Leviticus 22:2-3

22:2 “Tell Aaron and his sons that they must deal respectfully with the holy offerings ¹  of the Israelites, which they consecrate to me, so that they do not profane my holy name. ²  I am the Lord. 22:3 Say to them, ‘Throughout your generations, ³  if any man from all your descendants approaches the holy offerings which the Israelites consecrate ⁴  to the Lord while he is impure, ⁵  that person must be cut off from before me. ⁶  I am the Lord.

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¹ tn 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.

² tn 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.

³ tn Heb “To your generations.”

⁴ tn 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”]”).

⁵ tn Heb “and his impurity [is] on him”; NIV “is ceremonially unclean”; NAB, NRSV “while he is in a state of uncleanness.”

⁶ sn Regarding the “cut off” penalty, see the note on Lev 7:20. Cf. the interpretive translation of TEV “he can never again serve at the altar.”