Leviticus 7:18-21

7:18 If some of the meat of his peace offering sacrifice is ever eaten on the third day it will not be accepted; it will not be accounted to the one who presented it, since it is spoiled, 1  and the person who eats from it will bear his punishment for iniquity. 2  7:19 The meat which touches anything ceremonially 3  unclean must not be eaten; it must be burned up in the fire. As for ceremonially clean meat, 4  everyone who is ceremonially clean may eat the meat. 7:20 The person who eats meat from the peace offering sacrifice which belongs to the Lord while his uncleanness persists 5  will be cut off from his people. 6  7:21 When a person touches anything unclean (whether human uncleanness, or an unclean animal, or an unclean detestable creature) 7  and eats some of the meat of the peace offering sacrifice which belongs to the Lord, that person will be cut off from his people.’” 8 

1 tn Or “desecrated,” or “defiled,” or “forbidden.” For this difficult term see J. Milgrom, Leviticus (AB), 1:422. Cf. NIV “it is impure”; NCV “it will become unclean”; NLT “will be contaminated.”

2 tn Heb “his iniquity he shall bear” (cf. Lev 5:1); NIV “will be held responsible”; NRSV “shall incur guilt”; TEV “will suffer the consequences.”

3 tn The word “ceremonially” has been supplied in the translation both here and in the following sentence to clarify that the uncleanness involved is ritual or ceremonial in nature.

4 tn The Hebrew has simply “the flesh,” but this certainly refers to “clean” flesh in contrast to the unclean flesh in the first half of the verse.

5 tn Heb “and his unclean condition is on him.”

6 sn The exact meaning of this penalty clause is not certain. It could mean that he will be executed, whether by God or by man, he will be excommunicated from sanctuary worship and/or community benefits (cf. TEV, CEV), or his line will be terminated by God (i.e., extirpation), etc. See J. E. Hartley, Leviticus (WBC), 100; J. Milgrom, Leviticus (AB), 1:457-60; and B. A. Levine, Leviticus (JPSTC), 241-42 for further discussion.

7 sn For these categories of unclean animals see Lev 11.

8 sn For the interpretation of this last clause see the note on Lev 7:20.