Leviticus 22:17-33 – Holy Offerings for a Holy God

Translation & Sermon by Nate Wilson for Christ the Redeemer Church of Manhattan KS, 29 Jan 2017

Introduction

· When you give a gift, the quality of your gift ought to fit the importance of the person:

o If you were visiting a student in his dorm room, a used book or magazine might be appropriate,

o but if it’s your boss at work, you’re going to get something a little nicer.

o If it’s the President of the U.S.A, you’ll put even more thought and expense into the gift.

o So what kind of quality should we be thinking of when we are talking about giving gifts to God? It’s got to be absolutely perfect!

· On Jamie Soles’ 2004 album Memorials, there’s a song that goes, “What shall I bring as a sin offering when I come to the presence of the Lord? Can I bring a rock or a dirty sock? Will my talk be acceptable to the Lord? No way; No way; you must bring what the Lord commanded you!”

· Jamieson, Faussett and Brown commented on this passage that, “If the tabernacle, and subsequently the temple, were considered the palace of the great King, then the sacrifices would answer to presents as offered to a monarch on various occasions by his subjects; and in this light they would be the appropriate expressions of their feelings towards their sovereign.”

o Is what you offer God an “appropriate expression of [your] feelings towards [your] sovereign”?

· Leviticus emphasizes this in two ways: 1) the prohibition against blemishes and 2) the exhortation toward acceptability. Let’s look at these two concepts and apply them to our own worship of God:

1. Blemishes

There are quite a few words used in Leviticus 22 to describe various kinds of defects, warning God’s people not to offer to God what is blemished:

• v.19 “for y’all to be accepted, [it must be] a perfect male among the bulls, among the sheep, or among the goats. 20 Don’t offer any in which there is a defect”
• v.21b “… there must not be any defect in it.”
• v.22a “What is blind (or had an eye defect) or broken (injured, fractured, disabled) or an amputee (maimed, mutilated, tongue cut out) or ulcerated (warts or discharging wen-sores) or rashy (itchy, scurvy, eczema) or scabbed – y’all may not offer these to Yahweh.”
• v.23 or “…a steer or a lamb that is gianted or dwarfed…”
• v.24 “And y’all may not offer to Yahweh what is pierced or smashed or torn or cut; y’all may not do so in your country. 25 And, y’all may not offer the food of your God from any of these from the hand of a foreigner, because their corruption is within them – a defect is in them. They will not be accepted on y’all’s behalf.”
• The plural “them/these” in v.25 who have the defect and corruption, seems to refer to the variously-mutilated animals[1] banned from sacrificial worship in verse 24, but which could be handled and eaten by foreigners according to Deut. 14:21.
• Now, most English versions add the word “testicles” to v.24, following Jewish tradition, but this word is not in the Hebrew or Greek.
• Nevertheless, Keil & Delitzsch’s commentary does cite ancient literature describing castration procedures using these same four actions.
• Reproductive capacity is a creation of God which reflects His character – He is a reproducer of life, and, as such, it is something we should embrace as imaging God and should not be thought of as dirty and should not be messed up or removed by His holy people. (This has ramifications for the practice of birth control.) As Gordon Wenham put it in his commentary on Leviticus, “Holiness is symbolized in wholeness[2].”
• However, unless there is proof that this is referring to a reproductive organ, my assumption would be that this prohibits offering animals that were killed in some other manner than the one prescribed at the altar with a knife to the throat to catch the blood. This would ban wild animals hunted in the wilderness with a spear or torn by wild beasts or domestic animals accidentally killed by being run over with a cart or something.
• The prohibition is not only for the temple but for any location in the borders of their country – animals killed that way are not the best for eating and are not to be carried into the temple dead and dedicated to God either.
• There are three further stipulations in vs. 27-30
• The animal had to be at least a week old (v.27 “When a steer or sheep or goat is born, it shall then be under its mother seven days, then from the eighth day and beyond it will be acceptable as a burnt offering to Yahweh.”)
• Second, the animal couldn’t be slaughtered at the same time as its dam or calf (v.28 “Furthermore, with a steer or a lamb, y’all should not slaughter it and its baby in one day.”)
• And, third, if the animal was allowed to be eaten, it was supposed to be eaten that day. (v.30 “it must be eaten on that day; y’all may not leave some of it until morning. I am Yahweh.”)

Application regarding blemished offerings

· Now, is there anything for us in this passage? Do we offer animal sacrifices to God anymore?

o No, because Jesus offered the perfect and final sacrifice of Himself, as it says in Hebrews: “For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? For this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.” (Heb. 9:13-15, NASB)

· But do we offer any kind of sacrifices instead of animal sacrifices? Yes! We offer our own bodies and we offer our actions and our words to God! And since God doesn’t accept defective sacrifices we need to keep our bodies and our words and deeds unblemished. That’s what the New Testament says:

o James 1:27 NASB “Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.”

o 1 Timothy 6:12-14 NASB “Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called... I charge you in the presence of God… that you keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ,”

o 2 Peter 2:9-15 NASB “the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment… [they will] be destroyed, suffering wrong as the wages of doing wrong. They count it a pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are stains and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions, as they carouse with you, having eyes full of adultery that never cease from sin, enticing unstable souls, having a heart trained in greed, accursed children…”

· So what would a stain or blemish in this New Testament sense look like that results in damnation?

o Leviticus 22:22 mentions the “Blind”

§ Malachi 1:6-14 NKJV "A son honors his father, And a servant his master. If then I am the Father, Where is My honor? And if I am a Master, Where is My reverence? Says the LORD of hosts To you priests who despise My name… when you offer the blind as a sacrifice, Is it not evil? And when you offer the lame and sick, Is it not evil? Offer it then to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you favorably?" Says the LORD of hosts... 14 But cursed be the deceiver Who has in his flock a male, And takes a vow, But sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished—For I am a great King," Says the LORD of hosts, "And My name is to be feared among the nations.” (NKJV)

§ Self-centered thinking leads to doing things for the sake of manipulating God and man to get what you want. Jesus called the legalists of His day who did this very thing “blind men.” Pretended worship from spiritually blind people who are playing God and can’t even see their own hypocrisy is detestable to God.

o Then there’s the “Broken/disabled/fractured/amputated”

§ John Calvin commented, “God is served amiss when He is served by halves, since he abominates a double heart… what can be more monstrous than this arrogance of theirs, when, as they mutter their prayers, their minds wander not only into frivolous but even into unholy imaginations, and yet they pretend that the final intention, as they call it, is meritorious and approved by God? Suppose a priest shall have proposed to recite the godly prayers of his breviary, and, when scarcely three words have been said, his mind shall be occupied with dishes… and cups… or other pastimes, and then, as if his task were performed, he will boast that he has offered worship to God.” Are we guilty of serving the Lord with only half a mind in our prayers?

o The list in Leviticus 22:22 also mentioned “Ulcerated/running sores” – just dripping pus that could spread infections to everything it got on.

§ That reminds me of Hebrews 12:14 “Pursue peace with all people… v.15 lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled”

§ Heart-sins like anger and bitterness can fester and spew out on other people and infect them. We can’t bring these warty attitudes to church!

o Verse 23 talks about “overgrown and stunted” animals, perhaps with a genetic mutation of giantism or dwarfism

• Has anyone ever given you a squash or something from the garden that had grown so large it was too tough to eat? It seemed like a big gift, but then you realize it’s good for nothing and it just takes up a lot of space in your garbage.
• Sometimes we can be overblown in representing our gifts to God and end up leaving something to be desired. I think of Ananias & Saphira’s gift in Acts 5. They sold some property, and it would have been fine, I think, for them to give only part of the proceeds to the church, which is what they did, but they did so claiming that they were giving all the proceeds to the church. They claimed that was all the money from the sale, but some of that money was missing when they put it in the offering plate because they had kept some of it back for themselves. It was a defective gift because they didn’t give all that they promised to give – it was downsized and missing parts.

o Verse 24 mentions “Pierced, Smashed, Torn, and Cut” - You couldn’t find a piece of roadkill and hire a foreigner to offer it to God for you because you’re a cheapskate and don’t want to offer a premium animal that is still alive and healthy.

• I recall a pastor showing me a Sunday service collection plate in which somebody had placed half of a twenty-dollar bill. It had been ripped in half, and the other half wasn’t there. What was he supposed to do with that?
• Are there any ways we might try to skimp on our offerings to God? Maybe not singing with quite the quality we are capable of, or not giving quite the attention we are capable of, or giving things away that we didn’t want anyway? If God is as glorious as we say He is, we should not skimp when it comes to worshipping God.
• My family attended worship one Lord’s Day at Auburn Avenue Presbyterian Church, and we were blown away at the thunderous “Amens” that came un-prompted from the congregation throughout the service. So over dinner after the service, my wife asked Pastor Wilkins, “How do you get the men to say Amen so loudly?” He answered with a mischievous smile, “I told them it was a sin not to!” Maybe he was exaggerating for humorous effect, but there’s truth in that.

o Moving on to verse 25, we see donations “From the hand of a foreigner”

• We know that foreigners could enter into a relationship with God, so I think this should be applied in terms of those who are still unbelievers.
• I’ve seen churches hire non-Christians to run the nursery during the service, rationalizing that they wouldn’t attend the worship service anyway.
• And with the amount of secular control over Christian music, you have to wonder if some of the popular music used in churches was even composed by a Christian. It certainly warrants careful consideration of what we sing and use as liturgy or read as prayers to make sure it really expresses a Biblical worldview and really expresses your own heart toward God.

o Then in v.27, we see that “Immaturity” is an unacceptable blemish

• God values maturity. Children in the Old Testament were not presented to God and marked with the sign of the covenant until they were at least a week old.
• God didn’t let Herod kill Jesus as an infant in Bethlehem, He waited until Jesus was a man to die for us.
• And God doesn’t take you straight to heaven as soon as you believe in Jesus. He gives you time to mature in your faith.
• This is one of the ways of God and therefore our offerings to God should reflect maturity.
• I sometimes deliver sermons or prayers that are half-cocked – I haven’t spent adequate time meditating on the scriptures or figuring out how to express things in the best way. God is not pleased with mediocrity if it is a result of carelessness.

o Next, in v.28, we see it is a problem to “Kill both the cow and the calf in one day.”

• The OT rancher didn’t have to sacrifice all his cows at once and become a vegetable farmer in order to get right with God. Giving to God should not put an end to our livelihood.
• God is not the creator of dead-ends. Even when He killed people in judgment, He didn’t kill everybody; He always left a remnant. (Noah and his family from the flood, Lot and his daughters from Sodom & Gomorrah, Rahab from Jericho, etc.)
• A New Testament application could be that we should not give everything (just because something touched your emotions) Giving rashly could be just as unacceptable to God as being stingy in your giving. 2 Corinthians 9:7 says, “Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion...” (ESV)
• This may or may not be a good example, but one little church I worked at decades ago received a million dollars designated for missions. Rather than blow all that money at once, the missions committee decided instead to spend just the interest on that money every year so that they would have a consistent base of financial support for their missionaries for as long as they lived. They didn’t kill the cow so they could keep offering calves, as it were.

o V.30 seems to indicate that if you offered a thanks-offering, then failing to eat it all that day would create unacceptableness.

• We already saw in Leviticus 7:15 that thanks-offerings were not supposed to be left over for days.
• Perhaps it would indicate you weren’t really thankful if you didn’t make a big deal of it and invite enough people to eat a whole lamb at the barbeque afterwards and rejoice together with you over whatever it was you were thankful for. Small party = small thanks to God.
• There are many times God has answered a prayer or provided something for me, and I never mentioned it to anybody. If you were God, would you want to keep blessing somebody like that?
• What can you do to make a big deal over the things you are thankful to God for?

· Now, while we can all improve in our worship to God, we will never be able to offer perfect worship to God – free from all of these imperfections. You need a perfect person to do it for you perfectly – who can be acceptable enough to God to be able to then bring you into God’s presence, so that you are there not because of who you are but because of who you are a guest of.

o I like how commentator John Gill framed this: “[No] sacrifice of man's can be so acceptable to God as to atone for him, since none of theirs are perfect, and without blemish… Such sacrifices were typical of Christ, the immaculate Lamb of God, who offered himself without spot (1Pet. 1:19).”

· Now, in my introduction, I mentioned that there were two main concepts in the passage. I’ve been camping out on the first point of not offering what is blemished to God. Now I want to more quickly cover the second point of seeking acceptance from God.

2. “Acceptance” is a key concept, mentioned 7 times in this passage

1. v.19 “for y’all to be accepted” (“for good pleasure to the offerer i.e. to secure for him the good pleasure of God.” ~K&D)
2. v.20 “Don’t offer anything in which there is a defect because it would not be accepted on y’all’s behalf”
3. v.21 “…it must be perfect to be acceptable; there must not be any defect in it.”
4. v.23 “…a steer or a lamb that is gianted or dwarfed… will not be accepted for a vow.”

· (Why would a genetically defective animal be accepted as a freewill/votive/spontaneous offering and not in fulfillment of a vow? Because fulfilling a vow assumed the animals would be of normal quality for a sacrifice, but if you wanted to donate a mutated animal for no other reason than you just wanted to, that would not be shortchanging God because there would be no expectation beyond merely what you wanted to offer as a freewill extra gift.)

5. v.25 “ a defect is in them. They will not be accepted on y’all’s behalf”
6. v.27 “ from the eighth day and beyond it will be acceptable as a burnt offering”
7. v.29 “ it should be in such a way that y’all are accepted that y’all sacrifice [it].”

Interestingly, the New Test. mentions the same number of times the acceptance of our offerings to God:

1. Romans 12:1-2 NASB “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”
• The first two instances are in Romans 12. What is it that we are to offer as a sacrifice to God? Our own bodies – not as a bloody sacrifice, but - alive to do His will. That’s why the Apostles wrote about living pure lives, unstained by sin and worldliness, and that’s why they said we had to be “in Christ” to be accepted by God because Christ alone is “perfect” and “good” enough to be acceptable to God. Then when we offer to serve God, our deeds, which would normally be like dirty rags, are made acceptable by the agency of the Holy Spirit:
2. Rom. 15:16 “a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, ministering as a priest the gospel of God, so that my offering of the Gentiles may become acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.”
3. Philippians 4:18 “But I have received everything in full and have an abundance; I am amply supplied, having received from Epaphroditus what you have sent, a fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing to God.”
• Remember James 1, which I cited earlier, mentioned charity to widows as being pure and undefiled religion. The Apostle Paul adds that taking care of your parents or grandparents is also service acceptable to God.
4. 1 Tim. 5:4 “but if any widow has children or grandchildren, they must first learn to practice piety in regard to their own family and to make some return to their parents; for this is acceptable in the sight of God.”
• And the Apostle Peter and the author of Hebrews also picture Christians offering their thanks and worship to God as being analagous to priests offering sacrifices burned up on the altar of old. Once again, who makes your worship acceptable? Not you but Jesus Christ!
5. Heb. 12:28-29 “Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; for our God is a consuming fire.”
6. 1 Pet. 2:5 “you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”

Conclusion

· So as we offer our words of worship and our very bodies in service to God, let us do so trusting Jesus and His Spirit to make us acceptable to God and then give our holy and divine King our very best!

o “It was fit that every thing that was employed for [God’s] honour should be the best of the kind; for, as He is the greatest and brightest, so He is the best of beings; and He that is the best must have the best.” ~Matthew Henry

o “Let us learn then that we must not play with God, but that He must be so worshipped in integrity and sincerity of heart as that our sacrifices may correspond with His good pleasure. For hence arises the careless profanation of His worship, because we do not sufficiently consider what is due to His perfection. It is indeed certain that nothing can proceed from us which is pure in every respect; but let us at least aspire at what befits us, and let us mourn that our desires fall so far short of their aim, in order that Christ may by His grace supply what is wanting in us; for it is unquestionable that, provided our sacrifices are the fruits of true regeneration, He washes out their blemishes with His own blood.” ~John Calvin

· That is a wonderful truth. God says He is “the God who sanctifies you” while at the same time calling you to offer yourself to Him. He purifies and perfects you and me so that we will be acceptable sacrifices to Him! Ephesians 5:25-27 “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.” (NKJV)

Comparative translations of Leviticus 22:17-33

When a translation adds words not in the Hebrew text, but does not indicate it has done so by the use of italics (or greyed-out text), I put the added words in [square brackets]. When one version chooses a wording which is different from all the other translations, I underline it. When a version chooses a translation which, in my opinion, either departs too far from the root meaning of the Hebrew word or departs too far from the grammar form of the original Hebrew, I use strikeout. And when a version omits a word which is in the Hebrew text, I insert an X. (Sometimes I will place the X at the end of a word if the original word is plural but the English translation is singular.) I occasionally use colors to help the reader see correlations between the various editions and versions when there are more than two different translations of a given word. Hebrew text that is colored purple matches the Dead Sea Scrolls, and variants between the DSS and the MT are noted in endnotes with the following exceptions: When a holem or qibbutz pointing in the MT is represented in the DSS by a vav, when a hireq pointing in the MT is represented in the DSS by a yod (the corresponding consonantal representation of the same vowel), or when the tetragrammaton is spelled with paleo-Hebrew letters, I did not record it a variant. Dead Sea Scrolls which contain Leviticus 22:17-33 are 11Q1 paleoLeviticus^a (verses 21-25, 27), 4Q26a Leviticus^e (verses 4-6 & 11-18), 4Q24 Leviticus ^b (verses 2-6 8-28, 30-33), 4Q25 Leviticus ^c (verses 28-29).

LXX	Brenton (LXX)	KJV	NAW	MT
17 Καὶ ἐλάλησεν κύριος πρὸς Μωυσῆν λέγων	17 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,	17 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,	17 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses saying,	יז וַיְדַבֵּ֥ר יְהֹוָ֖ה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֥ה לֵּאמֹֽר׃
18 Λάλησον Ααρων καὶ τοῖς υἱοῖς αὐτοῦ καὶ πάσῃ συναγωγῇ Ισραηλ καὶ ἐρεῖς πρὸς αὐτούς Ἄνθρωπος ἄνθρωπος ἀπὸ τῶν υἱῶν Ισραηλ ἢ τῶν υἱῶν τῶν προσηλύτων τῶν προςκειμένων πρὸς αὐτοὺς ἐν Ισραηλ, ὃς ἂν προσενέγκῃ τὰ δῶρα αὐτοῦ κατὰ πᾶσαν ὁμολογίαν αὐτῶν ἢ κατὰ πᾶσαν αἵρεσιν αὐτῶν, ὅσα ἂν προσενέγκωσιν τῷ θεῷ εἰς ὁλοκαύτωμα,	18 Speak to Aaron and his sons, and to all the congregation of Israel, and thou shalt say to them, Any man of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that abide among them in Israel, who shall offer his gifts according to all their confession and according to all their choice, whatsoever they may bring to the Lord for whole-burnt-offerings--	18 Speak unto Aaron, and to his sons, and unto all the children of Israel, and say unto them, Whatsoever he be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers in Israel, that will offer his oblation for all his vows, and for all his freewill offerings, which they will offer unto the LORD for a burnt offering;	18 “Speak to Aaron and to his sons and to all the children of Israel and say to them, ‘Each-and-every one from the community of Israel or from the visitors [visiting] in Israel who offers his offering for any of their vows or for any of their spontaneous-offerings which they offer to Yahweh as a whole-burnt-offering,	יח דַּבֵּ֨ר אֶֽל־אַהֲרֹ֜ן וְאֶל־בָּנָ֗יו וְאֶל֙ כׇּל־בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל וְאָמַרְתָּ֖ אֲלֵהֶ֑ם אִ֣ישׁ אִישׁ֩ מִבֵּ֨ית יִשְׂרָאֵ֜ל וּמִן־הַגֵּ֣ר[A] בְּיִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל אֲשֶׁ֨ר יַקְרִ֤יב קׇרְבָּנוֹ֙ לְכׇל־נִדְרֵיהֶם֙ [B]וּלְכׇל־נִדְבוֹתָ֔ם אֲשֶׁר־יַקְרִ֥יבוּ לַיהֹוָ֖ה לְעֹלָֽה׃
19 X δεκτὰ ὑμῖν ἄμωμα ἄρσενα ἐκ τῶν βουκολίων καὶ ἐκ τῶν προβάτων καὶ ἐκ τῶν αἰγῶν.	19 X your free-will-offerings [shall be] male[s] without blemish of the herd[s], or of the sheep, or of the goats.	19 Ye shall offer at your own will a male without blemish, of the beeve[s][C], of the sheep, or of the goats.	19 for y’all to be accepted, [it must be] a perfect male among the bulls, among the sheep, or among the goats.	יט לִֽרְצֹנְכֶ֑ם תָּמִ֣ים זָכָ֔ר בַּבָּקָ֕ר בַּכְּשָׂבִ֖ים וּבָֽעִזִּֽים[D]׃
20 πάντα, ὅσα ἂν ἔχῃ μῶμον ἐν αὐτῷ, οὐ προσάξουσιν [κυρίῳ], διότι οὐ δεκτὸν ἔσται ὑμῖν.	20 They shall not bring [to the Lord] anything that has a blemish in it, for it shall not be acceptable for you.	20 But whatsoever hath a blemish X X, that shall ye not offer: for it shall not be acceptable for you.	20 Don’t offer any in which there is a defect because it would not be accepted on y’all’s behalf.	כ כֹּ֛ל אֲשֶׁר־בּ֥וֹ מ֖וּם לֹ֣א תַקְרִ֑יבוּ כִּי־לֹ֥א לְרָצ֖וֹן יִהְיֶ֥ה לָכֶֽם[E]׃
21 καὶ ἄνθρωπος, ὃς [ἂν] προςενέγκῃ θυσίαν σωτηρίου τῷ κυρίῳ διαστείλας εὐχὴν [κατὰ αἵρεσιν] ἢ ἐν ταῖς ἑορταῖς [ὑμῶν] ἐκ τῶν βουκολίων ἢ ἐκ τῶν προβάτων, ἄμωμον ἔσται εἰς δεκτόν, πᾶς μῶμος οὐκ ἔσται ἐν αὐτῷ.	21 And whatso[ever] man shall offer a peace-offering to the Lord, discharging a vow, or in the way of free-will-offering, [or an offering in your feasts], of the herd[s] or of the sheep, it shall be without blemish for acceptance: there shall be no X blemish in it.	21 And whoso[ever] offereth a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the LORD to accomplish his vow, or a freewill offering in beeve[s] or X X sheep, it shall be perfect to be accepted; there shall be no X blemish therein.	21 And the man that offers a sacrifice of peace-offerings to Yahweh to solemnize a vow or for a spontaneous-offering among the herd or among the flock, it must be perfect to be acceptable; there must not be any defect in it.	כא וְאִ֗ישׁ כִּֽי־יַקְרִ֤יב זֶֽבַח־שְׁלָמִים֙ לַיהֹוָ֔ה לְפַלֵּא[F]־נֶ֙דֶר֙ א֣וֹ לִנְדָבָ֔ה בַּבָּקָ֖ר א֣וֹ בַצֹּ֑אן תָּמִ֤ים יִֽהְיֶה֙ לְרָצ֔וֹן כׇּל־מ֖וּם לֹ֥א יִהְיֶה־בּֽוֹ׃
LXX	Brenton (LXX)	KJV	NAW	MT
22 τυφλὸν ἢ συντετριμμένον ἢ γλωσσότμητον ἢ μυρμηκιῶντα ἢ ψωραγριῶντα ἢ λιχῆνας ἔχοντα, οὐ προσάξουσιν ταῦτα τῷ κυρίῳ, καὶ εἰς κάρπωσιν οὐ δώσετε ἀπ᾿ αὐτῶν ἐπὶ τὸ θυσιαστήριον τῷ κυρίῳ.	22 One that is blind, or broken, or has its tongue cut out, or is [troubled with] warts, or [has a malignant] ulcer, or tetters, they shall not offer these to the Lord; neither shall ye offer any of them for a burnt-offering on the altar of the Lord.	22 Blind, or broken, or maimed, or [having a] wen, or scurvy, or scabbed, ye shall not offer these unto the LORD, nor make an offering by fire of them upon the altar unto the LORD.	22 What is blind or broken or an amputee or ulcerated or rashy or scabbed – y’all may not offer these to Yahweh. Also you may not donate a burnt-offering from them upon the altar for Yahweh.	כב עַוֶּ֩רֶת֩ א֨וֹ שָׁב֜וּר אוֹ־חָר֣וּץ אֽוֹ־יַבֶּ֗לֶת א֤וֹ גָרָב֙ א֣וֹ יַלֶּ֔פֶת[G] לֹא־תַקְרִ֥יבוּ אֵ֖לֶּה לַיהֹוָ֑ה וְאִשֶּׁ֗ה לֹא־תִתְּנ֥וּ מֵהֶ֛ם עַל־הַמִּזְבֵּ֖חַ לַיהֹוָֽה׃
23 καὶ μόσχον ἢ πρόβατον ὠτότμητον ἢ κολοβόκερκον, σφάγια ποιήσεις αὐτὰ [σεαυτῷ], εἰς δὲ εὐχήν [σου] οὐ δεχθήσεται.	23 And a calf or a sheep with the ears cut off, or that [has] lost [its tail], thou shalt slay them [for thyself]; but they shall not be accepted for [thy] vow.	23 Either a bullock or a lamb that hath [any thing] superfluous or lacking [in his parts], that mayest thou offer for a freewill offering; but for a vow it shall not be accepted.	23 Now, as for a steer or a lamb that is gianted or dwarfed, you may make a spontaneous-offering with it, but it will not be accepted for a vow.	כג וְשׁ֥וֹר וָשֶׂ֖ה שָׂר֣וּעַ וְקָל֑וּט נְדָבָה֙ תַּעֲשֶׂ֣ה[H] אֹת֔וֹ וּלְנֵ֖דֶר לֹ֥א יֵרָצֶֽה׃
24 θλαδίαν καὶ ἐκτεθλιμμένον καὶ ἐκτομίαν καὶ ἀπεσπαςμένον, οὐ προσάξεις [αὐτὰ] τῷ κυρίῳ καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ὑμῶν οὐ ποιήσετε.	24 That which has broken [testicles], or is crushed or gelt or mutilated, --thou shalt not offer [them] to the Lord, neither shall ye sacrifice them upon your land.	24 Ye shall not offer unto the LORD that which is bruised, or crushed, or broken, or cut; neither shall ye make any offering thereof in your land.	24 And y’all may not offer to Yahweh what is pierced or smashed or torn or cut; y’all may not do so in your country.	כד וּמָע֤וּךְ[I] וְכָתוּת֙ וְנָת֣וּק וְכָר֔וּת לֹ֥א תַקְרִ֖יבוּ לַֽיהֹוָ֑ה וּֽבְאַרְצְכֶ֖ם לֹ֥א תַעֲשֽׂוּ׃
25 καὶ ἐκ χειρὸς ἀλλογενοῦς οὐ προσοίσετε τὰ δῶρα τοῦ θεοῦ ὑμῶν ἀπὸ πάντων τούτων, ὅτι φθάρματά ἐστιν ἐν αὐτοῖς, μῶμος ἐν αὐτοῖς, οὐ δεχθήσεται [ταῦτα] ὑμῖν.	25 Neither shall ye offer the gifts of your God of all these things by the hand of a stranger, because there is corruption in them, a blemish in them: these shall not be accepted for you.	25 Neither from a stranger's hand shall ye offer the bread of your God of any of these; because their corruption is in them, and blemish[es] be in them: they shall not be accepted for you.	25 And, y’all may not offer the food of your God from any of these from the hand of a foreigner, because their corruption is within them – a defect is in them. They will not be accepted on y’all’s behalf.’”	כה וּמִיַּ֣ד בֶּן־נֵכָ֗ר לֹ֥א תַקְרִ֛יבוּ אֶת־לֶ֥חֶם אֱלֹהֵיכֶ֖ם מִכׇּל־אֵ֑לֶּה כִּ֣י מׇשְׁחָתָ֤ם[J] בָּהֶם֙ מ֣וּם בָּ֔ם לֹ֥א יֵרָצ֖וּ לָכֶֽם׃
26 Καὶ ἐλάλησεν κύριος πρὸς Μωυσῆν λέγων	26 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,	26 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,	26 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,	כו וַיְדַבֵּ֥ר יְהֹוָ֖ה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֥ה לֵּאמֹֽר׃
27 Μόσχον ἢ πρόβατον ἢ αἶγα, ὡς ἂν τεχθῇ, καὶ ἔσται ἑπτὰ ἡμέρας ὑπὸ τὴν μητέρα, τῇ δὲ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ ὀγδόῃ καὶ ἐπέκεινα δεχθήσεται εἰς δῶρα, κάρπωμα κυρίῳ.	27 As for a calf, or a sheep, or a goat, whenever it is born, then shall it be seven days under its mother; and on the eighth day and after they shall be accepted for sacrifices, a burnt-offering to the Lord.	27 When a bullock, or a sheep, or a goat, is brought forth, then it shall be seven days under the dam; and from the eighth day and thenceforth it shall be accepted for an offering made by fire unto the LORD.	27 “When a steer or sheep or goat is born, it shall then be under its mother seven days, then from the eighth day and beyond it will be acceptable as a burnt offering to Yahweh.	כז שׁ֣וֹר אוֹ־כֶ֤שֶׂב אוֹ־עֵז֙ כִּ֣י יִוָּלֵ֔ד וְהָיָ֛ה שִׁבְעַ֥ת יָמִ֖ים תַּ֣חַת אִמּ֑וֹ וּמִיּ֤וֹם הַשְּׁמִינִי֙ וָהָ֔לְאָה יֵרָצֶ֕ה לְקׇרְבַּ֥ן אִשֶּׁ֖ה לַיהֹוָֽה׃
28 καὶ μόσχον ἢ πρόβατον, αὐτὴν καὶ τὰ παιδία αὐτῆς οὐ σφάξεις ἐν ἡμέρᾳ μιᾷ.	28 And a bullock and a ewe, it and its young, thou shalt not kill in one day.	28 And whether it be cow or ewe, ye shall not kill it and her young [both] in one day.	28 Furthermore, with a steer or a lamb, y’all should not slaughter it and its baby in one day.	כח וְשׁ֖וֹר אוֹ־שֶׂ֑ה אֹת֣וֹ וְאֶת־בְּנ֔וֹ לֹ֥א [K]תִשְׁחֲט֖וּ בְּי֥וֹם אֶחָֽד׃
29 ἐὰν δὲ θύσῃς θυσίαν εὐχὴν [χαρμοσύνης] κυρίῳ, εἰς δεκτὸν ὑμῖν θύσετε [αὐτό]·	29 And if thou shouldest offer a sacrifice, a vow of rejoicing to the Lord, ye shall offer [it] so as to be accepted for you.	29 And when ye will offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving unto the LORD, offer it at your own will.	29 And when y’all sacrifice a sacrifice of thanksgiving to Yahweh, it should be in such a way that y’all are accepted that y’all sacrifice [it];	כט וְכִֽי־תִזְבְּח֥וּ זֶֽבַח־תּוֹדָ֖ה לַיהֹוָ֑ה לִֽרְצֹנְכֶ֖ם תִּזְבָּֽחוּ[L]׃
LXX	Brenton (LXX)	KJV	NAW	MT
30 [αὐτῇ] τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ βρωθήσεται, οὐκ ἀπολείψετε ἀπὸ τῶν [κρεῶν] εἰς τὸ πρωί· ἐγώ εἰμι κύριος.	30 In that [same] day it shall be eaten; ye shall not leave of the [flesh] till the morrow: I am the Lord.	30 On the same day it shall be eaten up; ye shall leave none of it until the morrow: I am the LORD.	30 it must be eaten on that day; y’all may not leave some of it until morning. I am Yahweh.	ל בַּיּ֤וֹם הַהוּא֙ יֵאָכֵ֔ל לֹֽא־תוֹתִ֥ירוּ מִמֶּ֖נּוּ עַד־בֹּ֑קֶר אֲנִ֖י יְהֹוָֽה׃
31 Καὶ φυλάξετε τὰς ἐντολάς μου καὶ ποιήσετε αὐτάς.	31 And ye shall keep my commandments and do them.	31 Therefore shall ye keep my commandments, and do them: [I am the LORD.]	31 So y’all must keep my commands and act on them,	לא וּשְׁמַרְתֶּם֙ מִצְוֺתַ֔י וַעֲשִׂיתֶ֖ם אֹתָ֑ם ]אֲנִ֖י יְהֹוָֽה[M][׃
32 καὶ οὐ βεβηλώσετε τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ ἁγίου X, καὶ ἁγιασθήσομαι ἐν μέσῳ τῶν υἱῶν Ισραηλ· ἐγὼ κύριος ὁ ἁγιάζων ὑμᾶς	32 And ye shall not profane the name of the Holy One X, and I will be sanctified in the midst of the children of Israel. I am the Lord that sanctifies you,	32 Neither shall ye profane my holy name; but I will be hallowed among the children of Israel: I am the LORD which hallow you,	32 and y’all must not violate my holy name, thus I will be set apart as holy in the midst of the children of Israel. I am Yahweh, the One who sets y’all apart as holy –	לב וְלֹ֤א תְחַלְּלוּ֙ אֶת־שֵׁ֣ם קׇדְשִׁ֔י וְנִ֨קְדַּשְׁתִּ֔י בְּת֖וֹךְ בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל אֲנִ֥י יְהֹוָ֖ה מְקַדִּשְׁכֶֽם[N]׃
33 ὁ ἐξαγαγὼν ὑμᾶς ἐκ γῆς Αἰγύπτου ὥστε εἶναι ὑμῶν X θεός, ἐγὼ κύριος.	33 who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be X your God: I am the Lord.	33 That brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be X your God: I am the LORD.	33 the One bringing y’all out of the land of Egypt in order to be God for y’all. I am Yahweh.	לג הַמּוֹצִ֤יא אֶתְכֶם֙ מֵאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרַ֔יִם לִהְי֥וֹת לָכֶ֖ם לֵאלֹהִ֑ים אֲנִ֖י יְהֹוָֽה׃

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[1] A second, but less-likely interpretation, in my opinion, is that the plural entity with the defect and corruption is the “foreigners” themselves. Gill quotes Maimonedes in this wise. From Gen. 17 and Isaiah 56 we know that Gentile ben-nacrim could become worshippers of God, and from Ezekiel 44, that Jews could be ben-nacrim because their hearts were not right before God. God would not accept your sacrifice if you sent a pagan employee or slave to the temple to offer your sacrifice for you to save you time so you didn’t have to leave work. And I think this is also saying that God would not accept an animal that a pagan had raised and you just purchased from him on your way into the temple. God wants you in person and He wants your gifts to be your own things. David refused Ornan when Ornan offered to provide oxen for David to make a sacrifice to appease God’s wrath. David said, “I will not take what is yours for the LORD, nor offer burnt offerings with that which costs me nothing.” (1 Chron. 21:24, NKJV) You know how sometimes they have entertainment events that say to bring a can of food and you grabbed an old can of some vegetable you didn’t like out of the back of your mom’s pantry and donated that. What do you have that is uniquely yours and meaningful to give to God?

[2] Wenham went on in a footnote to argue from this passage against “castration as such, and not just the sacrifice of castrated animals” citing the Vulgate, Targums, Josephus, Elliger, Hoffmann, and Porter as concurring with him.

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[A] SP, LXX, Syriac & DSS add הַגָּר (sojourning/dwelling/staying as a guest). I think that the MT has been edited here for brevity from the original. The NIV appears to agree with me in adding it back in, although the NIV uses an English word from a different Hebrew root “living” (חיהת) instead of the text (גור) “sojourning/visiting/staying as a guest.”

[B] The only previous occurrence in Leviticus of these words for “vow” and “freewill/spontaneous” is the introduction in Lev. 7:16. Only one instance of each is mentioned in the Pentateuch prior, and those are Jacob’s “vow” that Yahweh would be his God (Gen. 28:20; 31:13) and the Israelite’s spontaneous gifts of materials for the tabernacle (Exodus 35:29; 36:3.). LXX & DSS 4Q24 read “or” (או) as the conjunction between these two kinds of offerings, whereas MT, SP, and DSS 4Q26 read “and/or” (ו). It would be hard to say from this little evidence which was original, but it makes no difference since they can both mean “or,” and that seems to be the meaning.

[C] ESV=bulls (but in the next verse it translates the same word “herd” like the other modern versions do.)

[D] This is language from Leviticus 1:1-10.

[E] DSS 4Q24 ends with a different pronoun “her/it” but the LXX, SP, and MT are agreed on the 2^nd person plural pronoun ending. If the Hebrew word for “defect” were feminine, the DSS variant could be interpreted consistent with the meaning of the original “because it will not be acceptable on account of it [the blemish],” but the word מום is masculine, so either way, 4Q24 seems to have a typo here. The Cairo Geniza manuscript also appears to have a typo in that it omits the word “blemish” altogether! This word, by the way, is key in chapter 21:17-23 to describe what disqualifies a descendent of Aaron from offering sacrifices.

[F] This verb means “to distinguish/to be wonderful” so I take it as “solemnizing” a vow – making it stand out as special and serious. The only other Biblical passages with this phrase are: Leviticus 27:2 and Numbers 6:2 and 15:3,8 (regarding the Nazirite vow).

[G] DSS 4Q24 adds “or a wiped-out testicle.” Perhaps the scribe remembered the phrase “או גרב או ילפת” from 21:20 and kept quoting the rest of the verse from 21:20 או מרוח אשׁך׃… DSS 11Q1 (followed by the NIV), on the other hand, matches the MT but switches the words yabbelet and yallefet, which does not change the meaning. LXX & SP match the MT, so 4Q24 probably is the one with the typo. This brings up the point, however, that there is a clear parallel between what disqualified a man from serving as a priest and what disqualified an offering from being acceptable to God – there are several phrases in common between ch. 21 and 22 showing this. K&D suggest that charutz (maimed/amputated) answers to charum (disfigured/missing) in 21:18. Yebbelet is a hapex legomenon, related to a root verb for “flow.”

[H] Cf. Lev. 9. DSS 4Q24 and S.P. read תּעֲשֶׂו֣ plural “y’all shall make” instead of singular. The LXX reads singular with the MT, so I’m inclined to go with the singular “you” here, not that it makes any real difference. DSS 11Q1, which also contains this verse, is too obscured at this point to corroborate.

[I] The SP and the LXX omit the “and” at the beginning of this verse, but it’s in the DSS, so I’ll keep it. Again, it doesn’t make a difference in meaning. These 4 descriptors are passive participles. The first occurs in only two other places in the O.T. (1 Samuel 26:7 – regarding Saul’s spear in the ground, and Ezekiel 23:3 regarding the breasts of harlots in Egypt) Most English versions add the word “testicles,” following Jewish tradition, but this word is not in the Hebrew or Greek. If it is actually referring to testicles, then perhaps it refers to pagan religious practices such as castration (Rashi). Keil & Delitzsch note from ancient literature that these four actions describe ways that castrations were typically done.

[J] The only other place this noun occurs is Isa. 52:14 describing the “disfigurement” of the Messiah from the punishment He took upon Himself. DSS 1Q1 adds a yod before the last letter of this word, making the blemish plural instead of singular and omits the beth at the beginning of the next word (i.e. “they are corruptions”), but this doesn’t significantly change the meaning. The SP (and KJV) agree with the pluralization, but not with the removal of the preposition. The LXX, on the other hand, matches the MT, so I will go with the MT reading. Either way, it is the plural entity “them” who have the defect and corruption, and this seems to refer to the variously-mutilated animals banned from sacrificial worship in the previous verse, but which could be handled and eaten by foreigners according to other parts of God’s law. Are there any ways we might try to skimp on our offerings to God? A second, but less-likely interpretation, in my opinion, is that the plural entity with the defect and corruption is the “foreigners” themselves. From Gen. 17 and Isaiah 56 we know that Gentile ben-nacrim could become worshippers of God, and from Ezekiel 44, that Jews could be ben-nacrim because their hearts were not right before God. What do you have that is uniquely yours and meaningful to give to God?

[K] DSS (4Q25) adds an “and” to introduce the next sentence, but it is not to be found in the MT or DSS 4Q24, the LXX or the SP, so the extra “and” seems to be an addition to the original. (Also, the first או (“or”) in the verse is rendered ו (“and/or”) in the SP, but the missing letter makes for no difference in meaning.)

[L] The SP, LXX, and Syriac all add the pronoun “him/it” to the end of the last word, so I suspect that it was original and that the MT has edited it out. The only known DSS containing this verse is missing the last couple of words in the verse, so it is not available for comparison.

[M] “I am the LORD” is not to be found in the SP, LXX, or DSS, so I suspect that this is an addition from the original to the MT. Nevertheless, it is such an oft-repeated phrase in Leviticus that it adds nothing new or unorthodox to include it.

[N] SP omits a letter, changing the meaning to “makes them holy.” The LXX and MT are agreed, however on “makes y’all holy,” so I’ll stick with them.