translation_id: net-engnet

book_id: LEV

label: NET translator note

text: Heb “in their drawing near to the faces of the Lord .” The rendering here relies on the use of this expression for the very “presence” of God in Exod 33:14-15 and in the Lev 9:24-10:2 passage, where the Nadab and Abihu catastrophe referred to here is narrated.


text: Heb “into the holy place from house to the veil-canopy.” In this instance, the Hebrew term “the holy place” refers to “the most holy place” (lit. “holy of holies”), since it is the area “inside the veil-canopy” (cf. Exod 26:33-34 ). The Hebrew term פָּרֹכֶת ( parokhet ) is usually translated “veil” or “curtain,” but it seems to have stretched not only in front of but also over the top of the ark of the covenant which stood behind and under it inside the most holy place, and thus formed more of a canopy than simply a curtain (see R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 3:687-89).


text: Heb “to the faces of the atonement plate.” The exact meaning of the Hebrew term כַּפֹּרֶת ( kapporet ) here rendered “atonement plate” is much debated. The traditional “ mercy seat” (KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV) does not suit the cognate relationship between this term and the Piel verb כִּפֶּר ( kipper , “to make atonement, to make expiation”). The translation of the word should also reflect the fact that the most important atonement procedures on the Day of Atonement were performed in relation to it. Since the Lord would “appear in the cloud over the atonement plate,” and since it was so closely associated with the ark of the covenant (the ark being his “footstool”; cf. 1 Chr 28:2 and Ps 132:7-8 ), one could take it to be the place of his throne at which he accepts atonement. See J. Milgrom, Leviticus (AB), 1:1014; J. E. Hartley, Leviticus (WBC), 234-35; and R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 2:691, 699. Cf. NIV “the atonement cover”; NCV “the lid on the Ark”; NLT “the Ark’s cover – the place of atonement.”


text: Heb “with a bull, a son of the herd.”


text: Heb “shall be on his flesh.” As in many instances in , the term “flesh” or “body” here is euphemistic for the male genitals (J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:1017, and J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 222; cf. the note on Lev 15:2 ), which the priest must be careful not to expose during such ritual procedures (see Exod 20:26 with 28:42-43 ).


text: Heb “and in a turban of linen he shall wrap.” sn The turban consisted of wound up linen (cf. Exod 28:4, 37, 39; 29:6; 39:31 ; Lev 16:4 ). It is usually thought to be a “turban,” but it might be only a “turban-like headband” wound around the forehead area ( HALOT 624 s.v. מִצְנֶפֶת ).


text: Heb “and he shall bathe….”


text: Heb “And he shall take.”


text: Heb “he-goats of goats”; CEV “two goats, both of them males.”


text: Heb “the two he-goats,” referred to as “two he-goats of goats” in v. 5 .


text: Heb “and Aaron shall give lots on the two he-goats.” See the note on Lev 8:8 for the priestly casting of lots in Israel and the explanation in B. A. Levine, Leviticus (JPSTC), 102, on Lev 16:8-9 . J. Milgrom, Leviticus (AB), 1:1019-20, suggests, however, that the expression here signifies that, the lots having been cast, the priest was to literally “place” ( Heb “give”) the one marked “for the Lord ” on the head of the goat to be sacrificed and the one marked “for Azazel” on the head of the one to be released in the wilderness in order to avoid confusing them later in the ritual sequence.


text: The meaning of the Hebrew term עֲזָאזֵל (’ aza ’ zel , four times in the OT, all of them in this chapter; vv. 8, 10 [2 times], and 26) is much debated. There are three or perhaps four major views (see the summaries and literature cited in J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:1020-21; B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 102; J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 237-38; D. P. Wright, The Disposal of Impurity [SBLDS], 21-25; M. V. Van Pelt and W. C. Kaiser, NIDOTTE 3:362-63; and M. S. Moore, NIDOTTE 4:421-22). (1) Some derive the term from a combination of the Hebrew word עֵז (’ ez , “goat”; i.e., the word for “goats” in v. 5 ) and אָזַל (’ azal , “to go away”), meaning “the goat that departs” or “scapegoat” (cf., e.g., the LXX and KJV, NASB, NIV, NLT). This meaning suits the ritual practice of sending the so-called “scapegoat” away into the wilderness (vv. 10, 21-22, 26 ). Similarly, some derive the term from Arabic ’ azala (“to banish, remove”), meaning “entire removal” as an abstract concept (see BDB 736 s.v. עֲזָאזֵל ). (2) Some see the term as a description of the wilderness area to which the goat was dispatched, deriving it somehow from Arabic ’ azazu (“rough ground”) or perhaps עָזָז , (’ azaz, “to be strong, fierce”). (3) The most common view among scholars today is that it is the proper name of a particular demon (perhaps even the Devil himself) associated with the wilderness desert regions. Levine has proposed that it may perhaps derive from a reduplication of the ז ( zayin ) in עֵז combined with אֵל (’ el , “mighty”), meaning “mighty goat.” The final consonantal form of עֲזָאזֵל would have resulted from the inversion of the א ( aleph ) with the second ז . He makes the point that the close association between עֵז and שְׂעִירִים ( shÿ ’ irim ), which seems to refer to “goat-demons” of the desert in Lev 17:7 (cf. Isa 13:21 , etc.), should not be ignored in the derivation of Azazel, although the term ultimately became the name of “the demonic ruler of the wilderness.” The latter view is supported by the parallel between the one goat “for ( לְ , lamed preposition) the Lord ” and the one “for ( לְ ) Azazel” here in v. 8 . The rendering as a proper name has been tentatively accepted here (cf. ASV, NAB, NRSV, TEV, CEV). Perhaps a play on words between the proper name and the term for “goat” has occurred so that the etymology has become obscure. Even if a demon or the demonic realm is the source for the name, however, there is no intention here of appeasing the demons. The goal is to remove the impurity and iniquity from the community in order to avoid offending the Lord and the repercussions of such (see esp. vv. 21-22 and cf. Lev 15:31 ).


text: Heb “which the lot has gone up on it for the Lord .”


text: The LXX has “he shall stand it” (cf. v. 7 ).


text: Heb “to make atonement on it to send it away to Azazel toward the wilderness.”


text: Heb “and he shall take the fullness of the censer, coals of fire, from on the altar from to the faces of the Lord .”


text: Heb “and the fullness of the hollow of his two hands, finely ground fragrant incense.”


text: Heb “and he shall bring from house to the veil-canopy.”


text: The text here has only “above the testimony,” but this is surely a shortened form of “above the ark of the testimony” (see Exod 25:22 etc.; cf. Lev 16:2 ). The term “testimony” in this expression refers to the ark as the container of the two stone tablets with the Ten Commandments written on them (see Exod 25:16 with Deut 10:1, 5 , etc.).


text: Heb “and he will not die,” but it is clear that the purpose for the incense cloud was to protect the priest from death in the presence of the Lord (cf. vv. 1-2 above).


text: Heb “on the faces of the atonement plate toward the east.” Some have taken this to mean that the ark was stationed just behind the veil-canopy on the eastern side of the most holy place. Thus, the high priest would need to enter and walk toward the west end of the most holy place and then turn eastward in order to face the ark and sprinkle the blood in an eastward direction. The rendering here, however, requires that the ark was stationed on the western end, or perhaps in the middle of the area, so that as the priest entered he was already facing the ark and would sprinkle the blood on the eastern face of the atonement plate, in a westward direction (see, e.g., J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 239 versus J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:1032).


text: Heb “and he shall bring its blood into from house to the veil-canopy.”


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


text: Heb “to all their sins.”


text: Heb “And all man shall not be in the tent of meeting.” The term for “a man, human being” ( אָדָם , ’ adam ; see the note on Lev 1:2 ) refers to any person among “mankind,” male or female.


text: Heb “And.” The Hebrew conjunction ו ( vav , “and”) indicates the sequence of events here.


text: Heb “And he shall take.”


text: Heb “and he shall purify it and he shall consecrate it.”


text: Heb “And he shall finish from atoning the holy place.” In this case, the “holy place” etc. are direct objects of the verb “to atone” (cf. v. 33 a below). In this case, therefore, the basic meaning of the verb (i.e., “to purge” or “wipe clean”) comes to the forefront. When the prepositions עַל (’ al ) or בֲּעַד ( ba ’ ad ) occur with the verb כִּפֶּר ( kipper ) the purging is almost always being done “for” or “on behalf of” priests or people (see the note on Lev 1:4 as well as R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 2:698, the literature cited there, and B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 110, for more details).


text: Heb “transgressions to all their sins.”


text: Heb “and he shall give them.”


text: The meaning of the Hebrew term עִתִּי (’ itti ) is uncertain. It is apparently related to עֵת (’ et , “time”), and could perhaps mean either that he has been properly “appointed” (i.e., designated) for the task (e.g., NIV and NRSV) or “ready” (e.g., NASB and NEB).


text: The Hebrew term rendered “inaccessible” derives from a root meaning “to cut off” (cf. NAB “an isolated region”). Another possible translation would be “infertile land” (see HALOT 187 s.v. * גָּזֵּר and cf. NRSV “a barren region”; NLT “a desolate land.”


text: Heb “and he [the man (standing) ready, v. 21 ] shall send the goat away.”


text: Heb “And Aaron shall enter.”


text: Heb “And he shall make atonement.”


text: Heb “on behalf of himself and on behalf of the people.” After “on behalf of himself” the LXX adds the expected “and on behalf of his household” (cf. vv. 6, 11, and 17 ).


text: Heb “And the fat of the sin offering he is to offer up.”


text: For “Azazel” see the note on v. 8 above.


text: Heb “he shall bring into from outside to the camp.”


text: Heb “they shall burn with fire”; KJV “burn in the fire.” Because “to burn with fire” is redundant in contemporary English the present translation simply has “must be burned up.”


text: Heb “And it [feminine] shall be for you a perpetual statute.” Verse 34 begins with the same clause except for the missing demonstrative pronoun “this” here in v. 29 . The LXX has “this” in both places and it suits the sense of the passage, although both the verb and the pronoun are sometimes missing in this clause elsewhere in the book (see, e.g., Lev 3:17 ).


text: Heb “you shall humble your souls.” The verb “to humble” here refers to various forms of self-denial, including but not limited to fasting (cf. Ps 35:13 and Isa 58:3, 10 ). The Mishnah ( m. Yoma 8:1) lists abstentions from food and drink, bathing, using oil as an unguent to moisten the skin, wearing leather sandals, and sexual intercourse (cf. 2 Sam 12:16-17, 20 ; see the remarks in J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:1054; B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 109; and J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 242).


text: Heb “and all work you shall not do.”


text: Heb “the native and the sojourner who sojourns.”


text: 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).


text: See the note on v. 29 above.


text: Compare v. 29 a above.


text: Heb “And the priest whom he shall anointed him and whom he shall fill his hand to act as priest under his father.” Imperfect active verbs are often used as passives (see, e.g., v. 27 above and the note on Lev 14:4 ).


text: Heb “to atone” (also later in this verse); see the note on “purifying the holy place” in 16:20 .


text: Heb “the sanctuary of the holy place.” Although this is the only place this expression occurs in the OT, it clearly refers to the innermost shrine behind the veil-canopy, where the ark of the covenant was located.


text: Heb “and the tent of meeting and the alter he shall atone.” The repetition of the verb כִּפֶּר ( kipper , “to atone”) at the beginning and end of the sequence appears to be strange, but the MT accents suggest that only “the Most Holy Place” goes with the verb at the beginning of the verse. Of course, the purging of “the Most Holy Place” has been the main emphasis of this chapter from the start (see vv. 2-3 and 11-17 ).


text: At this point in the verse the verb כִּפֶּר ( kipper , “to make atonement”) takes its object with the preposition עַל (’ al , “for”; literally, “upon”; contrast the first part of the verse and cf. the notes on Lev 1:4 and 16:20 above).


text: Heb “And this shall be for you to a statute of eternity” (cf. v. 29 a above). cf. NASB “a permanent statute”; NIV “a lasting ordinance.”


text: Heb “from”; see note on 4:26 .


text: Heb “one [feminine] in the year.”


text: The MT of Lev 16:34 b reads literally, “and he did just as the Lord had commanded Moses.” This has been retained here in spite of the fact that it suggests that Aaron immediately performed the rituals outlined in (see, e.g., J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 224 and 243; J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:1059; note that Aaron was the one to whom Moses was to speak the regulations in this chapter, v. 2 ). The problem is that the chapter presents these procedures as regulations for “the tenth day of the seventh month” and calls for their fulfillment at that time ( Lev 16:29 ; cf. Lev 23:26-32 and the remarks in P. J. Budd, Leviticus [NCBC], 237), not during the current (first) month ( Exod 40:2 ; note also that they left Sinai in the second month, long before the next seventh month, Num 10:11 ). The LXX translates, “once in the year it shall be done as the Lord commanded Moses,” attaching “once in the year” to this clause rather than the former one, and rendering the verb as passive, “it shall be done” (cf. NAB, NIV, etc.). We have already observed the passive use of active verbs in this context (see the note on v. 32 above). The RSV (cf. also the NRSV, TEV, CEV, NLT) translates, “And Moses did as the Lord commanded him,” ignoring the fact that the name Moses in the Hebrew text has the direct object indicator. Passive verbs, however, regularly take subjects with direct object indicators (see, e.g., v. 27 above). The NIV renders it “And it was done, as the Lord commanded Moses,” following the LXX passive translation. The NASB translates, “And just as the Lord had commanded Moses, so he did,” transposing the introductory verb to the end of the sentence and supplying “so” in order to make it fit the context.