4:22 “‘Whenever 1 a leader, by straying unintentionally, 2 sins and violates one of the commandments of the Lord his God which must not be violated, 3 and he pleads guilty,
4:27 “‘If an ordinary individual 4 sins by straying unintentionally 5 when he violates one of the Lord’s commandments which must not be violated, 6 and he pleads guilty
14:19 “The priest must then perform the sin offering 13 and make atonement for the one being cleansed from his impurity. After that he 14 is to slaughter the burnt offering,
22:14 “‘If a man eats a holy offering by mistake, 31 he must add one fifth to it and give the holy offering to the priest. 32
1 tn This section begins with the relative pronoun אֲשֶׁר (’asher) which usually means “who” or “which,” but here means “whenever.”
2 tn See the Lev 4:2 note on “straying.”
3 tn Heb “and does one from all the commandments of the
4 tn Heb “an individual from the people of the land”; cf. NASB “anyone of the common people” (KJV, ASV both similar); NAB “a private person.”
5 tn Heb “If one person sins by straying, from the people of the land.” See Lev 4:2 for a note on “straying.”
6 tn Heb “by doing it, one from the commandments of the
7 tn Heb “and swears on falsehood”; cf. CEV “deny something while under oath.”
8 tn Heb “on one from all which the man shall do to sin in them.”
9 tn Heb “a spring and a cistern collection of water”; NAB, NIV “for collecting water.”
10 tn Heb “the one cleansing himself” (i.e., Hitpael participle of טָהֵר [taher, “to be clean”]).
11 tn Heb “and he shall make him clean.” The verb is the Piel of טָהֵר (taher, “to be clean”), here used as a so-called “declarative” Piel (i.e., “to declare clean”; cf. 13:6, etc.).
12 sn The reddish color of cedar wood and the crimson colored fabric called for in v. 4 (see the note there, esp. the association with the color of blood) as well as the priestly commands to bring “two live” birds (v. 4a), to slaughter one of them “over fresh water” (literally “living water,” v. 5b), and the subsequent ritual with the (second) “live” bird (vv. 6-7) combine to communicate the concept of “life” and “being alive” in this passage. This contrasts with the fear of death associated with the serious skin diseases in view here (see, e.g., Aaron’s description of Miriam’s skin disease in Num 12:12, “Do not let her be like the dead one when it goes out from its mother’s womb and its flesh half eaten away”). Since the slaughtered bird here is not sacrificed at the altar and is not designated as an expiatory “sin offering,” this ritual procedure probably symbolizes the renewed life of the diseased person and displays it publicly for all to see. It is preparatory to the expiatory rituals that will follow (vv. 10-20, esp. vv. 18-20), but is not itself expiatory. Thus, although there are important similarities between the bird ritual here, the scapegoat on the Day of Atonement (Lev 16:20-22), and the red heifer for cleansing from corpse contamination (Num 19), this bird ritual is different in that the latter two constitute “sin offerings” (Lev 16:5, 8-10; Num 19:9, 17). Neither of the birds in Lev 14:4-7 is designated or treated as a “sin offering.” Nevertheless, the very nature of the live bird ritual itself and its obvious similarity to the scapegoat ritual suggests that the patient’s disease has been removed far away so that he or she is free from its effects both personally and communally.
13 tn Heb “do [or “make”] the sin offering.”
14 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).
15 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).
16 tn Heb “which his hand reaches”; NRSV “such as (which NIV) he can afford.”
17 tn Heb “and one shall be a sin offering and the one a burnt offering.” The versions struggle with whether or not “one” should or should not have the definite article in its two occurrences in this verse (KJV, ASV, NAB, NASB all have the English definite article with both). The MT has the first without and the second with the article.
18 tn Heb “This is the law of who in him [is] a diseased infection.”
19 tn Heb “who his hand does not reach in his purification”; NASB “whose means are limited for his cleansing”; NIV “who cannot afford the regular offerings for his cleansing.”
20 tn Heb “And the one who touches in the flesh.” In this instance, “flesh” (or “body”) probably refers literally to any part of the body, not the genitals specifically (see the discussion in J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:914).
21 tn Heb “And he shall take.”
22 tn Heb “he-goats of goats”; CEV “two goats, both of them males.”
23 tn For “Azazel” see the note on v. 8 above.
24 tn Heb “And with a male you shall not lay [as the] lyings of a woman” (see B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 123). The specific reference here is to homosexual intercourse between males.
25 tn The Hebrew term תּוֹעֵבָה (to’evah, rendered “detestable act”) refers to the repugnant practices of foreigners, whether from the viewpoint of other peoples toward the Hebrews (e.g., Gen 43:32; 46:34; Exod 8:26) or of the
26 tn Heb “take.” In context this means “take as wife,” i.e., “marry.”
27 tc The MT has literally, “from his peoples,” but Smr, LXX, Syriac, Targum, and Tg. Ps.-J. have “from his people,” referring to the Israelites as a whole.
28 tn Heb “thin”; cf. NAB “weakly.” This could refer to either an exceptionally small (i.e., dwarfed) man (B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 146) or perhaps one with a “withered limb” (J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 342, 344).
29 tn The term rendered “spot” derives from a root meaning “mixed” or “confused” (cf. NAB “walleyed”). It apparently refers to any kind of marked flaw in the eye that can be seen by others. Smr, Syriac, Tg. Onq., and Tg. Ps.-J. have plural “his eyes.”
30 tn The exact meaning and medical reference of the terms rendered “festering eruption” and “feverish rash” is unknown, but see the translations and remarks in B. A. Levine, Leviticus (JPSTC), 146; J. E. Hartley, Leviticus (WBC), 342, 344, 349-50; and R. K. Harrison, NIDOTTE 1:890 and 2:461.
31 tn Heb “And a man, if he eats a holy thing in error” (see the Lev 4:2 not on “straying,” which is the term rendered “by mistake” here).
32 sn When a person trespassed in regard to something sacred to the
33 tn Heb “a regulation of one”; KJV, ASV “one manner of law”; NASB “one standard.”
34 tn Heb “sell a sale.”
35 tn Or “to one of your countrymen” (NIV); NASB “to your friend.”
36 tn The Hebrew infinitive absolute קָנֹה (qanoh, “buying”) substitutes for the finite verb here in sequence with the previous finite verb “sell” at the beginning of the verse (see GKC 345 §113.z).
37 tn Heb “do not oppress a man his brother.” Here “brother” does not refer only to a sibling, but to a fellow Israelite.
38 tn Heb “And you shall not oppress a man his fellow citizen.”
39 sn The tithed animal was the tenth one that passed under the shepherd’s rod or staff as they were being counted (see J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 485, and B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 200).