Leviticus 23–24

Footnotes

1. 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 .
2. 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.”
3. 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).
4. 4 Heb “to this month.”
5. 5 Heb “work of service”; “servile work”; “laborious work”; “daily work.”
6. 6 Heb “and you harvest its harvest.”
7. 7 Heb “the sheaf of the first of your harvest.”
8. 8 Heb “for your acceptance.”
9. 9 See Lev 7:30 for a note on the “waving” of a “wave offering.”
10. 10 Heb “And you shall make in the day of your waving the sheaf.”
11. 11 Heb “a flawless lamb, a son of its year”; “of the first year”; “a year-old male lamb.”
12. 12 See the note on .
13. 13 See the note on .
14. 14 See the note on .
15. 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.
16. 16 Heb “until the bone of this day.”
17. 17 Heb “for your generations.”
18. 18 Heb “seven Sabbaths, they shall be complete.” The disjunctive accent under “Sabbaths” precludes the translation “seven complete Sabbaths” (as , ; cf. , , ). The text is somewhat awkward, which may explain why the tradition is confused here, either adding “you shall count” again at the end of the verse, or leaving out “they shall be,” or keeping “they shall be” and adding “to you.”
19. 19 Heb “and.” In the translation “then” is supplied to clarify the sequence.
20. 20 , , , ., and . insert the word חַלּוֹת (khallot, “loaves”; cf. Lev 2:4 and the there). Even though “loaves” is not explicit in the , the number “two” suggests that these are discrete units, not just a measure of flour, so “loaves” should be assumed even in the .
21. 21 Heb “with leaven.” The noun “leaven” is traditional in English versions (cf. , , , ), but “yeast” is more commonly used today.
22. 22 Heb “And you shall present on the bread.”
23. 23 Heb “seven flawless lambs, sons of a year.”
24. 24 Heb “and one bull, a son of a herd.”
25. 25 and add “flawless.”
26. 26 Heb “and their grain offering.”
27. 27 See the note on .
28. 28 Heb “And you shall make.”
29. 29 Heb “a he-goat of goats.”
30. 30 and have the Hebrew article on “lambs.” The syntax of this verse is difficult. The object of the verb (two lambs) is far removed from the verb itself (shall wave) in the , and the preposition עַל (’al, “upon”), rendered “along with” in this verse, is also added to the far removed subject (literally, “upon [the] two lambs”; see B. A. Levine, Leviticus [], ). It is clear, however, that the two lambs and the loaves (along with their associated grain and drink offerings) constituted the “wave offering,” which served as the prebend “for the priest.” Burnt and sin offerings (vv. 18–19a) were not included in this (see Lev 7:11–14, 28–36).
31. 31 Heb “And you shall proclaim [an assembly] in the bone of this day; a holy assembly it shall be to you” (see the remarks in B. A. Levine, Leviticus [], , and the remarks on the rendering in J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [], ).
32. 32 Heb “for your generations.”
33. 33 Heb “And when you harvest the harvest.”
34. 34 Heb “you shall not complete the corner of your field in your harvest.”
35. 35 Compare Lev 19:9–10.
36. 36 Heb “a memorial of loud blasts.” Although the term for “horn” does not occur here, allowing for the possibility that vocal “shouts” of acclamation are envisioned (see P. J. Budd, Leviticus [], 325), the “blast” of the shofar (a trumpet made from a ram’s “horn”) is most likely what is intended. On this occasion, the loud blasts on the horn announced the coming of the new year on the first day of the seventh month (see the explanations in J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [], , and B. A. Levine, Leviticus [], ).
37. 37 Heb “and.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) can be considered to have adversative force here (cf. , , ).
38. 38 Heb “Surely the tenth day” or perhaps “Precisely the tenth day.” The Hebrew adverbial particle אַךְ (’akh) is left untranslated by most recent English versions; cf. however “On exactly the tenth day.”
39. 39 See the description of this day and its regulations in Lev 16 and the notes there.
40. 40 Heb “you shall humble your souls.” See the note on above.
41. 41 Heb “in the bone of this day.”
42. 42 Heb “on you [plural]”; cf. , “on your behalf.”
43. 43 The particular כִּי (ki) is taken in an asseverative sense here (“Indeed,” see the translation).
44. 44 Heb “it [i.e., that person; literally “soul,” feminine] shall be cut off from its peoples [plural]”; “from the community.”
45. 45 Heb “And any person.”
46. 46 See I אבד hif. Cf. , , , , “destroy”; “wipe out.”
47. 47 Heb “its people” (“its” is feminine to agree with “person,” literally “soul,” which is feminine in Hebrew; cf. v. 29).
48. 48 Heb “for your generations.”
49. 49 Heb “you shall rest your Sabbath.”
50. 50 The rendering “booths” (cf. , , ) is probably better than the traditional “tabernacles” in light of the meaning of the term סֻכָּה (sukkah, “hut, booth”), but “booths” are frequently associated with trade shows and craft fairs in contemporary American English. The nature of the celebration during this feast (see the following verses) as a commemoration of the wanderings of the Israelites after they left Egypt suggests that a translation like “temporary shelters” is more appropriate.
51. 51 Heb “work of service”; “servile work”; “laborious work”; “daily work.”
52. 52 The Hebrew term עֲצֶרֶת (’atseret) “solemn assembly [day]” derives from a root associated with restraint or closure. It could refer either to the last day as “closing assembly” day of the festival (e.g., ) or a special day of restraint expressed in a “solemn assembly” (e.g., ); cf. “a solemn closing assembly.”
53. 53 The has “[their] burnt offerings, and their sacrifices, and their drink offerings.”
54. 54 Heb “a matter of a day in its day”; “as prescribed for each day”; , “each on its proper day.”
55. 55 Heb “from to separation.” See 94 בַּד 1.e for an explanation of this phrase. This phrase is repeated in front of each of the four items in this verse in the Hebrew text, but these have not been translated into English for stylistic reasons. Cf. , “besides”; “apart from.”
56. 56 Heb “Surely on the fifteenth day.” The Hebrew adverbial particle אַךְ (’akh) is left untranslated by most recent English versions; however, cf. “On exactly the fifteenth day.”
57. 57 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 (), ; J. E. Hartley, Leviticus (), ; and P. J. Budd, Leviticus (), 328–29.
58. 58 Heb “for your generations.”
59. 59 Heb “in the huts” (again at the end of this verse and in v. 43), perhaps referring to temporary shelters (i.e., huts) made of the foliage referred to in v. 40 (J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [], ).
60. 60 E. S. Gerstenberger (Leviticus [], 352) takes v. 44 to be an introduction to another set of festival regulations, perhaps something like those found in Exod 23:14–17. For others this verse reemphasizes the Mosaic authority of the preceding festival regulations (e.g., J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [], ).
61. 1 Heb “and let them take.” The simple vav (ו) on the imperfect/jussive form of the verb לָקַח (laqakh, “to take”) following the imperative (“Command”) indicates a purpose clause (“to bring …”).
62. 2 Heb “to cause to ascend a lamp continually.”
63. 3 The Hebrew term פָּרֹכֶת (parokhet) is usually translated “veil” or “curtain,” but it seems to have stretched not only in front of but also over the top of the ark of the covenant which stood behind and under it inside the most holy place (see R. E. Averbeck, 3:).
64. 4 Several medieval Hebrew , , and the add “and his sons.”
65. 5 Heb “for your generations.”
66. 6 Alternatively, “pure [gold] lampstand,” based on Exod 25:31, etc., where the term for “gold” actually appears (see , , , , , and the remarks in J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [], , etc.). However, in Lev 24:4 the adjective “pure” is feminine, corresponding to “lampstand,” not an assumed noun “gold” (contrast Exod 25:31), and the “table” in v. 6 was overlaid with gold, but was not made of pure gold. Therefore, it is probably better to translate “[ceremonially] pure lampstand” (v. 4) and “[ceremonially] pure table” (v. 6); see ; cf. , ; B. A. Levine, Leviticus [], ; and G. J. Wenham, Leviticus [], .
67. 7 See the note on .
68. 8 Heb “and bake it twelve loaves”; , , “cakes.”
69. 9 The words “of flour” are supplied in the translation for clarity. See the note on .
70. 10 Heb “six of the row.”
71. 11 This is not just any “incense” (קְטֹרֶת, qétoret; R. E. Averbeck, 3:), but specifically “frankincense” (לְבֹנָה, lévonah; R. E. Averbeck, 2:).
72. 12 Heb “on [עַל, ’al] the row,” probably used distributively, “on each row” (J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [], ). Perhaps the frankincense was placed “with” or “along side of” each row, not actually on the bread itself, and was actually burned as incense to the Lord (cf. “Along [Alongside ] each row”; “with each row”; “near each row”; B. A. Levine, Leviticus [], ). This particular preposition can have such a meaning.
73. 13 The “memorial portion” (אַזְכָרָה, ’azkharah) was normally the part of the grain offering that was burnt on the altar (see Lev 2:2 and the notes there), as opposed to the remainder, which was normally consumed by the priests (Lev 2:3; see the full regulations in Lev 6:14–23 [6:7–16 ]).
74. 14 See the note on regarding the term “gift.”
75. 15 Heb “In the day of the Sabbath, in the day of the Sabbath.” The repetition is distributive. A few medieval Hebrew , the , and the delete the second occurrence of the expression.
76. 16 Heb “he”; the referent (Aaron) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
77. 17 The word “portion” is supplied in the translation here for clarity, to specify what “this” refers to.
78. 18 Or “a perpetual regulation”; “a perpetual due.”
79. 19 Heb “And.”
80. 20 Heb “the Israelite man,” but has no article, and the point is that there was a conflict between the man of mixed background and a man of full Israelite descent.
81. 21 The verb rendered “misused” means literally “to bore through, to pierce” ( נקב qal); it is from נָקַב (naqav), not קָבַב (qavav; see the participial form in v. 16a). Its exact meaning here is uncertain. The two verbs together may form a hendiadys, “he pronounced by cursing blasphemously” (B. A. Levine, Leviticus [], ), the idea being one of the following: (1) he pronounced the name “Yahweh” in a way or with words that amounted to “some sort of verbal aggression against Yahweh himself” (E. S. Gerstenberger, Leviticus [], 362), (2) he pronounced a curse against the man using the name “Yahweh” (N. H. Snaith, Leviticus and Numbers [], 110; G. J. Wenham, Leviticus [], ), or (3) he pronounced the name “Yahweh” and thereby blasphemed, since the “Name” was never to be pronounced (a standard Jewish explanation). In one way or another, the offense surely violated Exod 20:7, one of the ten commandments, and the same verb for cursing is used explicitly in Exod 22:28 (27 ) prohibition against “cursing” God. For a full discussion of these and related options for interpreting this verse see P. J. Budd, Leviticus (), 335–36; J. E. Hartley, Leviticus (), ; and Levine, 166.
82. 22 The words “until they were able” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied.
83. 23 The Hebrew here is awkward. A literal reading would be something like the following: “And they placed him in custody to give a clear decision [ פרשׁ qal] for themselves on the mouth of the Lord.” In any case, they were apparently waiting for a direct word from the Lord regarding this matter (see vv. 13ff).
84. 24 The words “to death” are supplied in the translation as a clarification; they are clearly implied from v. 16.
85. 25 Heb “And.”
86. 26 See the note on v. above and esp. Exod 22:28 [27 ].
87. 27 See the note on v. above.
88. 28 Heb “And if a man strikes any soul [נֶפֶשׁ, nefesh] of mankind.” The idiom seems to derive from the idea of striking a fatal blow to the very “life” (literally, “soul”) of a human being, not just landing a blow on their body ( נכה hif.2). On the difficult of the meaning and significance of the term נֶפֶשׁ see the notes on .
89. 29 Heb “And one who strikes a soul of an animal.”
90. 30 Heb “soul under soul.” Cf. “beast for beast”; “must give … another animal to take its place.”
91. 31 Heb “gives a flaw in”; , “cause a blemish in.”
92. 32 Or “neighbor” (so , , ); , “another person.”
93. 33 Heb “in the man [אָדָם, ’adam].”
94. 34 Heb “just as he inflicts an injury … it must be inflicted on him.” The referent (“that same injury”) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
95. 35 See the note on v. above.
96. 36 Heb “and,” but here the Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) is adversative, contrasting the consequences of beating an animal to death with those of beating a person to death.
97. 37 Heb “a regulation of one”; , “one manner of law”; “one standard.”