Leviticus 4:6

4:6 The priest must dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle ¹  some of it ²  seven times before the Lord toward ³  the front of the veil-canopy ⁴  of the sanctuary.

Leviticus 4:17

4:17 and that priest must dip his finger in the blood ⁵  and sprinkle ⁶  some of the blood seven times ⁷  before the Lord toward ⁸  the front of the veil-canopy. ⁹ 

Leviticus 16:12

16:12 and take a censer full of coals of fire from the altar before the Lord ¹⁰  and a full double handful of finely ground fragrant incense, ¹¹  and bring them inside the veil-canopy. ¹² 

Leviticus 21:23

21:23 but he must not go into the veil-canopy ¹³  or step forward to the altar because he has a physical flaw. Thus ¹⁴  he must not profane my holy places, for I am the Lord who sanctifies them.’”

Leviticus 24:3

24:3 Outside the veil-canopy ¹⁵  of the congregation in the Meeting Tent Aaron ¹⁶  must arrange it from evening until morning before the Lord continually. This is a perpetual statute throughout your generations. ¹⁷ 

Leviticus 16:2

16:2 and the Lord said to Moses: “Tell Aaron your brother that he must not enter at any time into the holy place inside the veil-canopy ¹⁸  in front of the atonement plate ¹⁹  that is on the ark so that he may not die, for I will appear in the cloud over the atonement plate.

Leviticus 16:15

16:15 “He must then slaughter the sin offering goat which is for the people. He is to bring its blood inside the veil-canopy, ²⁰  and he is to do with its blood just as he did to the blood of the bull: He is to sprinkle it on the atonement plate and in front of the atonement plate.

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¹ tn The Hebrew verb וְהִזָּה (vÿhizzah, Hiphil of נָזָה, nazah) does indeed mean “sprinkle” or “splatter.” Contrast the different Hebrew verb meaning “splash” in Lev 1:5 (זָרָק, zaraq).

² tn Heb “of the blood.” The relative pronoun (“it”) has been used in the translation here for stylistic reasons.

³ tn The particle here translated “toward” usually serves as a direct object indicator or a preposition meaning “with.” With the verb of motion it probably means “toward,” “in the direction of” (J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:234; J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 60); cf. NAB, CEV.

⁴ tn The Hebrew term פָּרֹכֶת (parokhet) is usually translated “veil” (e.g., ASV, NAB, NASB) or “curtain” (e.g., NIV, NRSV), 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).

⁵ tn The words “in the blood” are not repeated in the Hebrew text at this point, but must be supplied in the English translation for clarity.

⁶ tn The Hebrew verb וְהִזָּה (vÿhizzah, Hiphil of נָזָה, nazah) does indeed mean “sprinkle” or “splatter.” Contrast the different Hebrew verb translated “splash” in Lev 1:5 (זָרָק, zaraq).

⁷ tc The MT reads literally, “and the priest shall dip his finger from the blood and sprinkle seven times.” This is awkward. Compare v. 6, which has literally, “and the priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle from the blood seven times.” The MT appears to be corrupt by haplography (i.e., assuming v. 6 to be the correct form, in v. 17 the scribe skipped from “his finger” to “from the blood,” thus missing “in the blood”) and metathesis (i.e., this also resulted in a text where “from the blood” stands before “sprinkle” rather than after it; J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 47).

⁸ tn See the note on v. 6 above.

⁹ tn See the note on v. 6 above.

¹⁰ tn Heb “and he shall take the fullness of the censer, coals of fire, from on the altar from to the faces of the Lord.”

¹¹ tn Heb “and the fullness of the hollow of his two hands, finely ground fragrant incense.”

¹² tn Heb “and he shall bring from house to the veil-canopy.”

¹³ sn See the note on Lev 16:2 for the rendering “veil-canopy.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “And.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) can be considered to have resultative force here.

¹⁵ 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).

¹⁶ tc Several medieval Hebrew mss, Smr, and the LXX add “and his sons.”

¹⁷ tn Heb “for your generations.”

¹⁸ tn Heb “into the holy place from house to the veil-canopy.” In this instance, the Hebrew term “the holy place” refers to “the most holy place” (lit. “holy of holies”), since it is the area “inside the veil-canopy” (cf. Exod 26:33-34). 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, and thus formed more of a canopy than simply a curtain (see R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 3:687-89).

¹⁹ tn Heb “to the faces of the atonement plate.” The exact meaning of the Hebrew term כַּפֹּרֶת (kapporet) here rendered “atonement plate” is much debated. The traditional “mercy seat” (KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV) does not suit the cognate relationship between this term and the Piel verb כִּפֶּר (kipper, “to make atonement, to make expiation”). The translation of the word should also reflect the fact that the most important atonement procedures on the Day of Atonement were performed in relation to it. Since the Lord would “appear in the cloud over the atonement plate,” and since it was so closely associated with the ark of the covenant (the ark being his “footstool”; cf. 1 Chr 28:2 and Ps 132:7-8), one could take it to be the place of his throne at which he accepts atonement. See J. Milgrom, Leviticus (AB), 1:1014; J. E. Hartley, Leviticus (WBC), 234-35; and R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 2:691, 699. Cf. NIV “the atonement cover”; NCV “the lid on the Ark”; NLT “the Ark’s cover – the place of atonement.”

²⁰ tn Heb “and he shall bring its blood into from house to the veil-canopy.”