Numbers 8:12

When ¹  the Levites lay their hands on the heads of the bulls, offer ²  the one for a purification offering and the other for a whole burnt offering to the Lord, ³  to make atonement for the Levites.

Ex 29:10; Le 1:4; Le 4:20,35; Le 5:7,9,10; Le 8:14; Le 8:14,18; Le 8:34; Le 9:7; Le 14:19,20,22; Le 16:6,11,16-19; Le 16:21; Nu 6:14,16; Nu 8:8; Heb 9:22; Heb 10:4-10

¹ tn The clause begins with a vav (ו) on the noun “the Levites,” indicating a disjunctive clause. Here it is clearly a subordinate clause prior to the instruction for Moses, and so translated as a circumstantial clause of time.

² tn The imperative is from the verb “to do; to make,” but in the sentence it clearly means to sacrifice the animals.

³ sn The “purification offering” cleansed the tabernacle from impurity, and the burnt offering atoned by nullifying and removing the effects of sin in the Levites.