¹sn The “grain offering” (hj*n+m!; here hj*n+m! /B^r+q*, “an offering of a grain offering”) generally accompanied a burnt or peace offering to supplement the meat with bread (the libation provided the drink; cf. Num 15:1-10), thus completing the food “gift” to the Lord. It made atonement (see the note on Lev 1:4) along with the burnt offering (e.g., Lev 14:20) or alone as a sin offering for the poor (Lev 5:11-13).
²tn The Hebrew term for “choice wheat flour” (tl#s)) is often translated “fine flour,” but it refers specifically to wheat as opposed to barley (Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 10). Moreover, the translation “flour” might be problematic, since the Hebrew term may designate the “grits” rather than the more finely ground “flour” (see Milgrom, Leviticus 1-16 [AB], 179 as opposed Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 10 and Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 30).
³sn This is not just any “incense” (tr#f)q=; NIDOTTE 3:913-16), but specifically “frankincense” (hn`b)l=; NIDOTTE 2:756-57).
<sup>4</sup>tn Heb “and he”; the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.The syntax is strange here and might suggest that it was the offerer who scooped out a handful of the grain offering for the memorial portion (Wenham, Leviticus [NICOT], 66), but based on v. 9 below it should be understood that it was the priest who performed this act (see, e.g., NRSV “After taking from it a handful of the choice flour and oil,…the priest shall…”; see also Milgrom, Leviticus 1-16 [AB], 177, 181 and Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 30).
<sup>5</sup>sn The “memorial portion” (hr`k*z+a^) was the part of the grain offering that was burnt on the altar (see the previous clause), as opposed to the remainder, which was normally consumed by the priests (v. 3; see the full regulations in Lev 6:14-23[7-16]). It was probably intended to call to mind (i.e., memorialize) before the Lord the reason for the presentation of the particular offering (see the remarks in NIDOTTE 1:335-39).
⁶tn The words “it is” have been supplied. See the notes on Lev 1:9 and 2:3. There is no text critical problem here, but the syntax suggests the same translation.
⁷tn Heb “…is to Aaron and to his sons.” The preposition “to” (l= [lamed]) indicates ownership.
⁸tn The words “it is” (aWh in Hebrew) are not in the MT, but are assumed for the sake of translation into English. The Syriac also for translational reasons adds it between “most holy” and “from the gifts” (cf. 1:13, 17).
⁹tn Heb “holy of holies.”
¹⁰tn The insertion of the words “it must be made of” is justified by the context and the expressed “it shall be made of” in vv. 7 and 8 below.
¹¹tn The Hebrew word is hx*m* (m*x*h).
¹²sn These “loaves” were either “ring-shaped” (HALOT 317) or “perforated” (BDB 319; cf. Milgrom, Leviticus 1-16 [AB], 184).
¹³tn Heb “and.”
¹⁴tn The Hebrew word (the root is jvm) translated here as “smeared” is often translated “anointed” in other contexts.
¹⁵tn There is no vav (“and”) in the MT at the beginning of v. 6 and the verb is pointed as an infinite absolute. The present translation has rendered it as an imperative (see GKC §113.bb) and, therefore, the same for the following vav consecutive perfect verb (see NIV “Crumble it and pour oil on it”; cf. also NRSV, NEB, and Milgrom, Leviticus 1-16 [AB], 185, but note the objections to this rendering in Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 26). The LXX seems to suggest adding a vav (“and”) and pointing the verb as a consecutive perfect, which yields “and you shall break it in pieces” (cf. the BHS textual note; Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 26 prefers the LXX).
¹⁶tn Heb “a grain offering of a pan.”
¹⁷sn Lev 7:9 makes it clear that one cooked “on” a griddle but “in” a pan. This suggests that the oil in the pan served for deep fat frying, hence the translation “deep fried in oil” (see, e.g., Milgrom, Leviticus 1-16 [AB], 185).
¹⁸tc There are several person, gender, and voice verb problems in this verse. First, the MT has “And you shall bring the grain offering,” but the LXX and Qumran have “he” rather than “you” (Milgrom, Leviticus 1-16 [AB], 185). Second, the MT has “which shall be made” (i.e., the 3rd person masc. Niphal passive verb which, in fact, does not agree with its fem. subject, hj*n+m! “grain offering”), while the LXX has “which he shall make” (3rd person Qal), thus agreeing with the LXX 3rd person verb at the beginning of the verse (see above). Third, the MT has a 3rd person vav consecutive verb “and he shall present it to the priest,” which agrees with the LXX but is not internally consistent with the 2nd person verb at the beginning of the verse in the MT. The BHS editors conjecture that the latter might be repointed to an imperative verb yielding “present it to the priest.” This would require no change of consonants and corresponds to the person of the first verb in the MT. This solution has been tentatively accepted here (cf. also Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 26-27), even though it neither resolves the gender problem of the second verb nor fits the general grammatical pattern of the chapter in the MT.
¹⁹sn The Hebrew verb <yr]h@ (h@r!<, “to take up”) is commonly used for setting aside portions of an offering (see, e.g., Lev 4:8-10 and NIDOTTE 4:335-36).
²⁰tn The words “it is” (aWh in Hebrew) both here and in vv. 10 and 16 are not in the MT, but are assumed. (cf. vv. 2b and 3b and the notes there).
²¹tn See the note on “it is” in v. 9b.
²²tn Heb “Every grain offering which you offer to the Lord must not be made leavened.”
²³tc A few Hebrew mss, the Samaritan Pentateuch, LXX, and Tg. Ps.-J. have the verb “present” rather than “offer up in smoke,” but the MT is clearly correct. One could indeed present leavened and honey sweetened offerings as first fruit offerings, which were not burned on the altar (see v. 12 and the note there), but they could not be offered up in fire on the altar.
tn Heb “for all leaven and all honey you must not offer up in smoke from it a gift to the Lord.”
²⁴sn The “first fruit” referred to here was given to the priests as a prebend for their service to the Lord, not offered on the altar (Num 18:12).
²⁵tn Heb “from on your grain offering.”
²⁶tn The translation of this whole section of the clause is difficult. Theoretically, it could describe one, two, or three different ways of preparing first ripe grain offerings (Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 27). The translation here takes it as a description of only one kind of prepared grain. This is suggested by the fact that v. 16 uses only one term “crushed bits” (cr\G\) to refer back to the grain as it is prepared in v. 14 (a more technical translation is “groats,” Milgrom, Leviticus 1-16 [AB], 178, 194).
²⁷tn See the note on “it is” in 2:9b.