Discovery BoxLeviticus 6:15-18 
Context6:15 and the priest 1 must take up with his hand some of the choice wheat flour of the grain offering 2 and some of its olive oil, and all of the frankincense that is on the grain offering, and he must offer its memorial portion 3 up in smoke on the altar 4 as a soothing aroma to the Lord. 5 6:16 Aaron and his sons are to eat what is left over from it. It must be eaten unleavened in a holy place; they are to eat it in the courtyard of the Meeting Tent. 6:17 It must not be baked with yeast. 6 I have given it as their portion from my gifts. It is most holy, 7 like the sin offering and the guilt offering. 6:18 Every male among the sons of Aaron may eat it. It is a perpetual allotted portion 8 throughout your generations 9 from the gifts of the Lord. Anyone who touches these gifts 10 must be holy.’” 11
1 tn Heb “and he”; the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity. The “he” refers to the officiating priest. A similar shift between singular and plural occurs in Lev 1:7-9, but see the note on Lev 1:7 and J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 89 for the possibility of textual corruption.
2 tn Heb “shall take up from it with his hand some of the choice wheat flour of the grain offering.”
4 tc Smr reading, which includes the locative ה (hey, translated “on” the altar), is preferred here. This is the normal construction with the verb “offer up in smoke” in Lev 1-7 (see the note on Lev 1:9).
5 tn Heb “and he shall offer up in smoke [on] the altar a soothing aroma, its memorial portion, to the
6 tn Heb “It must not be baked leavened” (cf. Lev 2:11). The noun “leaven” is traditional in English versions (cf. KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV), but “yeast” is more commonly used today.
7 tn Heb “holiness of holinesses [or holy of holies] it is”; cf. NAB “most sacred.”
8 tn Or “a perpetual regulation”; cf. NASB “a permanent ordinance”; NRSV “as their perpetual due.”
9 tn Heb “for your generations”; cf. NIV “for the generations to come.”
10 tn Heb “touches them”; the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity. In this context “them” must refer to the “gifts” of the
11 tn Or “anyone/anything that touches them shall become holy” (J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:443-56). The question is whether this refers to the contagious nature of holy objects (cf. NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT) or whether it simply sets forth a demand that anyone who touches the holy gifts of the
