translation_id: net-engnet

book_id: LEV

label: NET translator note

text: Heb “Man man.” The reduplication is a way of saying “any man” (cf. Lev 17:3; 22:18 , etc.; see the distributive repetition of the noun in GKC 395-96 §123. c ).


text: The term “discharge” actually means “to flow,” whether referring to a full flow as at a spring of water ( Ps 78:20 and parallels) or in reference to the promised land as “a land flowing with milk and honey” ( Exod 3:8 and parallels).


text: Heb “man, man when there is a discharge from his flesh.” The repetition of the word “man” is distributive, meaning “any [or “every”] man” (GKC 395-96 §123. c ). It is well-recognized that the term “flesh” (i.e., “body”) in this chapter refers regularly and euphemistically to the male and female genital members or areas of the body ( HALOT 164 s.v. בָּשָׂר 5.b; see also, e.g., B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 93). The euphemism has been retained in this translation since it is, in fact, intended in the Hebrew text. Some English versions partially remove the euphemism (e.g., NAB “from his private parts”; NRSV “from his member”) while some remove it completely (e.g., NLT “a genital discharge”; TEV “from his penis”; CEV “with an infected penis”).


text: The LXX has “this the law of his uncleanness…” (cf. v. 32 and compare, e.g., 13:59; 14:2, 56 ).


text: Heb “it is his uncleanness,” but the last clause recapitulates the effect of the first clause in this verse, both of which introduce the regulations for such uncleanness in the following verses. In other words, whether his discharge flows from his penis or is blocked in it, he is still unclean and must proceed according to the following regulations (vv. 4 ff).


text: Heb “All the bed which the man with a discharge sits on it shall be unclean”; cf. NLT “Any bedding.”


text: Heb “and all the vessel which he sits on it shall be unclean”; NASB “everything on which he sits.”


text: Heb “And a man who touches in his bed”; NLT “touch the man’s bedding.”


text: Heb “he shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until the evening” (cf. also vv. 6-8, 10-11 , etc.).


text: 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).


text: Heb “And if the man with a discharge spits in the clean one.”


text: The Hebrew term for “means of riding” is a cognate noun from the verb “ride” later in this verse. It refers to anything on which one may ride without the feet touching the ground including, for example, a saddle, a (saddle) blanket, or a seat on a chariot (see, e.g., J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:916).


text: Heb “which shall be under him.” The verb is perhaps a future perfect, “which shall have been.”


text: Heb “them”; the referent (the previously mentioned items which were under the unclean person) has been specified in the translation for clarity.


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


text: The Hebrew term כְּלִי ( kÿli ) can mean “vessel” (v. 12 a) or “utensil, implement, article” (v. 12 b). An article of clay would refer to a vessel or container of some sort, while one made of wood would refer to some kind of tool or instrument.


text: For the expression “fresh water” see the note on Lev 14:5 above.


text: Heb “from the sons of the pigeon,” referring either to “young pigeons” or “various species of pigeon” (contrast J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:168 with J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 14; cf. Lev 1:14 and esp. 5:7-10 ).


label: NET textual note

text: The MT has the Qal form of the verb בּוֹא ( bo ’) “to come” here, but the LXX (followed generally by the Syriac and Tg. Ps.-J. ) reflects the Hiphil form of the same verb, “to bring” as in v. 29 below. In v. 29 , however, there is no additional clause “and give them to the priest,” so the Hiphil is necessary in that context while it is not necessary here in v. 14 .


text: Heb “and the priest shall make them one a sin offering and the one a burnt offering.” See the note on Lev 1:3 regarding the “burnt offering.”


text: Heb “And the priest.” The Hebrew conjunction ו ( vav , “and”) can be considered to have resultative force here.


text: Heb “from”; see the note on 4:26 .


text: Heb “And a man when a lying of seed goes out from him”; KJV, ASV “any man’s seed of copulation”; NIV, NRSV, TEV, NLT “an emission of semen.”


text: Heb “and he shall bathe all his flesh in water.”


text: Heb “And a woman who a man lies with her a lying of seed.”


text: See the note on Lev 15:2 above.


text: Heb “blood shall be her discharge in her flesh.” The term “flesh” here refers euphemistically to the female sexual area (cf. the note on v. 2 above).


text: See the note on Lev 12:2 and R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 1:925-27.


text: Heb “and if on the bed it ( הוּא , hu ’) is or on the vessel which she sits on it, when he touches it….” The translation and meaning of this verse is a subject of much debate in the commentaries (see the summary in J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:938-40). It is difficult to determine what הוּא refers to, whether it means “he” referring to the one who does the touching, “it” for the furniture or the seat in v. 22 , “she” referring to the woman herself (see Smr היא rather than הוא ), or perhaps anything that was lying on the furniture or the bed of vv. 21-22 . The latter view is taken here (cf. J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 202).


text: The MT accent suggest that “when he touches it” goes with the preceding line, but it seems to be better to take it as an introduction to what follows (see J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 202).


text: Heb “and if a man indeed lies with her and her menstrual impurity is on him.”


text: Heb “And a woman when the flow of her blood flows.”


text: Heb “in not the time of her menstruation or when it flows on her menstruation.”


text: See the note on v. 5 above.


text: Heb “And if…” Although this clause is parallel to v. 13 above, it begins with וְאִם ( vÿ ’ im , “and if”) here rather than וְכִי ( vÿkhi , “and when/if”) there.


text: Heb “And the priest shall make the one a sin offering and the one a burnt offering.”


text: Heb “And you shall.” The Hebrew conjunction ו ( vav , “and”) can be considered to have resultative force here (cf. KJV, ASV, NASB, NCV, NRSV).


text: Heb “and they.” Here the Hebrew conjunction ו ( vav , “and”) indicates a negative purpose (“lest,” so NAB, NASB).


text: Heb “and who a lying of seed goes out from him.”


text: Heb “to become unclean in it.”


text: Heb “and the one with a discharge, his discharge to the male and the female.”


text: Heb “and for a man.”