Pgs. 170-180

Ch. 10-11

SECTION XXV1.

SHEMINI.

IX. On the eighth day of the anointing of Aharon and his sons, and the eighth day of that consecration, being the first day of the month of Nisan, when Mosheh had erected the tabernacle, he took it not down, neither ministered any longer at the altar; but Mosheh called Aharon and his sons, and the elders of the sanhedrin of Israel. And he said to Aharon, Take thou a calf, the young of a bullock, for a sin offering, that Satan may not accuse thee concerning the calf that thou madest at Horeb; and take a ram for the burnt sacrifice, that there may be a memorial for thee of the righteousness of Izhak whom his father bound as a ram on the mountain of worship, both of them shall be perfect, and bring them before the Lord. And to the children of Israel spoke he, saying: Take for yourselves a kid of the goats, because Satana resembles him, lest he recount against you the accusation concerning the kid of the goats, which the sons (tribes) of Jakob killed, (Gen. xxxvii. 31,) and offer him for a sin offering; and a calf, because ye worshipped the calf, (Exod. xxxii. 4,) and a lamb of the year, that there may be for you a memorial of the righteousness of Izhak, whom his father did bind as a lamb, both of them perfect, for a burnt offering; with a bullock and a lamb, for a hallowed oblation to sacrifice before the Lord, that He may be gracious to you; and a mincha mingled with oil of the olive. For this day will the glory of the Lord's Shekinah be revealed unto you.

And Aharon and his sons, and all the sons of Israel, hastened and took what Mosheh commanded, and presented them in front of the tabernacle of ordinance; and the whole congregation drew near, and lifted up their heart fully before the Lord. And Mosheh said, This is the thing which you must do. Put away the imagination of evil from your hearts, and there will speedily (at once) be revealed to you the glory of the Shekinah of the Lord. But when Aharon saw at the corner of the altar the form of the calf, he was afraid to approach to its side. Mosheh, therefore, said to him, Take courage, and go near to the altar, fearing not, and offer thy sin offering, and make atonement for thyseIf and for the people, and perform the oblation of the people, and make atonement for them, as the Lord hath commanded. And Aharon approached to the altar with resolution,[1] and slew the calf for his own sin offering. And the sons of Aharon brought the blood to him, and he dipped his finger in the blood of the young bullock, and put it upon the horns of the altar, and the rest of the blood he poured out at the foundation of the altar, and sanctified it for the making of atonement upon it. And the fat, and the kidneys, with the caul of the liver of the sin offering, he burned at the altar, as the Lord had commanded Mosheh. But the flesh and the skin burned he with fire without the camp.

And he killed the burnt offering, and the sons of Aharon brought the blood to him, and he sprinkled it upon the altar round about. And they brought the burnt offering to him by its divisions, and the bead, and he burned (them) upon the altar. And he washed the inwards and the fat, and burned the burnt offering, at the altar.

And they brought the oblation of the people. And he took the goat for the people's sin offering and killed it, and made atonement with the blood of the goat, as he had made atonement with the blood of the calf of the sin offering for himself, which he had offered before. And they brought the burnt offering, and he performed it after the rite of the burnt offering which he had offered for himself. And they brought the mincha, and he filled his hands therefrom, and took of it a portion for its memorial, and burned upon the altar, beside the morning sacrifice And he killed the bullock and the rain of the hallowed oblations (peace offering) of the people, and the sons of Aharon brought the blood to him, and he sprinkled it upon the altar round about: and the fat of the bullock, and of the ram, the tail, and that which covereth the inwards, and the two kidneys, and the caul of the liver; and he laid the fat upon the breast, and burned the fat upon the altar. But the breast and the right shoulder Aharon uplifted, an eleva­tion before the Lord, as the Lord commanded Mosheh. And Aharon stretched out his hands towards the people and blessed them, and came down from the altar with joy, after he had finished to perform the sin offering and the burnt offering and the hallowed oblation. But when, after the oblations had been performed, the Shekinah did not reveal itself, Aharon was ashamed, and said to Mosheh, It may be that the Word of the Lord hath no pleasure in the work of my hands. Then went Mosheh and Aharon into the tabernacle of ordinance, and prayed for the people of the house of Israel, and came forth and blessed the people, and said, May the Word of the Lord receive your oblations with favour, and remit and forgive your sins.

Then, instant, instantly the Glory of the Lord's Shekinah revealed itself to all the people: and the Fire came forth from the Presence of the Lord and consumed upon the altar the sacrifice and the fat. And all the people saw, and gave praise, and bowed in prayer upon their faces. [JERUSALEM. And bowed in prayer upon their faces.]

X. But the sons of Aharon, Nadab and Abihu, took each man his censer, and put fire therein, and laid sweet incense upon it, and offered before the Lord strange fire taken from (under) the hearth‑pots, which had not been commanded them. [JERUSALEM. Outside fire.] And a flame of fire came out from before the Lord (as) with anger, and divided itself into four streams, (or lines,) and penetrated their nostrils, and burned their lives (souls) without destroying their bodies; and they died before the Lord.

And Mosheh said, This is that which the Lord spake with me in Sinai, saying: In them who come near before Me I will have the tabernacle to be sacred, that, if they be not heedful in the service of the oblations, I will burn them with flaming fire from before Me, that in the sight of all the people I may be glorified. And Aharon heard, and was silent; and he received a good reward for his silence.

And Mosheh called unto Mishael and to Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel the Levite, the relative of Aharon, and said to them, Take your brethren from the sanctuary, and carry them, without the camp. And they came nigh, and carried them with hooks of iron in their garments, and buried them without the camp, as Mosheh had directed.

And Mosheh said to Aharon, and to Elasar and to Ithamar, his sons, Unbare not your heads, neither rend your garments, lest you die by the burning fire, and there be wrath upon all the congregation; but be silent and justify the judgment upon you, and let all your brethren of the house of Israel bewail the burning which the Lord hath kindled. And from the door of the tabernacle of ordinance go not forth lest you die; for the oil of the Lord's consecration is upon you. And they did according to the word of Mosheh.

And the Lord spake with Aharon, saying, Drink neither wine nor anything that maketh drunk, neither thou nor thy sons with thee at the time when ye are to enter into the tabernacle of ordinance, as thy sons did who have died by the burning of fire. It is an everlasting statute for your generations; and for the distinguishing between the sacred and the common, and between the unclean and the clean, and for teaching the children of Israel all the statutes which the Lord hath spoken to them by the hand of Mosheh.

And Mosheh spake with Aharon, and Elasar and Ithamar, his sons, who were left from the burning: Take the mincha that remaineth of the Lord's oblations, and eat it unleavened at the side of the altar, because it is most sacred: and you may eat it in the holy place; for it is thy portion and the portion of thy snls of the oblations of the Lord: for so have I been commanded. But the breast of the uplifting and the shoulder of the separation you may eat in (any) clean place, thou and thy sons with thee, because it is thy portion and the portion of thy sons which hath been given from the hallowed sacrifices of the children of Israel. The shoulder of the separation and the elevated breast with the fats of the oblations they shall bring to be uplifted an elevation before the Lord, and they shall then be thine and thy sons' with thee, by an everlasting statute, as the Lord commanded.

And on this day three goats shall be offered; the goat for the beginning of the month, (or, new moon,) the goat of the people's sin offering, and the goat for the sin offering which Nachson bar Aminadab hath brought for the dedication of the altar. And Aharon and his sons went and burned those three. (But) Mosheh came and inquired for the goat of the people's sin offering; he sought it, but, behold, it had been burned, and he was angry with Elasar and Ithamar, the sons of Aharon who were left, and said, Why have you not eaten the sin offering in the holy place? forasmuch as it is most sacred, and hath been given to you for absolving the sin of the congregation, to make atonement for you before the Lord; and, behold, none of its blood hath been carried in within the sanctuary. Yon should have indeed eaten it in the holy place, as I have been instucted. And Aharon said to Mosheh, Behold, this day the sons of Israel have brought the oblation of their sin offering and their burnt sacrifice before the Lord; but a stroke hath befallen me, in those my two sons. Of the second tythe is it not commanded, Thou shalt not eat of it while mourning? How much more, then of the sin offering? If I had eaten of the sin offering this day with my two sons who are left, would it not have been all error, so that they too might have been burned by a judgment, for doing that which was not pleasing before the Lord? And Mosheh heard, and it was approvable before him, and he sent out a crier through the camp, saying, I am he from whom the rite hath been hidden, and Aharon my brother hath brought its remembrance to me.

[JERUSALEM. They have brought their sin offerings and their burnt sacrifice before the Lord; and I have been instructed that these of the sin offering are more weighty than those of the second tythes, of which it is not allowed to the mourner to eat; and to me hath been a great sorrow this day through the death of my two sons Nadab and Abihu: and consider, if, while mourning over them, I were to eat to‑day of the sin offering, I should do what would not be pleasing or right before the Lord. When Mosheh had heard, and the word was pleasing in his sight, he sent out a herald through all the camp of Israel, and said, I am he from whom the rite had been hidden; but Aharon my brother hath taught it unto me. And because Mosheh humbled himself, he received thereupon a great reward. For Mosheh heard, and the word was pleasing before him.]

XI. And the Lord spake with Mosheh and with Aharon, bidding them and the sons of Aharon admonish the children of Israel to taste their food in purity, and to separate on account of uncleanness eighteen kinds of food to be rejected. Speak with the children of Israel, saying: These are the animals which are fit to you for food, of every beast which is upon the earth. Whatsoever divideth the hoof and is cloven‑footed, and that which hath horns bringing up the cud among the beasts, that you may eat. But you may not eat of the kinds that (only) bring up the cud, nor (of them which only) divide the hoof, because (they are) born of the unclean. The camel, because he bringeth up the cud, but divideth not the hoof; he is unclean to you. And the coney, because he bringeth up the cud, but divideth not the hoof, is unclean to you. And the hare, because he bringeth up the cud, but divideth not the hoof, is unclean to you. And the swine, because he divideth the hoof, and is cloven, footed, but cheweth not the cud, is unclean to you. Of their flesh you shall not eat, nor touch their carcase; they are abominable to you. And these you may eat, of all that are in the waters: every one that hath fins and scales in the seas and the rivers, and of anything that is in the sea that crawleth, shall be an abomination to you, and an abomination shall their jelly and their sauce be to you; of their flesh you shall not eat, and their carcase you shall have in abhorence, and from the use of them you must keep aloof.Every one that hath fins nor scales in the waters shall be an abomination to you.

And these kinds of birds must be abominated: those not a finger long, or that have no vesicle (zephaq), or whose crop (kurkeban, ingluvies) peeleth not away,[2] are not to be eaten they are abomination; the eagle, the black eagle, and the osprey, and the kite, and the vulture after his kind, and every raven after his kind, and the ostrich, and the night raven, and the gull, and the hawk after his kind, and the snatcher of fish from the sea, and the ibis, and the bustard, and the cuckoo, and the woodpecker, and the white stork, and the black, after his kind and the woodcock, and the bat.

And every flying reptile that goeth upon four, the fly species, the wasp (or hornet) species, and the bee species shall be an abomination to you: nevertheless of honey of the bee you may eat. So also of these you may eat, of every flying reptile that goeth upon four; every one that hath joints above his feet to leap therewith upon the ground. Of these kinds of them you. may eat: the wingless locust after his kind, and the bald locust after his kind, the serpent‑killer after his kind, and the karzeba, which is the palmerworm, after his kind. But all flying reptiles which have four feet are to be an abomination to you; and by them you would be defiled: whosoever toucheth their carcase shall be unclean until evening. Whoever carrieth any of their carcase must wash his clothes and be unclean until evening. All cattle which divide the hoof, but are not cloven‑footed nor throw up the cud, are to be unclean to you any one who toucheth them shall be unclean. Every one that goeth Upon his paws of all animals that walk upon four shall be unclean to you. Whoever toucheth their carcase shall be unclean until evening. Whoever beareth their carcase shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening; unclean are they to you.

And these also to you are such as defile; the blood, the skin, and the flesh of every reptile that creepeth upon the ground: the weasel, the mouse, black, red, and white, and the toad, after his kind; and the sucking serpent, and the chameleon, and the lizard, and the snail, and the salamander. These eight kinds are unclean to you among all reptiles: whoever toucheth them, their skin or their blood, shall be unclean until the evening. And whatever upon which any part of their dead body may fall, as their members when separated from them, shall be unclean; every vessel of wood, or garment, or leather, or sack, anything in which work is done, in four measures of water it shall be dipped, and be unclean for use until evening, when it shall be purified. And any earthen vessel into which any of them may fall, any vessel in which they may be, shall be unclean and be broken; all food for eating upon which (such) water cometh shall be unclean, and any fluid which is used for drinking in any such vessel shall be unclean. And any thing upon which a part of their carcase may fall shall be unclean, whether ovens or pans they shall be broken, they are defiled and shall be unclean to you. [JERUSALEM. The ovens and pans shall be broken.] But fountains and cisterns, the place of the collection of running waters, shall be clean: but he who toucheth the carcase of any of those things (that may have fallen) into the water shall be unclean. And if any part of their carcase fall in the way upon seed that is to be sown, that which is sown dry shall be clean; but if the carcase of any of them fall upon water that is put upon the seed when so wetted, the seed is unclean to you. And if the limb of any clean beast that you may eat be torn and it die, whosoever toucheth its carcase shall be unclean until the evening. He who eateth of its carcase shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the evening; and he who carrieth its carcase shall wash his clothes, and be unclean till evening.

And every reptile that creepeth on the ground is an abomination, it shall not be eaten. And whatever goeth upon its belly, and whatever animal crawleth upon four, from the serpent unto the caterpillar which hath many feet, of any reptile that creepeth upon the ground you may not eat, for they are an abomination. [JERUSALEM. Whatsoever writhes upon its belly among all animals.] You shall not contaminate your souls by any reptile that creepeth, nor defile yourselves with them, lest by them you make yourselves unclean. For I am the Lord your God; therefore sanctify yourselves, and be holy, for I am Holy, and defile not your souls by any reptile that creepeth upon the ground: for I am the Lord who have brought you up free from the land of Mizraim, that I may be a God to you; and you may be holy, for I am Holy.

This is the decree of the law concerning beasts, and birds, and every living animal that creepeth upon the ground; for making distinction between the unclean and the clean; between the animal whose flesh may be eaten, and the animal whose flesh may not be eaten.