| 1 |
1 Then he called unto Moshēh. Then Yăhwēh spoke unto him from the tent of appointment, saying, 2 “Speak unto the sons of Yisra’ēl, and you will have said unto them, ‘When a man may make come near, from you, an offering to Yăhwēh, |
| 3 |
3 ‘If an ascending |
| 10 |
10 And if from the flock his offering |
| 14 |
14 And if from the bird |
| 1 |
1 And when a soul will make come near a tribute‡ offering† to Yăhwēh, his offering shall be fine flour. And he will have poured oil upon it. And he will have put frankincense upon it. 2 And he shall have made it come near unto the sons of A̓harōn, the priests. And he shall have grasped from there his fist full of the fine flour of it, and from the oil of it over all the frankincense of it. And the priest shall have made smoke the memorial |
| 4 |
4 And when you make come near an offering of tribute, oven baked, |
| 5 |
5 And if a tribute upon the griddle |
| 7 |
7 And if a tribute of the stew-pan |
| 8 |
8 And you will have made come the tribute, which was made from these |
| 11 |
11 Any of the tribute which you may make come near to Yăhwēh, will not be made leavened, because any leavening, and any honey, you will not make smoke from it, |
| 13 | 13 And every offering of your tribute with the salt you shall salt. And you shall not make cease the salt of the covenant of your Almĭghty from upon your tribute. Upon every offering of yours you shall make come near salt. |
| 14 |
14 And if you make come near a tribute of first-fruits to Yăhwēh, of fresh ears, being roasted in the fire, |
| 1 |
1 And if a sacrifice of well being† |
| 6 |
6 And if from the flock |
| 7 |
7 If a lamb he makes come near |
| 12 |
12 And if a goat |
| 17 |
|
| 1 |
1 Then Yăhwēh spoke unto
Mōshēh, saying, 2 “Speak
unto the sons of Yisra’ēl, saying, ‘A soul that
may sin in inadvertence, beyond¹
any of the commandments of Yăhwēh, which should
not be done, and he has acted beyond one from them, 3 |
| 13 |
13 And if the whole congregation of Yisra’ēl should err inadvertently, and the thing has been obscured from the eyes of the assembly, and they have done one |
| 21 |
21 And he will have made go forth the bull unto the outside of the camp. And he will have burned it as that he will have burned the first bull. The sin |
| 22 |
22 When a ruler may sin, and will have done one |
| 27 |
27 And if one soul shall sin in inadvertence, from the people of the land, in its doing one |
| 32 |
32 And if a lamb he will make come, |
| 1 |
1 And |
| 2 |
2 Or a soul which will touch on any thing unclean, or on the carcass of an unclean animal, or on the carcass of an unclean beast, or on the carcass of an unclean creeping thing, and it will have been hidden from him, and he |
| 3 |
3 Or |
| 4 |
4 Or |
| 5 |
5 And it will have been, when he will be guilty for one from these |
| 7 |
7 And if he may not make his hand reach the sufficiency of a flock animal¹, then he will have made come |
| 10b |
10b And the priest will have made to be a wiping away for him from his sin |
| 11 |
11 And if he may not make his hand reach to two of the turtle-doves, or to two of the sons of the pigeons, then he will have made come his offering, which he has incurred, a tenth of the ē̓phah, fine flour, for a sin |
| 13 |
13 And the priest will have made to be a wiping away for him for his sin |
| 14 |
14 Then Yăhwēh spoke unto Mōshēh, saying, 15 “A soul that may do unfaithfully a faithless act, and he has sinned in inadvertence in¹ the holy things of Yăhwēh, then he will have made come |
| 17 |
17 And if a soul that will sin, and it will have done one |
| 19 |
19 A guilt |
| 20 |
6:1 Then Yăhwēh spoke unto Mōshēh, saying, 6:2 “A soul that will sin, and will have done unfaithfully an unfaithful act against Yăhwēh, when he has made to be a deceit on his neighbor with a stored thing or with a security deposit† or with stealing‡ or he has defrauded¹ his neighbor, 6:3 or he has found a lost thing, and he has made to be deceit about it, and he has sworn himself upon a lie‡ over one |
| 23 |
6:4 Then it will have been, when he has sinned, and |
| 25 |
6:6 And his guilt |
| 1 |
8 Then Yăhwēh spoke unto Moshēh, saying, 9 “Make be commanded A̓harōn and his sons, saying, ‘This |
| 3 |
10 And the priest will have dressed in his linen garment. And pants of linen he will dress in upon his flesh. And he will have made come up the fat ash, |
| 4 | 11 And he will have stripped his garments. And he will have dressed in other garments. And he will have made go out the ash unto the outside of the camp unto a clean place. |
| 5 |
12 And the fire upon the altar shall be made to burn in it. It shall not be quenched. And the priest will have made to be burned wood upon it in the daybreak, in the daybreak. And he will have arranged the ascending |
| 14 |
14 And this |
| 19 |
19 Then Yăhwēh spoke unto Moshēh, saying, 20 This |
| 24 |
24 Then Yăhwēh spoke unto Moshēh, saying, 25 “Speak unto A̓harōn and unto his sons, saying, ‘This |
| 1 |
1 And this |
| 7 |
7 As the sin |
| 9 |
9 And every tribute |
| 10 |
10 And every tribute |
| 11 |
11 And this |
| 16 |
16 And if a vow or voluntary† sacrifice |
| 18 |
18 And if being eaten, it may be eaten, from the flesh of the sacrifice of his well being |
| 1 | 1 Then Yăhwēh spoke¹ unto Moshēh, after the death of the two sons of A̓harōn, (in their drawing near to the face of Yăhwēh; then they died.) |
| 2 |
2 Then Yăhwēh said unto Moshēh, “Speak¹ unto A̓harōn your brother, and he will not come at every time unto the ²holiness, the house beyond the veil³ unto the face the kappōret‡ which |
| 3 | 3 “With this A̓harōn shall come into the holiness, with a bull, a son of the cattle, for a sin ¹offering, and a ram for an ascending† offering.” |
| 4 |
4 “A holy coat of linen he shall wear and pants of linen will be upon his flesh, and with a sash of linen he will gird himself, and with a turban of linen he shall wind himself. They |
| 5 | 5 “And from the congregation of the sons of Yisra’ēl he will have taken two billies‡ of the goats for a sin offering, and one ram for an ascending offering.” |
| 6 | 6 “And A̓harōn will have made come near the bull of the sin offering which is for him, and he will have made to be a wiping‡ on behalf of himself and on behalf of his house.” |
| 7 |
7 “And he shall have taken the two billies, and he will have made them stand at the face of Yăhwēh |
| 10 | 10 “And the billy, which the lot came up on¹ for the goat of going away, shall be made to stand alive at the face of Yăhwēh, to make to be a wiping away by it, to send¹ it as² the goat departing into the wilderness.”‡ |
| 11 |
11 “And A̓harōn shall make draw near the bull of the sin offering, which |
| 12 |
12 “And he will have taken full a firepan, |
| 14 |
14 “And he will have taken from the blood of the bull, and he will have made |
| 15 |
15 “And he will have slaughtered the billy of the sin offering, which |
| 16 |
16 “And he will have made to be a wiping away upon the holy |
| 17 |
17 “And any man shall not be in the tent of appointment, in¹ his entering to make to be a wiping away in the holy |
| 18 |
18 “And he shall have gone out unto the altar which |
| 20 |
20 “And he will have made to be finished, making to be wiped, the holy |
| 20b |
20b “And he will have made draw near the living billy. 21 And A̓harōn will have lain his two hands¹ upon the head of the living billy. And he himself will have confessed over it all the iniquities of the sons of Yisra’ēl, and all their transgressions, concerning° all their sins. And he will have put them upon the head of the billy, and he will have sent² |
| 23 | 23 “And A̓harōn will have come into the tent of appointment, and he shall have stripped off the garments of linen, which he had dressed in, in his coming into the holiness, and he will have rested them there. 24 And he will have bathed his flesh in water in a holy place, and he will have dressed in his garments. And he will have gone out, and he will have done his ascending offering and the ascending offering of the people. |
| 24b | 24b And he will have made to be wiping on behalf of himself and on behalf of the people.”‡ |
| 25 | 25 “And the fat of the sin offering he shall he make smoke at¹ the altar. 26 And the one making to be sent the billy as the goat going away will make to be washed his garments, and he will have bathed his flesh in water. And after such, he shall come into the camp.” |
| 27 |
27 “And the bull of the sin offering, and the billy of the sin offering, whose blood was made to come in to make to be a wiping away in the holy |
| 29 | 29 “And it will have been for you as a statute forever† in the seventh¹ month. On the tenth of the month you shall make be afflicted‡ your souls. And any work you may not do, the native, and the sojourner sojourning in the midst of you.” |
| 30 | 30 “Because‡ on this day He will make to be a wiping upon you, to make you to be clean. From all your sins before the face of Yăhwēh you shall be clean.”† |
| 31 |
31 “A Rest of complete† rest it |
| 32 | 32 And the priest‡ will make to be a wiping away, whom he will anoint¹, and who will fill his hand† to be priest under his father. And he will have dressed in the garments of linen, holy garments.” |
| 33 | 33 “And he will have made to be wiped the holy sanctuary, and the tent of appointment. And the altar, he will have made to be wiped. And on account of the priests, and on account of all the people of the congregation, he shall make to be wiping.” |
| 34 | 34 “And this will have been to you as a statute forever, to make to be wiping away on account of the sons of Yisra’ēl, because of‡ all their sins once in the year.”† |
| 34b | 34b Then he did as that Yăhwēh had made be commanded Moshēh. |
| 17 | 17 You may not hate your brother in your heart. Reproving you shall reprove† your fellow, and you may not carry sin for him.‡ |
| 18 | 18 You shall not take revenge. And you shall not nurse anger for the sons of your people. And you will have loved your neighbor as yourself. I am Yăhwēh. |
| 1 |
1 Then Yăhwēh spoke unto Mōshēh, saying, 2 “Speak unto the sons of Yisra’ēl, and you will have said unto them, ‘The appointed times of Yăhwēh, which you shall proclaim them, these |
| 3 |
3 ‘Six days you may do work, and on the seventh day |
| 4 |
4 ‘These |
| 5 |
5 ‘In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month between the settings, |
| 9 |
9 Then Yăhwēh spoke unto Moshēh, saying, 10 “Speak unto the sons of Yisra’ēl, and you will have said unto them, ‘When you will come unto the land which I |
| 12 |
12 “And you will have made, on the day of your making waved the sheaf, a perfect male lamb, a son of its year, to ascend to Yăhwēh. 13 And the meal offering of it |
| 14 |
14 “And you shall not eat bread, and roasted grain, and fresh produce, until this same day, until your making come the offering of your Almĭghty: |
| 15 | 15 “And you will have counted to yourselves in the time after† the Shabbat-rest, from the day of your making come the sheaf of the wave offering, there will be seven weekly Shabbat-rests,‡ 16 until in the time after‡ the seventh Shabbat-rest you number a fiftieth† day.” |
| 16b |
16b “And you will have made come near a new meal offering to Yăhwēh. 17 From your dwellings you shall bring two waving ¹loaves, two tenth parts |
| 18 |
18 “And you will have made come near with the loaves¹ seven male lambs, perfect ones, the son of a year, and one bull, the son of the herd, and two rams. They shall be an ascending offering to Yăhwēh, and their meal offering, and their drink offerings, |
| 19 | 19 “And you will have made one billy of the goats into a sin offering, and two male lambs, the son of a year, into a sacrifice of peace offerings. 20 And the priest shall have waved them with the loaves¹ of the first fruits, a wave offering before the face of Yăhwēh, with the two male lambs. Holy, they shall be to Yăhwēh for the priest.” |
| 21 |
21 “And you shall have proclaimed on this same day a holy convocation.† It will be for yourselves. Any work of labor, you will not do. |
| 22 |
22 “And in your harvesting the harvest of your land, you shall not make be finished the edges of your field. In your harvesting and gathering of your harvest, you will not make be gathered |
| 23 |
23 Then Yăhwēh spoke¹ unto Moshēh, saying, 24 “Speak unto the sons of Yisra’ēl, saying, ‘In the seventh month, on the first |
| 25 | 25 “Any work of labor you shall not do. And you will have made come near a fire offering to Yăhwēh.” |
| 26 |
26 Then Yăhwēh spoke¹ unto Moshēh, saying, 27 “Surely on the tenth |
| 28 |
28 “And any work you shall not do on this same day, because a day of making be wiped away it |
| 29 |
29 “When |
| 30 |
30 “And |
| 32 |
32 “A Shabbat of complete Shabbat it |
| 33 |
33 Then Yăhwēh spoke¹ unto Moshēh, saying, 34 “Speak unto the sons of Yisra’ēl, saying, ‘On the fifteenth day of this seventh month |
| 35 |
35 On the first day |
| 37 |
37 These |
| 39 |
39 Surely on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, in your gathering in the comings of the land, you shall feast the feast of Yăhwēh, a seven of days. On the first day shall be a great Shabbat, and on the eighth day |
| 40 |
40 And you will have taken for yourselves, on the first day, the fruit of the majestic tree, palms of palm-trees¹ and the bough of the leafy tree, and willows of the brook; and you will have rejoiced before the face of Yăhwēh your Almĭghty a seven of days.‡ 41 And you will have feasted it, a feast unto Yăhwēh, a seven of days in the year, an everlasting statute for your generations. In the seventh month you shall feast it. 42 In booths you shall dwell a seven of days. All the native men in Yisra’ēl† will dwell in booths‡ 43 so that your generations may know that in booths† I had made the sons of Yisra’ēl dwell, in my making them go out from the land of Egypt. I |
| 44 | 44 Then Moshēh declared the appointed times† of Yăhwēh unto the sons of Yisra’ēl. |
| 1 |
1 Then Yăhwēh spoke unto Mōshēh on mount Si̱nai̱ saying, “Speak unto the sons of Yisra’ēl, and you will have said unto them, ‘When you will enter unto the land which I |
| 3 | 3 Six years you may sow you field, and six years you may prune your vineyard, and you will have gathered the comings† of ¹it. |
| 4 | 4 And in the seventh year a Shabbat of great Shabbat-rest will be for the land, a Shabbat to Yăhwēh. Your field you may not sow, and your vineyard you may not prune. 5 The aftergrowth of your harvest you may not reap, and the grapes of your devotion† you will not cut off. A Shabbat of great Shabbat-rest it will be for the land. |
| 6 |
6 And it will have been the Shabbat of the land for you, for food for you, and for your manservant, and for your maidservant, and for your hireling, and your sojourner that |
| 8 |
8 And you will have counted for yourself, seven †Shabbat-rests. The years |
| 9 |
9 And you will have made a trumpet of blasting pass through, in the seventh month, on the tenth of the month. On the day of kippūri̱m†, you will make a trumpet pass through in all your land. 10 And you will have made to be holy the year of the fiftieth year. And you will have proclaimed liberty in the land, to all the dwellers of it. A jubilee† it will be for you. And you will have returned each man unto his possession, and each man unto his family you will return. 11 A jubilee it |
| 14 |
14 And when you will sell a sale to your neighbor, or |
| 17 |
17 And you may not make oppressed each man his neighbor. And you will have feared, because I |
| 20 | 20 And when you will say, “What will we eat in the seventh year? Behold, we may not sow, and we may not gather our comings!” 21 Then I will have made be commanded my blessing for you in the sixth year, and it will have made the comings for three of the years. 22 And you will have sown the eighth year. And you will have eaten from the old comings until the ninth year. Until coming the comings of it, you will eat the old. |
| 23 |
23 And the land will not be sold in perpetuity, because to me |
| 25 | 25 When is poor your brother, and he has sold out his possession, then the nearest one redeeming him will have come unto him. And he will have redeemed the sale of his brother. 26 And a man, when there will not be for him a redeemer, and his hand has made a reach, and he has found according to the sufficiency of his redemption, 27 then he will have made to be reckoned the years of his sale, and he will have made return the excess to the man which had sold to him, and he will have returned to his possession. 28 And if his hand has not found sufficiency of making return to him, then it will have been his sale in the hand of the one buying it until the year of the jubilee. And it will go forth in the jubilee. And he will have returned to his possession. |
| 29 |
29 And a man, when he will sell a house of dwelling, of a walled city, then it will have been his redemption |
| 32 |
32 And the cities of the Leυi̱yim |
| 34 |
34 And a field of range-land¹ of their cities may not be sold, because a possession of time immemorial it |
| 35 |
35 And when may become poor your brother, and his hand has slipped with you, then you will have given strength to him‡ |
| 38 |
38 I |
| 39 |
39 And when may become poor your brother with you, and he will have sold himself to you, you may not make to be work¹ on him, the work of a slave. 40 As the hired one, as the sojourner he will be with you. Until the year of jubilee† he will work with you. 41 And he will have gone out from with you, he and his sons with him. And he will have returned unto his family. And unto the possession of his fathers he may return, 42 because my servants they |
| 44 |
44 And your manservant and your maidservant, which will belong¹ to you, from the nations which |
| 47 |
47 And when the hand of a stranger and foreign sojourner may attain |
| 55b |
55b I |
| 1 |
1 You shall not make for yourselves worthless gods. And an image and a pillar, you shall not make stand up for yourselves. And a stone imagination you may not put in your land to cause yourselves to bow down for it, because I |
| 2 |
2 My Shabbats you shall observe, and my holy place you shall honor.† I |
| 3 | 3 If in my statutes you will walk, and my commandments you will keep, and you will have done them, 4 then I will have given your rain showers in their time, and the land will have given its produce, and the tree of the field will give its fruit. 5 And threshing will have made reached for you the vintage, and the vintage will make reached the sowing, and you will have eaten of your bread to satisfaction, and you will have dwelled securely in your land. |
| 6 |
6 I will have granted peace in the land, and you will have lain down, and no |
| 9 | 9 And I will have turned unto you, and I will have made you fruitful, and I will have multiplied you, and I will have made stand My covenant with you. 10 And you will have eaten the old being old, and the old from before the face of the new you will make go out. 11 And I will have put my dwelling in the midst of you, and my soul will not abhor you. 12 And I will have made myself to be walking in your midst, and I will have been for you as Almĭghty, and you will be for Me as a people. |
| 13 |
13 I am Yăhwēh your Almĭghty, |
| 14 | 14 And if you should not listen to me, and you should not do all these commandments, 15 and if against my statutes you may reject, and if my judgments your soul should loathe to not do all my commandments, to make broken by you my covenant, 16 yea, I, I will do this to you. And I will have made attend upon you a panic, with the epidemic, and with the fever, making to be finished the eyes, and making fade away the soul. And you will have sown for nothing your seed, and your enemies will have eaten it. |
| 17 |
17 I will have put my face against you, and you will have been struck down at the face of your enemies. And they will have pursued against you, your haters, and you will have fled, and none |
| 18 |
18 And if up to these |
| 21 |
21 And if you should walk contrary with me, and you will not be willing to listen to me, then I will have added upon you a blow seven |
| 23 |
23 And if by these |
| 26 | 26 In my breaking for you the staff of bread, then ten women will have baked your bread in one oven. And they will have made return your bread by weight, and you will have eaten, and you will not be satisfied. |
| 27 |
27 And if in this you will not listen to me, and you will have walked contrary with me, 28 then I will have walked with you in a hostile burning anger. And I will have made to be corrected you, yea I, seven |
| 30 |
30 And I will have made exterminated your high places. And I will have made cut down the sun pillars. And I will have put your corpses upon the corpses of your logs† And my soul will have abhorred you. 31 And I will have given your cities |
| 33 | 33 And you I will make to be scattered in the nations. And I will have made drawn after you a sword. And your land will have become a desolation. And your cities will be a ruin. |
| 34 |
34 At that time, the land shall accept its Shabbat-rests all the days of its being made desolate, and you |
| 36 |
36 And those being left among them, then I will have made come despondency into their hearts in the lands of their enemies. And the sound of a leaf being driven will have chased them away. And they will have fled a flight of the sword. And they will have fallen, and none |
| 40 | 40 And they will have themselves made to be confessed their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers in their betrayal which they have betrayed against me. And yea, which they have walked with me in contrariness. 41 Yea, I, I will walk with them in contrariness. And I will have made them come into the land of their enemies. |
| 41b | 41b Or, at that time, will be humbled their uncircumcised heart, and at that time they will accept the punishment for their inquity,¹ 42 then I will have remembered my covenant of Ya‘aqōv̱, and yea my covenant of Yitsḥaq, and yea my covenant of A̓v̱raham. I will remember. And the land I will remember. |
| 43 | 43 And the land will be forsaken from them, and it will accept its Shabbat-rests, in its being made desolate from them, and they will accept the punishment of their iniquity, because and again¹ because, against my judgments they had refused, and my statutes their soul had loathed. |
| 44 | 44 And yea, also this: in their being in the land of their enemies, I will not have rejected them, and I will not have abhorred them to make to be finished them to make broken my covenant with them, because I am Yăhwēh their Almĭghty. |
| 45 |
45 And I will have remembered for them the covenant of the first ones, |
| 46 |
46 These |
1:2† ^ The word “you” here is plural, ־כֶם -ḳem and תּ”וּ t"ū. As is most often the case, one man brings an offering for his entire family or a group of people who have contributed to the expenses of the offering.
1:3† ^ or “his.” The pronoun may refer to either the man or the sacrifice. The sacrifice would not be acceptable if it was not brought to the sanctuary, that is, if it was offered elsewhere. The exception to this rule appears to be when the sanctuary was destroyed by the Philistines, before the Temple was built, when a prophet like Shemū’ēl sanctioned the use of a secondary altar. Otherwise, offerings without a functioning priesthood or proper sanctuary site are prohibited to the people.
1:4¹ ^ Rarely was an ascending offering (burnt offering) used as a sin offering after the Sanctuary was built. Beforetime, by the partriarchs, one ascending offering was used for all purposes. Sins of ignorance were confessed in general over the animal, and sins of ignorance on behalf of the man and his family were forgiven in general. Also the offering was a worship offering. The older all-in-one offering was allowed to continue at the Sanctuary. The text says this offering is “to make be a wiping” לְכַפֵּר leḳappēr. What is in view is wiping out the penalty of a sin of ignorance by substitution, i.e. forgiveness, as explained with the newer and more specific offerings.
2:1† ^ קָרְבַּן qorban = an offering.
2:1‡ ^ מִנְחָה minḥah. The word means a tribute gift. It usually means a tribute gift of grain.
2:3† ^ קָדָשִׁים qadashi̱m. An intensive plural.
2:4¹ ^ with the meaning of “or.” Hebrew often lists alternatives with “and.”
3:1† ^ שְׁלָמִים shelami̱m = being whole, whollifying, making peace, making well. Compare the participle: שְׁלֵמִים from the root שׁלם. “living peacefully,” “living safely,” “being well.”
4:2¹ ^ מִן min = beyond, outside of; comparative use.
4:3† ^ I do not think that לְאַשְׁמַת הָעָם (lea̓shmat ha‘am) means “to bring guilt on the people,” but “to incur the guilt of the people.” In otherwords, the priest becomes guilty in the eyes of the people. A precedent for this meaning is found in 2Chron. 28:13, לְאַשְׁמַת יַהְוֶה (lea̓shmat Yăhwēh). This does not mean “to bring guilt on Yăhwēh,” but certainly “to incur the guilt of Yăhwēh.”
4:6¹ ^ or “holiness” without place.
4:17¹ ^ מִן min = from. A case where the preposition means “in”; see Lev. 23:15-16.
4:27¹ ^ אָשֵׁם a̓shēm. A Participle. The sense “found guilty” appears necessary to explain the following “or.”
5:1² ^ The conjunctive waw adds a logical “and” that is necessary to make the first clause true. But this can only be rendered “when” in English.
5:1¹ ^ = a summons to testify.
5:3† ^ Read: יִטָּמֵא yittamē̓. Niphal. “he will become unclean, he will be defiled.”
5:6‡ ^ מֵחַטָּאתוֹ mēḥatta̓tō = from his sin punishment. The word “sin” is used in multiple ways in Hebrew, 1. sin itself, 2. a sin sacrifice, 3. a sin punishment. This is the reason that the word often has to be followed by an italicized word. The meaning “sin punishment” is often neglected. This sense is illustrated in Zech. 14:19, “This will be the sin punishment of Egypt....” זֹאת תִּהְיֶה חַטַּאת מִצְרָיִם zō̓t tihyeh ḥatta̓t mitsrayim. The wiping away is not from the sin itself. That is accomplished by confession and repentance in the case of these sins of inadvertence.
5:7¹ ^ a sheep or goat.
5:7† ^ This is a punitive compensation.
5:9¹ ^ = in. Odd preposition use.
5:10b† ^ see BDB חָטָא ḥ-t-̓ “3. incur guilt, penalty by sin, forfeit.”
מִן min. An example of “part of a whole” use of the preposition, i.e. a part of the whole. The sin concerns one holy thing taken “from” or “out of” all the possible holy things in which a sin may be committed. The same use is seen in Lev. 23:11-16, where it is also necessary to translate “in.”
6:2† ^ בִתְשׂוּמֶת יָד bitsūmet yad. Compare the participle שׂוּמוֹת of שׂים. “Something being set, being established” “[in] the hand.” The phrase is an idiom meaning a “security deposit.”
6:2‡ ^ often rendered “robbery.” Robbery in English implies a threat to life in the prosecution of a theft. The Hebrew means stealing or plunder, which may involve some level of force or violence, though not amounting to a threat of death against the victim, or any manifest intent of murder to acheive the aim. In this case the stealing is done without the victim knowing who it was, and perhaps only suspecting the person. It is a case were an oath was required to clear the accused.
6:2¹ ^ עָשַׁק a̒shaq. This is also translated “extort.” In this context, the deed is committed by stealth. The offering specified is for lying by swearing in name of the Almĭghty. The oath was only administered in cases of doubt. So the a̒shaq specified here is only that sort which may be hidden from the victim.
6:2¹ ^ עָשַׁק a̒shaq.
6:2¹ ^ עָשַׁק a̒shaq. This is often translated “extortion,” but the context makes it clear that the theft is hidden.
6:3‡ ^ This is the key phrase. The person has to swear a lying oath in the name of Yăhwēh. This is why the sin is against Yăhwēh, and why the offering is required.
6:3† ^ “over one
The lie (or deceit) itself is not regarded as a sin that requires an offering here, but if a person swears upon the lie an oath. The guilt that incurs the requirement for the offering requires one to lie upon oath. The oath has to be taken in the name of Yăhwēh or in a context that certainly identifies the oath being taken in the name of the Gŏd of Yisra’ēl (cf. Deut. 6:13), because the guilt incurred is due to falsely swearing in his name. If the administrator of an oath is a secular judge or court appointed administrator, and the oath givers give their oaths in the name of any god (or will not specify which god, or are not allowed to compel an oath in the name of a specific god), then it may not be presumed that someone has sworn in the name of the Almĭghty unless the person himself believes he has sworn in his name. He is not guilty with respect to falsely swearing in the name of Yăhwēh. The phrase “So help me God,” is not a valid oath, as it is a request for divine aid to tell the truth, and not a sworn guarantee of it on the reputation of the Almĭghty. The phrase “I swear to tell the truth and nothing but the truth,” is an oath and swearing, but it is not in the name of the Almĭghty. Secular governments have penalties for breaking these oaths, to be sure, but their oaths generally do not incur a liability to this guilt offering specified here. (See 1Kings 22:13-16).
Swearing on an object is not permitted, either the Temple, the gold on it, the altar, the gold on it, the Torah Scrolls, a bible, or any other object. One should not swear in general by anything, but say yes and no, except in the cases where Torah requires an oath, and such an oath is to be in the name of Yăhwēh. Messiah did not say not to swear at all, but not to swear by any of these other things, and not to swear “generally” (ολως), Mat. 5:34. See Friberg, BDAG, “generally speaking.”
6:5† ^ This is necessarily the time, since he concealed the theft with an oath, and was wrongly acquitted, and now comes forward voluntarily to admit his wrong. If the person was never asked to swear in the name of Yăhwēh, but has committed the sin, he has indeed sinned, and should make the theft good, but the levitical guilt offering is not required because he has not profaned the name of Yăhwēh.
6:7‡ ^ Read לְחַטֵּא leḥattē’ = to purify sin. Often the Piel verb is used for a sin offering to purify defilement or uncleannness. In this case, it is the liar who wishes to be cleared of sin by an oath so that he can conceal his sin.
6:9† ^ מוֹקְדָה mōqdah from קדח = burn. Something that makes burning. This refers to the grate or hearth of the altar with the fire underneath it. The ascending offering was put on the grate piece by piece.
6:9‡ ^ The ascending offering was the continual offering. The first was started at daybreak, and the second was started in the midafternoon. “The first lamb you will do in the daybreak, and the second lamb you will do between the settings” (Num. 28:4). Also, “And you will have said to them, ‘This is the fire
6:10¹ ^ Read: תְּאַכֵּל tea̓kēl. Piel, “it will make to be consumed (eaten).”
6:18¹ ^ Read: יְקֻדַּשׁ yeqūddash.
6:21¹ ^ תֻּפִינֵי tūphēi = broken pieces? (JPS). This is a traditional rendering. Holladay lists the word meaning as doubtful. So also BDB and HALOT. “Baked slices” (TNK). “Baked pieces” (ESV, NAS).
6:22¹ ^ generic article.
6:27¹ ^ Read: יְקֻדַּשׁ or יִקָּדֵשׁ. Pual or Niphal.
6:27² ^ Read: יֻזֶּה. Huphal.
6:27³ ^ Read: יֻזֶּה. Huphal.
6:28¹ ^ in it.
7:2¹ ^ Read: יְזֻרֹק. Qal Passive. Or Niphal: יִזָּרֵק.
7:13† ^ This was for the priest to consume and for the worshipper, and not to go on the altar where leaven was forbidden (cf. 2:13).
7:13¹ ^ construct.
7:13² ^ plural: well-beings; shaloms.
7:14† ^ The priest that slays the well being sacrifice gets one unleavened cake, one wafer, one of fine flour mixed, and one loaf of leavened bread to eat with his portion of the well being sacrifice.
7:15‡ ^And the flesh of the sacrifice of the thanksgiving for his well being, on the [same] day of his offering will be eaten. He may not let remain from it until daybreak.‡ Since an offering may be brought at any time of day or night, this regulation defines the start and end of a day for the purposes of sacrifice. The same day will end at daybreak or dawn.
If an offering is brought at noon on a day, then the same day is reckoned until the next daybreak, or just before the light appears at dawn. At whatever time the offering is made, it must be eaten or burned before the next daybreak. The same day is reckoned from daybreak to daybreak. It must be eaten the same day it is offered. So if it is offered at noon, then it must be eaten by the next daybreak. If offered an hour before sunset, it must be eaten before the next dawn.
Contrary to the traditions of men, the day for all sacrificial purposes, including Mĕssiah’s sacrificial death and resurrection is from daybreak to daybreak.
Note: “same” is correctly interpolated by the King James Version. There is no way to break the Hebrew down into any other sense: בְּיוֹם קָרְבָּנוֹ =
The daybreak to daybreak reckoning of a day here has been noted by numerous Hebrew scholars, both Jewish and Christian. But people would rather believe in traditions of men.
7:16† ^ Voluntary does not include the thanksgiving offering just described. This is because the worshipper is bringing the thanksgiving offering out of a sense of obligation to give thanks.
16:1¹ ^ = makes to be spoken.
16:2¹ ^ = make to be spoken.
16:2² ^ The word “place” is not included in the Hebrew. The word קֹדֶשׁ qōdesh means “holiness, sacredness, set apartness.” It is an abstract noun characterizing the nature of the most holy place, as containing the very presence of Gŏd himself.
16:2³ ^ מִבֵּית mibēit = off house, from house, after house, out house, back house. The word house with the preposition here indicates a house, or compartment that stands off of something, or behind it. See BDB מִן min, 5395. The sense is an outer house, out in back house, or house off of another house. Due to English usages and connotations, it cannot be translated too literally, so I have opted for “house beyond the veil,”; literally: מִבֵּית לַפָּרֹכֶת mibēit lapparōḳet = “off house at the veil,” or “back house at the curtain.”
16:2‡ ^ כַּפֹּרֶת kappōret. The golden cover of the ark was named after its proximitary to what Gŏd does at that place, לְכַפֵּר leḳaphēr, to make to be kōpher. In English this may be glossed, as “the place where a making to be cleared off, wiped off, wiped out, purged, cleansed” is effected. For further details see the note on vs. 6 on כִפֶּר kipper. The word “mercy-seat” is incorrect. Neither the sense of mercy or seat is expressed by the Hebrew word. The sense propitiatory or expiatory is more accurate, if one knows what these words mean. I thought it best to transliterate it, and to explain it in vs. 6. according to its verb form. To attempt to translate it into English: “wipe-out-atory”, “clear-away-atory” “clean-off-atory.” Transliteration is much easier here than these new jawbreaking English words.
16:2† ^ אָרֹן a̓rōn = chest. This is not the same word as the Ark used for Noah’s boat, תֵּבָה tēv̱ah, which is a virtual synonym. The difference is like that between chest and box. The word ark comes from Latin: Middle English, from Old English
16:2† ^ אָרֹן a̓rōn = chest. This is not the same word as the Ark used for Noah’s boat, תֵּבָה tēv̱ah, which is a virtual synonym. The difference is like that between chest and box. The word ark comes from Latin: Middle English, from Old English
16:3¹ ^ חַטָּאת ḥatta̓t. The same word as “sin.” In otherwords, the word “sin” in Hebrew is used with the sense of a sin offering. The function of this sin offering was to cleanse away ritual impurity caused by sin or physical impurity.
16:3† ^ עֹלָה o̒lah. This is from the Hebrew verb “to go up.” The ascending offering was wholly burned so that its smoke went up to heaven. The o̒lah was a worship offering. It did not deal with sin. It’s intention was not to forgive sin or purge it, but it was an act of worship.
16:5‡ ^ עִזִּים i̒zzi̱m = goats. This turns out to be a general term for goats, and should not be translated “female” goats except when used with another gender marked word, or in coordination with a category of male goats. A “billy” is a specifically male goat, שָׂעִיר sa̒i̱r.
16:6‡ ^ וְכִפֶּר weḳipper = waw + כָפַר. That which is wiped out here by the sin offering is ritual impurity, caused by physical uncleanness. This does not have to do with personal sin. The offerings in Lev. 4-5 do. The verb כָפַר simply specifies a clearing off, wiping out, or wipping off. It never specifies what is wiped out. Only the context can determine that. There are several illustrations of this. In Gen. 32:20, “Let me ¹clear his face with the present going before me, and afterward I will see his face; perhaps he may lift up my face. ” 32:20¹ ^ אֲכַפְּרָה = let me wipe off; clear off; placate; appease. The idea is that Ya‘aqōv̱ would wipe any anger off of his brother’s face with his gifts. We see here that he is not wiping out his own sin, a penalty for his own sin, or cleansing himself of his own sin. Likewise we must be very careful when dealing with the word elsewhere. The word may mean to 1. wipe out a penalty of sin, 2. wipe out the sin itself, to purify the person, 3. wipe out ritual impurity or physical uncleanness by purifying an object, or 4. to placate someone by causing their disposition to be changed, i.e. by wiping away their negative disposition.
The word “atonement” is conflated with meanings of forgiveness, placation, and reconciliation, and numerous theological theories that are not based on the Hebrew meaning. Many errors have sprung from the ignorance of teachers, and the belief’s of heretical teachers. And traditions almost always overrule the truth.
The verb כָפַר ḳaphar does not mean “to cover.” This misdefinition has been used to generate misunderstanding everywhere. Ya‘aqōv̱ did not seek to cover up his brother’s anger so that he did not express it, such that it would only seethe inside. He sought to expunge it, and to wipe it away. Neither does Messiah’s death mean “to cover” over our sins! The word means to wipe out. And in two senses it will apply. The penalty of sin is wiped out by Messiah (I should note hear that the Hebrew word for sin can also mean the penalty of sin), and sin itself within our lives is being wiped out by our sanctification. Notice the difference in tense here. The penalty of sin is wiped out. That is past tense. The presence of sin is being wiped out. Thus, כָפַר ḳaphar may mean to wipe out a penalty or to cleanse away sin itself. Misunderstanding this distinction leads to traps of people claiming they are completely cleansed of sin, in addition to being forgiven. It has also led to great error on the part of Christianity and Judaism pitting Yom Kippurim against Messiah, and Messiah against Yom Kippurim!
Everytime the Scripture uses the word “atonement,” which really means something is made to be wiped out, then the reader must seek from the context exactly what it is that is being wiped out, whether 1. ritual impurity, 2. a penalty of sin, or 3. the sin itself, or 4. someone’s bad disposition. If this is not done, then the same theological meaning will be put upon different uses of the word, and contradictions will arise, particularly between what manner of wiping was accomplished by the sin offering, and what manner of wiping was done by Messiah!
Yom Kippur is, and was, almost entirely about wiping out the ritual impurity, caused by sin, and caused by physical uncleanness that had been conducted into the sanctuary. Furthermore, the sin offering for the high priest, and his house, was to purge their ritual impurity, so that they could serve. Only in an eschatological and typological sense does this day have to do with cleansing away personal sin, as we shall see when we get to Lev. 16:30. And in no sense does any part of this day have to do with the forgiveness of the penalty of sin. The word forgive or pardon (נִסְלַח) does not appear anywhere in the passage. Judaism wishes up to imagine that it does, since Judaism rejects Messiah for forgiveness. Christianity wishes us to agree with Judaism, because it wishes us to reject Yom Kippurim.
Now I will include some technical details to show that “wipe off/out” is proper, and well justified from language studies. First HALOT states, “Akk.
The verb כָפַר ḳaphar only appears in the Piel stem: כִּפֶּר kipper. To understand the Piel we need to understand two things. First the verb is modified in the location of the Hiphil infix, and this gives a causitive sense to the verb. Second the second letter is doubled with a dagesh in this position, like the Niphal doubles the first root letter with a dagesh. We may therefore suspect that the emphaticness of the Piel stem is obtained by a passive infix. This combines with the causitive to form the syntax: make to be + verb. Thus, כִּפֶּר kipper means “make to be wiped (out/off)”; A Hiphil would simply be “make wiped”; with the passive infix Piel is “make to be wiped”; the extra “to be” is where the emphasis of the stem comes from. In English we might say, “Make the ship secure” and this would represent the Hiphil in Hebrew. But we might say “Make the ship TO BE secure.” This puts a strong emphasis into the utterance. It also evokes a stative nature to the result of the action.
I will remind scholars that biblical scholarship has been taken over by athiests, liberals, and heretical teachers who inhabit the universties and teach higher criticism. Their favorite word is “perhaps” and “maybe” since the worldly ethos driving their researches has always been to sow doubt about the Scripture. They are not scientific about what they do, but like the Big Bang, they have a tradition to maintain, and all the while they call it science. Rest assured that this scholar has done enough real science to know they are not doing it, or else they would have arrived at the truth long ago. As it is, this liberal system regularly sweeps up spiritually defeated Christians and Jews. There are many individuals who know better, but the system has corporate inertia that keeps them down. My hope is that Gŏd will someday allow us to close ranks and to defeat this theological monster. I know that outsiders to it will have to lead the way, that is those who do their own outside research without assuming any of the systems conclusions are right due to system authority.
16:8‡ ^ עֲזָאזֵל a̒za̓zēl. This compounded word should be separated into its parts, and the vowel points restored to their common Hebrew meaning: עֵז ē̒z and אֹזֵל ō̓zēl, from the verb root אָזַל a̓zal. The first word means “goat” and the second means “going away” or “departing” in the participle form I have supplied. The sense of the two words is “goat departing” or “goat going away.” The Strong’s numbers are 235 azal, and 5795 ez.
The word for goat is עֵז ē̒z, and is used in Gen. 15:9, and in 27:9, and Exodus 12:5. A number of passages show that the word is used for both male and female goats, and so I believe the word ought to be listed as noun m. and f., the gender depending on the context.
For the reason given above, then, the “goat going away” עֵז־אֹזֵל ē̒z-ō̓zēl is still a male goat.
These considerations cut the foundation out from under the popular theory that עֲזָאזֵל a̒za̓zēl is correct, and represents a dessert goat demon or prince of evil spirits. See note on vs. 10.
16:9¹ ^ = upon it.
16:10¹ ^ = on it.
16:10¹ ^ = make to be sent.
16:10² ^ or “for.” It is important here to not read the text as a destination, “to Azazel,” by which reading some suppose that the word must denote a demon and cannot mean the “goat going away.” The NIV, NASB, KJV, KJV 2000, Websters, WEB, YLT, LXX, read correctly. The NLT, ESV, HCSB, NET, GWT, Jubilee Bible 200, CJB, JPS, RSV and ASV read incorrectly.
16:10‡ ^ What we should picture here is that the transgressions are wiped out of the camp or cleared away from the sanctuary and the settlement of the people. They are taken outside the camp into the wilderness. To complete the Messianic typeology, the trangsgressions come to the mediator, the Almĭghty Sŏn, who was crucified outside the camp. This is a good reason why it is important not to follow the Azazel tradition. For the past transgressions of the faithful are not destined to end up laid on a demon, but they are laid on Messiah to be forgiven.
The ceremony is good for both the past and the future, as it looked forward to Messiah, so it will also look back to Messiah.
Messiah wipes out the transgressions in two senses, or even four. First he forgives, then he purges the faithful. Then he purges all the wicked from the land, and finally from the earth itself.
Benson’s Commentary is worth quoting: “For a scape-goat — This seems to be the most literal and obvious meaning of the original word אזאזל, Azazel, evidently derived from עז, ez, or gnez, a goat, and אזל, azel, to go away. In this sense the Seventy understand it, rendering the word αποπομπαιος, sent away; Aquila also, who translates it απολελυμενον, dismissed; and Symmachus, who renders it απερχομενον, going away. Nor does there appear to be any solid reason for thinking it was the name of a mountain, to which the goat was sent, much less that the angel of death, or the devil, was intended by the word, as some have said; for surely in that case it could be no type of Christ’s resurrection, as it is generally supposed to have been.”
For those insisting that the word is Azazel, and must denote a demon, or the devil, it must be noted that it is quite a coincidence then that the words actually do mean “goat going away” simply by supplying the right vowel points. It is also to be noted that considerable motive exists among the Jews to destroy Messianic Prophecy, and that at some date after the LXX and the crucifixion (it appearing that the word Azazel is commonly mistranslated from the DSS also), the demon-prince tradition was put upon the text.
Another tradition that has been foisted on the text is the teaching that the second goat was killed or thrown over a cliff to effect atonement. This, of course, serves only to undermine the symbolic nature of the transport of the transgressions, and drive us away from the fact that it was Messiah who shed is blood for our transgressions. It was not the goat. The goat only carries them away outside the camp to the mediator. The camp is wiped clean of the transgressions in a symbolic sense. What is really happening is that Gŏd is stating that he is putting the transgressions out of the way, and passing over them, until Messiah should come.
16:11† ^ In this case the “wiping” is a ritual cleansing.
16:12¹ ^ מִבֵּית לַפָּרֹכֶת mibbēit lapparōḳet = back house at/to the curtain.
16:13† ^ See note on Lev. 16:2.
16:14† ^ Once on the eastern edge. The priest stood facing west.
16:14‡ ^ Seven times on he ground in front of the ark.
16:15¹ ^ מִבֵּית לַפָּרֹכֶת mibbēit lapparōḳet = back/off/out house at/to the curtain.
16:16‡ ^ The objects of the wiping away are the holy place and tent of appointment. The items which contaminate it are also mentioned, 1. the physical uncleanness of Yisra’ēl, their transgressions, and all their sins. So it should be noticed that the penalty of sins are not here being forgiven, neither are the people being cleansed of these sins. The former must have waited for Messiah, and the later can only happen with repentence, and finally only through sanctification by Messiah.
16:17¹ ^ Less literally, “during.”
16:21¹ ^ The written text says “his hand”, but clearly it should be יָדָיו yadaiw, “his hands” since the text says “two.”
16:21° ^ לְ le or “
16:21² ^ = made to be sent, Piel.
16:21³ ^ or “timely”; a person who is ready and waiting to do the task without delay.
16:21ª ^ הַמִּדְבָּרָה hammidbarah. Directive heh. Or “into the wilderness.”
16:24‡ ^ This last sentence concludes the ceremony as a general summation. The ascending offerings are worship offerings to complete the service, and not meant to make wiping. The phrase “And he will have made to be wiping on behalf of himself and on behalf of the people,” therefore refers specifically to the other offerings.
16:25¹ ^ This is an unusual use of the directional heh, “altarward” or “into the altar” or “toward the altar.” It makes one suppose the smoke is coming from elsewhere toward the altar. But the usage is probably equivalent to a lemed, and simply means “at the altar.”
16:29† ^ עוֹלָם ō̒lam = to obscurity of time, to time immemorial.
16:29‡ ^ עָנָה a̒nah, or “humbled.” The traditional interpretation of this is fasting. It is referred to as “the fast” in Acts 27:9, τὴν νηστείαν. This is to humble the body, which is part of the soul. Also to be humbled and afflicted is the spirit and heart, by reflection on one’s course in life. For both heart and body are part of the soul.
16:29¹ ^ See Exodus 12 on calendar matters.
16:30‡ ^ כִּי ki̱ = because, for. Vs. 30 supplies the reason for the perpetual observance of the day. It will be seen that the reason for the day still exists, namely to be cleansed from all sin, and that therefore, it is still to be kept.
16:30† ^ It should be noted that in all that was described in the ceremonies of the day that this has not been mentioned yet. In no place, heretofore, has the wiping away been upon the people. Now the object of the cleansing is Gŏd’s people themselves. The key phrase is “to make you to be clean” לְטַהֵר אֶתְכֶם letahēr e̓tḳem. A synonym for כִּפֶּר kipper is used, “to make be clean,” (טָהַר, tahar = be clean) and the people placed as the direct object. Further, it is explained, “from all your sins.” This is not just certain ritual or defiling effects of their sins. It is indeed a statement that Gŏd’s people are to be rendered clean from all aspects of sin in themselves. It is clear from this, then, that a promise is being made for this day in the future, and not that it is a regular occurence on this day so far.
The words are a promise, that the final cleansing of sin, from the personal lives of the people of Yăhwēh, will be on this day. It will be on this day in some future year, when Messiah Yĕshūa̒ returns, and he will effect the cleansing. Certain other passages teach this, namely Dan. 12:10; 1Cor. 15:52; Mat. 24:30-31; 1Thess. 4:16; Dan. 12:1. Lev. 25:9-10; Dan. 9:24; Zech. 3:9.
The intrusion of a Messianic promise, or prophecy, in the midst of Scripture, is not unusual. It is a regular occurence, detected by the fact that a Messianic application makes obvious sense, and that a non Messianic attempt to interpret the passage makes nonsense.
If a person were once cleansed of all sin, then they should sin no more at all (except by a willful and deliberate act), because no causes of sin would remain. Therefore, none have yet been cleansed from all sin. The promise remains to be fufilled on some future obserance of this day.
The Passover teaches us about being forgiven the penalty of sin, so that we may be saved. And this is accomplished. Yōm Kippūri̱m is itself the final eschatological day for the wiping away of all sin. And this is not such cleanness that is only before men, but it is cleanness “before the face of Yăhwēh.” It is the cleanness of complete sanctification, the impartation of a sinless nature. And so, of course, it has not happened yet.
The reason given that we observe this day perpetually is “because on this day He will make to be a wiping upon you,” and note that the wiping away is applied to the persons, and not to the penalty. Via Messiah’s death, the wiping away is meant to apply to the penalty. The penalty is wiped away. That is the promise of Passover, that is already fulfilled. The promise of Yōm Kippūri̱m is that their remains a promise of cleansing on this day, which promise many have failed to enter into, because they believe themselves already fully cleansed from all sin, and therefore do not believe they should observe this day in expectation of complete righteousness, that is real.
And even after Yōm Kippūri̱m reaches its eschatological fulfillment, we should expect that it will be observed as a memorial of our final cleansing “before the face of Yăhwēh.” The Sabbath itself is observed as a memorial of creation in six days, and event far in the past. So it is reasonable that the 10th day of the seventh month should be observed even after its coming fulfillment.
Meanwhile it is written that “the blood of Yĕshūa̒, His Sŏn is cleansing us from all sin” (1John 1:7). This is written in he present tense by Yōḥanan (καθαρίζει). The cleansing is still going on, because he writes, “If we should say that we are having no sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” Therefore, it is plain that we are not cleansed yet from all sin. He also writes, “If we should confess our sins, he is faithful and just, so that he shall have forgiven our sins, and shall have cleansed us form all unrighteousness.” John is teaching the application of Messiah’s death and his resurrection life. The blood wipes away in two ways, 1. it wipes the penalty, and to it wipes the life clean. Forgiveness of sin is applied upon confession of sin. He who confesses not their sinfulness has no forgiveness. Cleansing of sin is applied subsequent to forgiveness. The blood is life, and the life is Messiah. Messiah’s raised life cleanses our souls from sin. The power of his resurrection will be fully applied on a coming Yōm Kippūri̱m.
Therefore, we must embrace this truth with trusting faithfulness.
16:31† ^ or “great rest.” שַׁבָּתוֹן shabbatōn. The suffix ־וֹן -ōn is an archaic Aramaic intensive ending multiplying the idea of rest.
16:32‡ ^ This is taking about the next priest, the sucessor to A̓harōn.
16:32¹ ^ = anoint him.
16:32† ^ “who will fill his hand.” This appears to be a Hebrew idiom similar to the English idiom, “who will fill his shoes.”
16:34† ^ The “atonement” (wiping away) is to remove impurity from the Sanctutary, concerning the sins of the people, and to remove impurities caused “from all their sins once in the year.” The impurities are not purged from the people, but from the Sanctuary each year. Their transgressions, which they have confessed, are carried outside of the camp to the wilderness. Ultimately these are forgiven by Messiah.
16:34‡ ^ מִכָּל־חַטֹּאתָם mikōl ḥattō’tam = from [the cause of] all their sins. In Hebrew one of the meanings expressed by מִן min is the cause or effect that proceeds from something. The cause or effect is viewed as coming from “out of” the sins. For this reason is is not necessary to interpret the text to mean removal of the sins themselves. Clearly, there are still sins of ignorance even among the faithful. In accord with context of cleansing the sanctuary, the meaning has to be the defiling effect of the sins on the sanctuary that is being wiped away each year, i.e. the wiping is “because of the sins.” See the Lexicons. The contamination of the sins is perceived as defiling the sanctuary, and therefore to “wipe away...from all their sins” in the ceremonies of the day, means to remove their sins, or that portion of them that defiled the sanctuary.
23:3¹ ^The word Shabbat means “rest,” or “cessation.” This fact is often lost on readers of English who are in the habit of regarding the word Sabbath as a technical word for the seventh day. Readers of Hebrew know that it is not a technical word for the seventh day, though it is most often used for the seventh day. This is because the root
23:3² ^The word for complete Sabbath-rest here is שַׁבָּתוֹן Shabbatōn. It is the ordinary word Shabbat-rest with a suffix on the end, וֹן ōn, which means “complete,” or “great.” The ending is an archaic Aramaic intensifier, also found in words like “Most High,” (עֶלְיוֹן, E‘lyōn) and the Philistine god, “Dagon,” (great fish). The ending heightens the word Shabbat, making it mean complete, thorough, great, or high. The sense varies with the context. In John 19:31, it is the origin of the concept of the “Great Shabbat,” which means an especially important or heightened Sabbath-rest. John’s adjective μεγάλη is explaining that that day was a שַׁבָּתוֹן Shabbatōn, i.e. a great Sabbath-rest. In that case, the intensifier refers to the heightened quality of the day as a feast day. In other cases, it refers to the heightened quality of the resting itself. When the weekly Sabbath is called a rest of Shabbatōn, the construct phrase is saying that the Sabbath is a complete-Sabbath rest.
23:3³ ^ It is for his benefit as much as ours. The Shabbat is a day to pay attention to the Creator, to worship him, pray to him, listen to him, and petition him (cf. Isa. 66:23). The Hebrew says “a Shabbat-rest to/for Yăhwēh” (שַׁבָּת הִוא לְיַהְוֶה). It is important to realize we are not just resting for ourselves or our families or for our livestock, or pets. We are resting for the Creator, which is to allow us to meditate on Him and his works and deliverances, and to return thanks and praise from them. Only who truly keeps Shabbat in spirit and truth, keeps it on the Seventh Day, and truly uses it for the purpose it was set apart for. This is the mark and sign of allegiance to the true Almĭghty, a sign between Yisra’ēl and Yăhwēh.
23:5‡ ^In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month between the settings, is the Passover for Yăhwēh. “Between the A‘rbayim” means between noon and sunset. There are two setting points of the sun. The first is when it begins to go down, which is at the noon point, and the second is when it sinks below the horizon. As usual, Murphy’s rule of heresy states: whenever redefinition of Gŏd’s word is possible, redefinition will be attempted. The Samaritan cult changed the definition of between the settings so that it means twilight or dusk. And Christian translators, having a proclivity to disagree with Jewish opinion on the matter, due to a legacy of antiSemitism, and due inability to sort Jewish tradition from biblical fact, due to their rejection of Torah, have followed suit by translating the phrase
The ESV translates, “In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month
The Scripture gives logical parallel texts that absolutely prove the definition means afternoon. We can show by astronomical illustration that the term E‘rev̱ means setting, i.e. afternoon. We can also show by mathematical contradiction in the alternative view that the two a‘rbayim mean two setting points at the start and end of the afternoon. First in Jer. 6:4 it states, “For the evening shadows lengthen!” (ESV). In Hebrew this appears as, “כִּ֥י יִנָּט֖וּ צִלְלֵי־עָֽרֶב׃”. Literally, the whole text goes, “Sanctify war against her. Arise! And let us go up at the midday. Woe to us, because the day has turned, because are stretching the shadows of setting.” The text is reporting the plan of the enemy, and the response of the people in the city being attacked. The attack is planned for noon. The people say woe because the shadows are growing longer and the time for the attack is at hand. There are three elements here that indicate the early afternoon. First the term “midday” (בַֽצָּהֳרָ֑יִם), and then the term in “the day has turned”: פָנָ֣ה, and third the shadows stretching out, which also does not happen after sunset, or even at sunset. The shadows cease stretching as soon as the bottom of the sun hits the horizon. The term A‘rev̱ (עָֽרֶב) is applied in the text to the same time as these three elements, 1. the midday, 2. the turn of the day, and 3. when shadows grow long. According to basic astronomy, the shadows grow long
Furthermore, according to Numbers 28:4 (which text see), the first lamb is offered at daybreak, and the second lamb between the settings (בֵּ֥ין הָֽעַרְבָּֽיִם). Now these two lambs are offered “two to the day, a continual ascending offering” (Num. 28:3, שְׁנַ֥יִם לַיּ֖וֹם עֹלָ֥ה תָמִֽיד). Now if the Passover lamb is offered at the same time as the second continual offering, then it has to be in the afternoon of the same day that the first offering was made at daybreak. But the twilight theory results in a contradiction. It claims that the second offering, made at twilight is the first offering of the day. Here are three theories, 1. the Scriptural in F--S (in black). 2. The Christian theory that the time means the start of the 14th (red), and 3. The Samaritan theory (blue).
Month: I AVIV, AD 34 4173 A.M. Sab. Cyc: 1. Jub. Cyc: 8 Cycle No: 85
Q1: 1.501 A Q2: -0.493 G LG: 102m W: 1.068' AL: 20.8 AV: 20.8
New Moon calculated for longitude: 35.17 and latitude 31.77
Location of calculations: Jerusalem Author: Daniel Gregg
Legend:
NM = ↑ New Moon
F = First offering
S = Second offering
▒▒▒▒▒ = nightime
~~~~~ = daytime
█████▀▀▀▀▀ = sabbath night + sabbath day
██╫██▀▀▀▀▀ = annual sabbath night + annual sabbath day
I II III IV V VI VII
~▒▒▒▒▒~~~~~▒▒▒▒▒~~~~~▒▒▒▒▒~~~~~▒▒▒▒▒~~~~~▒▒▒▒▒~~~~~▒▒▒▒▒~~~~~█████▀▀▀▀▀▒▒▒▒▒
↑ │♦ 1 │ 2 │ 3 │
AVIV/NISAN NM │New Moon │ │ │
│ DAY │ │ │
MAR 10 │ 3/11/34 │ │ │
~▒▒▒▒▒~~~~~▒▒▒▒▒~~~~~▒▒▒▒▒~~~~~▒▒▒▒▒~~~~~▒▒▒▒▒~~~~~▒▒▒▒▒~~~~~█████▀▀▀▀▀▒▒▒▒▒
│ 4 │ 5 │ 6 │ 7 │ 8 │ 9 │ 10 │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
~▒▒▒▒▒~~~~~▒▒▒▒▒~~~~~▒▒▒▒▒~~~~~▒▒▒▒▒~~~~~██╫██▀▀▀▀▀▒▒▒▒▒~~~~~█████▀▀▀▀▀▒▒▒▒▒
│ 11 │ 12 │ 13 │ 14♦ │ 15 │ 16 ▲ 17 │
│ │ │ │Passover │Passover │ Sheaf │ │
│ │ │F S │F S │F S │ │ │
│ │ │ F │S F 14 │S F 15 │ │ │
│ │ │ F 13 S│ F 14 S│ F 15 S│ │ │
~▒▒▒▒▒~~~~~▒▒▒▒▒~~~~~▒▒▒▒▒~~~~~██╫██▀▀▀▀▀▒▒▒▒▒~~~~~▒▒▒▒▒~~~~~█████▀▀▀▀▀▒▒▒▒▒
│ 18 │ 19 │ 20 │ 21 │ 22 │ 23 │ 24 │
│ │ │ │7thULB │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
~▒▒▒▒▒~~~~~▒▒▒▒▒~~~~~▒▒▒▒▒~~~~~▒▒▒▒▒~~~~~▒▒▒▒▒~~~~~▒▒▒▒▒
│ 25 │ 26 │ 27 │ 28 │ 29 │
│ │ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │
The twilight/dusk theory is marked in red, and the limits of the day, i.e. | | are marked from sunset to sunset. It may be observed that to keep the Passover offering at the beginning of the 14th day (according to sunset) requires the first and second offering to be out of order, i.e. Second to First.
I have shown the Samaritan view as the third option, in blue highlight. This theory makes the 14th day end at full dark, and puts the second offering at the end of the 14th day, and also the Passover offering. This view does not entail a contradiction with Numbers 28:3-4, but it does contradict Luke who tells us that prayer was offered at the hours of incense (Luke 1:10) and also that the 9th hour was one of the hours of prayer (Acts 10:3, 30). The incense was offered “between the settings” (Exodus 30:8). We see then that neither the view that Passover was offered at the beginning of the 14th at twilight, nor the view that it was offered at the end can be justified. We have also seen a clear alternative to the view that e‘rev̱ means “twilight” in Jeremiah. If the term means twilight somewhere else, then such a context, or elsewhere is not in respect to the phrase, “between the settings.”
Finally, in respect to Elijah and the Prophets of Baal, he built his altar at the time of the second offering of the day. 1Kings 18:29 reports that midday passed with no answer for the false prophets, and that they continued “until the ascending of the tribute offering.” Elijah repairs the altar of Yăhwēh, and then he prays, “at the ascending of the tribute offering,” and this is when fire comes down from heaven. After this, time remains in the day to 1. seize 400 prophets of Baal, 2. bring them down to Qi̱shōn, a descent of 1700 feet and travel of 2.25 miles ground length as the crow flies. 3. Slaughter them. 4. Return to the top of Mt. Carmel, a climb of 1700 feet and trek of 2.25 miles. 5. Pray, 6. Send his servant to look toward the west seven times, 7. See a cloud rising from the sea. All this activity took at least 2 hours, which exceeds the time from sunset to astronomical twilight. Therefore, it is impossible for the time of the tribute offering to have been after sunset (cf. 1Kings 18:36), which was supposed to be “between the settings.” For it would have been full dark by the time Elijah’s servant saw the cloud. Then there is time for the clouds to make the sky dark, and not nightfall. There is time for Ahab to ride his chariot to Jezreel, and for Elijah to outrun him, a distance of about 20 miles.
23:11¹ ^ מִמָּחֳרַת mimmaḥarat. This could also be rendered “in the tomorrow of” or “in the hereafter of.” The Hebrew word מִן min means “from, out of.” I have translated it “in” whereas others have put “on.” English can explain this Hebrew usage, “We will take time out of tomorrow to have tea.” This means the same as “take time in tomorrow to have tea.”
Translators are inconsistent in rendering the preposition מִן connected to “in the tomorrow of,” and this inconsistency is not justified by any contextual differences, because in vs. 11 they translate it “on” whereas in vs. 15, “from,” and in vs. 16 it is generally ignored, and not translated. It is plain to see that in vs. 15, “from the tomorrow of” is because the translators desired to accommodate counting seven Sabbaths, but they did not know how the Hebrew works. The Hebrew works, “in the tomorrow of...” meaning in the time after, or hereafter. With this understanding of the Hebrew, the inconsistent translations of the preposition are unnecessary.
23:11² ^Strictly speaking the word Shabbat שַׁבָּת means a “rest,” or a “cessation.” Here with the article, a definite rest is meant, “the rest/cessation” (הַשַּׁבָּת), but see below where it may be given a verbal sense also. That the word does not automatically mean cessation from all work on the seventh day is proved by the usage in Lev. 23:32, Lev. 25:2, 4, 6, 8, and Exodus 12:15 (Sabbathing from leaven starting on the first day of the feast). In Lev. 25:6 the phrase שַׁבַּת הָאָרֶץ, “the Shabbat of the land,” shows a definite usage of Shabbat that is not the weekly Shabbat. The word Shabbat is definite in Lev. 25:6 because the rule is that the head noun of a construct phrase is definite if its following noun is definite. This understanding is shown in the LXX which translates the phrase, “τὰ σάββατα τῆς γῆς” (LXX:
Implicit in the context here is the thought, “In¹ the day after the
It should be noted that it is possible that a definite article and participle combination was first meaning in Lev. 23:11, “in the tomorrow of the ceasing,” reading the text הַשֹׁבֵת, which may also be spelled הַשׁוֹבֵת. This then would suggest a connection to Exodus 12:15, “‘Seven days you will eat unleavened bread, but on the day previous† you shall make Sabbath leavening from your houses.‡ For if anyone is eating leavened bread, then that soul will have been cut off from Yisra’ēl, from the first day until the seventh day.’ ” The first day of
But such participles often turn into nouns, and by the time of the Apostolic Writings, this is clearly the case, because the first day of the feast is called “the Sabbath” in John 19:31 (2x), and Mark 15:42, 16:1; and Luke 23:56, and implicitly so in Matthew 28:1. If the text is read “in the tomorrow of the ceasing” then it may be immediately connected with Exodus 12:15, and the sabbathing mentioned be regarded as the beginning day for ceasing from unleavened bread.
The Evangelists, however, make it clear by their equation of the feast day with “the Sabbath” on Thursday in AD 34, and the following resurrection day as the “first of the Sabbaths” that they fully understood Lev. 23:11 to refer to the annual Sabbath.
There is one other possible sense for Lev. 23:11 and that is that the term השׁבת is related to the Akkadian word šabattu used for the 15th day of the month. Akkadian was the international trade language between Egypt and early Babylonia. It is possible that such a usage made its way into the early Canaanite Hebrew lexicon for Nisan 15 from a broader Mesopotamian usage for the 15th of every month in a somewhat secularized use. Lev. 23:11, and 15 could preserve a survival of this usage, or to put it another way, there is an ancient near eastern context by which readers of Scripture at the time of Mōshēh would understand that the 15th of the month was being referenced. This usage may have been current among the Asiatic Hyksos in Egypt, and have been in the vocabulary of the Patriarchs also. If so, the Scriptural context picks up on the secular usage, and then redefines it in the Biblical context. Similar terms exist in other languages, such as the Ides of a month, which was the middle of it. A feature of the Akkadian is that the word used for the middle of the month mean “ceasing” or “stopping.” HALOT notes the etymological connection between the Akkadian and the Hebrew, and while denying a functional equivalents to Sabbath on the 7th day, it must be noted that the context of the ancient secular usage could well be picked up in the case of Nisan 15 due to the ceasing from regular work, ceasing from leaven, and ceasing from slavery on that day, and thereby adapted to the Biblical use.
As this ancient secular context faded away through the sojourn in the wilderness, the explanation is given in Joshua 5:11 that it is equivalent to “in the tomorrow of the Passover,” the very first time Yisra’ēl carried out the commandment in Lev. 23:11 as this was when they first entered the land, because Yisra’ēl understood there were two passover offerings, one on Nisan 14 for the Passover in Egypt, and a second one on Nisan 15 as a memorial of the Exodus in the afternoon of the first day of unleavened bread, which was eaten in the night following before daybreak. Nisan 16, then is the tomorrow of the Passover. At that time, there was no usage of the term Passover for the whole seven days of unleavened bread. The term was confined to the first two days, Nisan 14 and Nisan 15. It is readily understood that Nisan 16 is the morrow of the Passover. Joshua 5:11 functions as a clarification of the meaning of “in the tomorrow of the Sabbath-rest,” but substitution of the word Passover into the phrase. The Karaites should be at a loss to explain why Joshua 5:11 does not simply say, “in the tomorrow of the Sabbath.” But they speculate that Nisan 15 just happened to fall onto the weekly Sabbath that year, and that Nisan 16 was a Sunday. But this was not the case in 1592 BC. Nisan 15 fell onto a Monday, two days later. Also contradicting the Karaite speculation is the notation that the manna ceased on Nisan 16. If Nisan 16 was on Sunday, then the manna would have ceased on Nisan 15 on the weekly Sabbath, and simply would not have renewed on Nisan 16. A notation that manna ceases on a day implies that it was available the day before.
23:11‡ ^In¹ the day after the resting the priest shall make it waved.‡ The dispute over the date of Shav̱ū‘ōt (Pentecost) goes back more than 2000 years, and is apparent even today in the divisions among Messianic Jewish, non-Jewish Torah observant groups, and individual teachers in the Messianic Faith. This sad state of affairs comes from the loss of proper Biblical Chronology and unsuccessful or incomplete attempts to reconstruct it after the devastation caused by the Church of Rome, and the Gnostic heresy. Most new teachers coming into the Messianic Faith are quite unaware of the murky waters they are treading as they seek to try to recover the lost facts from the Roman and Gnostic legacies they learned in the Church. It takes a heavy dose of humility among teachers to learn to unwind the false teachings of the past, as well as praying and following the lead of the Holy Spĭrit.
Most of the erring teachers still believe that the Evangelists said the women visted the tomb on the “first day of the week.” This false translation was perpetrated by ecclesiastical non-Jews at the time of the Reformation to rid the Church of the Sabbath, and especially any connection between the Sabbath and the resurrection day. Before that time the bishops interpreted “first of the Sabbaths” to mean Sunday, but many of the people continued to believe the resurrection was on the Sabbath. Now we can show by the fact that these traditions contradict themselves that the resurrection was on the first of the Sabbaths after Passover. Accordingly, Lev. 23:11 refers to the Annual Sabbath, and not the weekly Sabbath.
Today there is a division between those in the Messianic Faith who teach that Pentecost (Shav̱ū‘ōt) is always on a Sunday, and counted from a Sunday, and those who agree with the Rabbis and Scripture that it is counted from the day after Passover, and accordingly is not always on a Sunday. It is not that the Rabbis are always correct, but that in this case they are correct, and certainly the Pharisees in the first century had the badge of correctness (cf. Mat. 23:1-3).
The majority of the Jews (knowing Hebrew and the context of Torah), following the Rabbis and Pharisees, as well as Philo, Josephus, and the Targums, and a significant number of Christian commentators conclude that the
The first century Jewish historian, Josephus, the Jewish philosopher Philo of Alexandria, the Jewish Apostle John (John 19:31), and the Jewish proselyte Luke (Luke 6:1), the Jewish Targums, and the LXX (Septuagint) regard the first day of unleavened bread as the first Shabbat of the feast, and teach counting is to begin after it on the second day of the feast. Also, in agreement, all of the evangelists and Paul regard the following Sabbath as the first of the seven Shabbatot (Sabbaths) counted after the first annual Sabbath (Lev. 23:15; Mat. 28:1; Mark 16:2; Luke 24:1; John 20:1, 19; Acts 20:7; 1Cor. 16:2). The Karaite view, on the other hand, opposing the above facts, almost always skips counting the first Sabbath after Passover in the seven Sabbaths because their interpretation of Lev. 23:11, 16 prevents them from acknowledging it. In particular, those of the Messianic Faith following the Karaite view are unable to acknowledge that the weekly Sabbath after the crucifixion is the “first of the Sabbaths” as recorded in all four gospels.
The Roman Catholic Church makes the argument that the resurrection was on Sunday, and therefore, Sunday is to be the first day for counting the days to Pentecost, even if formerly it was counted differently. The Sadducean heresy against the resurrection also laid the seeds of the Sunday heresy, when the Church found it convenient to adopt their sectarian views on the reckoning of Pentecost. Origin of Alexandria makes the familiar gnostic argument of the eighth day for Sunday, “that the number 50 is sacred, is manifest from the days of the celebrated festival of Pentecost...The number 50 moreover contains seven Sabbaths, a Sabbath of Sabbaths and also above these full Sabbaths a new beginning in the eighth, of a really new rest that remains above the Sabbath” (
The Church Fathers were often of two minds on this. When explaining Luke 6:1 or the practice before the resurrection, they disagreed with the Karaite interpretations. But this did not bother them, because they regarded the cross as a dispensational shift. They were just fine with Pentecost being celebrated one way before the resurrection, and then being changed to suit their chronology afterwards. This is because they supported the gnostic theology of transference from Sabbath to Sunday. So accordingly, what they think the Torah taught about Pentecost can only be ascertained when they are describing the situation before the resurrection in the general sense and not just a specific example, since in any specific example they may believe that Pentecost just
A fair number of conservative commentators after the time of the reformation returned to the view that the counting began after the annual Sabbath. I will now explain this passage and the following.
הַשַּׁבָּת hashabbat = the rest. The text is refering to the rest from “any work of labor” in vs. 7 on the first day of unleavened bread. It will be noted that the annual holy days are also called by the term “rest,” i.e. Yōm Terūa̒h, “complete rest” (23:24); Yōm Kippūri̱m, “A rest of complete rest” and “your rest” (23:32); The first day of Sūkkōt, “complete rest” (23:39), and the eighth day (23:39). Only Shavū̒ōt and the last day of Passover are omitted. However, the specification, “You may not do any work of labor” is given for these days also (23:21, 23:8).
I translate “rest” or “Shabbat-rest” because this is what the Hebrew word Shabbat means. It means a cessation or rest from labor or abstinence from something. Only by insisting that annual feast days are never called Shabbat can the followers of the Karaite tradition justify their insistence that the counting must begin after the regular weekly Shabbat. This position is refuted by Apostolic texts which refer to the annual Sabbath (John 19:31; Mark 16:1; Luke 23:56; Mark 15:42; Mat 28:1a). When these texts say “the Sabbath” they are each speaking of the annual Sabbath in the context of the proper chronology of the three days and three nights, and the “first of the Sabbaths” (Mat. 28:1a, 1b; Mark 16:2; John 20:1, 19; Luke 24:1). If anyone does not understand that the resurrection was on the Sabbath instead of Sunday, then he or she will not be able to understand the faulty argument based on the Karaite observance. A good understanding of the resurrection chronology is a prerequisite to understanding the solution to the Shav̱ū‘ōt controversy.
In Joshua 5:11, the day of the waving is explained as “in the day after the passover”: Jos. 5:10-12, “10 Then the sons of Yisra’ēl encamped in Gilgal. Then they did the passover on the fourteenth day of the month at the setting in the plain of Yeri̱ḥō. Then they ate from the produce of the land in the day after the passover, unleavened bread, and roasted grain, in that same day. Therefore, the mǎna rested in the day after, in their eating from the produce of the land, and there had been no more mǎna for the sons of Yisra’ēl. Therefore, they ate from the fruit of the production of the land of Cena‘an in that year.”
The 15th of Aviv was the day of the second Passover offering, memorializing the Exodus. The first passover offering was on the 14th, instituted in Egypt. The second offering was instituted for the memorial of the Exodus after the Exodus. So Joshua is pointing to the day after the 15th. The 15th is “the Shabbat-rest” mentioned in Lev. 23:11. The 16th is when they waved the sheaf, and ate the new grain.
The Karaites claim that Joshua’s passover, the 15th of the month, fell onto the weekly Sabbath that year. If this is so, then the manna ceased on the Sabbath, and not on the day after the Sabbath as claimed in Josh. 5:12.
In the Scroll of Biblical Chronology, I actually calculate these dates. The result is not what the Karaites wish for.
Shavū̒ōt in the year of the Exodus fell on the weekly Sabbath, and not Sunday. This is proved in Exodus 24:15-16. There were six working days after Shavū̒ōt, and then the seventh day.
The resurrection of Messiah was on the first Sabbath after Passover in AD 34. If the counting to Shavū̒ōt had started on a Sunday that year, then Messiah could not have been raised on the “first of the Sabbaths” as all texts agree.
Therefore, “the Shabbat-rest” in Lev. 23:11 is the same as the first day of unleavened bread, a fact also confirmed by John 19:31 which calls the day a high Sabbath, and generally the Rabbis who refer “the Sabbath” named there to the first day of the feast, and not to the weekly Sabbath.
Here is an interlinear of the passage:
Legend: cdf = context definite article rule
וְהֵנִיף And he will have made waved waw+future perfect-hiphil 3rd mas. sing.
אֵת → definite direct object marker
הָעֹמֶר the sheaf article + noun masculine
לִפנֵי at the face of prep + cdf + noun mas. plural + construct
יַהוֶה Yăhwēh proper noun
לִרצֹנכֶם for the acceptance of ye prep. + cdf + noun construct + 2nd-plural
מִמָּחֳרַת out-of the tomorrow of prep + cdf + noun fem. construct
or in the time-after of possible lexical range
or in the hereafter of possible lexical range
or in the day after of Etymology #1, יום אחר
or in the being made after of Etymology #2, Pual מאחר
הַשּׁבָּת the cessation article + noun fem.
or
הַשֹׁבֵת or the ceasing article + participle
יְנִיפֶנּוּ he shall make waved it imperfect hiphil 3rd mas. sing.
suffix: 3rd mas. sing with energic nun
הַכֹּהֵן the priest article + noun mas. sing.
notes: For “out of the tomorrow” compare “take time out of tomorrow” which is
the same as “in the tomorrow.” The preposition never means “from” as an
extensive use (after tomorrow) with this word, i.e. the context of machar
limits the preposition to time in the tomorrow.
cdf context definite article. When there is a construct phrase and
the second noun is definite, then the head noun is definite.
The cessation may be explained as the cessation from leaven for seven days (cf. Exodus 12:15, and Lev. 23:6-8). Lev. 23:6-8 describes the cessation in the context immediately preceding the use of the definite article. The command in vs. 9-11 is for when they enter into the land. This was accomplished in Joshua 5:11, where “in the tomorrow of the ceasing” is further explained as “in the tomorrow of the Passover.” Passover never originally referred to the whole feast, but only to the offering on the afternoon of the 14th, and the second memorial offering on the afternoon of the 15th. In Joshua 5:11 it means the second Passover offering. So in the tomorrow of it means the 16th of Nisan. This is combined with the precept that the first fruits offering should not be delayed (cf. Exodus 22:29), so that “in the tomorrow” must be taken at the earliest possible opportunity.
The Karaite view violates the commandment not to delay the offering of first fruits since it waits till after the weekly Sabbath in the new year to begin counting. The correct view is that it is immediately after the annual Sabbath, which prevents the delay.
Part of examining context is to check out the consequences of deciding that “Sabbath” can only mean the weekly Sabbath, even though there are counter examples where it does not. The definite article only makes the cessation a definite cessation. Annual cessations, such as that from regular work (Lev. 23:7-8) are just as capable of being made definite as the weekly cessation. There is nothing special in the Hebrew article that says it must mean a definite seventh day cessation as opposed to a definite annual cessation. To presume that is to add to the article a meaning that it does not have, and we should never insist on adding meaning that a word does not have. That would be adding to Scripture. Only the context can tell. So if the context does not say “seventh day” then it is possible that it means an annual Sabbath, and we need another context clue to sort out the difference.
If Lev. 23:11 means the weekly Sabbath then, 1. In the 6 out of 7 years that Nisan 15 does not land on the weekly Sabbath, which is most of the time, the counting begins after the following weekly Sabbath, and that following weekly Sabbath cannot be the “first of the Sabbaths” (cf. Lev. 23:15). The consequence is that the “first of the Sabbaths” ends up being two weekly Sabbaths after Passover. 2. In the four Evangelists the resurrection day is the “first of the Sabbaths,” and in that year Nisan 15 did not land on the weekly Sabbath. This is prevented by Matthew 12:40 and Matthew 28:1, both which require the crucifixion on a Wednesday. And Nisan 14 did come on a Wednesday in AD 34 according to Daniel 9. If this point is rejected, then one is compelled to reinterpret “first of the Sabbaths” as “first day of the week,”, and then reinterpret Matthew 28:1a “The late one of the Sabbaths,” as “after the Sabbath.” This then requires Luke 24:21 to be on a Sunday which contradicts the astronomy of AD 34 which says Nisan 14 was on a Wednesday, since a shift to Nisan 14 on a Thursday would be necessary to explain Luke 24:21. But this still means that Friday would have to be Nisan 15, and therefore John 19:31 would have to refer to the annual Sabbath. In order to maintain that “the Sabbath” can only mean the weekly Sabbath then, the authority of John must be rejected. The only way to retain John and the Sunday Pentecost then, is to accept the Friday crucifixion and Sunday resurrection, and to reject “three days and three nights.” In order to get that far the primary and literal meanings of the word “Sabbaths” in the Evangelists have to be rejected. Is it really worth it to reject these literal senses in order to maintain belief that Sabbath cannot mean an annual feast day?
1. Mat. 28:1a LATE 2. Mat. 28:1a Sabbaths (plural) 3. Mat. 28:1b Sabbaths (plural) 4. Mark 15:42 Sabbath (referring to the annual day due to Mat. 12:40) 5. Mark 16:1 Sabbath (referring to the annual day due to Mat. 12:40) 6. Mark 16:2 Sabbaths (plural) 7. Mat. 12:40 "three nights" means three nights. 8. Luke 23:56 The μεν...δε grammatical construction 9. Luke 24:1 Sabbaths (plural) 10. Luke 24:21 The third day just passed from the crucifixion 11. John 19:31 The Sabbath referring to the annual day due to Mat. 12:40 12. John 20:1 Sabbaths (plural) 13. John 20:19 Sabbaths (plural) 14. Acts 20:7 Sabbaths (plural) 15. 1Cor 16:2 Sabbaths (plural) 16. Rejection of a day starting at dawn 17. Rejection that sacrificial offerings are timed dawn to dawn.
I could go on and one here. Every wrong chronological decision generates a consequence when it is used as the basis for further chronological speculation. It is the butterfly effect. In order to defend a wrong decision, other things have to be moved out of place in order to justify it. Rarely does a person check and see what else has been moved out of place. But as we see, a host of literal interpretations have been rejected for questionable and speculative secondary interpretations in the list above just to maintain what they think is a literal interpretation of one text! This is not an honest assessment. Even if we think that one or two statements might support another view, we are bound to go by the preponderance of the evidence.
23:15† ^ or “in the tomorrow of”; see vs. 11 on “in.” Hebrew uses the word מָחָר maḥar to mean “in the time after” in an indefinite sense. That is the necessary sense here as seven Sabbaths may not be counted in a literal one day in the tomorrow of the annual Sabbath. Translators have illegitimately put “from the day after”, but as explained on vs. 11, the preposition is not time extended “from”; it is time taken “out of” “the tomorrow of.”
23:15‡ ^And you will have counted to yourselves in the day after† the rest, from the day of your making come the sheaf of the wave offering, there will be seven weekly Shabbats,‡ תְּמִימֹת temi̱mōt = completing. This phrase is a hapax phrase, occurring nowhere else, so we may inquire just what the adjective is being used for. I derive the adjective from the Hiphil participle of תָמַם, i.e. מַתְמִימוֹת, such that it expresses a verbal idea, “making completed.” In the formation of the adjective, the prefix מ has been dropped, and the spelling of the last vowel made defective.
The adjective tells us what these Sabbaths do: they complete. They complete a series of seven days. The English equivalent to this is to say “weekly Sabbaths.” So what the text is doing is telling us to count weekly Sabbaths, skipping the annual Sabbath on the 7th day of unleavened bread. תְּמִימֹת temi̱mōt has the same function as the English word “weekly.” The annual Sabbaths are not the weekly type.
The text is saying that seven weekly Sabbaths are to be counted starting the day after the annual rest day. The first day of unleavened bread is the annual Sabbath. Counting begins after it for the 50 days. When the first Sabbath comes along in the 50 days, it is called “the first of the Sabbaths” (cf. Mat. 28:1; Mark 16:2; Luke 24:1; John 20:1, 19; Acts 20:7; 1Cor. 16:2). After the seventh Sabbath is counted, the remainder of the 50 days are counted to the fiftieth day (cf. vs. 16).
And you will have counted to yourselves in the day after† the rest, from the day of your making come the sheaf of the wave offering, there will be seven weekly Shabbats. Here I will explain the practical rules for counting. Firstly, there is a separate command in Deut. 16:9 to count “seven weeks.” These weeks are cycles of seven days. So on the 16th of Nisan we begin this count with 1st day of the first week. In seven days one reaches, the 7th day of the first week, and then on the day after the first day of the second week, and so on, and then the 7th day of the 7th week, and then the 50th day. Now Lev. 23:16 mentions the fiftieth day. From this we derive the commandment to count all 50 days. However, if one wants to be a super minimalist, only the 50th day needs be counted after the seven weeks. Also for a super-minimalist only the weeks need be counted. Seven days of each each strictly speaking need not be counted. However, for practical reasons it is necessary to count seven days to each week, and keep a continuous count increasing to 50 days. This is all the Rabbinc Jews do, since they neglect the present verse (Lev. 23:15) teaching to count seven weekly Sabbaths also.
The weekly Sabbaths are counted this way: Starting on Nisan 16, if the day is a weekly Sabbath, then it is counted, “first of the Sabbaths,” but if it is not, then whenever the weekly Sabbath arrives after Nisan 16, then it is counted “first of the Sabbaths.” And whenever each following weekly Sabbath arrives, we increase the count by one, e.g. “second of the Sabbaths,” and so on down to the “seventh of the Sabbaths.”
Now here is where things get tricky. And that is when one tries to combine all the separate commandments of counting. One will find, usually, that when reaching the seventh Sabbath, that there are some days still to go to reach the 50th day, and also that the seventh week has not been completed. This is why it is important to realize that vs. 16 says, “until in the time after the seventh Sabbath counting a fiftieth day.” The phrase is a Hebraism using the word “day” to mean time after, just as in vs. 15, “in the time after the Sabbath” means that the seven Sabbaths are not just counted on one literal day, but in the period after the annual Sabbath (starting with Nisan 16). Therefore, the time after the seventh Sabbath is used to complete the counting of the 50th day, and also the seventh week.
One last point. In English we usually think of a “week” as seven days from Sunday to Saturday, but English also has the use of “week” as in “I will see you a week from tomorrow,” which does not mean a regular week, but an irregular week. Hebrew does this also. Shav̱ū‘ōt means “being seven,” i.e. a period being of seven days. And this seven-ness is explicit in the Hebrew, but the English word “week” has no obvious etymology to the number “seven.” We just understand it to mean seven days. So the seven weeks counted after Passover are irregular weeks. It is the counting of Sabbaths in this period that are regular weekly Sabbaths also.
In practice, many people have to be shown by example how to combine the counting elements. However, if one pays attention to the commands separately, it is not hard. On the day after the Sabbath-rest for Passover (Nisan 15) is Nisan 16. 1. Count seven weeks of days seven times. 2. Count all the weekly Sabbaths up to Seven. 3. Count 50 days.
23:16‡ ^ or “in the tomorrow of”; as in vs. 15, the sense is “in the time after” or “in the hereafter of.” The limit of how far is determined by the 50th day.
23:16† ^Until in the day (time) after‡ the seventh Shabbat you will number a fiftieth† day. חֲמִשִּׁים ḥamishi̱m; Not “fifty days”, but “fiftieth” as in Lev. 25:11 or 1Kings 15:23. The bulk of the 50 days have been counted before the seventh Sabbath, and therefore only up to the 50th day needs be counted after it.
The Karaites argue that “in the tomorrow of” only means Sunday after the seventh weekly Sabbath, and have offered this verse as a proof of their false doctrine. Their proof crumbles as soon as we realize that “in the tomorrow of” is a Hebrew idiom meaning “in the time to come of” or “in the hereafter of,” as the word מָחָר maḥar is often used. See Gen. 30:33; Jos. 22:24, 27, 28. And this sense is used in the verse immediately preceding vs. 16. The seven Sabbaths cannot be counted on the very day following the Sabbath of Lev. 23:11. They are counted in the period after it. Likewise the 50th day is counted by counting the remaining days of the 50 left over after the seventh Sabbath. The translators forced the word
For the reason stated above, the argument for Pentecost (Shav̱ū‘ōt) perpetually on a Sunday, and the offering of first-fruits perpetually on a Sunday, is not logically compelling. The facts in the
23:17¹ ^ לֶחֶם leḥem = bread, singular.
23:18¹ ^ לֶחֶם leḥem = bread, singular.
23:20¹ ^ לֶחֶם leḥem = bread, singular.
23:21† ^ מִקְרָא־קֹדֶשׁ miqra̓ qōdesh. Or “a holy meeting,” “a set apart meeting.” To make something holy, it must be made special. The word convocation is based on the verb “call,” קָרָא qara̓ the idea of a meeting with others is conveyed by “to call upon them,” as in “I am going next door to call on my neighbor.” Convocation comes from Latin
23:23¹ ^ made to be spoke.
23:24‡ ^ שַׁבָּתוֹן shabbatōn. This is the word for Sabbath, שַׁבָּת, modified by an intensive Aramaic plural. ־וֹן -ōn. It can justly be translated “Great Sabbath” or “complete rest.” The difference between this word alone, and its compounding with the word Sabbath, is “A rest of great rest,” vs. “A great rest.” Only the seven feast days are generally called by the term shabbatōn standing by itself, being not compounded with the word for Sabbath. This usage, I propose, is the origin of the term “Great Sabbath,” which as noted in John 19:31 (ἦν γὰρ μεγάλη ἡ ἡμέρα ἐκείνου τοῦ σαββάτου), was an annual Sabbath. In Exodus 16:23 we have “a complete rest of holy rest” which could also be “a great rest of holy rest.” This usage is exceptional in that I believe it the equivalent of the reverse: שַׁבַּת שַׁבָּתוֹן shabbat shabbatōn. I take the head noun in both cases as a construct. BDB suggests that the words were transposed in Ex. 16:23. I do not think this has any merit so long as the word shabbatōn may be regarded as construct in said case. The Aramaic plural shows up in terms like, אֵל עֶלְיוֹן ē̓l e̒lyōn = Gŏd, Most High, and דָגוֹן dagōn = great fish, high fish. This was the name of the Philstine god, “the exalted fish.” The term shabbatōn, therefore, means a “High Sabbath”, “for that Sabbath was a high day” (ESV, John 19:31). On the other hand, when the term is used in the compound phrase, it simply means “great rest” or “complete rest” since the separate word Sabbath designates the day, and the extra phrase then only denotes the quality of the rest.
23:26¹ ^ made be spoken.
23:27† ^ הַכִּפֻּרִים ha kippūri̱m = the wipings away, the wipings off. The resultant idea is “to cleanse.” The noun is plural refering to more than one wiping away. The day is for wiping away ritual uncleanness from the house of the high priest, from the Sanctuary, the ark, and the altar of the ascending offerings. Also wiped away, are the transgressions of the people, which are carried outside the camp by the second billy goat. The ceremony does not say what happens to the transgressions after that. The assurance is merely that Gŏd takes care of them for those who are repentant. In the Messinic Age, we understand these were laid on Messiah to pay the penalty for them, and that on some future yōm kippūri̱m, Messiah will cleanse all the sins of his people. For this reason it is important to draw a distinction between forgiveness of the penalty of sin, and the final cleansing from all sin, which makes the faithful perfect, and without sin.
Probably the greatest lingustic and theological mistakes of all time was the notion that כִּפֶּר kippūr means “to cover,” deriving the sense from a superficially similar Arabic root. This sense is found in the older BDB Lexcion, but modern researches have connected the root with an Akkadian root meaning “wipe away,” which makes sense of the word in numerous contexts.
The word “cover” is heavily promoted by theologians wishing to deny the “atoning” effectiveness of the Levitical ceremonies. By this artifice they seek to say that the offerings only covered sin, but did not remove it, so that they could claim that Messiah only removed it.
This position is fraught with half truths and an abysmal ignorance of the Torah, brought about rejection of the Torah, and the ill theology has even affected scholars who have returned to Torah in the main, but can’t shake the legacy of anti-levitical theology.
The real solution is much more elegant, and preserves both the Levitical service, and Messiah’s work. Firstly, the penalty for personal sins of ignorance was wiped out, and the sin forgiven (cf. Lev. 4-6). Secondly, in no place in the Torah are the penalties of the serious sins called iniquity and transgression wiped out. These sins were only wiped away from the camp of the people, but no mention is made of their penalty being paid for. For that is indeed what Messiah does. He pays the penalty of these sins. Thirdly, the final wiping out of sin comes only at the end of this age, when Messiah removes all sinfulness from his people. The word “atonement” does mean “wipe away,” but in every context it must be determined what is being wiped away, 1. a penalty for a sin of ignorance, 2. a ritual impurity, 3. or the sinfulness of a person. We we see that the levical ceremonies were completely effective for lesser sins and ritual impurity, and that it made no claims against Messiah, who wipes away both the penalty of transgression, and ultimately all the imperfections of sin in a person on the final day.
23:29¹ ^ be making [itself] to be afflicted
23:33¹ ^ made to be spoken.
23:34‡ ^ סֻכּוֹת sūkkōt. Or “booths”; a temporary hut or structure, which certainly includes a tent (cf. Lev. 23:43; 2Sam. 11:11; 1Kings 20:12, 16). The phrase “tent of David” (Isa. 16:5) אֹהֶל דָּוִד is used parallel to אֶת־סֻכַּת דָּוִיד (Amos 9:11), “the booth of David.” However, see vs. 40 and Neh. 8:15, where it is implied that the branches were made into booths. Therefore, every סֻכָּה sūkkah should include branches and leaves.
23:40‡ ^ It does not say here that the greenery is to be put into the booth, but the ruling in Neh. 8:15 says that it is, “And which they will make heard. Therefore, they will make pass through a voice in all their towns, and in Yerūshalayim, saying ‘Go out to the hill country, and bring leaves of the olive, and leaves of the wild olive, and leaves of the myrtle, and leaves of the palm, and leaves of the leafy tree to make booths as being written.’”
23:40¹ ^ The assonance is an accident of English. כַּפֹּת תְּמָרִים kafōt temari̱m = palms of palm trees.
23:42† ^ בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל be-yisra’ēl. The usual meaning of this term is in the land itself. The first use of the phrase is in Gen. 34:7.
23:42‡ ^ כָּל־הָאֶזְרָח kōl-ha-e̓zraḥ = all the native. This exempts the sojourner from dwelling in booths (cf. Ex. 12:49). The one law principle applies by default unless an exception is made or the law is applied only to a specific class in Yisra’ēl. The native is someone who was born within the boundaries of Yisra’ēl, or who has stayed long enough to have children. The term אֶזְרָח is masculine in gender. It may be concluded from this, and from the law that only males had to make the pilgrimage, that this was only required of native born males who are able to make the journey on foot, “Three journeyings on foot you will feast to Me in the year” (Exodus 23:14). Also, “Three occurences in the year all your males will be seen at the face of the Lŏrd Yăhwēh” (Exodus 23:17). It will be noted that Samuel did not come up to the feasts when he was a small child (1Sam. 1:22). The Targum of Jonathan notes an exception for small boys needing their mothers. The Mishnah notes an exemption for women.
When does a recent immigrant or non-native become a native? “And it will have been, you shall make fall it (the land) in the inheritance to yourselves, and to the sojourner sojourning in the midst of you, who has caused to be born sons in your midst. And they will have been as the native among the sons of Yisra’ēl. With you they will fall in the inheritance in the midst of the tribes of Yisra’ēl” (Ezek. 47:22). This also means that a sojourner who immigrates with a son or daughter, who then bears a son (or daughter) in the land, that he is qualified to receive an inheritance of land. And there may be no tax on the land itself, except the tithe of produce and animals. The land remains the heir’s in perpetuity.
On the other hand, the non Jew, who is convert to Messiah, and has been incorporated into the commonwealth of Yisra’ēl during the exile of the house of Yisra’ēl (the house of Yōsēf), then his status is immediately that of a native upon return of the 10 tribes to Yisra’ēl. Also, any of the sons of Yisra’ēl who lived in the land, or who can prove their ancestors lived in the land, who are exiled from the land, upon return to the land are regarded as native. The Rabbis have ruled similarly for the tribe of Yehūdah. A Jew in exile, who returns, has the immediate status of a native. Someone who becomes a Jew in exile has the status of a native upon return to the land.
If a non Jew converts to Messiah after the exile of the house of Yisra’ēl ends, and sometime after the end of the exile comes to the land, then the ruling of Ezek. 47:22 applies. He has to beget children or grandchildren in the land to be regarded as native with respect to the feast of booths and the division of the inheritance. Otherwise, there is one law for the native and the sojourner.
23:43† ^ This fairly proves that a tent qualifies as a booth.
23:44† ^ מֹעֲדֵי יַהוֶה mō‘adēi Yăhwēh. This may also be translated “appointments of Yăhwēh.”
25:3† ^ production or income. Also that which derives from harvesting, revenue.
25:3¹ ^ The pronoun is feminine and refers to “the land.”
25:1¹ ^Israel entered into the land when they crossed the Jordan river. So this is when the Sabbatical cycles begin in the land, but the first year of the cycle did not begin until Tishri 1 in the fall after they entered, which means counting from creation, the spring they entered was the 7th year. It uses the perfect tense in Hebrew: וְשָׁבְתָה in Lev. 25:2, “then the land will have been resting.” It says this because the 7th year began in Tishri of year 40 after the Exodus, and ended six months after they entered the land. When Israel came into the land in the spring they did not plant crops nor did they harvest them to sell in a market. There was no market. They foraged off of the crops that the Canaanites had sown the previous fall. They ate the produce of the land. Naturally the Canaanites had planted those crops in disregard for the seventh year from creation. Since the land was on a 7th year when they entered, the first year of the cycles began in the fall.
25:5† ^ נָזִיר nazi̱r = something devoted, or consecrated. The untrimmed vine and grapes were devoted to Yăhwēh as the hair of a Nazarite is devoted.
25:8† ^ Here, שַׁבְּתֹת shabbatōt refers to seven sabbatical years. It is not “seven weeks of years” so as to imply that the word sabbath is used for a string of seven days. This innovation is as late as AD 140. The second usage of שַׁבְּתֹת shabbatōt, in this verse, refers to seven Sabbath days, and not “days of seven weeks of the years.” To further clarify: “And you will have counted for yourself, seven Sabbatical years. The years [will be] seven years, seven times. And they will have been for you, [equal to the same number as] the days of seven weekly Sabbaths. The years [will be] nine and forty years.” The matter is further reinforced because Sabbatical years are not calculated on the basis of counting days. They are computed from the first day of the seventh month at the end of year six, to the last day of the 6th month at the end of year seven, which period is counted by months, only approximately equal to a solar year. The text presents the word “days” here as a fixed number that can be used for measuring. “The days of seven weeks of years” is not fixed. “The days of seven Sabbaths” is a fixed number: 49.
Many have taken it upon themselves to change the traditional reckoning of a Sabbatical year from the 1st day of the seventh month. They have substituted their own speculations for a valid historical tradition. There is a very good reason for beginning the year of rest in the fall. The staple barley and winter wheat crops are planted before spring, and are harvested after spring. Now if the Sabbath year were to begin in the spring, then the statute would prohibit harvesting the crop for sale planted before the Sabbath year, “your harvest you may not reap” (vs. 4). And at the end of such a Sabbath year, one could not plant, “Your field you may not sow.” This would lead to no new crop coming to market in two years instead of one. It also does not explain the prohibition, “your aftergrowth,” because at the start of such a sabbath year, the standing crop would not be aftergrowth. It would be fully grown standing crop. Would it be legal to harvest it? Either answer results in a contradiction. If it is legal, then the whole reason for the sabbath year is defeated. If it is not legal, then two years will be missed at market instead of one, again defeating the one in seven principle of the institution. The reason for saying “aftergrowth” סְפִיחַ sephi̱aḥ, is that all that will grow in the spring of a Sabbath year is from dumped grain, i.e. “growth from spilled kernels poured out accidentally in harvesting” (BDB). See also Holladay and TWOT. Of course if the Sabbath year begins in spring, then there is no reason for there not to be a fully standing ripe barley crop after the turn of the year. And this is not aftergrowth. Why then is this situation not addressed? Because it is not expected to occur, because the Sabbath year begins in the fall.
So let us assume for the sake of argument that the Sabbath year begins on Nisan 1. In that case winter wheat and winter barley are legal to plant late the previous fall when it is not a sabbatical year. But then when the crops come up, they are not aftergrowth! Then, if the Sabbatic year ends the next Nisan 1, no crops could have been sown during it, so after Nisan 1 there would be no barley or winter wheat crop. There would only be after growth to eat after the end of the Sabbatic year. So the people would not be eating aftergrowth during the Sabbatic year, and they would be eating it after the Sabbatic year. Therefore the assumption is incorrect. On the other hand when the Sabbath year begins in the fall, then no crops are planted in the fall. Then only aftergrowth comes up in the spring to be eaten during the Sabbath year. Then in the next fall the Sabbath year ends and they plant new crops.
In order to ensure that only aftergrowth comes up in the spring of a Nisan 1 Sabbath year, no winter wheat or barley (the staple crop) may be planted before Nisan 1. But then since after the next Tishri 1 it will not be legal to plant, the next years winter wheat and barley crop may not be planted. Therefore, to keep the Law according to a Nisan 1 Sabbath year requires skipping two years of winter wheat and barley, which are the staple crops in the middle east.
25:8‡ ^ Like Lev. 23:15 ( שֶׁבַע שַׁבָּתוֹת shev̱a‘ shabbatōt), here are “seven Sabbaths”: שֶׁבַע שַׁבְּתֹת. I do not regard the defective vowel spelling of שַׁבְּתֹת as construct. The text clearly mentions “days of seven Sabbaths,” and so is drawing a comparison between seven literal seven day weeks and the corresponding years of that many days. It is very doubtful that the lack of a Mater lectionis, אֵם קְרִיאָה, means the reading must be in the construct state, since the orally read text is exactly the same in the absolute case. In 2Chron. 36:21, see שַׁבְּתוֹתֶיהָ = sabbaths of her (the land). The construct is spelled full. See also Ezek. 20:12, 16, 20, 21, 24, 22:26, 23:38, and 44:24 where the construct is spelled full. Most scholars would say that the Mater lectionis were added in the 10th-9th centuries B.C. to the text, and that there were no Mater letters in the Torah, but simply consonants. If that is to be the case, then all the texts showed שבתת and none had שבתות at least before the time of Solomon and David (crowned in 1063 BC). This would apply to Genesis through Judges. The text would have been as follows:
וספרת לך שבע שבתת, שנם שבע, שבע פעמם, והי לך ימ שבע שבתת, השנם תשע וארבעם שנה
The Mater letters are (after 10th century):
וספרת לך שבע שנת
The “mothers of reading” are only to make reading the text easier. That was their purpose. They were not supposed to affect matters of interpretation. As we have seen, שבתת may be construct with or without the vowel letter. Accordingly, I conclude that it may also be absolute with or without the vowel letter.
25:9† ^ = [things] being made to be wiped away. Passive participle of the Piel stem without the augment.
25:10† ^ יוֹבֵל yōv̱ēl = the making of a loud blast on a ram’s horn. Synonymous with jubillation.
25:29† ^ 365 days. He may not redeem it on the 366th day.
25:30¹ ^ = the house.
25:33¹ ^ Read: יִגָּאֵל.
25:33² ^ = and; apparently a whole city could be sold. cf. Rashi.
25:33³ ^ Read: הוּא. The usual case is that of a house, which is masculine in gender. A whole city would be feminine, but then that should be הִיא in the text. It could be that the Mater letter is saying it is masculine from the 10th century B.C. or thereabouts, and the Masoretes are trying to say it is feminine.
25:33‡ ^ The case is that of the levites who sold a house in their own city, or even if the whole city is sold, then they have the right of redemption. Whatever is sold is to be redeemed in the year of jubilee. “Out of the Leυi̱yim” means “by the Leυi̱yim” or “out of [the possessions] of the Leυi̱yim.” “The city of his possession” means the possession of the Leυi̱yim. The poor vowel pointing יִגְאַל causes confusion amongst the translations. The NAU has it right with the passive, “may be redeemed.”
25:34¹ ^ מִגְרַשׁ migrash < גרש grsh “to expel, drive away” < Piel part. = “making to be driven”, “[cattle] driving land.”
25:35‡ ^ וְהֶחֱזַקתָּ בּוֹ weḥezaqta = “and you will have made strong on him.” This is the same idiom as Gen. 15:6: וְהֶאֱמִן בְּיַהוֶה wehe’emi̱n be Yăhwēh = “and he made support on Yăhwēh.”
25:37¹ ^ on increase.
25:38† ^ אֲשֶׁר a̓sher = because. Translators have generally missed the sense here with the following 1cs perfect. The relative is supplying a reason why he is Almĭghty.
25:38‡ ^ לִהיוֹת lihyōt = “to become, to be.” The idea also entails to act as the Almĭghty. It does not imply they were godless before he acted.
25:39¹ ^ Read תְּעַבֵּד tea̒bbēd. Piel.
25:40† ^ Normally, he will serve for six years. But if the year of jubilee comes first, then he is freed. The sabbath year, on the other hand, does not interrupt a service of six years.
25:42† ^ The relative is supplying the reason. See 25:38†.
25:43¹ ^ = on, in.
25:44¹ ^ = become.
25:44† ^ This excluded the seven proscribed nations at the first.
25:45† ^ This does not apply to a sojourner who has been circumcised and who has joined themselves to Yisra’ēl, but to the foreign alien who identifies themself as belonging to another nation. Only laws which Yisra’ēl was required to enforce are they made to obey, and this includes resting on the Sabbath and forsaking idolatry, and other laws, but excludes any observance which requires circumcision. It is the divine will that all nations should embrace Messiah and join Yisra’ēl, and enter fully into the covenant, but it is not required of Yisra’ēl to make them do this, and until they willingly do this, then their rights in Yisra’ēl are less than the native born and the convert sojourner. There is one law for the convert and the native. As for non-Jews embracing Messiah, their uncircumcision is overlooked while they are in exile, or if they are only visiting the land, but if they settle in the land, then they have to be circumcised to obtain the rights of a native.
If a Jew does not embrace Messiah, then his status is still that of a native born, since the house of Yehūdah was not called “not my people,” and they are to be left to Messiah to answer for their heresy if they will not be persuaded. And no Jew may be permitted to deprive the non Jew who has embraced Messiah and Torah of their equal rights in the land. They are not to lord it over the house of Yisra’ēl, and the house of Yisra’ēl should not oppress the unbelieving Jews for their heresy, or vex them in their own domains where they do not want to listen.
25:46¹ ^ Read: תְּעַבֵּד tea̒bbēd. Piel.
25:46¹ ^ = with, in.
25:47¹ ^ = make reached.
25:50† ^ The case concerns the voluntary sale of a Yisra’ēli̱ to a foreign resident in the land. The foreigner pays for every year until the jubilee to the servant. The servant may buy himself out of this contract by returning the price paid for the years remaining after his redemption date. If he sold himself for 100 sheqelim 20 years before the jubilee, then the price of a year is 5 sheqelim. If he works 10 years, then he may buy himself back for 50 sheqelim. But if the price of his sale was 1000 sheqelim, then he may buy himself back for 500.
25:55† ^ The relative pronoun supplies the reason. See 25:38†
26:2† ^ respect, fear, be in awe of.
26:30† ^ insult for an idol.
26:32† ^ Read: שֻׁמְמוּ shūmmū. Pual = “they will have been made to be appalled”
26:34† ^ וְהִרצָת wehirtsat = “and it will have paid off;” See BDB. JPS, Holladay. In English we would say to “make good on” something. During the 70 year exile, the land kept 70 sabbath years that had not been kept by Yisra’ēl and Yehūdah. The Sabbath years that the land did not keep may be discovered during the 390 years of the sin of Yisra’ēl and the 40 years of the sin of Yehūdah. See Ezek. 4:5-6
26:41¹ ^ אֶת־עֲוֹנָֽם e̓t-a̒wōnam. This phrase does not mean “make amends” (ESV), or “they then be paid the punishment of their iniquity” (JPS), or “they then make ammends for their iniquity” (NAU), or worse “and they shall atone for their iniquity” (TNK). Only YLT, “they accept the punishment of their iniquity” and the KJV have it right, “they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity.” Ammends should be made, but no one except Messiah can wipe away the penalty for idolatry, or any other capital apostacy. The term a̓wōn is defined three ways in Hebrew, 1. iniquity, 2. guilt, 3. punishment of iniquity. See BDB, Holladay, TWOT.
26:43¹ ^ = in, on.