translation_id: net-engnet

book_id: LEV

label: NET translator note

text: Cf. the note on Lev 22:21 . Some take this as an expression for fulfilling a vow, “to fulfill a vow” (e.g., HALOT 927-28 s.v. פלא piel and NASB; cf. NRSV “in fulfillment of a vow”) or, alternatively, “to make a vow” or “for making a vow” ( HALOT 928 s.v. פלא piel [II פלא ]). Perhaps it refers to the making a special vow, from the verb פָלָא ( pala ’, “to be wonderful; to be remarkable”), cf. Milgrom, Numbers [JPSTC], 44. B. A. Levine, Leviticus (JPSTC), 151 and 193, suggests that this is a special term for “setting aside a votive offering” (related to פָלָה , palah , “to set aside”). In general, the point of the expression seems to be that this sacrifice is a special gift to God that arose out of special circumstances in the life of the worshiper.


text: Heb “in your valuation, persons to the Lord ,” but “in your valuation” is a frozen form and, therefore, the person (“your”) does not figure into the translation (see J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 73). Instead of offering a person to the Lord one could redeem that person with the appropriate amount of money delineated in the following verses (see the note on Lev 5:15 above and the explanation in Hartley, 480-81).


text: Heb “your conversion value shall be [for] the male.”


text: Heb “from a son of twenty years and until a son of sixty years.”


text: See the note on Lev 5:15 .


text: Heb “five shekels silver.”


text: Heb “and the priest shall cause him to be valued.”


text: Heb “on the mouth which the hand of the one who vowed reaches.”


text: Heb “which they may present from it an offering.” The plural active verb is sometimes best rendered in the passive (GKC 460 §144. f , g ). Some medieval Hebrew mss , Smr, a ms of the Targum, and the Vulgate all have the singular verb instead (cf. similarly v. 11 ).


text: Heb “from it.” The masculine suffix “it” here is used for the feminine in the MT, but one medieval Hebrew ms , some mss of Smr, the LXX, and the Syriac have the feminine. The referent (this kind of animal) has been specified in the translation for clarity.


text: Heb “it and its substitute.” The referent (the original animal offered) has been specified in the translation for clarity.


text: Heb “and the priest shall cause it to be valued.” See the note on v. 8 above.


text: Heb “And if redeeming [infinitive absolute] he redeems it [finite verb].” For the infinitive absolute used to highlight contrast rather than emphasis see GKC 343 §113. p . The referent of “he” (the person who made the vow) and “it” (the animal) have both been specified in the translation for clarity.


text: Heb “on,” meaning “on top of, in addition to” (likewise in v. 15 ).


text: The expression “it shall stand” may be a technical term for “it shall be legally valid”; cf. NLT “assessment will be final.”


text: Heb “and it shall be to him.”


text: Heb “a conversion value shall be to the mouth of its seed.”


text: Heb “seed of a homer of barley in fifty shekels of silver.”


text: Heb “from the year of the jubilee.” For the meaning of “jubilee,” see the note on Lev 25:10 above.


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


text: Heb “the silver.”


text: Heb “And if redeeming [infinitive absolute] he redeems [finite verb] the field, the one who consecrated it.” For the infinitive absolute used to highlight contrast rather than emphasis see GKC 343 §113. p .


text: Heb “the silver of the conversion value.”


text: Heb “and it shall rise to him.” See HALOT 1087 s.v. קום 7 for the rendering offered here, but see also the note on the end of v. 14 above (cf. J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 476, 478).


text: Heb “and if he sells.”


text: Heb “When it goes out” (cf. Lev 25:25-34 ).


text: Heb “like the field of the permanent dedication.” The Hebrew word חֵרֶם ( kherem ) is a much discussed term. In this and the following verses it refers in a general way to the fact that something is permanently devoted to the Lord and therefore cannot be redeemed (cf. v. 20 b). See J. A. Naudé, NIDOTTE 2:276-77; N. Lohfink, TDOT 5:180-99, esp. pp. 184, 188, and 198-99; and the numerous explanations in J. E. Hartley, Leviticus (WBC), 483-85.


text: Heb “to the priest it shall be his property.”


text: Heb “his field of purchase,” which is to be distinguished from his own ancestral “landed property” (cf. v. 16 above).


text: Heb “give” (so KJV, ASV, NASB, NLT).


text: See the note on Lev 5:15 .


text: Heb “to the Lord it is.”


text: Heb “And if.”


text: Heb “in” or “by.”


text: Heb “Surely, any permanently dedicated [thing] which a man shall permanently dedicate to the Lord .” The Hebrew term חֵרֶם ( kherem ) refers to things that are devoted permanently to the Lord (see the note on v. 21 above).


text: Heb “permanently dedicated from among men.”


text: On the “tithe” system in Israel, see R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 2:1035-55 and esp. pp. 1041-42 on Lev 27:30-33 .


text: Heb “And if redeeming [infinitive absolute] a man redeems [finite verb].” For the infinitive absolute used to highlight contrast rather than emphasis see GKC 343 §113. p .


text: Heb “its one fifth on it.”


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


text: Heb “And if exchanging [infinitive absolute] he exchanges it [finite verb].” For the infinitive absolute used to highlight contrast rather than emphasis see GKC 343 §113. p .


text: Heb “it and its substitute.” The referent (the original animal offered) has been specified in the translation for clarity.


text: Heb “it shall be and its substitute shall be holy.”


text: Most of the commentaries and English versions translate, “which the Lord commanded Moses for the children of Israel.” The preposition אֶל (’ el ), however, does not usually mean “for.” In this book it is commonly used when the Lord commands Moses “to speak [un]to” a person or group of persons (see, e.g., Lev 1:2; 4:2 , etc.). The translation “to tell” here reflects this pattern in the book of Leviticus.