12:6 “‘When 28 the days of her purification are completed for a son or for a daughter, she must bring a one year old lamb 29 for a burnt offering 30 and a young pigeon or turtledove for a sin offering 31 to the entrance of the Meeting Tent, to the priest. 12:7 The priest 32 is to present it before the Lord and make atonement 33 on her behalf, and she will be clean 34 from her flow of blood. 35 This is the law of the one who bears a child, for the male or the female child. 12:8 If she cannot afford a sheep, 36 then she must take two turtledoves or two young pigeons, 37 one for a burnt offering and one for a sin offering, and the priest is to make atonement on her behalf, and she will be clean.’” 38
13:4 “If 39 it is a white bright spot on the skin of his body, but it does not appear to be deeper than the skin, 40 and the hair has not turned white, then the priest is to quarantine the person with the infection for seven days. 41
1 tn Heb “and he”; the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity. The syntax is strange here and might suggest that it was the offerer who scooped out a handful of the grain offering for the memorial portion (G. J. Wenham, Leviticus [NICOT], 66), but based on v. 9 below it should be understood that it was the priest who performed this act (see, e.g., NRSV “After taking from it a handful of the choice flour and oil…the priest shall…”; see also J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:177, 181 and J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 30).
2 sn The “memorial portion” (אַזְכָרָה, ’azkharah) was the part of the grain offering that was burnt on the altar (see the previous clause), as opposed to the remainder, which was normally consumed by the priests (v. 3; see the full regulations in Lev 6:14-23[7-16]). It was probably intended to call to mind (i.e., memorialize) before the
3 tn The words “it is” have been supplied. See the notes on Lev 1:9 and 2:3. There is no text critical problem here, but the syntax suggests the same translation.
4 tn Heb “Then he”; the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here “he” refers to the offerer rather than the priest (contrast the clauses before and after).
5 sn The focus of sin offering “atonement” was purging impurities from the tabernacle (see the note on Lev 1:4).
6 tn Heb “there shall be forgiveness to him” or “it shall be forgiven to him” (KJV similar).
7 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).
8 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.).
9 tc A few Hebrew
10 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.
11 tn Heb “he shall not divide it.” Several Hebrew
12 sn Cf. Lev 4:11-12 above for the disposition of “the [rest of] the bull.”
13 sn The focus of sin offering “atonement” was purging impurities from the tabernacle (see the note on Lev 1:4).
14 tn Heb “there shall be forgiveness to them” or “it shall be forgiven to them.”
15 tn In this context the word for “guilt” (אָשָׁם, ’asham) refers to the “penalty” for incurring guilt, the so-called consequential אָשָׁם (J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:303; cf. the note on Lev 5:1).
16 sn The focus of sin offering “atonement” was purging impurities from the tabernacle (see the note on Lev 1:4).
17 tn See the note on 4:26 regarding the use of מִן (min).
18 tn The exact nature of this article of the priest’s clothing is difficult to determine. Cf. KJV, ASV “breeches”; NAB “drawers”; NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT “undergarments”; NCV “underclothes”; CEV “underwear”; TEV “shorts.”
19 tn Heb “he shall lift up the fatty ashes which the fire shall consume the burnt offering on the altar.”
20 tn Heb “it,” referring the “fatty ashes” as a single unit.
21 tn Heb “in it,” apparently referring to the “hearth” which was on top of the altar (cf. the note on v. 9).
22 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.
23 tn Heb “shall take up from it with his hand some of the choice wheat flour of the grain offering.”
24 sn See the note on Lev 2:2.
25 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).
26 tn Heb “and he shall offer up in smoke [on] the altar a soothing aroma, its memorial portion, to the
27 tn Or “a perpetual regulation”; cf. NASB “as their due forever”; NRSV “as a perpetual due”; NLT “their regular share.”
28 tn Heb “And when” (so KJV, NASB). Many recent English versions leave the conjunction untranslated.
29 tn Heb “a lamb the son of his year”; KJV “a lamb of the first year” (NRSV “in its first year”); NAB “a yearling lamb.”
30 sn See the note on Lev 1:3 regarding the “burnt offering.”
31 sn See the note on Lev 4:3 regarding the term “sin offering.”
32 tn Heb “and he” (i.e., the priest mentioned at the end of v. 6). The referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.
33 sn See the note on Lev 1:4 “make atonement.” The purpose of sin offering “atonement,” in particular, was to purge impurities from the tabernacle (see Lev 15:31 and 16:5-19, 29-34), whether they were caused by physical uncleannesses or by sins and iniquities. In this case, the woman has not “sinned” morally by having a child. Even Mary brought such offerings for giving birth to Jesus (Luke 2:22-24), though she certainly did not “sin” in giving birth to him. Note that the result of bringing this “sin offering” was “she will be clean,” not “she will be forgiven” (cf. Lev 4:20, 26, 31, 35; 5:10, 13). The impurity of the blood flow has caused the need for this “sin offering,” not some moral or relational infringement of the law (contrast Lev 4:2, “When a person sins by straying unintentionally from any of the commandments of the
34 tn Or “she will be[come] pure.”
35 tn Heb “from her source [i.e., spring] of blood,” possibly referring to the female genital area, not just the “flow of blood” itself (as suggested by J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:761). Cf. ASV “from the fountain of her blood.”
36 tn Heb “If her hand cannot find the sufficiency of a sheep.” Many English versions render this as “lamb.”
37 tn Heb “from the sons of the pigeon,” referring either to “young pigeons” or “various species of pigeon” (contrast J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:168, with J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 14; cf. Lev 1:14 and esp. 5:7-10).
38 tn Or “she will be[come] pure.”
39 tn Heb “and if.”
40 tn Heb “and deep is not its appearance from the skin”; cf. NAB “does not seem to have penetrated below the skin.”
41 tn Heb “and the priest will shut up the infection seven days.”
42 tn Heb “and if under it the bright spot stands, it has not spread in the skin.”
43 tn This is the declarative Piel of the verb טָהֵר (taher; cf. the note on v. 6 above).
44 tn Heb “and behold” (so KJV, ASV).
45 tn Heb “the infection has not changed its eye.” Smr has “its/his eyes,” as in vv. 5 and 37, but here it refers to the appearance of the article of cloth or leather, unlike vv. 5 and 37 where there is a preposition attached and it refers to the eyes of the priest.
46 tn The terms “back side” and “front side” are the same as those used in v. 42 for the “back or front bald area” of a man’s head. The exact meaning of these terms when applied to articles of cloth or leather is uncertain. It could refer, for example, to the inside versus the outside of a garment, or the back versus the front side of an article of cloth or leather. See J. Milgrom, Leviticus (AB), 1:814, for various possibilities.
47 tn Heb “and the priest shall put [literally ‘give’] on the lobe of the ear of the one being cleansed, the right one.”
48 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.
49 tn Heb “on his hand.”
50 tn Heb “and the priest shall put [literally ‘give’] on the lobe of the ear of the one being cleansed, the right one.”
51 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.
52 tn Heb “on his hand.”
53 tn Heb “So that which.”
54 tn Heb “on the faces of the field.”
55 tn Or “shall approach” (see HALOT 670 s.v. נגשׁ).
56 tn Heb “to”; the words “live in” have been supplied in the translation for clarity.
57 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.”
58 tn Heb “and you harvest its harvest.”
59 tn Heb “the sheaf of the first of your harvest.”