchangeable in this context. Both mean “to consecrate” (Heb “make holy [or “sacred”]”).
44. 5 Heb “and his impurity [is] on him”; “is ceremonially unclean”; , “while he is in a state of uncleanness.”
45. 6 Regarding the “cut off” penalty, see the note on . Cf. the interpretive translation of “he can never again serve at the altar.”
46. 7 Heb “Man man.” The reduplication is a way of saying “any man” (cf. Lev 15:2; 17:3, etc.), but with a negative command it means “No man” (see B. A. Levine, Leviticus [], ).
47. 8 The diseases and discharges mentioned here are those described in Lev 13–15.
48. 9 Heb “And the one.”
49. 10 Heb “in all unclean of a person/soul”; for the Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) meaning “a [dead] person,” see the note on .
50. 11 Heb “or a man who goes out from him a lying of seed.”
51. 12 Heb “which there shall be uncleanness to him.”
52. 13 The Hebrew term for “person” here is אָדָם (adam, “human being”), which could either a male or a female person.
53. 14 Heb “to all his impurity.” The phrase refers to the impurity of the person whom the man touches to become unclean (see the previous clause). To clarify this, the translation uses “that person’s” rather than “his.”
54. 15 The phrase “any of these” refers back to the unclean things touched in vv. 4b–5.
55. 16 Heb “a carcass,” referring to the carcass of an animal that has died on its own, not the carcass of an animal slaughtered for sacrifice or killed by wild beasts. This has been clarified in the translation by supplying the phrase “of natural causes”; cf. “that has died of itself”; “that has died a natural death.”
56. 17 Heb “and they will not lift up on it sin.” The pronoun “it” (masculine) apparently refers to any item of food that belongs to the category of “holy offerings” (see above).
57. 18 Heb “and die in it.”
58. 19 Heb “No stranger” (so , ), which refers here to anyone other than the Aaronic priests. Some English versions reverse the negation and state positively: “No one outside a priest’s family”; “Only a member of a priestly family”; “Only you priests and your families.”
59. 20 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” () or perhaps “bound servant” (; see B. A. Levine, Leviticus [], ). 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.
60. 21 Heb “and a priest, if he buys a person, the property of his silver.”
61. 22 Heb “he”; the referent (the person whom the priest has purchased) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
62. 23 Heb “eat it”; the referent (the holy offerings) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
63. 24 Heb “his”; the referent (the priest) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
64. 25 Heb “and the [slave] born of his house, they shall eat in his food.” The , , ., ., and some of have plural “ones born,” which matches the following plural “they” pronoun and the plural form of the verb.
65. 26 Heb “And a daughter of a priest, if she is to a man, a stranger” (cf. the note on v. above).
66. 27 Heb “she in the contribution of the holy offerings shall not eat.” For “contribution [offering]” see the note on and the literature cited there. Cf. “the holy offerings”; , “the sacred offerings.”
67. 28 Heb “to”; the words “live in” have been supplied in the translation for clarity.
68. 29 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 ’s “and has no children to support her.”
69. 30 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).
70. 31 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 [], ). See the regulations for the “guilt offering” in Lev 5:16; 6:5 [5:24 ] and the there.
71. 32 Contextually, “They” could refer either to the people (v. 14a; cf. “No one”) or the priests (v. 14b; cf. “The priests”), but the latter seems more likely (see J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [], , and B. A. Levine, Leviticus [], ). 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).
72. 33 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, 4:).
73. 34 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.”
74. 35 Heb “iniquity of guilt”; “cause them to bear punishment for guilt.” The Hebrew word עָוֹן (’avon, “iniquity”) can designate either acts of iniquity or the penalty (i.e., punishment) for such acts.
75. 36 That is, when the lay people eat portions of offerings that should have been eaten only by priests and those who belonged to priestly households.
76. 37 Heb “Man, man.” The reduplication is a way of saying “any man” (cf. Lev 15:2; 17:3, etc.; see the distributive repetition of the noun in §123.c).
77. 38 Heb “and from the foreigner [singular] in Israel.” Some medieval Hebrew , , , , and add “who resides” after “foreigner”: “the foreigner who resides in Israel” (cf., e.g., Lev 20:2 above).
78. 39 Heb “for your acceptance.” See Lev 1:3–4 above and the notes there.
79. 40 Heb “all which in it [is] a flaw.” Note that the same term is used for physical flaws of people in Lev 21:17–24. Cf. , , “blemish”; , , “defect”; “with physical defects.”
80. 41 Heb “not for acceptance shall it be for you”; “it will not be accepted on your behalf” ( and both similar).
81. 42 The meaning of the expression לְפַלֵּא־נֶדֶר (léfalle’-neder) rendered here “for a special votive offering” is much debated. Some take it as an expression for fulfilling a vow, “to fulfill a vow” (e.g., פלא piel and ; cf. , “in fulfillment of a vow”) or, alternatively, “to make a vow” or “for making a vow” ( פלא piel [II פלא]). Perhaps it refers to the making a special vow, from the verb פָלַא (pala’, “to be wonderful, to be remarkable”); cf. J. Milgrom, Numbers (), . B. A. Levine, Leviticus (), and , suggests that this is a special term for “setting aside a votive offering” (related to פָלָה [palah, “to set aside”]). In general, the point of the expression seems to be that this sacrifice arises as a special gift to God out of special circumstances in the life of the worshiper.
82. 43 Heb “for acceptance”; “if it is to find acceptance.”
83. 44 Heb “all/any flaw shall not be in it.”
84. 45 Or perhaps “a wart” (cf. ; יַבֶּלֶת, but see the remarks in J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [], ).
85. 46 See the note on above.
86. 47 This term for offering “gift” is explained in the note on .
87. 48 Heb “And an ox.”
88. 49 Heb “and stunted” (see I קלט).
89. 50 The freewill offering was voluntary, so the regulations regarding it were more relaxed. Once a vow was made, the paying of it was not voluntary (see B. A. Levine, Leviticus [], , for very helpful remarks on this verse).
90. 51 Compare Lev 21:20b.
91. 52 Heb “And from the hand of a son of a foreigner.”
92. 53 Heb “for their being ruined [is] in them, flaw is in them”; “are mutilated, with a blemish in them”; “are deformed and have defects.” The term מָשְׁחָתָם (moshkhatam, “their being ruined”) is a Muqtal form (= Hophal participle) from שָׁחַת (shakhat, “to ruin”). has plural בהם משׁחתים (“deformities in them”; cf. the translation). The Qumran Leviticus scroll (11QpaleoLev) has תים הם[…], in which case the restored participle would appear to be the same as , but there is no בְּ (bet) preposition before the pronoun, yielding “they are deformed” (see D. N. Freedman and K. A. Mathews, The Paleo-Hebrew Leviticus Scroll, 41 and the remarks in J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [], ).
93. 54 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., , , , , ), the literal phrase “under its mother” refers to the young animal nursing from its mother. Cf. , “it shall be seven days under the dam,” which would probably be misunderstood.
94. 55 Heb “for an offering of a gift.”
95. 56 Heb “And an ox or a sheep, it and its son, you shall not slaughter.”
96. 57 Heb “in one day.”
97. 58 Heb “for your acceptance” (see the notes on and above).
98. 59 Heb “On that day”; , “that same day.”
99. 60 Heb “from it.”
100. 61 Heb “And you shall keep my commandments and you shall do them.” This appears to be a kind of verbal hendiadys, where the first verb is a modifier of the action of the second verb (see §120.d, although שָׁמַר [shamar, “to keep”] is not cited there; cf. Lev 20:8, etc.).
101. 62 Heb “to be to you for God.”
102. 1 Heb “these are them, my appointed times.” The term מוֹעֵד (mo’ed, rendered “appointed time” here) can refer to either a time or place of meeting. See the note on “tent of meeting” (אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד, ’ohel mo’ed) in .
103. 2 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 [], ). Cf. “a sabbath of solemn rest.”
104. 3 Heb “between the two evenings,” perhaps designating the time between the setting of the sun and the true darkness of night. Cf. , “at even”; “at the evening twilight.” See B. A. Levine, Leviticus (), , for a full discussion of the issues raised in this verse. The rabbinic tradition places the slaughter of Passover offerings between approximately 3:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m., not precisely at twilight. Moreover, the term פֶּסַח (pesakh) may mean “protective offering” rather than “Passover offering,” although they amount to about the same thing in the historical context of the exodus from Egypt (see Exod 11–12).
105. 4 Heb “to this month.”
106. 5 Heb “work of service”; “servile work”; “laborious work”; “daily work.”
107. 6 Heb “and you harvest its harvest.”
108. 7 Heb “the sheaf of the first of your harvest.”
109. 8 Heb “for your acceptance.”
110. 9 See Lev 7:30 for a note on the “waving” of a “wave offering.”
111. 10 Heb “And you shall make in the day of your waving the sheaf.”
112. 11 Heb “a flawless lamb, a son of its year”; “of the first year”; “a year-old male lamb.”
113. 12 See the note on .
114. 13 See the note on .
115. 14 See the note on .
116. 15 Heb “wine, one fourth of the hin.” A pre-exilic hin is about 3.6 liters (= 1 quart), so one fourth of a hin would be about one cup.
117. 16 Heb “until the bone of this day.”
118. 17 Heb “for your generations.”