Leviticus 24:2-8

24:2 “Command the Israelites to bring ¹  to you pure oil of beaten olives for the light, to make a lamp burn continually. ²  24:3 Outside the veil-canopy ³  of the congregation in the Meeting Tent Aaron ⁴  must arrange it from evening until morning before the Lord continually. This is a perpetual statute throughout your generations. ⁵  24:4 On the ceremonially pure lampstand ⁶  he must arrange the lamps before the Lord continually.

24:5 “You must take choice wheat flour ⁷  and bake twelve loaves; ⁸  there must be two tenths of an ephah of flour in ⁹  each loaf, 24:6 and you must set them in two rows, six in a row, ¹⁰  on the ceremonially pure table before the Lord. 24:7 You must put pure frankincense ¹¹  on each row, ¹²  and it will become a memorial portion ¹³  for the bread, a gift ¹⁴  to the Lord. 24:8 Each Sabbath day ¹⁵  Aaron ¹⁶  must arrange it before the Lord continually; this portion ¹⁷  is from the Israelites as a perpetual covenant.

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¹ tn 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…”).

² tn Heb “to cause to ascend a lamp continually.”

³ tn 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, NIDOTTE 3:687-89).

⁴ tc Several medieval Hebrew mss, Smr, and the LXX add “and his sons.”

⁵ tn Heb “for your generations.”

⁶ tn Alternatively, “pure [gold] lampstand,” based on Exod 25:31, etc., where the term for “gold” actually appears (see NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT, and the remarks in J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 395, 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 NEB; cf. KJV, ASV; B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 164-65; and G. J. Wenham, Leviticus [NICOT], 307.

⁷ sn See the note on Lev 2:1.

⁸ tn Heb “and bake it twelve loaves”; KJV, NAB, NASB “cakes.”

⁹ tn The words “of flour” are supplied in the translation for clarity.

sn See the note on Lev 5:11.

¹⁰ tn Heb “six of the row.”

¹¹ tn This is not just any “incense” (קְטֹרֶת, qÿtoret; R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 3:913-16), but specifically “frankincense” (לְבֹנָה, lÿvonah; R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 2:756-57).

¹² tn Heb “on [עַל, ’al] the row,” probably used distributively, “on each row” (J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 395-96). 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. NIV “Along [Alongside CEV] each row”; NRSV “with each row”; NLT “near each row”; B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 165). This particular preposition can have such a meaning.

¹³ sn 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 HT]).

¹⁴ sn See the note on Lev 1:9 regarding the term “gift.”

¹⁵ tn Heb “In the day of the Sabbath, in the day of the Sabbath.” The repetition is distributive. A few medieval Hebrew mss, the LXX, and the Syriac delete the second occurrence of the expression.

¹⁶ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Aaron) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁷ tn The word “portion” is supplied in the translation here for clarity, to specify what “this” refers to.