15:13 “‘Every native-born person must do these things in this way to present an offering made by fire as a pleasing aroma to the Lord.
15:30 “‘But the person 2 who acts defiantly, 3 whether native-born or a resident foreigner, insults 4 the Lord. 5 That person 6 must be cut off 7 from among his people.
1 tc The words “its mother” and “its flesh” are among the so-called tiqqune sopherim, or “emendations of the scribes.” According to this tradition the text originally had here “our mother” and “our flesh,” but the ancient scribes changed these pronouns from the first person to the third person. Apparently they were concerned that the image of Moses’ mother giving birth to a baby with physical defects of the sort described here was somehow inappropriate, given the stature and importance of Moses.
2 tn Heb “soul.”
3 tn The sin is described literally as acting “with a high hand” – בְּיָד רָמָה (bÿyad ramah). The expression means that someone would do something with deliberate defiance, with an arrogance in spite of what the
4 tn The verb occurs only in the Piel; it means “to blaspheme,” “to revile.”
5 tn The word order in the Hebrew text places “Yahweh” first for emphasis – it is the
6 tn Heb “soul.”
7 tn The clause begins with “and” because the verb is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive. As discussed with Num 9:13, to be cut off could mean excommunication from the community, death by the community, or death by divine intervention.