Leviticus 17:14-16

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Leviticus 17:14 tn Heb “for the life/soul (נֶפֶשׁ, nefesh) of all flesh, its blood in its life/soul (נֶפֶשׁ) it is.” The LXX, Syriac, and Vulgate leave out “in its life/soul,” which would naturally yield “for the life of all flesh, its blood it is” (see J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 261, 263). The present translation is something of an oversimplification, but the meaning is basically the same in any case. Cf. NRSV “For the life of every creature—its blood is its life.”
2. Leviticus 17:14 tn Heb “of all flesh” (also later in this verse). See the note on “every living thing” in v. 11.
3. Leviticus 17:14 tn For remarks on the “cut off” penalty see the note on v. 4 above.
4. Leviticus 17:15 tn Heb “And any soul” (נֶפֶשׁ, nefesh).
5. Leviticus 17:15 tn Heb “carcass,” referring to the carcass of an animal that has died on its own, not the carcass of an animal slaughtered for sacrifice or killed by wild beasts. This has been clarified in the translation by supplying the phrase “of natural causes”; cf. NAB “that died of itself”; TEV “that has died a natural death.”
6. Leviticus 17:15 tn On the Hebrew ger (גֵּר) “resident foreigner” see notes at Exod 12:19 and Deut 29:11.
7. Leviticus 17:16 tn The words “his clothes” are not in the Hebrew text, but are repeated in the translation for clarity.
8. Leviticus 17:16 tn Heb “and he shall bear his iniquity.” The rendering “bear the punishment for the iniquity” reflects the use of the word “iniquity” to refer to the punishment for iniquity. This is sometimes referred to as the consequential use of the term (cf. Lev 5:17; 7:18; 10:17; etc.).sn For the interpretation of this verse reflected in the present translation, see the remarks on Lev 5:1 in J. Milgrom, Leviticus (AB), 1:292-97.