UTN uW Translation Notes:

Leviticus 7 General Notes

Structure and Formatting

As was suggested in the General Introduction to Chapter 6, this chapter continues the administrative instructions to the priests for how they should handle particular matters of specific sacrifices. It addresses 1) the guilt offering (7:1–6), 2) the food portions for the priests from various sacrifices (7:7–10), and 3) the peace offering (7:11–21). A fresh reiteration of Yahweh speaking to Moses, reestablishing the narrative context of these first seven chapters, occurs in 7:22. It shifts the instructions from those concerning the priests to those concerning the people of Israel as a whole, addressing the prohibition of eating animal blood or fat (7:22–27). Then, the author of Leviticus records Yahweh speaking to Moses again in 7:28, which introduces a new section, again addressed to the people of Israel as a whole, that covers the wave offering and the food portions for the priests from the peace offering (7:28–36) before the chapter ends with a summary of chapters 1 through 7 as a whole (7:37–38). In outline form, this chapter is structured as follows: 1) The Administrative Laws for Priests (6:8–7:21) V. The Guilt Offering (7:1–6) VI. The Priestly Portions of Food (7:7–10) VII. The Peace Offering (7:11–21) 2) General Address to the People of Israel (7:22–36) I. Prohibition of Consuming Blood or Fat (7:22–27) II. Laws for the Peace Offering (7:28–36) i. The Wave Offering of the Breast and Its Fat (7:29–31) ii. The Right Thigh (7:32–33) iii. The Breast Meat and the Right Thigh as Food for Priests (7:34–36) 3) Conclusion to Chapters 1–7 (7:37–38)

Religious and Cultural Concepts in This Chapter

The guilt, peace, and wave offerings

In this chapter, laws for the priests’ handling of the guilt, peace, and wave offerings are discussed. See the Book Introduction for details concerning the nature and identity of these types of sacrifices.

“That person shall be cut off from his people” (7:20, 21, 27)

This chapter introduces the punishment for two forbidden actions: 1) eating the meat of the peace offering while being unclean or impure (Lev 7:20–21) and 2) drinking or consuming blood (Lev 7:27). The punishment for these actions is spoken of as if the person were being literally cut off from his or her people. This could be: (1) an idiom that refers to Yahweh’s executing divine judgment against the individual in some unspecified manner, thus removing the person from the people of God or (2) a metaphor that refers to the people excommunicating or exiling the individual from his or her community. If possible, translate in such a way that allows for both options, since the expression is ambiguous. Additionally, if your language does not use the passive form in this way, you can state this in active form or in another way that is natural in your language.

Blood

In this chapter, Yahweh forbade the eating of any animal blood because the blood contained “the life” of the animal. (See 7:26–27. In sacrifices, the blood of the animal is collected and applied, via sprinkling or splattering, to the sides of the altar upon which the burnt offering is placed. This act, as explained above, has been variously understood, but it pictures the blood as cleansing the altar from the effects of sin. Blood was able to cleanse sacred space and God’s people from the impurities of sin because of its ability to accomplish atonement by means of “the life” of the animal. (See 17:10–12.)

Important Figures of Speech in This Chapter

The holy thing of holy things

In this chapter, Yahweh reserves portions of the guilt offering for the priests as their food. These portions are called “the holy thing of holy things.” (See Lev 7:1 and Lev 7:6.) All food that was offered to Yahweh was considered a “holy thing” (see “the holy things” and “a holy thing” in Lev 22:2–4, 22:6–7, 22:10, and 22:14–16, but certain food offerings were designated as “the holy thing of holy things.” The expression “the holy thing of holy things” uses the possessive form to describe an offering that is exceptionally or uniquely holy. As such, the expression may be translated as “the most holy thing” or “the exceptionally holy thing.”

Other Possible Translation Difficulties in This Chapter

Second- and third-person address

The entirety of chapters 1 through 7 are written as a direct address to the people of God through Moses. In the present chapter, the author of Leviticus consistently uses third-person forms to refer to either the priest or the individual who offers the sacrifices described until a sudden switch to second-person plural forms in 7:23–26, before returning to third-person singular forms in 7:27 and throughout the rest of the chapter. If the switch from third-person to second-person forms and back would not be natural in your language, consider continuing to use whichever form you have been using for the previous chapters.

Figs-youplural

In the places where second-person address is used, the word you is plural. It refers to the people of Israel who would offer sacrifices at the tent of meeting. If your language uses a plural form to address a group of people, consider using that form here. If not, consider using the third person.