15:19 “‘When a woman has a discharge 6 and her discharge is blood from her body, 7 she is to be in her menstruation 8 seven days, and anyone who touches her will be unclean until evening.
25:29 “‘If a man sells a residential house in a walled city, 15 its right of redemption must extend 16 until one full year from its sale; 17 its right of redemption must extend to a full calendar year. 18
1 tn Heb “because seven days he shall fill your hands”; KJV “for seven days shall he consecrate you”; CEV “ends seven days from now.”
sn It is apparent that the term for “ordination offering” (מִלֻּאִים, millu’im; cf. Lev 7:37 and the note there) is closely related to the expression “he shall fill (Piel מִלֵּא, mille’) your hands” in this verse. Some derive the terminology from the procedure in Lev 8:27-28, but the term for “hands” there is actually “palms.” It seems more likely that it derives from the notion of putting the priestly responsibilities (or possibly its associated prebends) under their control (i.e., “filling their hands” with authority; see J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:538-39). The command “to keep the charge of the
2 tn Heb “the one walking on four.” Compare Lev 11:20-23.
3 tn Heb “sit, dwell” (יָשָׁב, yashav) normally means “to sit, to dwell”), but here it means “to remain, to stay” in the same condition for a period of time (cf., e.g., Gen 24:55).
4 tn Heb “in bloods of purification” or “purifying” or “purity”; NASB “in the blood of her purification”; NRSV “her time of blood purification.” See the following note.
5 tn The initial seven days after the birth of a son were days of blood impurity for the woman as if she were having her menstrual period. Her impurity was contagious during this period, so no one should touch her or even furniture on which she has sat or reclined (Lev 15:19-23), lest they too become impure. Even her husband would become impure for seven days if he had sexual intercourse with her during this time (Lev 15:24; cf. 18:19). The next thirty-three days were either “days of purification, purifying” or “days of purity,” depending on how one understands the abstract noun טֹהֳרָה (toharah, “purification, purity”) in this context. During this time the woman could not touch anything holy or enter the sanctuary, but she was no longer contagious like she had been during the first seven days. She could engage in normal everyday life, including sexual intercourse, without fear of contaminating anyone else (B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 73-74; cf. J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:749-50). Thus, in a sense, the thirty-three days were a time of blood “purity” (cf. the present translation) as compared to the previous seven days of blood “impurity,” but they were also a time of blood “purification” (or “purifying”) as compared to the time after the thirty-three days, when the blood atonement had been made and she was pronounced “clean” by the priest (see vv. 6-8 below). In other words, the thirty-three day period was a time of “blood” (flow), but this was “pure blood,” as opposed to the blood of the first seven days.
6 tn See the note on Lev 15:2 above.
7 tn Heb “blood shall be her discharge in her flesh.” The term “flesh” here refers euphemistically to the female sexual area (cf. the note on v. 2 above).
8 tn See the note on Lev 12:2 and R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 1:925-27.
9 tn Heb “you shall rest your Sabbath.”
10 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).
11 tc Several medieval Hebrew
12 tn Heb “for your generations.”
13 tn Heb “the produce,” referring to “the produce” of the sixth year of v. 21. The words “sixth year” are supplied for clarity.
14 tn Heb “until the ninth year, until bringing [in] its produce.”
15 tn Heb “a house of a residence of a walled city.”
16 tn Heb “shall be.”
17 tn Heb “of its sale.”
18 tn Heb “days its right of redemption shall be” (see B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 176).
19 tn Heb “And if.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) can be considered to have adversative force here.
20 tn Heb “the silver.”
21 tn Heb “give” (so KJV, ASV, NASB, NLT).