Daniel P. Barron

Leviticus 1

Friday, May 13, 2022 

Leviticus i

And he called ii

1 And he called to Moses and Yehvah spoke to him from the tent of meeting saying, 2 "Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, 'A man iii from among you that brings an offering to Yehvah from the beasts, iv from the cattle, or from the flock, you v shall bring your v offering. 3 If his offering is a burnt offering vi from the cattle, a perfect male he shall bring vii to the door of the tent of meeting. He shall bring it for his acceptance viii before Yehvah. 4 And he shall put his hand upon the head ix of the burnt offering, and it shall be accepted for him to atone x on his behalf.'

5 'And he shall slaughter xi the son of the herd xii before Yehvah, and the priests, the sons of Aaron, shall bring the blood xiii and sprinkle the blood all around upon the altar, which is by the door of the tent of meeting. 6 And he shall skin xiv the burnt offering and cut it into its pieces. xv 7 And the sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire upon the altar, and they shall arrange the wood upon the fire. 8 And the priests, the sons of Aaron, shall arrange the pieces, the head, and the suet xvi upon the wood which is upon the fire which is upon the altar. 9 And its entrails and its legs he shall wash in water, and the priest shall cause all on the altar to smoke xvii as incense, xviii a burnt offering, a fire offering, xix a soothing xx aroma to Yehvah.' xxi

10 'And if his offering is from the flock, from the lambs or from the goats, for a burnt offering, he shall bring a perfect male. 11 And he shall slaughter it upon the north side of the altar before Yehvah, and the priests, the sons of Aaron, shall sprinkle its blood upon the altar all around. 12 And he shall cut it into its pieces with its head and its suet, and the priest shall arrange them upon the wood which is upon the fire which is upon the altar. 13 And the entrails and the legs he shall wash in water, and the priest shall bring all of it and cause it to smoke as incense on the altar. It is a burnt offering, a fire offering, a soothing aroma xxii to Yehvah.' xxiii

14 'And if the burnt offering, his offering to Yehvah, is from the birds, he shall bring from the turtledoves or from the sons of the dove xxiv his offering. 15 And the priest shall bring it to the altar and wring off xxv its head and cause it to smoke as incense on the altar, and its blood shall be drained out upon the wall xxvi of the altar. 16 And he shall remove its crop with its feathers and cast it beside the altar toward the east xxvii to the place of the ashes. xxviii 17 And he shall split it at its wings, not separating it, and the priest shall cause it to smoke as incense on the altar upon the wood which is upon the fire. It is a burnt offering, a fire offering, a soothing aroma to Yehvah.' xxix

Exodus 40 - Leviticus 2

Translated by Darwin Fish. See original pdf. xxx

  1. ΛΕΥΙΤΚΟΝ (leuitikon) - This is the Greek title (LXX) and means "Levitical." See Hebrews 7:11 for "Levitical." There it speaks of the Levitical (λευιτικης, leuitikês) priesthood, that is, the priesthood via the Levite. ^
  2. וַיִּקְרָא (vayyiqrâ') - "And he called" - This is the Hebrew title and the first word(s) in the Hebrew text. ^
  3. אָדָם ('âdhâm) - "man" ^
  4. בְּהֵמָה (behêmâh) - "beasts" ^
  5. plural ^ ^
  6. עֹלָה (`olâh) - "burnt offering" from עָלָה (`âlâh) "go up" or "ascend." It could also be translated "burnt sacrifice" (e.g. KJV, NKJV). ^
  7. יַקְרִיבֶנּוּ (yaqriyvennu) - more literally, "he shall bring it" ^
  8. לִרְצֹנוֹ (lirtsono) - "for his acceptance" - NAS "he may be accepted" - KJV "of his own voluntary will" - NKJV "of his own free will." The Hebrew word translated here "acceptance," "accepted" or voluntary or free "will" is רָצוֹן (râtson), and it is translated "favor" (e.g. Deuteronomy 33:23; Psalm 5:12; 30:5, 7; 89:17; 106; 4; Isaiah 60:10; KJV, NKJV, NAS), "delight" (e.g. Proverbs 11:1, 20; 12:22; 15:8 KJV, NKJV, NAS), "desire" (e.g. Psalm 145:16, 19 KJV, NKJV, NAS), "will" (Psalm 40:8; 143:10 KJV, NKJV, NAS; Ezra 10:11 NKJV, NAS), "pleasure" (e.g. Ezra 10:11 KJV, "will" NKJV, NAS; Nehemiah 9:37 KJV, NKJV, "please" NAS), "acceptable" (Psalm 19:14; 69:13; Proverbs 10:32; Isaiah 58:5; Jeremiah 6:20 KJV, NKJV, NAS; Isaiah 56:7 NKJV, "accepted" KJV, NAS; Isaiah 49:8; 61:2 KJV, NKJV, "favorable" NAS); "acceptance" (e.g. Isaiah 60:7 KJV, NKJV, NAS). LXX translates רָצוֹן (râtson) in Leviticus 1:3 with δεκτον (dekton), "acceptable," used e.g. in the Greek NT in Luke 4:19. LXX translates the remaining similar texts in Leviticus with this same Greek word in Leviticus 19:5; 22:19-20, 21 & 29 (εισδεκτον, eisdekton); and 23:11. Similar wording is found in Exodus 28:38; Leviticus 22:20-21; Psalm 19:14; Isaiah 56:7 and Jeremiah 6:20 with לְרָצוֹן (lerâtson) and these are all translated with the idea of "acceptance" in the KJV, NKJV, & NAS. The NKJV translates לִרְצֹנְכֶם (lirtsonekhem), which is רָצוֹן (râtson) with the preposition לִ (li) and the pronominal suffix כֶם (khem), differently in Leviticus 23:11. This same word is translated by the NKJV "your own free will" in Leviticus 19:5; 22:19 and 29, but as "accepted on your behalf" in Leviticus 23:11, whereas the NAS consistently translates this word with the idea of "accepted" in these verses. Moreover, "free will" is not explicitly mentioned otherwise in this context (Leviticus 1:3), but "acceptance" is. Leviticus 1:4 uses the verb form of רָצוֹן (râtson), רְצֵה (retsêh), speaking of the sacrifice being "accepted on his behalf" (NKJV), נִרְצָה לוֹ (nirtsâh lo).

    The idea of "free will" is a Biblical idea found in the Hebrew word for "freewill offering," נְדָבָה (nedâvâh, e.g. Leviticus 22:21, 23), but it is only "free" in the sense of voluntarily under the sun, not in the sense of "free from God's control" (see Proverbs 16:9; 20:24; Jeremiah 10:23; Romans 11:36). The "freewill offering," נְדָבָה (nedâvâh), can be seen as meaning voluntary in it's use, e.g. in Exodus 35:29 in which the verb form is also used, נָדַב (nâdav), describing those whose hearts were "willing." See also Ezra 3:5 and 7:16 in which this noun and verb are similarly used. Although, the verbs in these passages are in a different form (e.g. Ezra 3:5 מִתְנַדֵּב, mitnaddêv).

    Finally, the "will" concept translated by the NKJV & KJV in these verses (Leviticus 1:3; 19:5; 22:19, 29) is not so clear that they should be translated that way in Leviticus, although the freewill offering, נְדָבָה (nedâvâh), is mentioned in Leviticus 22:18, 21, 23; & 23:38. But, the "will" idea is clear e.g. in Daniel 8:4; 11:3, 16, & 36 in which רָצוֹן (râtson) is used. There, instead of the preposition לִ (li), כִ (chi) is used, speaking of "according to his will," כִרְצוֹן (khirtsono). Also of interest is Psalm 119:108 which has the plural "freewill offerings," נִדְבוֹת (nidvot), with the verb form of רָצוֹן (râtson), רְצֵה (retsêh). There the Psalmist requests God to "accept" his freewill offerings. ^

  9. This indicates placing the sins of the person upon the animal. Similar passages of laying hands upon the head of the sacrifice can be found in Exodus 29:10, 15, 19; Leviticus 3:2, 8, 13; 4:4, 15, 24, 29, 33. Each of these passages immediately instruct the killing of the animal after the laying on of hands. Here, Leviticus 1:5 mentions the slaughtering of the animal, and a similar passage in Numbers 8:12 indicates the death of the animal by instructing it to be offered. See Leviticus 16:21 where this laying on of hands is described in more detail. ^
  10. כַפֵּר (khappêr) - "atone" = to cover over, propitiate, pacify, appease, e.g. see Proverbs 16:14 where this word is translated "appease" in NKJV. ^
  11. שָׁחַט (shâchat) - "he shall slaughter" - This word is primarily used for the slaughtering of sacrifices, as it is here, but it is also used for the simple killing of animals (e.g. Genesis 37:31; 1 Samuel 14:32, 34 [2x]; Isaiah 22:13), the slaughtering of people (e.g. Judges 12:6; 1 Kings 18:40; 2 Kings 10:7, 14), and also in the passive participle form, שָׁחוּט (shâchut), which has an entirely different meaning of "beaten" or "hammered" (e.g. 1 Kings 10:16-17; 2 Chronicles 9:15-16). ^
  12. בֶּן הַבָּקָר (ben habbâqâr) - "the son of the herd" ^
  13. Hebrews 9:9, 16-23; 10:1-4; future? Zechariah 14:21; Revelation 21:4 ^
  14. הִפְשִׁיט (hiphshiyt) - "he shall skin" - this word more literally means to "strip off," used e.g. for the stripping off of clothing (e.g. Genesis 37:23; 1 Samuel 31:9; Hosea 2:3). Context here, by implication, depicts the stripping off of skin, although the word for skin, עוֹר, is not used. ^
  15. Psalm 50:22 ^
  16. פָּדֶר (pâder) - "suet" (NAS), NKJV "fat" - פָּדֶר (pâder) is a particular fat around the kidneys and loins. The more general word for fat in the Hebrew is חֵלֶב (chêlev); see e.g. Genesis 4:4; Leviticus 3:9, 16; 4:31, 35; 8:16, 25; Numbers 18:17. פָּדֶר (pâder) is only found in Leviticus 1:8, 12; & 8:20. ^
  17. Psalm 37:20; Isaiah 34:1-10; Revelation 14:9-11; 19:3 ^
  18. הִקְטִיר (hiqtiyr) - "shall cause . . . to smoke as incense" - NAS "offer up in smoke;" NKJV "shall burn" - The typical verb for "burn" is בָעַר (bâ`ar), e.g. Exodus 3:2; Deuteronomy 4:11; 9:15; Isaiah 34:9. Another verb for smoke is עָשַׁן (`âshan), e.g. Exodus 19:18; Joshua 8:20-21; Isaiah 34:10. Here, this verb has more to do with the idea of "incense," which, of course, is smoke. It is the verb form akin to the noun, קְטֹרֶת (qetoret), which is the word for incense (e.g. Exodus 25:6; 30:1, 7, 27; 40:5; Isaiah 1:13). So, it has the idea of “causing to smoke as incense.” Although, a word akin to these is קִיטֹר (qiytor) and it simply means "smoke" and is found only in Genesis 19:28 (2x); Psalm 119:83; 148:8 (KJV "vapours," NKJV, NAS, NIV "clouds;" Jay P. Green "smoke"). ^
  19. אִשֵּׁה ('ishêh) – "a fire offering" ^
  20. נִיחֹחַ (niychoach) - "soothing" - This word is akin to the verb for "rest," נוּחַ (nuach), and Noah's name, נֹחַ (noach). ^
  21. Hebrews 9:9 ^
  22. רֵיחַ (rêyach) - "aroma" - The Hebrew word for breath, wind, or spirit is רוּחַ (ruach). ^
  23. Sacrifices were given before the law (e.g. Genesis 4:3-5; 8:20-21; 31:54; 46:1; Job 1:5; 42:7-9). ^
  24. בְּנֵי הַיּוֹנָה (benêy hayyonâh) - "the sons of the dove" ^
  25. מָלַק (mâlaq) - "wring off" - BDB gives "nip" or "nip off" - NKJV footnotes "lit. nip or chop off." This word is only found here and in Leviticus 5:8. ^
  26. קִיר (qiyr) - "wall" - found also e.g. in Numbers 22:25 (2x); 1 Samuel 18:11; Ezekiel 33:30. It is used also, as here, for the "side" of the altar (Exodus 30:3; 37:26; Leviticus 5:9; Ezekiel 41:22). Jeremiah 4:19 uses קִיר (qiyr) for "the walls of my heart!" NAS translates קִירוֹת לִבִּי (qiyrot libbiy) as "Oh my heart!" and footnotes it with "Lit., The walls of my heart." Actually, the first part of Jeremiah 4:19 is fascinating in the Hebrew. It reads, מֵעַי מֵעַי אוֹחִולָה קִירוֹת לִבִּי (mê`ay mê`ay 'ochivlâh qiyrot libbiy) which is more literally, "My belly! My belly! I am whirling! The walls of my heart!" And this is the Lord talking! See verse 22. ^
  27. קֵדְמָה (qêdhemâh) - "toward the east" ^
  28. דֶּשֶׁן (dâshen) - "ashes" - used for "ashes" here and in Leviticus 4:12 (2x); 6:3-4; 1 Kings 13:3, 5; Jeremiah 31:40. It is translated "fat" (e.g. Psalm 63:5; ) or "oil" (e.g. Judges 9:9) or "abundance" (e.g. Psalm 63:11; Jeremiah 31:14; Isaiah 55:2) or "richness" (e.g. Job 36:16). See footnote in Exodus 27:3 for usage of the verb form of this word. ^
  29. If this is not done in righteousness, it is not pleasing to the Lord (e.g. Isaiah 1:12-13; see also Psalm 51:16-19). ^
  30. Mirrored here. ^

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