Leviticus 1:9

1:9 Finally, the one presenting the offering ¹  must wash its entrails and its legs in water and the priest must offer all of it up in smoke on the altar ²  – it is ³  a burnt offering, a gift ⁴  of a soothing aroma to the Lord.

Leviticus 1:13

1:13 Then the one presenting the offering must wash the entrails and the legs in water, and the priest must present all of it and offer it up in smoke on the altar – it is a burnt offering, a gift of a soothing aroma to the Lord.

Leviticus 1:17

1:17 and tear it open by its wings without dividing it into two parts. ⁵  Finally, the priest must offer it up in smoke on the altar on the wood which is in the fire – it is a burnt offering, a gift of a soothing aroma to the Lord.

Leviticus 4:31

4:31 Then he must remove all of its fat (just as fat was removed from the peace offering sacrifice) and the priest must offer it up in smoke on the altar for a soothing aroma to the Lord. So the priest will make atonement ⁶  on his behalf and he will be forgiven. ⁷ 

Leviticus 5:12

5:12 He must bring it to the priest and the priest must scoop out from it a handful as its memorial portion ⁸  and offer it up in smoke on the altar on top of the other gifts of the Lord – it is a sin offering.

Leviticus 6:12

6:12 but the fire which is on the altar must be kept burning on it. ⁹  It must not be extinguished. So the priest must kindle wood on it morning by morning, and he must arrange the burnt offering on it and offer the fat of the peace offering up in smoke on it.

Leviticus 6:15

6:15 and the priest ¹⁰  must take up with his hand some of the choice wheat flour of the grain offering ¹¹  and some of its olive oil, and all of the frankincense that is on the grain offering, and he must offer its memorial portion ¹²  up in smoke on the altar ¹³  as a soothing aroma to the Lord. ¹⁴ 

---

¹ tn Heb “Finally, he”; the referent (the offerer) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Once again, the MT assigns the preparation of the offering (here the entrails and legs) to the offerer because it did not bring him into direct contact with the altar, but reserves the actual placing of the sacrifice on the altar for the officiating priest (cf. the notes on vv. 5a and 6a).

² tn Heb “toward the altar,” but the so-called locative ה (hey) attached to the word for “altar” can indicate the place where something is or happens (GKC 250 §90.d and GKC 373-74 §118.g; cf. also J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:161). This is a standard way of expressing “on/at the altar” with the verb “to offer up in smoke” (Hiphil of קָטַר [qatar]; cf. also Exod 29:13, 18, 25; Lev 1:9, 13, 15, 17; 2:2, etc.).

³ tc A few Hebrew mss and possibly the Leningrad B19a ms itself (the basis of the BHS Hebrew text of the MT), under an apparent erasure, plus Smr, LXX, Syriac, and Tg. Ps.-J. suggest that Hebrew הוּא (hu’, translated as “it is”) should be added here as in vv. 13 and 17. Whether or not the text should be changed, the meaning is the same as in vv. 13 and 17, so it has been included in the translation here.

⁴ sn The standard English translation of “gift” (אִשֶּׁה, ’isheh) is “an offering [made] by fire” (cf. KJV, ASV). It is based on a supposed etymological relationship to the Hebrew word for “fire” (אֵשׁ, ’esh) and is still maintained in many versions (e.g., NIV, RSV, NRSV, NLT; B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 7-8). For various reasons, including the fact that some offerings referred to by this term are not burned on the altar (see, e.g., Lev 24:9), it is probably better to understand the term to mean “gift” (J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 22) or “food gift” (“food offering” in NEB and TEV; J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:161-62). See R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 1:540-49 for a complete discussion.

⁵ tn Heb “he shall not divide it.” Several Hebrew mss, Smr, LXX, and Syriac have a vav on the negative, yielding the translation, “but he shall not divide it into two parts.” Cf. NIV “not severing it completely” (NRSV similar).

⁶ sn The focus of sin offering “atonement” was purging impurities from the tabernacle (see the note on Lev 1:4).

⁷ tn Heb “there shall be forgiveness to him” or “it shall be forgiven to him” (KJV similar).

⁸ sn The “memorial portion” (אַזְכָּרָה, ’azkkarah) was the part of the grain offering that was burnt on the altar (Lev 2:2), 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 HT]). It was probably intended to call to mind (i.e., memorialize) before the Lord the reason for the presentation of the particular offering (see the remarks in R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 1:335-39).

⁹ tn Heb “in it,” apparently referring to the “hearth” which was on top of the altar (cf. the note on v. 9).

¹⁰ tn Heb “and he”; the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity. The “he” refers to the officiating priest. A similar shift between singular and plural occurs in Lev 1:7-9, but see the note on Lev 1:7 and J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 89 for the possibility of textual corruption.

¹¹ tn Heb “shall take up from it with his hand some of the choice wheat flour of the grain offering.”

¹² sn See the note on Lev 2:2.

¹³ tc Smr reading, which includes the locative ה (hey, translated “on” the altar), is preferred here. This is the normal construction with the verb “offer up in smoke” in Lev 1-7 (see the note on Lev 1:9).

¹⁴ tn Heb “and he shall offer up in smoke [on] the altar a soothing aroma, its memorial portion, to the Lord.”