Leviticus 5:7

5:7 “‘If he cannot afford an animal from the flock, ¹  he must bring his penalty for guilt for his sin that he has committed, ²  two turtledoves or two young pigeons, ³  to the Lord, one for a sin offering and one for a burnt offering.

Leviticus 5:11

5:11 “‘If he cannot afford ⁴  two turtledoves or two young pigeons, ⁵  he must bring as his offering for his sin which he has committed ⁶  a tenth of an ephah ⁷  of choice wheat flour ⁸  for a sin offering. He must not place olive oil on it and he must not put frankincense on it, because it is a sin offering.

Leviticus 12:8

12:8 If she cannot afford a sheep, ⁹  then she must take two turtledoves or two young pigeons, ¹⁰  one for a burnt offering and one for a sin offering, and the priest is to make atonement on her behalf, and she will be clean.’” ¹¹ 

Leviticus 27:8

27:8 If he is too poor to pay the conversion value, he must stand the person before the priest and the priest will establish his conversion value; ¹²  according to what the man who made the vow can afford, ¹³  the priest will establish his conversion value.

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¹ tn Heb “and if his hand does not reach enough of a flock animal” (see the note on v. 11 below). The term translated “animal from the flock” (שֶׂה, seh) is often translated “lamb” (e.g., KJV, NASB, NIV, NCV) or “sheep” (e.g., NRSV, TEV, NLT), but it clearly includes either a sheep or a goat here (cf. v. 6), referring to the smaller pasture animals as opposed to the larger ones (i.e., cattle; cf. 4:3). Some English versions use the more generic “animal” (e.g., NAB, CEV).

² tn Heb “and he shall bring his guilt which he sinned,” which is an abbreviated form of Lev 5:6, “and he shall bring his [penalty for] guilt to the Lord for his sin which he committed.” The words “for his sin” have been left out in v. 7, and “to the Lord” has been moved so that it follows the mention of the birds.

³ tn See the note on Lev 1:14 above.

⁴ tn Heb “and if his hand does not reach [or is not sufficient] to”; cf. NASB “if his means are insufficient for.” The expression is the same as that in Lev 5:7 above except for the verb: נָשַׂג (nasag, “to collect, to reach, to be sufficient”) is used here, but נָגַע (nagah, “to touch, to reach”) is used in v. 7. Smr has the former in both v. 7 and 11.

⁵ tn See the note on Lev 1:14 above (cf. also 5:7).

⁶ tn Heb “and he shall bring his offering which he sinned.” Like the similar expression in v. 7 above (see the note there), this is an abbreviated form of Lev 5:6, “and he shall bring his [penalty for] guilt to the Lord for his sin which he committed.” Here the words “to the Lord for his sin” have been left out, and “his [penalty for] guilt” has been changed to “his offering.”

⁷ sn A tenth of an ephah would be about 2.3 liters, one day’s ration for a single person (J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:306). English versions handle the amount somewhat differently, cf. NCV “about two quarts”; TEV “one kilogramme”; CEV “two pounds.”

⁸ tn See the note on Lev 2:1 above.

⁹ tn Heb “If her hand cannot find the sufficiency of a sheep.” Many English versions render this as “lamb.”

¹⁰ 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).

¹¹ tn Or “she will be[come] pure.”

¹² tn Heb “and the priest shall cause him to be valued.”

¹³ tn Heb “on the mouth which the hand of the one who vowed reaches.”