19:20 “‘When a man has sexual intercourse with a woman, 22 although she is a slave woman designated for another man and she has not yet been ransomed, or freedom has not been granted to her, there will be an obligation to pay compensation. 23 They must not be put to death, because she was not free.
20:17 “‘If a man has sexual intercourse with 24 his sister, whether the daughter of his father or his mother, so that he sees her nakedness and she sees his nakedness, it is a disgrace. They must be cut off in the sight of the children of their people. 25 He has exposed his sister’s nakedness; he will bear his punishment for iniquity. 26
26:36 “‘As for 35 the ones who remain among you, I will bring despair into their hearts in the lands of their enemies. The sound of a blowing leaf will pursue them, and they will flee as one who flees the sword and fall down even though there is no pursuer.
1 sn Cf. Lev 4:11-12 above for the disposition of “the [rest of] the bull.”
2 sn The focus of sin offering “atonement” was purging impurities from the tabernacle (see the note on Lev 1:4).
3 tn Heb “there shall be forgiveness to them” or “it shall be forgiven to them.”
4 sn A tenth of an ephah is about 2.3 liters, one day’s ration for a single person (J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:306).
5 tn For the rendering “choice wheat flour” see the note on Lev 2:1.
6 tn Heb “from to the faces of the
7 tn Heb “fell on their faces.” Many English versions and commentaries render here “shouted for joy” (e.g., NIV; cf. NCV, NLT) or “shouted joyfully,” but the fact the people “fell on their faces” immediately afterward suggests that they were frightened as, for example, in Exod 19:16b; 20:18-21.
8 tn The word “ceremonially” has been supplied in the translation to clarify that the cleanness of the place specified is ritual or ceremonial in nature.
9 sn Cf. Lev 7:14, 28-34 for these regulations.
10 tn Or “Behold!” (so KJV, ASV, NASB); NRSV “See.”
11 tn Heb “today they presented their sin offering and their burnt offering before the
12 sn The term “tunic” refers to a shirt-like garment worn next to the skin and, therefore, put on first (cf. Exod 28:4, 39-40; 29:5, 8; 39:27). It covered the upper body only. For detailed remarks on the terminology for the priestly clothing in this verse (except the “linen leggings”) see the notes on Lev 8:7-9 and the literature cited there.
13 tn Heb “shall be on his flesh.” As in many instances in Lev 15, the term “flesh” or “body” here is euphemistic for the male genitals (J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:1017, and J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 222; cf. the note on Lev 15:2), which the priest must be careful not to expose during such ritual procedures (see Exod 20:26 with 28:42-43).
14 sn The sash fastened the tunic around the waist (Exod 28:4, 39; 29:9; 39:29).
15 tn Heb “and in a turban of linen he shall wrap.”
sn The turban consisted of wound up linen (cf. Exod 28:4, 37, 39; 29:6; 39:31; Lev 16:4). It is usually thought to be a “turban,” but it might be only a “turban-like headband” wound around the forehead area (HALOT 624 s.v. מִצְנֶפֶת).
16 tn Heb “and he shall bathe….”
17 tn Heb “So that which.”
18 tn Heb “on the faces of the field.”
19 tn Heb “You must not uncover the nakedness of both a woman and her daughter; the daughter of her son and the daughter of her daughter you must not take to uncover her nakedness.” Translating “her” as “them” provides consistency in the English. In this kind of context, “take” means to “take in marriage” (cf. also v. 18). The LXX and Syriac have “their nakedness,” referring to the nakedness of the woman’s granddaughters, rather than the nakedness of the woman herself.
20 tc Heb “they are her flesh.” The LXX reads “your” here (followed by NRSV). If the LXX reading were followed by the present translation, the result would be “They are closely related to you.”
21 tn The term rendered “lewdness” almost always carries a connotation of cunning, evil device, and divisiveness (cf. HALOT 272 s.v. I זִמָּה 2, “infamy”), and is closely associated with sexual and religious infidelity (cf., e.g., Lev 19:29; 20:14; Job 31:11; Jer 13:27; Ezek 16:27; 22:9). Recent English versions differ on how they handle this: NAB “would be shameful”; CEV “would make you unclean”; NIV “wickedness”; NLT “horrible wickedness”; NRSV “depravity”; TEV “incest.”
22 tn Heb “And a man when he lies with a woman the lying of seed.”
23 sn That is, the woman had previously been assigned for marriage to another man but the marriage deal had not yet been consummated. In the meantime, the woman has lost her virginity and has, therefore, lost part of her value to the master in the sale to the man for whom she had been designated. Compensation was, therefore, required (see the explanation in B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 130-31).
24 tn Heb “takes.” The verb “to take” in this context means “to engage in sexual intercourse,” though some English versions translate it as “marry” (e.g., NIV, NCV, TEV, CEV).
25 tn Regarding the “cut off” penalty, see the note on Lev 7:20.
26 tn See the note on Lev 17:16 above.
27 tn Heb “Man, man.” The reduplication is a way of saying “any man” (cf. Lev 15:2; 17:3, etc.; see the distributive repetition of the noun in GKC 395-96 §123.c).
28 tn Heb “and from the foreigner [singular] in Israel.” Some medieval Hebrew
29 tn Heb “And you shall present on the bread.”
30 tn Heb “seven flawless lambs, sons of a year.”
31 tn Heb “and one bull, a son of a herd.”
32 tc Smr and LXX add “flawless.”
33 tn Heb “and their grain offering.”
34 sn See the note on Lev 1:9.
35 tn Heb “And.”