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Leviticus 22:17-33
New Living Translation

Worthy and Unworthy Offerings

17 And the Lord said to Moses, 18 “Give Aaron and his sons and all the Israelites these instructions, which apply both to native Israelites and to the foreigners living among you.

“If you present a gift as a burnt offering to the Lord, whether it is to fulfill a vow or is a voluntary offering, 19 you[a] will be accepted only if your offering is a male animal with no defects. It may be a bull, a ram, or a male goat. 20 Do not present an animal with defects, because the Lord will not accept it on your behalf.

21 “If you present a peace offering to the Lord from the herd or the flock, whether it is to fulfill a vow or is a voluntary offering, you must offer a perfect animal. It may have no defect of any kind. 22 You must not offer an animal that is blind, crippled, or injured, or that has a wart, a skin sore, or scabs. Such animals must never be offered on the altar as special gifts to the Lord. 23 If a bull[b] or lamb has a leg that is too long or too short, it may be offered as a voluntary offering, but it may not be offered to fulfill a vow. 24 If an animal has damaged testicles or is castrated, you may not offer it to the Lord. You must never do this in your own land, 25 and you must not accept such an animal from foreigners and then offer it as a sacrifice to your God. Such animals will not be accepted on your behalf, for they are mutilated or defective.”

26 And the Lord said to Moses, 27 “When a calf or lamb or goat is born, it must be left with its mother for seven days. From the eighth day on, it will be acceptable as a special gift to the Lord. 28 But you must not slaughter a mother animal and her offspring on the same day, whether from the herd or the flock. 29 When you bring a thanksgiving offering to the Lord, sacrifice it properly so you will be accepted. 30 Eat the entire sacrificial animal on the day it is presented. Do not leave any of it until the next morning. I am the Lord.

31 “You must faithfully keep all my commands by putting them into practice, for I am the Lord. 32 Do not bring shame on my holy name, for I will display my holiness among the people of Israel. I am the Lord who makes you holy. 33 It was I who rescued you from the land of Egypt, that I might be your God. I am the Lord.”

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Footnotes

  1. 22:19 Or it.
  2. 22:23 Or cow.
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Leviticus 22:17-33
New English Translation

Regulations for Offering Votive and Freewill Offerings

17 The Lord spoke to Moses: 18 “Speak to Aaron, his sons, and all the Israelites and tell them, ‘When any man[a] from the house of Israel or from the resident foreigners[b] in Israel presents his offering for any of the votive or freewill offerings, which they present to the Lord as a burnt offering, 19 if it is to be acceptable for your benefit[c] it must be a flawless male from the cattle, sheep, or goats. 20 You must not present anything that has a flaw,[d] because it will not be acceptable for your benefit.[e] 21 If a man presents a peace-offering sacrifice to the Lord for a special votive offering[f] or for a freewill offering from the herd or the flock, it must be flawless to be acceptable;[g] it must have no flaw.[h]

22 “‘You must not present to the Lord something blind, or with a broken bone, or mutilated, or with a running sore,[i] or with a festering eruption, or with a feverish rash.[j] You must not give any of these as a gift[k] on the altar to the Lord. 23 As for an ox[l] or a sheep with a limb too long or stunted,[m] you may present it as a freewill offering, but it will not be acceptable for a votive offering.[n] 24 You must not present to the Lord something with testicles that are bruised, crushed, torn, or cut off;[o] you must not do this in your land. 25 Even from a foreigner[p] you must not present the food of your God from such animals as these, for they are ruined and flawed;[q] they will not be acceptable for your benefit.’”

26 The Lord spoke to Moses: 27 “When an ox, lamb, or goat is born, it must be under the care of[r] its mother seven days, but from the eighth day onward it will be acceptable as an offering gift[s] to the Lord. 28 You must not slaughter an ox or a sheep and its young[t] on the same day.[u] 29 When you sacrifice a thanksgiving offering to the Lord, you must sacrifice it so that it is acceptable for your benefit.[v] 30 On that very day[w] it must be eaten; you must not leave any part of it[x] over until morning. I am the Lord.

31 “You must be sure to do my commandments.[y] I am the Lord. 32 You must not profane my holy name, and I will be sanctified in the midst of the Israelites. I am the Lord who sanctifies you, 33 the one who brought you out from the land of Egypt to be your God.[z] I am the Lord.”

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Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 22:18 tn Heb “Man, man.” The reduplication is a way of saying “any man” (cf. Lev 15:2; 17:3, etc.; see the distributive repetition of the noun in GKC 395-96 §123.c).
  2. Leviticus 22:18 tn Heb “foreigner [singular].” Some medieval Hebrew mss, Smr, LXX, Syriac, and Vulgate add “who resides”: “the foreigner who resides in Israel” (cf., e.g., Lev 20:2 above).
  3. Leviticus 22:19 tn Heb “for your acceptance.” See Lev 1:3-4 above and the notes there.
  4. Leviticus 22:20 tn Heb “all which in it [is] a flaw.” Note that the same term is used for physical flaws of people in Lev 21:17-24. Cf. KJV, ASV, NRSV “blemish”; NASB, NIV, TEV “defect”; NLT “with physical defects.”
  5. Leviticus 22:20 tn Heb “not for acceptance shall it be for you”; NIV “it will not be accepted on your behalf” (NRSV and NLT both similar).
  6. Leviticus 22:21 tn The meaning of the expression לְפַלֵּא־נֶדֶר (lefalleʾ neder) rendered here “for a special votive offering” is much debated. Some take it as an expression for fulfilling a vow, “to fulfill a vow” (e.g., HALOT 927-28 s.v. פלא piel and NASB; cf. NAB, 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 פָלַא (palaʾ, “to be wonderful, to be remarkable”); cf. J. 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 פָּלָה [palah, “to set aside”]). In general, the point of the expression seems to be that this sacrifice arises as a special gift to God out of special circumstances in the life of the worshiper.
  7. Leviticus 22:21 tn Heb “for acceptance”; NAB “if it is to find acceptance.”
  8. Leviticus 22:21 tn Heb “all/any flaw shall not be in it.”
  9. Leviticus 22:22 tn Or perhaps “a wart” (cf. NIV; HALOT 383 s.v. יַבֶּלֶת, but see the remarks in J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 358).
  10. Leviticus 22:22 sn See the note on Lev 21:20 above.
  11. Leviticus 22:22 sn This term for offering “gift” is explained in the note on Lev 1:9.
  12. Leviticus 22:23 tn Heb “And an ox.”
  13. Leviticus 22:23 tn Heb “and stunted” (see HALOT 1102 s.v. I קלט).
  14. Leviticus 22:23 sn The freewill offering was voluntary, so the regulations regarding it were more relaxed. Once a vow was made, the paying of it was not voluntary (see B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 151-52, for very helpful remarks on this verse).
  15. Leviticus 22:24 sn Cf. Lev 21:20b.
  16. Leviticus 22:25 tn Heb “And from the hand of a son of a foreigner.”
  17. Leviticus 22:25 tn Heb “for their being ruined [is] in them, flaw is in them”; NRSV “are mutilated, with a blemish in them”; NIV “are deformed and have defects.” The MT term מָשְׁחָתָם (moshkhatam, “their being ruined”) is a Hophal participle from שָׁחַת (shakhat, “to ruin”). Smr has plural בהם משׁחתים (“deformities in them”; cf. the LXX translation). The Qumran Leviticus scroll (11QpaleoLev) has תימ הם[…], in which case the restored participle would appear to be the same as Smr, but there is no ב (bet) preposition before the pronoun, yielding “they are deformed” (see D. N. Freedman and K. A. Mathews, The Paleo-Hebrew Leviticus Scroll, 41 and the remarks in J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 358).
  18. Leviticus 22:27 tn The words “the care of” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied. Although many modern English versions render “with its mother” (e.g., NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT), the literal phrase “under its mother” refers to the young animal nursing from its mother. Cf. KJV, ASV “it shall be seven days under the dam,” which would probably be misunderstood.
  19. Leviticus 22:27 tn Heb “for an offering of a gift.”
  20. Leviticus 22:28 tn Heb “And an ox or a sheep, it and its son, you shall not slaughter.”
  21. Leviticus 22:28 tn Heb “in one day.”
  22. Leviticus 22:29 tn Heb “for your acceptance” (see the notes on Lev 1:3-4 and 22:19 above).
  23. Leviticus 22:30 tn Heb “On that day”; NIV, NCV “that same day.”
  24. Leviticus 22:30 tn Heb “from it.”
  25. Leviticus 22:31 tn Heb “And you shall keep my commandments and you shall do them.” This appears to be a kind of verbal hendiadys, where the first verb is a modifier of the action of the second verb (see GKC 386 §120.d, although שָׁמַר [shamar, “to keep”] is not cited there; cf. Lev 20:8, etc.).
  26. Leviticus 22:33 tn Heb “to be to you for God.”
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