translation_id: net-engnet

book_id: LEV

label: NET translator note

text: Heb “and let them take.” The simple vav ( ו ) on the imperfect/jussive form of the verb לָקַח ( laqakh , “to take”) following the imperative (“Command”) indicates a purpose clause (“to bring…”).


text: Heb “to cause to ascend a lamp continually.”


text: 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 (see R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 3:687-89).


label: NET textual note

text: Several medieval Hebrew mss , Smr, and the LXX add “and his sons.”


text: Heb “for your generations.”


text: Alternatively, “pure [gold] lampstand,” based on Exod 25:31 , etc., where the term for “gold” actually appears (see NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT, and the remarks in J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 395, etc.). However, in Lev 24:4 the adjective “pure” is feminine, corresponding to “lampstand,” not an assumed noun “gold” (contrast Exod 25:31 ), and the “table” in v. 6 was overlaid with gold, but was not made of pure gold. Therefore, it is probably better to translate “[ceremonially] pure lampstand” (v. 4 ) and “[ceremonially] pure table” (v. 6 ); see NEB; cf. KJV, ASV; B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 164-65; and G. J. Wenham, Leviticus [NICOT], 307.


text: Heb “and bake it twelve loaves”; KJV, NAB, NASB “cakes.”


text: The words “of flour” are supplied in the translation for clarity. sn See the note on Lev 5:11 .


text: Heb “six of the row.”


text: 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).


text: 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.


text: 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.


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


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


text: Or “a perpetual regulation”; NRSV “a perpetual due.”


text: Heb “And.”


text: Heb “the Israelite man,” but Smr has no article, and the point is that there was a conflict between the man of mixed background and a man of full Israelite descent.


text: The verb rendered “misused” means literally “to bore through, to pierce” ( HALOT 719 s.v. נקב qal); it is from נָקַב ( naqav ), not קָבַב ( qavav ; see the participial form in v. 16 a). Its exact meaning here is uncertain. The two verbs together may form a hendiadys, “he pronounced by cursing blasphemously” (B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 166), the idea being one of the following: (1) he pronounced the name “Yahweh” in a way or with words that amounted to “some sort of verbal aggression against Yahweh himself” (E. S. Gerstenberger, Leviticus [OTL], 362), (2) he pronounced a curse against the man using the name “Yahweh” (N. H. Snaith, Leviticus and Numbers [NCBC], 110; G. J. Wenham, Leviticus [NICOT], 311), or (3) he pronounced the name “Yahweh” and thereby blasphemed, since the “Name” was never to be pronounced (a standard Jewish explanation). In one way or another, the offense surely violated Exod 20:7 , one of the ten commandments, and the same verb for cursing is used explicitly in Exod 22:28 (27 HT) prohibition against “cursing” God. For a full discussion of these and related options for interpreting this verse see P. J. Budd, Leviticus (NCBC), 335-36; J. E. Hartley, Leviticus (WBC), 408-9; and Levine, 166.


text: The words “until they were able” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied.


text: The Hebrew here is awkward. A literal reading would be something like the following: “And they placed him in custody to give a clear decision [ HALOT 976 s.v. פרשׁ qal] for themselves on the mouth of the Lord .” In any case, they were apparently waiting for a direct word from the Lord regarding this matter (see vv. 13 ff).


text: The words “to death” are supplied in the translation as a clarification; they are clearly implied from v. 16 .


text: Heb “And if a man strikes any soul [ נֶפֶשׁ , nefesh ] of mankind.” The idiom seems to derive from the idea of striking a fatal blow to the very “life” (literally, “soul”) of a human being, not just landing a blow on their body ( HALOT 698 s.v. נכה hif.2). On the difficult of the meaning and significance of the term נֶפֶשׁ see the notes on Lev 17:10-11 .


text: Heb “And one who strikes a soul of an animal.”


text: Heb “soul under soul.” Cf. KJV “beast for beast”; NCV “must give…another animal to take its place.”


text: Heb “gives a flaw in”; KJV, ASV “cause a blemish in.”


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


text: Heb “in the man [ אָדָם , ’ adam ].”


text: 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.


text: Heb “and,” but here the Hebrew conjunction ו ( vav , “and”) is adversative, contrasting the consequences of beating an animal to death with those of beating a person to death.


text: Heb “a regulation of one”; KJV, ASV “one manner of law”; NASB “one standard.”