Leviticus 24-26

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Leviticus 24:2 tn 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…”).
2. Leviticus 24:2 tn Heb “to cause to ascend a lamp continually.”
3. Leviticus 24:3 tn The Hebrew term פָּרֹכֶת (parokhet) is usually translated “veil” or “curtain.” 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 thus forming a canopy (see R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 3:687-89).
4. Leviticus 24:3 tc Several medieval Hebrew mss, Smr, and the LXX add “and his sons.”
5. Leviticus 24:3 tn Heb “for your generations.”
6. Leviticus 24:4 tn 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.
7. Leviticus 24:5 sn See the note on Lev 2:1.
8. Leviticus 24:5 tn Heb “and bake it twelve loaves”; KJV, NAB, NASB “cakes.”
9. Leviticus 24:5 tn The words “of flour” are supplied in the translation for clarity.sn See the note on Lev 5:11.
10. Leviticus 24:6 tn Heb “six of the row.”
11. Leviticus 24:7 tn This is not just any “incense” (קְטֹרֶת, q^etoret; R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 3:913-16), but specifically “frankincense” (לְבֹנָה, l^evonah; R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 2:756-57).
12. Leviticus 24:7 tn Heb “on [עַל, ʿal] 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.
13. Leviticus 24:7 sn The “memorial portion” (אַזְכָרָה, ʾazkharah) was normally the part of the grain offering that was burnt on the altar (see Lev 2:2 and the notes there), as opposed to the remainder, which was normally consumed by the priests (Lev 2:3; see the full regulations in Lev 6:14-23 [6:7-16 HT]).
14. Leviticus 24:7 sn See the note on Lev 1:9 regarding the term “gift.”
15. Leviticus 24:8 tn 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.
16. Leviticus 24:8 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Aaron) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
17. Leviticus 24:8 tn The word “portion” is supplied in the translation here for clarity, to specify what “this” refers to.
18. Leviticus 24:9 tn Or “a perpetual regulation”; NRSV “a perpetual due.”
19. Leviticus 24:10 tn Heb “And.”
20. Leviticus 24:10 tn 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.
21. Leviticus 24:11 tn 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. 16a). 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) for 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.
22. Leviticus 24:12 tn The words “until they were able” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied.
23. Leviticus 24:12 tn 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. 13ff).
24. Leviticus 24:14 tn The words “to death” are supplied in the translation as a clarification; they are clearly implied from v. 16.
25. Leviticus 24:15 tn Heb “And.”
26. Leviticus 24:15 sn See the note on v. 11 above and esp. Exod 22:28 [27 HT].
27. Leviticus 24:16 sn See the note on v. 11 above.
28. Leviticus 24:17 tn 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 difficulty of the meaning and significance of the term נֶפֶשׁ see the notes on Lev 17:10-11.
29. Leviticus 24:18 tn Heb “And one who strikes a soul of an animal.”
30. Leviticus 24:18 tn Heb “soul under soul.” Cf. KJV “beast for beast”; NCV “must give…another animal to take its place.”
31. Leviticus 24:19 tn Heb “gives a flaw in”; KJV, ASV “cause a blemish in.”
32. Leviticus 24:19 tn Or “neighbor” (so NAB, NASB, NIV); TEV, NLT “another person.”
33. Leviticus 24:20 tn Heb “in the man [אָדָם, ʾadam].”
34. Leviticus 24:20 tn 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.
35. Leviticus 24:21 sn See the note on v. 18 above.
36. Leviticus 24:21 tn 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.
37. Leviticus 24:22 tn Heb “a regulation of one”; KJV, ASV “one manner of law”; NASB “one standard.”
38. Leviticus 24:22 sn On the Hebrew גֵּר (ger, “resident foreigner”) see notes at Exod 12:19 and Deut 29:11. Several passages emphasize equal standing under Mosaic Law (Exod 12:49; Lev 24:22; Num 9:14; 15:15, 16, 26, 29; 19:10; 35:15; Deut 1:16) or similar obligations (Exod 20:10; 23:12; Lev 16:29; 17:10, 12, 13; 18:26; 24:16; Num 15:14).
39. Leviticus 25:2 tn Heb “the land shall rest a Sabbath.”
40. Leviticus 25:3 tn Heb “its produce,” but the feminine pronoun “its” probably refers to the “land” (a feminine noun in Hebrew; cf. v. 2), not the “field” or the “vineyard,” both of which are normally masculine nouns (see B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 170).
41. Leviticus 25:4 tn Heb “and in the seventh year a Sabbath of complete rest shall be to the land.” The expression “a Sabbath of complete rest” is superlative, emphasizing the full and all inclusive rest of the seventh year of the sabbatical cycle. Cf. ASV “a sabbath of solemn rest”; NAB “a complete rest.”
42. Leviticus 25:4 tn Heb “and.” Here the Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) has an alternative sense (“or”).
43. Leviticus 25:5 tn Heb “consecrated, devoted, forbidden” (נָזִיר, nazir). The same term is used for the “consecration” of the “Nazirite” (and his hair, Num 6:2, 18, etc.), a designation which, in turn, derives from the very same root.
44. Leviticus 25:6 tn The word “produce” is not in the Hebrew text but is implied; cf. NASB “the sabbath products.”
45. Leviticus 25:6 tn A “resident who stays” would be a foreign person who was probably residing as another kind of laborer in the household of a landowner (B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 170-71). See v. 35 below.
46. Leviticus 25:7 tn The words “for you” are implied.
47. Leviticus 25:8 tn Heb “And you shall count off for yourself.”
48. Leviticus 25:8 tn Heb “seven years seven times.”
49. Leviticus 25:8 tn Heb “and they shall be for you, the days of the seven Sabbaths of years, forty-nine years.”
50. Leviticus 25:9 sn On the “loud horn blasts” see the note on Lev 23:24, but unlike the language there, the Hebrew term for “horn” (שׁוֹפָר, shofar) actually appears here in this verse (twice).
51. Leviticus 25:10 tn Heb “the year of the fifty years,” or perhaps “the year, fifty years” (GKC 435 §134.o, note 2).
52. Leviticus 25:10 tn Cf. KJV, ASV, NAB, NIV, NRSV “liberty”; TEV, CEV “freedom.” The characteristics of this “release” are detailed in the following verses. For substantial summaries and bibliography on the biblical and ancient Near Eastern material regarding such a “release” see J. E. Hartley, Leviticus (WBC), 427-34, and B. A. Levine, Leviticus (JPSTC), 270-74.
53. Leviticus 25:10 tn Heb “A jubilee that shall be to you.” Although there has been some significant debate about the original meaning of the Hebrew word translated “jubilee” (יוֹבֵל, yovel; see the summary in J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 434), the term most likely means “ram” and can refer also to a “ram’s horn.” The fiftieth year would, therefore, be called the “jubilee” because of the associated sounding of the “ram’s horn” (see B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 172, and the literature cited there).
54. Leviticus 25:10 tn Heb “you [plural] shall return, a man.”
55. Leviticus 25:11 tn Heb “you shall not sow and you shall not…and you shall not….”sn See v. 5 above and the notes there.
56. Leviticus 25:12 tn That is, the produce of the land (fem.; cf. v. 7 above).
57. Leviticus 25:13 tn Heb “you [plural] shall return, a man.”
58. Leviticus 25:14 tn Heb “sell a sale.”
59. Leviticus 25:14 tn Or “to one of your countrymen” (NIV); NASB “to your friend.”
60. Leviticus 25:14 tn The Hebrew infinitive absolute קָנֹה (qanoh, “buying”) substitutes for the finite verb here in sequence with the previous finite verb “sell” at the beginning of the verse (see GKC 345 §113.z).
61. Leviticus 25:14 tn Heb “do not oppress a man his brother.” Here “brother” does not refer only to a sibling, but to a fellow Israelite.
62. Leviticus 25:15 tn Heb “in the number of years after.”
63. Leviticus 25:15 tn The words “that are left” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied.sn The purchaser is actually buying only the crops that the land will produce until the next Jubilee, since the land will revert to the original owner at that time. The purchaser, therefore, is not actually buying the land itself.
64. Leviticus 25:16 tn Heb “To the mouth of the many years.”
65. Leviticus 25:16 tn Heb “to the mouth of the few years.”
66. Leviticus 25:16 tn Heb “a number of produce”; the words “years of” are implied. As an alternative this could be translated “a number of harvests” (cf. NRSV, NLT).
67. Leviticus 25:17 tn Heb “And you shall not oppress a man his fellow citizen.”
68. Leviticus 25:18 tn Heb “And you shall keep and 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.).
69. Leviticus 25:18 tn Heb “and you shall dwell on the land to security.”
70. Leviticus 25:19 tn Heb “eat to satisfaction”; KJV, ASV “ye shall eat your fill.”
71. Leviticus 25:21 tn Heb “and it [i.e., the land] shall make the produce.” The Hebrew term וְעָשָׂת (v^eʿasat, “and it shall make”) is probably an older third feminine singular form of the verb (GKC 210 §75.m). Smr has the normal form.
72. Leviticus 25:21 tn Smr and LXX have “its produce” (cf. 25:3, 7, etc.) rather than “the produce.”
73. Leviticus 25:22 tn Heb “the produce,” referring to “the produce” of the sixth year of v. 21. The words “sixth year” are supplied for clarity.
74. Leviticus 25:22 tn Heb “until the ninth year, until bringing [in] its produce.”
75. Leviticus 25:23 tn The term rendered “without reclaim” means that the land has been bought for the full price and is, therefore, not subject to reclaim under any circumstances. This was not to be done with land in ancient Israel (contrast the final full sale of houses in v. 30; see the evidence cited in B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 174).
76. Leviticus 25:23 tn The Hebrew terms ger (גֵּר; “resident foreigner”) and toshav (תּוֹשָׁב; “resident/dweller”) have similar meaning. The toshav was less integrated into Israelite society, had less rights, and had not fully committed to the religion of Israel. But in this context the terms are used simply to emphasize that Israel would be a guest on God’s land. They were attached to the Lord’s household. They did not own the land.sn Abraham refers to himself by these terms in Gen 23:4. Ps 39:12 and 1 Chron 29:15 take up this language from Lev 25:23.
77. Leviticus 25:24 tn Heb “And in all the land of your property.”
78. Leviticus 25:24 tn Heb “right of redemption you shall give to the land”; NAB “you must permit the land to be redeemed.”
79. Leviticus 25:25 tn Heb “the sale of his brother.”
80. Leviticus 25:26 tn Heb “and his hand reaches.”
81. Leviticus 25:26 tn Heb “and he finds as sufficiency of its redemption.”
82. Leviticus 25:27 tn Heb “and he shall calculate its years of sale.”
83. Leviticus 25:27 tn Heb “and return the excess.”
84. Leviticus 25:28 tn Heb “And if his hand has not found sufficiency of returning.” Although some versions take this to mean that he has not made enough to regain the land (e.g., NASB, NRSV; see also B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 176), the combination of terms in Hebrew corresponds to the portion of v. 27 that refers specifically to refunding the money (cf. v. 27; see NIV and G. J. Wenham, Leviticus [NICOT], 315).
85. Leviticus 25:28 tn Heb “his sale.”
86. Leviticus 25:28 tn Heb “will be in the hand of.” This refers to the temporary control of the one who purchased its produce until the next Year of Jubilee, at which time it would revert to the original owner.
87. Leviticus 25:28 tn Heb “it shall go out” (so KJV, ASV; see B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 176).
88. Leviticus 25:28 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the original owner of the land) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
89. Leviticus 25:29 tn Heb “a house of a residence of a walled city.”
90. Leviticus 25:29 tn Heb “shall be.”
91. Leviticus 25:29 tn Heb “of its sale.”
92. Leviticus 25:29 tn Heb “days its right of redemption shall be” (see B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 176).
93. Leviticus 25:30 tn Heb “until fulfilling to it a complete year.’
94. Leviticus 25:30 tn Heb “the house which [is] in the city which to it [is] a wall.” The Kethib has לֹא (loʾ, “no, not”) rather than לוֹ (lo, “to it”) which is the Qere.
95. Leviticus 25:30 tn See the note on v. 23 above.
96. Leviticus 25:31 tn Heb “And the houses of the villages.”
97. Leviticus 25:31 tn Heb “which there is not to them a wall.”
98. Leviticus 25:31 tn Heb “on the field.”
99. Leviticus 25:32 tn Heb “And.”
100. Leviticus 25:32 tn Heb “the houses of the cities of their property.”
101. Leviticus 25:33 tn Heb “And which he shall redeem from the Levites shall go out, sale of house and city, his property in the Jubilee.” Although the end of this verse is clear, the first part is notoriously difficult. There are five main views. (1) The first clause of the verse actually attaches to the previous verse, and refers to the fact that their houses retain a perpetual right of redemption (v. 32b), “which any of the Levites may exercise” (v. 33a; J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 418, 421). (2) It refers to property that one Levite sells to another Levite, which is then redeemed by still another Levite (v. 33a). In such cases, the property reverts to the original Levite owner in the Jubilee Year (v. 33b; G. J. Wenham, Leviticus [NICOT], 321). (3) It refers to houses in a city that had come to be declared as a Levitical city but had original non-Levitical owners. Once the city was declared to belong to the Levites, however, an owner could only sell his house to a Levite, and he could only redeem it back from a Levite up until the time of the first Jubilee after the city was declared to be a Levitical city. In this case the first part of the verse would be translated, “Such property as may be redeemed from the Levites” (NRSV, NJPS). At the first Jubilee, however, all such houses became the property of the Levites (v. 33b; P. J. Budd, Leviticus [NCBC], 353). (4) It refers to property “which is appropriated from the Levites” (not “redeemed from the Levites,” v. 33a) by those who have bought it or taken it as security for debts owed to them by Levites who had fallen on bad times. Again, such property reverts back to the original Levite owners at the Jubilee (B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 177). (5) It simply refers to the fact that a Levite has the option of redeeming his house (i.e., the prefix form of the verb is taken to be subjunctive, “may or might redeem”), which he had to sell because he had fallen into debt or perhaps even become destitute. Even if he never gained the resources to do so, however, it would still revert to him in the Jubilee year. The present translation is intended to reflect this latter view.
102. Leviticus 25:34 tn Heb “And.”
103. Leviticus 25:34 sn This refers to the region of fields just outside and surrounding the city where cattle were kept and garden crops were grown (B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 177).
104. Leviticus 25:35 tn It is not clear to whom this refers. It is probably broader than “sibling” (cf. NRSV “any of your kin”; NLT “any of your Israelite relatives”) but some English versions take it to mean “fellow Israelite” (so TEV; cf. NAB, NIV “countrymen”) and others are ambiguous (cf. CEV “any of your people”).
105. Leviticus 25:35 tn Heb “and his hand slips with you.”
106. Leviticus 25:35 tn Heb “strengthen”; NASB “sustain.”
107. Leviticus 25:35 tn The form וָחַי (vakhay, “and shall live”) looks like the adjective “living,” but the MT form is simply the same verb written as a double ayin verb (see HALOT 309 s.v. חיה qal, and GKC 218 §76.i; cf. Lev 18:5).
108. Leviticus 25:35 tn Heb “a foreigner and resident,” which is probably to be combined (see B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 170-71). tn The Hebrew terms ger (גֵּר; “resident foreigner”) and toshav (תּוֹשָׁב; “resident/dweller”) have similar meaning. The toshav was less integrated into Israelite society, had less rights, and had not fully committed to the religion of Israel. Here the combination emphasizes the impoverished Israelites change in status. Note that the native born citizen and the resident foreigner (or naturalized citizen) were equal under the law (Exod 12:49; Lev 24:22; Num 9:14; 15:15, 16, 26, 29; 19:10; 35:15; Deut 1:16) or similar obligations (Exod 20:10; 23:12; Lev 16:29; 17:10, 12, 13; 18:26; 24:16; Num 15:14).
109. Leviticus 25:36 tn The meaning of the terms rendered “interest” and “profit” is much debated (see the summaries in P. J. Budd, Leviticus [NCBC], 354-55 and B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 178). Verse 37, however, suggests that the first refers to a percentage of money and the second percentage of produce (see J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 421).
110. Leviticus 25:36 tn In form the Hebrew term וְחֵי (v^ekhey, “shall live”) is the construct plural noun (i.e., “the life of”), but here it is used as the finite verb (cf. v. 35 and GKC 218 §76.i).
111. Leviticus 25:37 tn Heb “your money” and “your food.” With regard to “interest” and “profit” see the note on v. 36 above.
112. Leviticus 25:38 tn Heb “to be to you for a God.”
113. Leviticus 25:39 tn Heb “you shall not serve against him service of a slave.” A distinction is being made here between the status of slave and indentured servant.
114. Leviticus 25:40 tn See the note on Lev 25:6 above.
115. Leviticus 25:41 tn Heb “and.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) can be considered to have adversative force here.
116. Leviticus 25:41 tn Heb “may go out from you.”
117. Leviticus 25:41 tn Heb “fathers.”
118. Leviticus 25:42 tn Heb “they”; the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.
119. Leviticus 25:42 tn Or perhaps reflexive Niphal rather than passive, “they shall not sell themselves [as in] a slave sale.”
120. Leviticus 25:43 tn Heb “You shall not rule in him in violence”; cf. NASB “with severity”; NIV “ruthlessly.”
121. Leviticus 25:44 tn Heb “And your male slave and your female slave.” Smr has these as plural terms, “slaves,” not singular.
122. Leviticus 25:44 tn Heb “ from the nations which surround you, from them you shall buy male slave and female slave.”
123. Leviticus 25:45 tn The word “slaves” is not in the Hebrew text, but is implied here.
124. Leviticus 25:45 tn Heb “family which is” (i.e., singular rather than plural).
125. Leviticus 25:46 tn Heb “and your brothers, the sons of Israel, a man in his brother you shall not rule in him in violence.”
126. Leviticus 25:47 tn Heb “And if the hand of a foreigner and resident with you reaches” (cf. v. 26 for this idiom).
127. Leviticus 25:47 tn Heb “and.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) can be considered to have resultative force here.
128. Leviticus 25:47 tn Heb “offshoot, descendant.”
129. Leviticus 25:48 tn Heb “right of redemption shall be to him.”
130. Leviticus 25:49 tn Heb “the son of his uncle.”
131. Leviticus 25:49 tn Heb “or from the remainder of his flesh from his family.”
132. Leviticus 25:49 tc The LXX, followed by the Syriac, actually has “if,” which is not in the MT.
133. Leviticus 25:50 tn Heb “the years.”
134. Leviticus 25:50 tn Heb “as days of a hired worker he shall be with him.” For this and the following verses see the explanation in P. J. Budd, Leviticus (NCBC), 358-59.
135. Leviticus 25:51 tn Heb “to the mouth of them.”
136. Leviticus 25:52 tn Heb “but if a little remains in the years.”
137. Leviticus 25:53 tn Heb “be with him”; the referent (the one who bought him) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
138. Leviticus 25:53 tn Heb “As a hired worker year in year.”
139. Leviticus 25:53 tn Heb “He”; the referent (the one who bought him) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
140. Leviticus 25:54 tn Heb “And if.”
141. Leviticus 25:54 tn Heb “go out.”
142. Leviticus 25:55 tn Heb “because to me the sons of Israel are servants.”
143. Leviticus 26:1 sn For the literature regarding the difficult etymology and meaning of the term for “idols” (אֱלִילִם, ʾelilim), see the literature cited in the note on Lev 19:4. It appears to be a diminutive play on words with אֵל (ʾel, “god, God”) and, perhaps at the same time, recalls a common Semitic word for “worthless, weak, powerless, nothingness.” Snaith suggests a rendering of “worthless godlings.”
144. Leviticus 26:1 tn Heb “on.” The “sculpted stone” appears to be some sort of stone with images carved into (see B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 181, and J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 449).
145. Leviticus 26:2 tn Heb “and my sanctuary you shall fear.” Cf. NCV “respect”; CEV “honor.”
146. Leviticus 26:3 tn Heb “and my commandments you shall keep and 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; 25:18, etc.).
147. Leviticus 26:4 tn Heb “and.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) can be considered to have resultative force here.
148. Leviticus 26:4 tn Heb “the tree of the field will give its fruit.” As a collective singular this has been translated as plural.
149. Leviticus 26:5 tn Heb “will reach for you the vintage season.”
150. Leviticus 26:5 tn Heb “and.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) can be considered to have resultative force here.
151. Leviticus 26:5 tn Heb “to satisfaction”; KJV, ASV, NASB “to the full.”
152. Leviticus 26:6 tn Heb “and.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) can be considered to have resultative force here.
153. Leviticus 26:6 tn Heb “and there will be no one who terrifies.” The words “to sleep” have been supplied in the translation for clarity.
154. Leviticus 26:6 tn Heb “harmful animal,” singular, but taken here as a collective plural (so almost all English versions).
155. Leviticus 26:6 tn Heb “no sword”; the words “of war” are supplied in the translation to indicate what the metaphor of the sword represents.
156. Leviticus 26:7 tn Heb “to the sword.”
157. Leviticus 26:9 tn Heb “cause to arise,” but probably used here for the Lord’s intention of confirming or maintaining the covenant commitment made at Sinai. Cf. KJV “establish”; NASB “will confirm”; NAB “carry out”; NIV “will keep.”
158. Leviticus 26:10 tn Heb “old [produce] growing old.”
159. Leviticus 26:10 tn Heb “and old from the presence of new you will bring out.”
160. Leviticus 26:11 tn LXX codexes Vaticanus and Alexandrinus have “my covenant” rather than “my tabernacle.” Cf. NAB, NASB, NRSV “my dwelling.”
161. Leviticus 26:11 tn Heb “and my soul [נֶפֶשׁ, nefesh] will not abhor you.”
162. Leviticus 26:13 tn Heb “from being to them slaves.”
163. Leviticus 26:13 tn In other words, to walk as free people and not as slaves. Cf. NIV “with (+ your CEV, NLT) heads held high”; NCV “proudly.”
164. Leviticus 26:14 tn Heb “And if.”
165. Leviticus 26:14 tn Heb “and do not do.”
166. Leviticus 26:15 tn Heb “to not do.”
167. Leviticus 26:16 tn Or “I also” (see HALOT 76 s.v. אַף 6.b).
168. Leviticus 26:16 tn Heb “soul.” These expressions may refer either to the physical effects of consumption and fever as the rendering in the text suggests (e.g., J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 452, 454, “diminishing eyesight and loss of appetite”), or perhaps the more psychological effects, “which exhausts the eyes” because of anxious hope “and causes depression” (Heb “causes soul [נֶפֶשׁ, nefesh] to pine away”), e.g., B. A. Levine, Leviticus (JPSTC), 185.
169. Leviticus 26:16 tn Heb “and.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) can be considered to have causal force here.
170. Leviticus 26:16 tn That is, “your enemies will eat” the produce that grows from the sown seed.
171. Leviticus 26:18 tn Heb “And if until these.”
172. Leviticus 26:18 tn Heb “I will add to discipline you seven [times] on your sins.”
173. Leviticus 26:20 tn Heb “the tree of the land will not give its fruit.” The collective singular has been translated as a plural. One Hebrew ms from Cairo Geniza, other medieval Hebrew mss, Smr, LXX, and Tg. Ps.-J. have “the field” as in v. 4, rather than “the land.”
174. Leviticus 26:21 tn Heb “hostile with me,” but see the added preposition ב (bet) on the phrase “in hostility” in v. 24 and 27.
175. Leviticus 26:21 tn Heb “your blow, stroke”; cf. TEV “punishment”; NLT “I will inflict you with seven more disasters.”
176. Leviticus 26:22 tn Heb “the animal of the field.” This collective singular has been translated as a plural. The expression “animal of the field” refers to a wild (i.e., nondomesticated) animal.
177. Leviticus 26:22 tn The words “of your children” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied.
178. Leviticus 26:22 tn Heb “and diminish you.”
179. Leviticus 26:23 tn Heb “And if in these.”
180. Leviticus 26:23 tn Heb “with me,” but see the added preposition ב (bet) on the phrase “in hostility” in vv. 24 and 27.
181. Leviticus 26:24 tn Heb “and I myself will also strike you.”
182. Leviticus 26:25 tn Heb “vengeance of covenant”; cf. NAB “the avenger of my covenant.”
183. Leviticus 26:25 tn Heb “and.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) has a concessive force in this context.
184. Leviticus 26:25 tn Heb “in hand of enemy,” but Tg. Ps.-J. and Tg. Neof. have “in the hands of your enemies” (J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 454).
185. Leviticus 26:26 tn Heb “When I break to you staff of bread” (KJV, ASV, and NASB all similar).
186. Leviticus 26:26 tn Heb “they will return your bread in weight.”
187. Leviticus 26:27 tn Heb “And if in this.”
188. Leviticus 26:27 tn Heb “with me.”
189. Leviticus 26:28 tn Heb “in rage of hostility with you”; NASB “with wrathful hostility”; NRSV “I will continue hostile to you in fury”; CEV “I’ll get really furious.”
190. Leviticus 26:29 tn Heb “and the flesh of your daughters you will eat.” The phrase “you will eat” has not been repeated in the translation for stylistic reasons.
191. Leviticus 26:30 sn Regarding these cultic installations, see the remarks in B. A. Levine, Leviticus (JPSTC), 188, and R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 2:903. The term rendered “incense altars” might better be rendered “sanctuaries [of foreign deities]” or “stelae.”
192. Leviticus 26:30 tn The translation reflects the Hebrew wordplay “your corpses…the corpses of your idols.” Since idols, being lifeless, do not really have “corpses,” the translation uses “dead bodies” for people and “lifeless bodies” for the idols.
193. Leviticus 26:30 tn Heb “and my soul will abhor you.”
194. Leviticus 26:31 tn Heb “And I will give your cities a waste”; NLT “make your cities desolate.”
195. Leviticus 26:33 tn Heb “and I will empty sword” (see HALOT 1228 s.v. ריק 3).
196. Leviticus 26:34 tn There are two Hebrew roots רָצָה (ratsah), one meaning “to be pleased with; to take pleasure” (HALOT 1280-81 s.v. רצה; cf. “enjoy” in NASB, NIV, NRSV, and J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 452), and the other meaning “to restore” (HALOT 1281-82 s.v. II רצה; cf. NAB “retrieve” and B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 189).
197. Leviticus 26:35 tn Heb “it shall rest which it did not rest.”
198. Leviticus 26:36 tn Heb “And.”
199. Leviticus 26:37 tn Heb “and.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) is used in a concessive sense here.
200. Leviticus 26:37 tn The term rendered “to stand up” is a noun, not an infinitive. It occurs only here and appears to designate someone who would take a powerful stand for them against their enemies.
201. Leviticus 26:39 tn Heb “in” (so KJV, ASV; also later in this verse).
202. Leviticus 26:39 tn Heb “fathers’” (also in the following verse).
203. Leviticus 26:40 tn Heb “And.” Many English versions take this to be a conditional clause (“if…”) though there is no conditional particle (see, e.g., NASB, NIV, NRSV; but see the very different rendering in B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 190). The temporal translation offered here (“when”) takes into account the particle אָז (ʾaz, “then”), which occurs twice in v. 41. The obvious contextual contrast between vv. 39 and 40 is expressed by “however” in the translation.
204. Leviticus 26:40 tn Heb “in their trespassing which they trespassed in me.” See the note on Lev 5:15, although the term is used in a more technical sense there in relation to the “guilt offering.”
205. Leviticus 26:40 tn Heb “and also which they walked.”
206. Leviticus 26:40 tn Heb “with me.”
207. Leviticus 26:41 tn Heb “or then,” although the LXX has “then” and the Syriac “and then.”
208. Leviticus 26:41 tn Heb “and then they make up for.” On the verb “make up for” see the note on v. 34 above.
209. Leviticus 26:42 tn Heb “my covenant with Abraham I will remember.” The phrase “I will remember” has not been repeated in the translation for stylistic reasons.
210. Leviticus 26:43 tn Heb “from them.” The preposition “from” refers here to the agent of the action (J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 455).
211. Leviticus 26:43 tn The jussive form of the verb with the simple vav (ו) here calls for a translation that expresses purpose.
212. Leviticus 26:43 tn The verb is the Hophal infinitive construct with the third feminine singular suffix (GKC 182 §67.y; cf. v. 34).
213. Leviticus 26:43 tn Heb “from them.”
214. Leviticus 26:43 tn Heb “because and in because,” a double expression, which is used only here and in Ezek 13:10 (without the vav) for emphasis (GKC 492 §158.b).
215. Leviticus 26:43 tn Heb “and their soul has abhorred.”
216. Leviticus 26:45 tn Heb “covenant of former ones.” sn For similar expressions referring back to the ancestors who refused to follow the stipulations of the Mosaic covenant see, for example, Deut 19:14, Jer 11:10, and Ps 79:8 (see B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 192, and J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 471).
217. Leviticus 26:46 tn Heb “gave” (so NLT); KJV, ASV, NCV “made.”
218. Leviticus 26:46 tn Heb “by the hand of” (so KJV).