Reference Library -
RESPONSA
Responsa
Answers to questions posed to our staff in recent
emails
Responsa Index
Question 2:
What does Leviticus 5:11-13 actually say in Hebrew, as I had a missionary prepsent
to me the following Christian transaltion of the verse and it appears that
the flour offering of atonement was laid on top of the other (animal) sacrifical
offerings. The New Revised Standard Version, Leviticus 5:11-13
11
But if you cannot afford two turtledoves
or two pigeons, you shall bring as your offering for the sin
that you have committed one-tenth of an ephah of choice flour
for a sin offering; you shall not put oil on it or lay frankincense
on it, for it is a sin offering. 12 You shall bring it to the priest, and
the priest shall scoop up a handful of it as its memorial portion, and
turn this into smoke on the altar, with the offerings by fire
to the Lord; it is a sin offering
.
Response:
I've checked a number of Christian translations of the Hebrew
scriptures, and they all make a similar error in translating
verse 12. The phrase in question is "ee'shay Hashem", which
most render as 'the offerings of fire to the L-rd'. This, in fact,
is an editorial expansion of the actual phrase. The word "ee'shay" is
the construct form of the word "aish" (which means fire),
therefore, the correct translation is "fire(s) of Hashem
(the L-rd)". The meaning is that the flour is placed on the
top of the altar and will be consumed by the fire that is lit
on the top of the altar. The phrase does not indicate that the
flour is placed on animal sacrifices that were already burning
on the altar. First of all, there weren't always animals burning
on top of the altar. Even if there were, the altar top was
large enough to place the flour elsewhere - not necessarily on
top of the animals. Furthermore, most Christian missionaries also
make an unwarranted assumption here. Even if they are correct
in assuming that the flour is put on top of animals that have
already been offered on the altar, there is no reason to assume,
as they do, that it is the remnant blood from those sacrifices
that gives efficacy to the flour. This is not indicated by
the text, which simply says that the flour is the sin offering.
Rabbi
Michael Skobac
Keywords: flour,aish, offering, fire,
alter, sin
