Leviticus 23:15-22
New English Translation
The Feast of Weeks
15 “‘You must count for yourselves seven weeks from the day after the Sabbath, from the day you bring the wave offering sheaf; they must be complete weeks.[a] 16 You must count fifty days—until the day after the seventh Sabbath—and then[b] you must present a new grain offering to the Lord. 17 From the places where you live you must bring two loaves of[c] bread for a wave offering; they must be made from two-tenths of an ephah of fine wheat flour, baked with yeast,[d] as firstfruits to the Lord. 18 Along with the loaves of bread,[e] you must also present seven flawless yearling lambs,[f] one young bull,[g] and two rams.[h] They are to be a burnt offering to the Lord along with their grain offering[i] and drink offerings, a gift of a soothing aroma to the Lord.[j] 19 You must also offer[k] one male goat[l] for a sin offering and two yearling lambs for a peace-offering sacrifice, 20 and the priest is to wave them—the two lambs[m]—along with the bread of the firstfruits, as a wave offering before the Lord; they will be holy to the Lord for the priest.
21 “‘On this very day you must proclaim an assembly; it is to be a holy assembly for you.[n] You must not do any regular work. This is a perpetual statute in all the places where you live throughout your generations.[o] 22 When you gather in the harvest[p] of your land, you must not completely harvest the corner of your field,[q] and you must not gather up the gleanings of your harvest. You must leave them for the poor and the resident foreigner.[r] I am the Lord your God.’”[s]
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Leviticus 23:15 tn Heb “seven Sabbaths, they shall be complete.” The disjunctive accent under “Sabbaths” precludes the translation “seven complete Sabbaths” (as NASB, NIV; cf. NAB, NRSV, NLT). The text is somewhat awkward, which may explain why the LXX tradition is confused here, either adding “you shall count” again at the end of the verse, or leaving out “they shall be,” or keeping “they shall be” and adding “to you.”
- Leviticus 23:16 tn Heb “and.” In the translation “then” is supplied to clarify the sequence.
- Leviticus 23:17 tc Smr, LXX, Syriac, Tg. Onq., and Tg. Ps.-J. insert the word חַלּוֹת (khallot, “loaves”; cf. Lev 2:4 and the note there). Even though “loaves” is not explicit in the MT, the number “two” suggests that these are discrete units, not just a measure of flour, so “loaves” should be assumed even in the MT.
- Leviticus 23:17 tn Heb “with leaven.” The noun “leaven” is traditional in English versions (cf. KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV), but “yeast” is more commonly used today.
- Leviticus 23:18 tn Heb “And you shall present on the bread.”
- Leviticus 23:18 tn Heb “seven flawless lambs, sons of a year.”
- Leviticus 23:18 tn Heb “and one bull, a son of a herd.”
- Leviticus 23:18 tc Smr and LXX add “flawless.”
- Leviticus 23:18 tn Heb “and their grain offering.”
- Leviticus 23:18 sn See the note on Lev 1:9.
- Leviticus 23:19 tn Heb “And you shall make.”
- Leviticus 23:19 tn Heb “a he-goat of goats.”
- Leviticus 23:20 tn Smr and LXX have the Hebrew article on “lambs.” The syntax of this verse is difficult. The object of the verb (two lambs) is far removed from the verb itself (shall wave) in the MT, and the preposition עַל (ʿal, “upon”), rendered “along with” in this verse, is also added to the far removed subject (literally, “upon [the] two lambs”; see B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 159). It is clear, however, that the two lambs and the loaves (along with their associated grain and drink offerings) constituted the “wave offering,” which served as the prebend “for the priest.” Burnt and sin offerings (vv. 18-19a) were not included in this (see Lev 7:11-14, 28-36).
- Leviticus 23:21 tn Heb “And you shall proclaim [an assembly] in the bone of this day; a holy assembly it shall be to you” (see the remarks in B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 160, and the remarks on the LXX rendering in J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 367).
- Leviticus 23:21 tn Heb “for your generations.”
- Leviticus 23:22 tn Heb “And when you harvest the harvest.”
- Leviticus 23:22 tn Heb “you shall not complete the corner of your field in your harvest.”
- Leviticus 23:22 sn On the Hebrew גֵּר (ger, “resident foreigner”) see notes at Exod 12:19 and Deut 29:11. On the privilege of gleaning see also Lev 19:10; 23:22; Deut 14:29; 24:19-21.
- Leviticus 23:22 sn Cf. Lev 19:9-10.
Leviticus 23:15-22
Expanded Bible
The Feast of Weeks
15 “‘Count seven full weeks from the morning after the Sabbath. (This is the Sabbath that you bring the bundle of grain to ·present [wave] as an offering [C a ritual whereby the offerer symbolically waves the offering before God but then uses it].) 16 On the fiftieth day, the first day after the seventh week, you will bring a new grain offering to the Lord. 17 On that day bring two loaves of bread from your homes to be ·presented [waved] as an offering. Use yeast and ·four quarts [L two-tenths of an ephah] of flour to make those loaves of bread; they will be your gift to the Lord from the first wheat of your harvest.
18 “‘Offer with the bread one young bull, two male sheep, and seven male lambs that are one year old and have ·nothing wrong with them [no blemish]. Offer them with their ·grain [L gift; tribute] offerings [2:1] and drink offerings, as a burnt offering [1:1–17] to the Lord. They will be an offering made by fire, and the smell will be pleasing to the Lord. 19 You must also offer one male goat for a ·sin [or purification; 4:3] offering and two male, one-year-old lambs as a ·fellowship [or peace; well-being] offering [3:1].
20 “‘The priest will ·present [wave; 23:15] the two lambs as an offering before the Lord, along with the bread from the first wheat of the harvest. They are holy to the Lord, and they will belong to the priest. 21 On that same day you will call a holy ·meeting [convocation]; you must not do any work that day. This ·law [statute; ordinance; requirement] will continue for you ·from now on [L throughout your generations], wherever you live.
22 “‘When you harvest your crops on your land, do not harvest all the way to the corners of your field. If grain falls onto the ground, don’t gather it up. Leave it for poor people and ·foreigners in your country [resident aliens; 19:9–10; Deut. 24:19–22; Ruth 2]. I am the Lord your God.’”
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