Leviticus 14:14-20

14:14 Then the priest is to take some of the blood of the guilt offering and put it on the right earlobe of the one being cleansed, 1  on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe 2  of his right foot. 14:15 The priest will then take some of the log of olive oil and pour it into his own left hand. 3  14:16 Then the priest is to dip his right forefinger into the olive oil 4  that is in his left hand, and sprinkle some of the olive oil with his finger seven times before the Lord. 14:17 The priest will then put some of the rest of the olive oil that is in his hand 5  on the right earlobe of the one being cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, on the blood of the guilt offering, 14:18 and the remainder of the olive oil 6  that is in his hand the priest is to put on the head of the one being cleansed. So the priest is to make atonement for him before the Lord.

14:19 “The priest must then perform the sin offering 7  and make atonement for the one being cleansed from his impurity. After that he 8  is to slaughter the burnt offering, 14:20 and the priest is to offer 9  the burnt offering and the grain offering on the altar. So the priest is to make atonement for him and he will be clean.

1 tn Heb “and the priest shall put [literally ‘give’] on the lobe of the ear of the one being cleansed, the right one.”

2 tn The term for “big toe” (בֹּהֶן, bohen) is the same as that for “thumb.” It refers to the larger appendage on either the hand or the foot.

3 tn Heb “And the priest…shall pour on the left hand of the priest.” As the Rabbis observe, the repetition of “priest” as the expressed subject of both verbs in this verse may suggest that two priests were involved in this ritual (see m. Nega’im 14:8, referred to by J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:852), but the seemingly unnecessary repetition of “priest” in several verses throughout the chapter argues against this (see esp. vv. 3, 14, 18, 20, 24, and 26). Moreover, in this case, “priest” may be repeated to avoid confusing the priest’s hand with that of the one being cleansed (cf. v. 14).

4 tn Heb “his right finger from the oil.”

5 tn Heb “on his hand.”

6 tn Heb “and the remainder in the oil.”

7 tn Heb “do [or “make”] the sin offering.”

8 tn Heb “And after[ward] he [i.e., the offerer] shall slaughter.” The LXX adds “the priest” as the subject of the verb (as do several English versions, e.g., NAB, NIV, NCV, NLT), but the offerer is normally the one who does the actually slaughtering of the sacrificial animal (cf. the notes on Lev 1:5a, 6a, and 9a).

9 tn Heb “cause to go up.”