¹ tn “To make atonement” is the standard translation of the Hebrew term כִּפֶּר, (kipper); cf. however TEV “as a sacrifice to take away his sins” (CEV similar). The English word derives from a combination of “at” plus Middle English “one[ment],” referring primarily to reconciliation or reparation that is made in order to accomplish reconciliation. The primary meaning of the Hebrew verb, however, is “to wipe [something off (or on)]” (see esp. the goal of the sin offering, Lev 4, “to purge” the tabernacle from impurities), but in some cases it refers metaphorically to “wiping away” anything that might stand in the way of good relations by bringing a gift (see, e.g., Gen 32:20 [21 HT], “to appease; to pacify” as an illustration of this). The translation “make atonement” has been retained here because, ultimately, the goal of either purging or appeasing was to maintain a proper relationship between the Lord (who dwelt in the tabernacle) and Israelites in whose midst the tabernacle was pitched (see R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 2:689-710 for a full discussion of the Hebrew word meaning “to make atonement” and its theological significance).

² tc A few Hebrew mss, Smr, LXX, Syriac, and Tg. Onq. have the conjunction “and” before “the head,” which would suggest the rendering “and the head and the suet” rather than the rendering of the MT here, “with the head and the suet.”

sn “Suet” is the specific term used for the hard, fatty tissues found around the kidneys of sheep and cattle. A number of modern English versions have simplified this to “fat” (e.g., NIV, NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT).

³ tn Heb “on the wood, which is on the fire, which is on the altar.” Cf. NIV “on the burning wood”; NLT “on the wood fire.”

⁴ tn Heb “And if from the flock is his offering, from the sheep or from the goats, for a burnt offering.” Here “flock” specifies the broad category, with “sheep or goats” giving specific examples.

⁵ tn Heb “from the [category] ‘bird.’”

⁶ tn Heb “from the sons of the pigeon,” referring either to “young pigeons” (cf. KJV, NASB, NIV, NLT) or “various species of pigeon” (contrast J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:168, with J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 14).

⁷ tn Heb “a grain offering of a pan”; cf. KJV “fryingpan”; NAB “pot”; CEV “pan with a lid on it.”

⁸ sn Lev 7:9 makes it clear that one cooked “on” a griddle but “in” a pan. This suggests that the oil in the pan served for deep fat frying, hence the translation “deep fried in olive oil” (see, e.g., J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:185); cf. also NAB.

⁹ sn The “first fruit” referred to here was given to the priests as a prebend for their service to the Lord, not offered on the altar (Num 18:12).

¹⁰ tn Heb “a male or female without defect he shall present it”; cf. NLT “must have no physical defects.”

¹¹ sn See the note on this phrase in 3:3.

¹² tn The words “This is” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied due to requirements of English style.

¹³ tn Heb “for your generations”; NAB “for your descendants”; NLT “for you and all your descendants.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “all fat and all blood you must not eat.”

¹⁵ tn Heb “all the fat of the bull of the sin offering he shall take up from it.”

¹⁶ tc The MT has here the preposition עַל (’al, “on, upon” [i.e., “which covers on the entrails,” as awkward in Hebrew as it is in English]), but Smr, LXX, Syriac, and Targums read אֶת (’et), which is what would be expected (i.e., “which covers the entrails”; cf. Lev 3:3, 9, 14). It may have been mistakenly inserted here under the influence of “on (עַל) the entrails” at the end of the verse.

¹⁷ tn Heb “and all the fat on the entrails.” The fat layer that covers the entrails as a whole (i.e., “that covers the entrails”) is different from the fat that surrounds and adheres to the various organs (“on the entrails,” i.e., surrounding them; J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:205-7).

¹⁸ tn Heb “taken up from”; KJV, ASV “taken off from”; NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “removed.” See the notes on Lev 3:3-4 above (cf. also 3:9-10, 14-15).

¹⁹ tn This section begins with the relative pronoun אֲשֶׁר (’asher) which usually means “who” or “which,” but here means “whenever.”

²⁰ tn See the Lev 4:2 note on “straying.”

²¹ tn Heb “and does one from all the commandments of the Lord his God which must not be done”; cf. NRSV “ought not to be done”; NIV “does what is forbidden in any of the commands.”

²² tn Heb “or his sin which he sinned in it is made known to him”; NAB “if he learns of the sin he committed.”

²³ tn Lev 4:22b-23a is difficult. The present translation suggests that there are two possible legal situations envisioned, separated by the Hebrew אוֹ (’o, “or”) at the beginning of v. 23. Lev 4:22b refers to any case in which the leader readily admits his guilt (i.e., “pleads guilty”), whereas v. 23a refers to cases where the leader is convicted of his guilt by legal action (“his sin…is made known to him”). See R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 2:95-96; Lev 4:27-28; and esp. the notes on Lev 5:1 below.

²⁴ tn Heb “a he-goat of goats, a male without defect”; cf. NLT “with no physical defects.”

²⁵ tn Heb “an individual from the people of the land”; cf. NASB “anyone of the common people” (KJV, ASV both similar); NAB “a private person.”

²⁶ tn Heb “If one person sins by straying, from the people of the land.” See Lev 4:2 for a note on “straying.”

²⁷ tn Heb “by doing it, one from the commandments of the Lord which must not be done.”

²⁸ tn Heb “or his sin which he sinned is made known to him”; cf. NCV “when that person learns about his sin.”

²⁹ tn Lev 4:27b-28a is essentially the same as 4:22b-23a (see the notes there).

³⁰ tn Heb “a she-goat of goats, a female without defect”; NAB “an unblemished she-goat.”

³¹ tn Heb “on his sin.”

³² tc The LXX has a plural form here (see v. 24 above and the note on Lev 1:5a).

³³ tn The words “into silver shekels” are supplied here. See the full expression in Lev 5:15, and compare 5:18. Cf. NRSV “or its equivalent”; NLT “or the animal’s equivalent value in silver.”

³⁴ tn See the notes on Lev 3:3-4.

³⁵ tn See the note on Lev 1:9 above.

³⁶ tn The rendering “this [grain] offering” is more literally “his offering,” but it refers to the series of grain offerings listed just previously in v. 12.

³⁷ tn The words “which regularly accompany” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied for clarity.

sn The translation “[which regularly accompany]…” is based on the practice of bringing bread (and wine) to eat with the portions of the peace offering meat eaten by the priests and worshipers (see v. 14 and Num 15:1-13). This was in addition to the memorial portion of the unleavened bread that was offered to the Lord on the altar (cf. Lev 2:2, 9, and the note on 7:12).

³⁸ tn Heb “and any blood you must not eat in any of your dwelling places, to the bird and to the animal.”

³⁹ tn For zoological remarks on the following list of birds see J. Milgrom, Leviticus (AB), 1:662-64; and J. E. Hartley, Leviticus (WBC), 159-60.

⁴⁰ tn Heb “by any of the swarming things that swarm.”

⁴¹ tn The “it” is not expressed but is to be understood. It refers to the “infection” (cf. the note on v. 2 above).

⁴² tn Heb “and behold” (so KJV, ASV).

⁴³ tn This is the declarative Piel of the verb טָמֵא (tame’, cf. the note on v. 3 above).

⁴⁴ tn Some English versions translate “it shall be shown to [or “be seen by”] the priest,” taking the infection to be the subject of the verb (e.g., KJV, NASB, RSV, NRSV). Based on the Hebrew grammar there is no way to be sure which is intended.

⁴⁵ tn Or perhaps translate, “His infection [is] on his head,” as a separate independent sentence (cf. KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV). There is no causal expression in the Hebrew text connecting these two clauses, but the logical relationship between them seems to be causal.

⁴⁶ tn Heb “do [or “make”] the sin offering.”

⁴⁷ tn Heb “And after[ward] he [i.e., the offerer] shall slaughter.” The LXX adds “the priest” as the subject of the verb (as do several English versions, e.g., NAB, NIV, NCV, NLT), but the offerer is normally the one who does the actually slaughtering of the sacrificial animal (cf. the notes on Lev 1:5a, 6a, and 9a).

⁴⁸ tn Heb “to the doorway of”; KJV, ASV “unto the door of.”

⁴⁹ tn Heb “who to him the house.”

⁵⁰ tn Heb “and behold” (so KJV, ASV); NASB “If the mark has indeed spread.”

⁵¹ tn Heb “And the one who touches in the flesh.” In this instance, “flesh” (or “body”) probably refers literally to any part of the body, not the genitals specifically (see the discussion in J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:914).

⁵² tn Heb “And if the man with a discharge spits in the clean one.”

⁵³ tn Heb “And all who the man with the discharge touches in him and his hands he has not rinsed in water.”

⁵⁴ tn Heb “And a woman who a man lies with her a lying of seed.”

⁵⁵ tn See the note on v. 5 above.

⁵⁶ tn Heb “And he shall take.”

⁵⁷ tn Heb “he-goats of goats”; CEV “two goats, both of them males.”

⁵⁸ tn Heb “which the lot has gone up on it for the Lord.”

⁵⁹ tn Heb “And Aaron shall enter.”

⁶⁰ tn For “Azazel” see the note on v. 8 above.

⁶¹ tn The phrase “from all your sins” could go with the previous clause as the verse is rendered here (see, e.g., B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 109, and J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:1011), or it could go with the following clause (i.e., “you shall be clean from all your sins before the Lord”; see the MT accents as well as J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 221, and recent English versions, e.g., NASB, NIV, NRSV).

⁶² tn See the note on v. 29 above.

⁶³ tn Compare v. 29a above.

⁶⁴ tn Heb “And you shall keep.”

⁶⁵ tn Heb “which the man shall do them and shall live in them.” The term for “a man, human being; mankind” (אָדָם, ’adam; see the note on Lev 1:2) in this case refers to any person among “mankind,” male or female. The expression וָחַי (vakhay, “and shall live”) looks like the adjective “living” so it is written וְחָיָה (vÿkhayah) in Smr, but the MT form is simply the same verb written as a double ayin verb (see HALOT 309 s.v. חיה qal and GKC 218 §76.i; cf. Lev 25:35).

⁶⁶ tn Or “as a concubine”; Heb “And a woman to her sister you shall not take to be a second wife [or “to be a concubine”].” According to HALOT 1059 s.v. III צרר, the infinitive “to be a second wife” (לִצְרֹר, litsror) is a denominative verb from II צָרָה A (“concubine; second wife”), which, in turn, derives from II צר “to treat with hostility” (cf. J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 283, and B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 122).

⁶⁷ tn Heb “on her in her life.”

⁶⁸ tn Heb “And from your seed you shall not give to cause to pass over to Molech.” Smr (cf. also the LXX) has “to cause to serve” rather than “to cause to pass over.” For detailed remarks on Molech and Molech worship see N. H. Snaith, Leviticus and Numbers (NCBC), 87-88; P. J. Budd, Leviticus (NCBC), 259-60; and J. E. Hartley, Leviticus (WBC), 333-37, and the literature cited there. It could refer to either human sacrifice or a devotion of children to some sort of service of Molech, perhaps of a sexual sort (cf. Lev 20:2-5; 2 Kgs 23:10, etc.). The inclusion of this prohibition against Molech worship here may be due to some sexual connection of this kind, or perhaps simply to the lexical link between זֶרַע (zera’) meaning “seed, semen” in v. 20 but “offspring” in v. 21.

⁶⁹ tn Heb “and you shall not profane.” Regarding “profane,” see the note on Lev 10:10 above.

⁷⁰ tn Heb “And with a male you shall not lay [as the] lyings of a woman” (see B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 123). The specific reference here is to homosexual intercourse between males.

⁷¹ tn The Hebrew term תּוֹעֵבָה (to’evah, rendered “detestable act”) refers to the repugnant practices of foreigners, whether from the viewpoint of other peoples toward the Hebrews (e.g., Gen 43:32; 46:34; Exod 8:26) or of the Lord toward other peoples (see esp. Lev 18:26-27, 29-30). It can also designate, as here, detestable acts that might be perpetrated by the native peoples (it is used again in reference to homosexuality in Lev 20:13; cf. also its use for unclean food, Deut 14:3; idol worship, Isa 41:24; remarriage to a former wife who has been married to someone else in between, Deut 24:4).

⁷² sn Regarding the difficult etymology and meaning of the term for “idols” (אֱלִילִים, ’elilim), see B. A. Levine, Leviticus (JPSTC), 126; J. E. Hartley, Leviticus (WBC), 304; N. H. Snaith, Leviticus and Numbers (NBC), 89; and Judith M. Hadley, NIDOTTE 1:411. It appears to be a diminutive play on words with אֵל (’el, “god; God”) and, perhaps at the same time, recalls a common Semitic word for “worthless; weak; powerless; nothingness.” Snaith suggests a rendering of “worthless godlings.”

⁷³ tn Heb “for your acceptance”; cf. NIV, NLT “it will be accepted on your behalf.”

⁷⁴ tn Heb “And you shall not swear to the falsehood.”

⁷⁵ tn Heb “and you shall not profane”; NAB “thus profaning.”

⁷⁶ sn Compare the regulations in Lev 18:6-23.

⁷⁷ tn Heb “If a man a man who.”

⁷⁸ tn Heb “makes light of his father and his mother.” Almost all English versions render this as some variation of “curses his father or mother.”

⁷⁹ tn Heb “his blood [plural] is in him.” Cf. NAB “he has forfeited his life”; TEV “is responsible for his own death.”

sn The rendering “blood guilt” refers to the fact that the shedding of blood brings guilt on those who shed it illegitimately (even the blood of animals shed illegitimately, Lev 17:4; cf. the background of Gen 4:10-11). If the community performs a legitimate execution, however, the blood guilt rests on the person who has been legitimately executed (see the remarks and literature cited in J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 328).

⁸⁰ tn Heb “And a man who.” The syntax here and at the beginning of the following verses elliptically mirrors that of v. 9, which justifies the rendering as a conditional clause.

⁸¹ tc The reading of the LXX minuscule mss has been followed here (see the BHS footnote a-a). The MT has a dittography, repeating “a man who commits adultery with the wife of” (see the explanation in J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 328). The duplication found in the MT is reflected in some English versions, e.g., KJV, ASV, NASB, NIV.

⁸² tn Heb “A wife harlot and profaned they shall not take.” The structure of the verse (e.g., “wife” at the beginning of the two main clauses) suggests that “harlot and profaned” constitutes a hendiadys, meaning “a wife defiled by harlotry” (see the explanation in B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 143, as opposed to that in J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 343, 348; cf. v. 14 below). Cf. NASB “a woman who is profaned by harlotry.”

⁸³ sn For a helpful discussion of divorce in general and as it relates to this passage see B. A. Levine, Leviticus (JPSTC), 143-44.

⁸⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the priest) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁸⁵ tn The pronoun “he” in this clause refers to the priest, not the former husband of the divorced woman.

⁸⁶ tn See the note on “burned to death” in 20:14.

⁸⁷ tn Heb “take.” In context this means “take as wife,” i.e., “marry.”

⁸⁸ tc The MT has literally, “from his peoples,” but Smr, LXX, Syriac, Targum, and Tg. Ps.-J. have “from his people,” referring to the Israelites as a whole.

⁸⁹ sn The phrase “any of these” refers back to the unclean things touched in vv. 4b-5.

⁹⁰ tn Heb “a carcass,” referring to the carcass of an animal that has died on its own, not the carcass of an animal slaughtered for sacrifice or killed by wild beasts. This has been clarified in the translation by supplying the phrase “of natural causes”; cf. NAB “that has died of itself”; TEV “that has died a natural death.”

⁹¹ tn Heb “And a man, if he eats a holy thing in error” (see the Lev 4:2 not on “straying,” which is the term rendered “by mistake” here).

⁹² sn When a person trespassed in regard to something sacred to the Lord, reparation was to be made for the trespass, involving restitution of that which was violated plus one fifth of its value as a fine. It is possible that the restoration of the offering and the additional one fifth of its value were made as a monetary payment (see, e.g., B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 150). See the regulations for the “guilt offering” in Lev 5:16; 6:5 [5:24 HT] and the notes there.

⁹³ tn Heb “for your acceptance.” See Lev 1:3-4 above and the notes there.

⁹⁴ tn Heb “for your acceptance” (see the notes on Lev 1:3-4 and 22:19 above).

⁹⁵ tn Heb “these are them, my appointed times.”

sn The term מוֹעֵד (mo’ed, rendered “appointed time” here) can refer to either a time or place of meeting. See the note on “tent of meeting” (אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד, ’ohel mo’ed) in Lev 1:1.

⁹⁶ tn Heb “to this month.”

⁹⁷ tn Heb “for your acceptance.”

⁹⁸ sn See Lev 7:30 for a note on the “waving” of a “wave offering.”

⁹⁹ tn Heb “And you shall make in the day of your waving the sheaf.”

¹⁰⁰ tn Heb “a flawless lamb, a son of its year”; KJV “of the first year”; NLT “a year-old male lamb.”

¹⁰¹ tn Heb “in the bone of this day.”

¹⁰² tn Heb “on you [plural]”; cf. NASB, NRSV “on your behalf.”

¹⁰³ tn Heb “for your generations.”

¹⁰⁴ tn Heb “from to separation.” See BDB 94 s.v. בַּד 1.e for an explanation of this phrase. This phrase is repeated in front of each of the four items in this verse in the Hebrew text, but these have not been translated into English for stylistic reasons. Cf. KJV, NASB “besides”; NRSV “apart from.”

¹⁰⁵ tn This is not just any “incense” (קְטֹרֶת, qÿtoret; R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 3:913-16), but specifically “frankincense” (לְבֹנָה, lÿvonah; R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 2:756-57).

¹⁰⁶ tn Heb “on [עַל, ’al] the row,” probably used distributively, “on each row” (J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 395-96). Perhaps the frankincense was placed “with” or “along side of” each row, not actually on the bread itself, and was actually burned as incense to the Lord (cf. NIV “Along [Alongside CEV] each row”; NRSV “with each row”; NLT “near each row”; B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 165). This particular preposition can have such a meaning.

¹⁰⁷ sn The “memorial portion” (אַזְכָרָה, ’azkharah) was normally the part of the grain offering that was burnt on the altar (see Lev 2:2 and the notes there), as opposed to the remainder, which was normally consumed by the priests (Lev 2:3; see the full regulations in Lev 6:14-23 [6:7-16 HT]).

¹⁰⁸ sn See the note on Lev 1:9 regarding the term “gift.”

¹⁰⁹ tn Heb “In the day of the Sabbath, in the day of the Sabbath.” The repetition is distributive. A few medieval Hebrew mss, the LXX, and the Syriac delete the second occurrence of the expression.

¹¹⁰ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Aaron) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹¹¹ tn The word “portion” is supplied in the translation here for clarity, to specify what “this” refers to.

¹¹² tn Heb “gives a flaw in”; KJV, ASV “cause a blemish in.”

¹¹³ tn Or “neighbor” (so NAB, NASB, NIV); TEV, NLT “another person.”

¹¹⁴ tn Heb “in the man [אָדָם, ’adam].”

¹¹⁵ tn Heb “just as he inflicts an injury…it must be inflicted on him.” The referent (“that same injury”) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹¹⁶ tn Heb “the land shall rest a Sabbath.”

¹¹⁷ tn Heb “And you shall count off for yourself.”

¹¹⁸ tn Heb “seven years seven times.”

¹¹⁹ tn Heb “and they shall be for you, the days of the seven Sabbaths of years, forty-nine years.”

¹²⁰ tn Heb “you shall not sow and you shall not…and you shall not….”

sn See v. 5 above and the notes there.

¹²¹ tn Heb “And you shall not oppress a man his fellow citizen.”

¹²² tn The term rendered “without reclaim” means that the land has been bought for the full price and is, therefore, not subject to reclaim under any circumstances. This was not to be done with land in ancient Israel (contrast the final full sale of houses in v. 30; see the evidence cited in B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 174).

¹²³ tn That is, the Israelites were strangers and residents who were attached to the Lord’s household. They did not own the land. Note the parallel to the “priest’s lodger” in Lev 22:10.

¹²⁴ tn Heb “And.”

¹²⁵ tn Heb “the houses of the cities of their property.”

¹²⁶ tn Heb “you shall not serve against him service of a slave.” A distinction is being made here between the status of slave and indentured servant.

¹²⁷ tn Or perhaps reflexive Niphal rather than passive, “they shall not sell themselves [as in] a slave sale.”

¹²⁸ tn Heb “to the mouth of them.”

¹²⁹ tn Heb “but if a little remains in the years.”

¹³⁰ tn Heb “And if.”

¹³¹ tn Heb “go out.”

¹³² tn Heb “and it shall be to him.”

¹³³ tn Heb “And if redeeming [infinitive absolute] he redeems [finite verb] the field, the one who consecrated it.” For the infinitive absolute used to highlight contrast rather than emphasis see GKC 343 §113.p.

¹³⁴ tn Heb “the silver of the conversion value.”

¹³⁵ tn Heb “and it shall rise to him.” See HALOT 1087 s.v. קום 7 for the rendering offered here, but see also the note on the end of v. 14 above (cf. J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 476, 478).