Literal Commentary on Leviticus

Again, the literal interpretation of the book called Leviticus. It is again in the same vein of the Spirit. For it is written in brief for the literal interpretation of the third book of Moses, which is called Leviticus. For it is called the book of the priests, because in it, concerning the priesthood, those things which in the priesthood speak of sacrifices and offerings and first-fruits and tithes and the diseases which came upon the priests, that they might heal them or not, as God commanded concerning the sacrifices that they should be offered to him. But how he bound the evil ones in their sin and taught them that there is no life for the animals, because he was about to redeem them from all evils through the High Priest Messiah, after these earlier ones through Abraham, who was born in the flesh. And Melchizedek formed a type in the priesthood and in the manner of his offering. And with the coming of the mountain and the extension in the midst, he gave healing to the sick and the law and the priesthood of Aaron, how through the offerings of the Israelites they came to the perfection of truth.

The book of this: it is not a narrative, nor is it wisdom or prophecy, but rather it is commandments which were established by God through the hand of Moses for the people of God, concerning sacrifice. And because man is composed of soul and body, and there are sins which are committed by the body, such as theft, adultery, and murder, and there are those which are by the soul, such as denial, blasphemy, and pride, He commanded that for the sins of the body, the limbs of animals be offered, and for the sins of the soul, the blood of animals. And for the sins of the soul, the blood of animals which is in the place of the soul. And the Lord called to Moses and spoke with him from the Tabernacle, after the Tabernacle was constructed and filled with its vessels, from the house which He chose and desired to dwell in; from there He began to speak. Each person, when he brings his offering, it is said "for the sake of" because of the sacrifices and because of the animals, and the reason for his offering is said "for the sake of" because of the sacrifices and because of the animals, and the reason for his offering. With a bull, a male without blemish; but among bulls, males with females are offered. But He commanded a male bull first, because the male is greater in honor. He called the sacrifice "reason" because it is brought to the altar. In sacrifice, also for the altars, He called them "elevations," and they would bless and intend for it with the priest who presents his sacrifice before the Lord. And he would lay his hand upon it; this laying on of the hand signifies the completion of the intention of the offerer. He called the bull first because of its superiority; the male, however, after it, in that males are honored with females. And he would cover the son with the cry, before the Lord; the son with the cry is called a bull which has not yet been yoked in work.

in this, the sacrifice makes known that the priest is worthy of it. And he is not the master of the offering, but he casts it into the fire, because the priest is able to be given. He calls the fire "offering" because it burns, and "offering" because it is offered on account of sins. Again, "peace" is offered, as when it is completely burned, again because it is offered for the sake of peace. Altars are named after offerings, and "olah" after "olah". The scent of the incense is the incense of frankincense and cassia. If it is a bird, the "olah" is by means of the bird for the whole species of fowl, whether sparrows or doves; he wrings its head, that is, he severs its cranium. He casts it between its wings, that is, he presses it against its back, but not on its side, and he does not divide its limbs as with animals. And he drains its blood, that is, he lets it flow. And he passes its crop, that is, he calls the stomach "crop", and he throws away the stomach and the food in it. He commands concerning fruits when you offer a sacrifice of first-fruits after animals, because trees that bear fruit do not have sensations and movements, but animals do; and he commands that they be offered with animals. His sacrifice becomes pure when it is sanctified and washed and becomes pure in a pure manner. And he places oil upon it for the indication of joy and the sign of mercy. And he places salt upon it, salt for the indication of divine wisdom which is in the sacrifice. And he binds it, and when he has bound it, he takes it, and when it is pure, he fills his hand with it and goes up to the altar. The remainder, however, is for the priest. The Holy of Holies is the division of divisions, that is, the division which is distinct from the divisions of the Lord.

is the fire. And the oil and the salt are taken with all the bread, because all the bread ascends to God. The oil and the salt, as the foods that are the offering, ascend from them alone, as for the memorial. The rest he calls "leavened bread." In Greek, "girdle." And the wafers, "round." For the measure of water. The "tagra" is a "tabqa," and also a "tartqal" for this water. And the pieces are small pieces, and they are placed on coals when something is done with it, and it has no lip. And some say that it is made from "shpude" and for fishing of water. Its width is "pate," and oil is poured over it like a "semiada," as this which is called "ashé srid." All leaven and all honey shall not ascend, he commands, because leaven is a type of drunken customs. Again, when it is left to leaven, it spreads and worms and reptiles and vermin creep over it. He commands that honey not be offered because it can cause corruption on all vessels and from them it is spoiled, and there is in them much uncleanness for the law. And all the offering of fine flour shall be salted with salt over all offerings, salt is offered, as if all foods without salt are not pleasant, and thus they are not suitable for the household of God, if they are not salted with faith and knowledge of God and with love. And from the customs of the people, he took this, for it gives taste to foods and confirms and makes firm the covenants of the house. For many who wish to establish bonds of love with one another, and by this they are made suitable.

Again, to the sacrifices he gives strength, and to the laity he makes the offering, in that which is fit for the fatness of the flesh without sin and without harm. Again, he teaches them the being and the taste of the offering: that by which they are bound to offer sacrifices, as if the salt were to be in you, sin and knowledge, and if you offer the offering of firstlings, he calls the firstlings the first head of the produce. The cakes baked on the fire are the sins that are baked and roasted, pure ones, for they are purified well. The bread of the offering is that which also the bread is offered with fat and suet, for just as the bread expands the cakes, so also the good will of those who offer the sacrifices expands to God. And the soul, when it sins in error with all of them, is by the soul itself a sign concerning the whole person by the scribe of this. The sin in error is that which is not with will and not with intention and not with knowledge. And he does one of those which it is not commanded to do. If the priest of Christ sins, his sins are that the sins of the priest bring the whole people into danger, because he is the head and the eye and the mind, as in the vision: and his sin is a stumbling block for the whole people; thus also his righteousness is an advantage for all, because he is the mediator and the shepherd among the people of God for the faithful, and concerning them the law calls to offer for his sake.

the place where the ashes were thrown, the place where the ashes of the sacrifices were thrown, they would throw them at the side of the altar, until it was very full; and then they would take it out. For this reason, the side of the altar was made like a circle. And just as concerning the priest, so he commanded the whole congregation, when they sin through ignorance, to offer a bull, a son of cattle, for the sin of the priest. For the sin of the priest is considered like the sin of the whole people. This which they covered the bull before the Lord, he did not command the priest who sinned to cover, but another who did not sin, whether the sin was great, that is, one who is great in authority or in rank. The offering of a goat, he did not command to cover with its blood, because the one who offers it and the one who covers it are the same person. Again, he also commanded a little authority, in that he commanded him to offer a goat, which is smaller than a bull. He calls a goat a "great goat." This which he said concerning all the transgressions: that if they sin through ignorance, it refers to sacrifices and first-fruits which were not given at their time, or to testimonies of falsehood, or to judgments which were issued unjustly. So when a testimony was revealed, he commanded that they perform its offering, the great according to its greatness and the small according to its smallness; and also to repay what was unjust, and to offer sacrifices to God. And a soul, when it sins and hears the sounds of oaths, is not established and its conduct is corrected by judgment in falsehood. And he who witnesses or sees, and he who sees him who has lied in his oaths, and does not cover him, both are equally liable; and if he does not show, he receives his sin upon him who saw him, indicating that if he does not cover him before the priest, he receives his sin, and he is followed like the one who sinned.

or the soul of the sacrifice in everything that is impure: everything that is impure calls for the offering of a dead body, or to impure dogs. This is in everything impure without knowledge and in error. If one offers in all impurity of women, it is a sign of menstruation and flux and other weaknesses. A sixth of a measure of crushed grain is. He shaves his head opposite his forehead, and he does not divide it into parts, but he plucks out his hair and cuts between his cheeks, and he does not divide it into parts, and he cuts it into two like animals. Others shave and wash him: not from his waist does he wash him, but from before him. And the soul, when it sins and commits iniquity, not in one way, because the iniquity with the priest is extended before God from his height, and he magnifies his companion in abomination, that is, of one of the parties, or he oppresses his companion in one of the parties. And he speaks in falsehood, which is like blood that is sought in one of the festivals, and is found in that of a liar, that is, in oaths concerning it, he pays it in its horn, that is, in its head, to the one who oppresses, and its fifth is added to it, that is, and one from five of his own is added to it, as if one from five parts of the oppression, and he pays to the one who is his own, and he hangs it on the day of his offering, that is, when he offers his offering, when he has paid his priest that which he owes, he brings his offering to the Lord, because he is angry with him on account of his folly.

others, that is, of the sacrifice that is his own, and the rest, when he does not command the priest to offer, but the sacrifice that was offered by him. For this reason, this matter of the five that he gives is like a kind of principal, and the surplus of the coins; afterwards he commands concerning the fire of the sanctuary that it should not be extinguished, not because of its own honor, but because of the honor of the sacrifices that are burned in it. Again, it was not fitting that the priests should always be turning back to that fire over which they had no authority to wander in places that were not proper, and to see the fire, and sometimes they were not able. And this, how many times they were delayed and sometimes the sacrifices were extinguished or were cancelled. And from this, suspicion arose concerning the priests and concerning the altar. Therefore, the law of the offering calls the offering to the fire. It calls it the offering, or because it is full and placed upon the altar. Therefore, the law and the warning concerning it. All night until morning, that is, not that it burned all night, but that it would be buried all night. For when the coals are well hidden, they do not go out. And the fire of purification is for it when it calls it. And he separates the ashes of the sacrifice upon the altar, and he throws the ashes into the pit of the altar to the ground. For to this he calls "upon the altar" until they take it out. Trembling makes his works slack and soft. Like a pressed thing, something thin, thin, that is, layers, layers. Because also a pressed thing, when it is made, is stretched in it, thin, thin. In the place where the offering is covered, sin is covered, that is, all of them are brought together in one place. In the place, that is, of the sacrifices, that sacrifice is offered, not in another's blood; not that one is the sacrifice and another the offering and another the sin.

The vessel of clay he commands to be broken; the vessel of clay, when something of the sanctity is cooked in it, because it absorbs all that is boiled in it, and so that you may not think that the power of sanctity is held fast in it, he commands it to be broken, lest the power of sanctity be scattered without cause. But the vessel of bronze, this he does not break, but commands that it be scoured and polished well. The wafers of unleavened bread with oil, concerning the leavening of leavened bread, he commands that they be offered with the unleavened wafers of the sacrifice; they are not, but they were beneath them. And also above he says that all leaven and all that is bad shall not be offered except here and at the feast of weeks. He commands that leavened bread be offered. And the reason for this leavened bread is this: as it indicates its sins and teaches another, that with the repentance of the spirit and with confession, sacrifices are offered. Again, the leavened bread is a sign concerning the ancient customs and the humiliations of the harsh servitude in Egypt, and how they were delivered from it by the help of God, and now they are free, that is, fugitives. The wafers he calls "griddle cakes" (semkayatha), and it becomes a sign for others and for their houses; that sign is the Hebrew word and is interpreted "joy." That which Moses took, a joy, and waved it before the Lord, he says, "Lift it up and wave it before the Lord, and show it to the people, that this is the manna." The shekel of the sanctuary, he says, is the shekel of the sanctuary, the shekel of the head, he says. This is their anointing, that is, their election, and by this the manna is distinguished. The covenant forever, that is, the standing, or the boundary.

And the entire camp was commanded to be broken, because it says concerning the priesthood of Aaron and his sons, and the whole camp was broken to show that it was all broken, because the leaders were appointed over them, and their successors were to be appointed. Before the tabernacle, because the whole tabernacle is moved by their hands, and there is no testimony of its own that is chosen openly and not in secret. And after he clothed them in the vestments of the whole priesthood, he said. And he gave upon the spread knowledge and truth, which signified the stone upon which was engraved the name of the pure and perfect: the water in which, on the surface, was bound that same serpent which was attached to it, like the bonds of the purse. That which the spread said: The days of your completion are the days of your ordination, in which you were appointed priests, because the seven days of the establishment of the tabernacle were those in which they were consecrated and appointed priests. After these, on the seventh day, which is the first day of the week, Moses commanded Aaron and his sons and the elders of the people to take their sacrifices and come to the door of the tabernacle of the sacrifice. And when they were broken, he made known to them the reason for their breaking: the command which the Lord issued, that you should do, that the glory might be revealed upon you, the glorious revelation that was seen upon the altar, or the vision of the fire that was preserved before him.

He approached before the altar, and offered his sin-offering. This first offering was of sacrifices, when the Tabernacle was set up. It was fitting that, as Paul said, he first offered for his own sins, and then for the people, because no one is pure from sin. Therefore this was fitting: when the head of the priests was appointed, he offered first for his own sins. And if someone says that he who sins quickly offers for himself first, this is not fitting with the truth. And a fire went out before the Lord and consumed the sacrifices. This was the first fire that came down upon the sacrifices, and the people saw it and were amazed. And after they offered all their offerings that the Lord commanded, they blessed and completed them. The glory of the Lord was revealed. This glory is called the mighty fire that went out from the inner Holy of Holies and consumed the sacrifices and the offerings that were placed on the altar. Others say that after Moses and Aaron offered sacrifices, that is, sacrifices by angelic ministry, a fire went out from the Holy of Holies and consumed the offerings. And Moses commanded that this fire be kept, never to be extinguished, as a memorial of the wonder. And Nadab and Abihu, men of his family, took it and put the fire in a brazier secretly and placed it on the altar. Then by divine ministry, from that place a fire went out and consumed the offerings. Others say that they drank and became drunk, and when drunkenness entered, they fell into the fire and it was extinguished. And because of Moses' fear, they brought in another fire, and they confirm this from the fact that shortly after, the Lord commanded Aaron and his sons not to drink wine or strong drink when they enter the Tabernacle, lest they die.

people. This second offering was of fire that came from the altar, and another reason why Moses did not command that they bring fire upon it, but that fire was placed in the pans, and not the altar, because it was not by Moses' command that they brought the fire into the sanctuary. They did not consider whether it was fitting that fire be placed in the pans. Others said that because of three errors they burned: first, that when there was fire in the sanctuary, they scattered it and brought another; second, that it was not a sacrifice that they brought into the Holy of Holies, because on the Day of Atonement Aaron was commanded to bring pans; third, that they acted in arrogance without the command of Moses to Aaron. Others said that because of drunkenness or revelry with insolence, the sons of Aaron died; they went by their own authority without command and brought fire outside, not for sacrifice, and it was not permissible for them to take it out. Not for sacrifice, as if it were not a time of incense, but as if for revelry alone before the people they brought it out, because they were drunk at that hour. And the fire went out before the Lord in the outer court, because they were in the outer tabernacle. Fire is called lightning, something that strikes and separates their souls while their bodies were not burned. For lightning, when it flashes in fire, does not consume it, but only ignites itself with its body; thus it happened that their souls were separated from their bodies, and their bodies and their tunics were not burned. And they died before the Lord in the outer tabernacle. Others said that their garments were burned and their tunics over the garments were not burned.

And it is known that this which is written, that they offered that which was commanded, and they took the censers outside the camp, and with the fire they burned their bodies and their garments apart from the censers, it is said: that the people did not say that they burned because of their sins; a chance event happened to them like a chance occurrence, or they were consumed by fire because of its abundance over the censers, and the grace of the Lord protected the censers and consumed the bodies. As anyone can know that this was from the Lord, and not from accident or chance. And if it had been accidental, the censers could not have remained unburned while the bodies burned. And if one says that the censers were sanctified and therefore did not burn, this too is a divine power. This is what the Lord said: that by my offerings I am sanctified, not as in another place where God spoke concerning this. But this requires that it be said: that this is the meaning of the Lord's jealousy, that even if someone were to offer fire in my house and transgress my law, I would not take it upon his face, but would bring out a judgment of jealousy against him, so that it might be known before many that I am holy and without blemish in my jealousy. Do not shave your heads, do not take from your heads the locks that are veils, which are precious, and uncover your heads for the sake of the death of these. Do not drink wine and beer, because the folly within you arose from the cause of wine.

others say that it was not because they drank wine that he commanded Aaron not to drink wine, but rather this reason: that if they, while fasting, burned, how much more so if they were drunk? And another reason: that they should separate themselves from the sanctuary to defile it, that is, that they who are burned while drunk in the act of drunkenness, when they approached the passions that defile the law, they did not separate themselves from them or distance themselves from them because of drunkenness. And they say that it is known that they did not drink wine, since on the day of the first of the week, which is the eighth day, in the morning Moses was about to offer the sacrifices, and a hidden fire consumed the sacrifices. And when they saw that the offerings were accepted, immediately they offered their firstborn in a foreign fire, and in that same hour they burned. And most of the teachers say that their bodies were charred but did not burn completely, because that is the resurrection and the treasure, that is, your Episemian, your Ochia, your Rozik, and your sacrifices. The breast of the sacrifice and the thigh, that is, that which is separated for you from the people, in a pure place, that is, holy. And the bird of sins follows its follower; Moses is its follower, when he learned that it all burned. The fat that was his was that which burned alone. And Moses was angry with the sons of Aaron, that is, because they did not eat the breast and the thigh from the sin-offerings.

holy of holies was the distinction of the sacrifices that they had from the blood: and on account of the sins of the people the offering was made: and behold, he did not enter from the blood into the inner sanctuary, he did not enter from the blood: completely it burned. Moses was angry with them because he did not take it upon the faces of the fire, because the love of God was more weighty upon him than the love of his brothers who made the calf: because of the calf he did not eat the sin-offering. For the sacrifice that is upon the faces of the sin-offering, he says the sin-offering, and just as the flesh is consumed by fire, so the sins are consumed. For everyone who entered from the blood into the inner sanctuary had no part of the sacrifice. Aaron, however, when he was moved from the calf, appeased Moses, not because he did this out of contempt, but because he was newly brought to the service. The joys are many, and all these are sorrows; or now, when they begin the sacrifice, all these come, as it would have been if they had eaten this. Likewise, without knowledge they did and burned in the fire; so also without knowledge, that which is commanded to them and which is fitting, they do something that was not commanded. And when Aaron asks, he says: If I had eaten the sin-offering on the day without fasting and drunkenness, they asked. So that Moses heard, and it was pleasing to him concerning his asking perfectly according to the event that happened: and his requests were pleasing. This animal was to them; the eaters are those who distinguish clean animals from unclean.

not unclean because there are impurities in the sanctuary: for he says to the Levites, "Like the green of the grass I have given you everything," and Paul says, "Everything pure is pure to the pure, and there is nothing that can defile, if it is received with thanksgiving." And the Lord was not something that entered the mouth that was taken away from the beginning, but this is the reason: because Satan taught the children of Israel to worship images and likenesses; and especially the Phoenicians and Egyptians began in this, and on account of that God separated the animals: he distinguished the sacrifices and distinguished the food and distinguished the unclean, so that no place might be found for the worshippers of idols; and for those who used to worship them, the pagans, he forbade the Hebrews who ate and sacrificed; and for those who used to eat pagans, they also sacrificed before idols; he forbade and declared unclean. For they are pure, and there is a sign in this, that he says, "In a place where pure and impure together you shall eat them," like the gazelle and like the deer. Even the Jews interpret this differently, that all animals are good and beautiful, and there is no impurity in them, because their nature is one and because they were created from the beginning; but when the children of Israel went astray after gods, and especially the Egyptians as he said, they began to worship likenesses of animals and reptiles; and for those who worshipped their images, they did not eat or honor them, because Israel was raised in Egyptian customs: for the pagans used to say that everything that lives on land and in water has a likeness in the zodiac and in the stars.

And the gods were known and like their forms they carved them: as the ox, the ram, and the goat. And the animals that were worshipped are known there. What Moses said to Pharaoh, that if you sacrifice the offerings of the Egyptian gods before them, they will stone you. For four divisions are found among animals and cattle: those that chew the cud and have a cloven hoof; those that do not chew the cud and do not have a cloven hoof; those that chew the cud and do not have a cloven hoof; and those that have a cloven hoof and do not chew the cud. For those that are inwardly honored as their forms in Egypt are not all known. This animal was called Akalya, which includes all animals under the name of animals. The hedgehog chews the cud and its hoof is not cloven; it is unclean. It is like the outside of water, and it has thorns on its back like the thorns of palm trees. And when it touches a man or an animal, it throws itself into its coils like a ball. The hyena is very sharp in appearance, and it is called the great wolf. It is black and snatches bread and everything it can. And males and females join together, and the people of Astramog are like it, and it eats coals of fire and thorns. The buzzard is a bird of prey, the fox is a beast, and it is with its sharp claws for writing. The owl moves about at night and hops and hops a lot, and it is said that it is an owl and lives in ruins. The stork has long legs like it, and it lives in marshes and in the banks of rivers and in the mud and the mole. The hoopoe and the starling live in ruins; the hoopoe is like the starling, but smaller than it. The starling is a monkey, a desert bird, and is called the woodpecker. Others say the woodpecker is the hoopoe.

The great horned viper: it is in the desert, and in its appearance, its movement, and its back it resembles a snake, and it has spots of black, white, green, and red. It is beloved. They were known, and many are its feet. The mole, when it gives birth to its young, does not labor in hunting, but its young bring it food and nourish it. The hedgehog is of two kinds: one in the water, called the water shrew, and the other, which resembles a dog, dwells in the mountains and is called the badger, and in its body it resembles an elephant, and its body is rough, and it hides its head when it sees fire, and it has two tongues, and when it finds a sleeping man, it enters his ears into his nostrils and sucks his blood, like a leech that sucks a goat. And on the ground it walks like a leech that sucks a goat, and on the ground it walks like a leech. The wild fowl, which resembles a domestic fowl, is small and light. The mole has no eyes, and it burrows silently in the ground. From the birds that eat flesh, he warns that they should not be brought in, and the four-legged bird should not be eaten, like the hoopoe and the bat. And from the birds he warns that it should be eaten, that which has, besides its four feet, thighs above its feet, which jumps in the air like the locust, the flea, and the grasshopper. All the young of the bird that walks on four—not on four does the bird walk, except for the bat, but on two, but because each of its feet has three claws, and another on the back of its leg for grasping, therefore it is said that it walks on four.

He commanded that the locust be eaten. The locust is the one of the desert, light, with wings that reach it, the thick locust of the locust: and it is green. If they fall upon water, and upon seed, they fall when the bodies of unclean animals are cast away, or anything that is unclean by law, upon the surface of the water: and they pass over them, the water that irrigates the seed that is sown, all that seed is unclean to you. And if any of their bodies fall upon any seed that is sown, that seed is not unclean, just as the water of a cistern does not become unclean, if one of the dead bodies falls upon the seeds, and water comes and falls upon it and does not reach them together, the seed becomes clean and unclean. A woman, when she gives birth and bears a male, he says that she is seven days, as in her impurity she is driven out, and she is seven days of her purification, and thirty-three days, they make forty in these, he commanded that she sit upon clean blood, because in that the body of the male is formed, just as in that forty days the dead embryo is cast away, as Moses fasted forty days, when he died to the world and to the manner of life, and at their end he received the laws, as the child at the end of forty receives the soul. And in the completion of the days of the fast of Moses, the mystery of the woman who gives birth is fulfilled. And this is the opinion of the blessed Ephrem and Philoxenus. The teachers John, Jacob of Edessa, and Moses the bishop Bar Kepha, in agreement said that the woman who gives birth is united with the body.

And because the moisture of the woman's womb is moist, the formation of her body is delayed until the fortieth day. The male, however, is hot and is formed on the right side, and not on the left like the woman. On this, the fortieth day is completed, because it is near to bitterness. Again, as in the case of the embryo, the formation of the male is taken from the female, and from the female the male is formed after forty additional days, so that the moisture and excessive heat may be subdued. And if it happens that both male and female are in one womb, that is the boundary for each of them. And when the female is formed in the first formation, she is in the square formation, and after that she is born, and in the formation of nine months. At the time of the eighth month, the male is there, and at the time of the seventh month. And because of this, one who is born at six months and at eight months does not live, because the lives of the seventh month are equal. There are those who say that the male, with the form of the brain, begins to be formed, as it is the root of the nerves. And there are those who say with the heart, as it is the root of the arteries. And there are those who say with the feet, as they are the foundations of the head. Concerning pure blood, because of its purity, he calls it pure. Purity is placed upon the head of its formation and its exit, as upon its skull and the height of its soul, so that when the impurity of its nature is known, the knowledge of God its creator is known, because there is nothing impure, and if it is shameful, it is impure, as if all creatures were impure. With its tears, the head of the one who is the bond of all creatures is formed, and if it is dead, it is impure, as Elisha who went out to the dead body of the child.

his limbs were formed. After this, the Scripture speaks about leprosy and the rest of the skin diseases, when they appear on the skin, what their nature is and what their sign is: leprous spots and eruptions, such that no pain adheres to them, but rather the remedies that are in the body, which sprout one from another, and concerning this they are called by their names. Because the Egyptians worship leprous spots and eruptions, it was necessary for Moses to distinguish these diseases, so that they would not say that the gods of the nations are like that of Israel. Again, it is said that it is not the nature of leprosy that is impure, but rather the sign says afterwards that if his entire flesh turns to whiteness, he is pure. And likewise, physicians, barbers, and the fuller, who are not sentient, receive impurity, but through those of the body: concerning those of the soul, it hints at impurities. And from the bodily ones to those of the soul, it heals; and because they were not sufficient to receive complete teachings, that which is hidden, which is received through the Lord, teaches the soul through those of the body: a mystery concerning those of the soul, and through the members of the body, a discipline to show the soul, as when one of them is swallowed up in these diseases, he suffers in his thoughts, and his soul is distressed, and the exit concerning his place, the dissolution of his house of blood, is not healed; a great order is made for him from the ends. The placing of the sign of leprosy is the disease of leprosy, as in abundance from an event that occurs, from one corruption of a dry and moist mixture, and from many coldnesses it occurs; and it also occurs from black bile and from phlegm. That which is from black bile is not healed. The Scripture, however, places its cause as sin, and it is hard upon him, in that it commands that he be confined.

also to the pustules and dry scabs that defile; because of this, and also in his sacrifice it is distinguished and separated from the others, and its defilement is such when it is in the flesh. A wart or a scab—a wart is a swelling, and a scab is that which peels off and spreads over the flesh. In a pustule, when it sprouts and appears in the form of a sore. And its appearance is that of a deep wound, deep and distinct, and it is separated from the skin; its closure is not by nature, but it heals by the word of God. Others say that it is bound by nature, and by laws something is marked for it. And if it is distinguished, leprosy consumes the whole skin; it is a sign that this is not defiling leprosy, but it defiles, as a warning not to sin. And if it appears in living flesh, and if openings are seen in it, it is defiled. A vision is one of the well-known types of wound; a wound, however, is a creeping thing in the body. He calls a vision a change of its own kind of leprous wound, in which signs of health and of night appear in its healing. In it there is white hair of the sun that was cut in the skin, which resembles a scale; that which is cut and removed from the strong mixture of evil that it received; instead of white hair of the sun, he says red hair. And if opposite his face his hair falls out from his scalp, and all his hair falls out around it. The forehead, that is, baldness, he calls baldness, when all the hair of his head falls out. Baldness, that is, opposite his face, his eyes become dim, or are rubbed and pierced, and his head becomes bare, or confused and disheveled, as if for the knowledge of his illness and the sign of his healing.

over his lips, and he folds his hands, and he becomes confused over his shame. Thus lepers act out of shame, as is known to everyone who is a leper. And he defiles his skin and his person when a man comes to his thigh and says that leprosy is present and defiling. The Hebrew says concerning the pustule and the scab. Now he says that leprosy of the testicles is a drinking sore, or a circle is a drinking sore: he calls it that which drinks and is not yet healed. He calls a circle a garment that is rolled up and placed over his wounds. Others call a circle the carbuncles of the kidney. The Hebrew instead of "circle" says "dula." A wound that occurs in the intestines and the skin: at the time of old age it occurs, and in others from a mixture of air. And he takes it away with a cautery, or he cuts it away with a knife, and throws in its place a patch or another piece and sews it. Two living birds he commands to be brought to the leper when the cedarwood, the soul, and the body are purified. And one bird is covered: this is the one that is covered, the mystery of the body that dies; this is the one that is left, the mystery of the soul that does not die. This is the one that is dyed, the living one, with the blood of its companion: just as also the soul is dyed with the passions of the body. This is the one that with one body brings both birds, the mystery that also with two different natures establishes each one in its head, but it is one substance, the brokenness of the vessel of clay, concerning the beginning of the body it makes known, and again it was not fitting that it should be for another need. The wood of the cedar that has no fruit. The finger of the one who is mindful. The cedar is that which is also covered in sin: the Lord gives to him and brings forth fruit, like that which grew upon you in your leprosy and was purified. And they made fruit that is suitable for repentance.

the leprosy for the demonstration of his mercy, because leprosy is a purifying sign of emptiness. And this one who shaves off all his hair for the demonstration that he has abandoned mortality and has been renewed as if his youth has returned. The outer spring: one because of the purity of the place, and another that does not defile, that which is purified for the places near the fires. The flight of the bird, the living one from the face of the field, the mystery of the soul's departure from the body. And when he speaks about the sacrifice of the healing of leprosy, he speaks about the leprosy that occurs in the house. The master of the house comes, either with much moisture, or with old stones, or with dampness, something that holds in the foundations and bases of the house. The priest goes out, or as the experts say, not by judgment and form did he confine the leprosy, but by the intention of the house. For if he had confined it by judgment, he would have entered the house and confined the leprosy; but it is evident that by the command and word of God he confined and restrained the plague. And they take other stones and the rest. In secret and new moisture he commanded that they be prepared as is fitting for the master of the house, that he might remain with the impurity of his vessels. In the custom of one who is leprous, he does not defile, not like houses; and entrails are covered and sought in shadows. And entrails are taken away in impurity. Living water he calls the deep: for waters, holy and pure and drinkable, which give life to those who drink them, and to those who live in them; but not with the impurity of mortality.

he speaks after this concerning the bite of a bear: a man, when there is a bite from a bear on his flesh, or the flow of blood from a bear's bite, or the wounds that occur in the internal organs and are transmitted to the organs of generation, or to a part called the pain of the stone or the stone. He would strike the people with these blows as one who fears God, and they would be corrected, so that if they had not sinned in their deeds, they would not be disciplined with pains like these. If the flesh is reddened with its blood, or the flesh is sealed, so that if it is not opened like a seal of flesh, without interpretation and reddening from the blood that descends, like that which occurs in the corruption of the flesh of reddening blood with a scab, but the pure blood of reddening, this is not the blood of a bear that is unclean. With the blood, if something of the nature of the flesh is mixed, or it is sealed and does not interpret and cast out, but only blood []. And a woman, when she is a bear in her standing, her blood is and she does not defile the houses of her house, for the blood that occurs in the months, or from that part, or from the organs of partnership. Seven days she shall sit in her menstruation because of her menstruation; the woman shall be defiled, as a reminder of the transgression of the commandment, because the cause of sin was menstruation, as in the pains that are born in children. Again, menstruation does not defile because there are those who use it in the mystery of sorcery, and there are also those who drink from it because of sharpness and intoxication, like the warning of these, and as a reminder of the transgression of the commandment, Moses declared menstruation unclean, while in its nature it is not unclean, for menstruation does not change from the blood of the whole body.

The name of uncleanness which is placed upon such things is placed causally. For everything that is from God is good, but it is through the distinction between purity and uncleanness that he restrains and commands the thoughts of the wild ones. As it was bound in its height, and it does not say "this is pure" or "this is unclean," because from Adam until Noah there was no name of uncleanness in the world, nor was the name of uncleanness sown in the world, nor was it sown here now in the world. He calls the seed of sleep the seed of partnership. Afterwards he speaks concerning the law of purification of uncleannesses which occurs once a year on the tenth of the first Tishri in the month. Because through a cloud it was seen concerning the mercy that was happening, a sign, or through a cloud it was seen there. One lot for the Lord and one lot for Azazel, he says, because of two birds: one that was detained, and another that was sent to Azazel, the angel, the governor of the people, as it were; and a bird was sent to him in the wilderness, when it took upon its head through the confession of the priest the sins of the people, as it receives the forgiveness of the debt, so that as God forgave the people their sins, he also would forgive the people, and he would not be permitted to harm the people because of their sins, since it was forgiven to him through the mediation of the priest. Others say that Azazel is called the anger of God, which is strongly fought against the evil ones; and Azazel is interpreted as "strong God." And two sacrifices the people offered every year: one for sins, for divine anger; another for grace, for divine mercy. In Hebrew there is no name Azazel, but one lot for the Lord and another lot for sending away; for what is sent is not written in Hebrew.

And he commanded Aaron to cast lots upon the two goats, by means of their being designated as lots. And he taught which goat is to be sacrificed and which is to be sent away, and that they should not say, "Perhaps this one is good or that one," because the lot is a matter of divine decision. Aaron placed both his hands; he placed his hand upon the head of the one teaching, and also the burden of the sins of the people he placed upon him. To the land of the inheritance, he was sent away by a man to a desolate place that is not cultivated, and there are no fruits in it for food, to show that thus: there are no fruits in it that are suitable for life, except through sins, when they are covered and purified. For he calls "lots" the writings that are written on a piece of paper, two names of God and Azazel, one on one scroll and the other on another, and they would bring the names before God, and then they would take them out and give them to the man who was appointed, each one upon each of the goats. For "lots" are distinct from "passovers," for "passover" he calls the plagues, like the one that happened with us, and he also calls "passover" those that bring forth fingers upon the plagues. "Lots" are these writings that are placed upon the plagues. He commanded that they sprinkle blood upon the altar, that they sprinkle blood upon the holy vessels, to show how evil sin is, that not only does it defile its perpetrators, but also the vessels that are brought near with the sacrifice, as it says in Haggai: "If a man takes in his garment and the rest.

The likeness of the scapegoat for sins: in that it runs and leaps because it is a youth, so also sins in the youth of the sacrifice are hastened, and he commanded Aaron to wash his flesh in water after the completion of his service, as the holiness that was in him, and to leave it in a holy place. Before he put on his usual garments and washed in water, he said that he who was sent to Azazel is like the scapegoat when it comes, washes, and defiles his garments, so that he does not defile the sanctuary with the sin and impurity that clung to him from the scapegoat of sins. A man who covers the ox and the door commanded that sacrifices not be offered outside the door of the tabernacle, not because of the distance of their cause: they would be occupied with the service of idols. The anger of the soul is kindled by blood, because blood is in place of the soul, to wild beasts, because he saw that they could not be made to resemble the soul, he taught his worshippers of blood that it fills the place of the soul, that they might be nourished by its eating as by a neck, and they transgressed the command of the Creator, and he warned them about the knowledge of the immortality of the soul, and as for its honor, every soul that eats the flesh of a torn animal calls the flesh of a torn animal [] that died by the hands of shepherds for one reason, and they used to cover it. Again, he calls the flesh of an animal that is killed with pain and distress, from the eating of which is foul and near to death and is hidden. Or that of a torn serpent, or that which shepherds cut with a wild beast and cover: but because the blood of these is not found well, all their eating is forbidden. He warns them afterwards: that with sins that are followed in the decree of the judgment. A man over all his flesh in the house of his body.

Do not uncover the secrets of your father, nor reveal his shame. For the good ordinances of marriage were established by God so that fathers and sons would not be confused, and so that the order of brotherhood and kinship would be distinguished, and it would be known who is the father and who is the son. For all these things are bound together in one kinship and love. For if a lineage were to take wives from its own lineage and house, there would be many divisions and schisms, and much blood would be shed. Do not uncover your father's secret, that is, do not sleep with your mother or with your father's wife, for in this the child is considered equal to the father, because both are one flesh. Do not uncover the secret of your sister, the daughter of your father or your mother, because she is your relative from all sides. Whether from one fatherhood or from one womb, she is born a woman. And the love of sisterhood is not abolished by the love of marriage, for when two become four, it is very good. For you have a sister who is inseparable from you, and you also acquire through marriage another sister, and your sister brings another brother through marriage, and thus one body is bound to another body, for this reason. Do not uncover the secret of your brother's wife, that is, do not associate with her, for even evil ones do not incite their companions to the work of evil, nor to sin. A lawless marriage is with a mother, a sister, a daughter, a daughter-in-law, and with animals, and a male with a male, and a female with a female of cattle. For these are abominations that the law prohibits.

Do not take two sisters to your bed, one wife. One man, two sisters, Moses forbade to take. But if one dies, the other may be taken, because when he sleeps with her sister, it is not said that he wrongs her sister and sleeps with her. For she does not have that virility by which she might participate with her sister as a brother has that of marriage, by which he can wrong his brother. And therefore, not with his dead brother, nor with his dead brother's wife. For it is not a mistake. And this very prohibition is also said absolutely. And therefore, not as it is said, that he took his wife and raised up seed for his brother, for that is not the action. Rightly he rejects the incest that is upon him. The earth was swallowed up and exacted its iniquity upon it, that it was swallowed up like the Sodomites. And it exacted its iniquity upon it, by means of placing a chief over it, who laid it waste and destroyed it. This, so that it would not deceive you as it deceived the peoples, concerning it which was destined to be with Jesus bar Nun, because the peoples were not yet destroyed. Others said, and concerning the Sodomites and Egyptians who were swallowed up, a hint, because they perished by the placing of a chief. The gods of the feast call the idols according to their opinion. The feast is with the action. The gleaning of your shame, do not glean, that is, the gleaning that falls from the rocks, do not glean. The place of olives is upon him who gleans. Do not swear by my name in falsehood, that is, I permit you to swear, but not to falsehood. Do not lie, that is, deep falsehood, as when a man speaks one thing with his mouth and another in his heart, that is manifest falsehood with lying.

Do not take the wages of a hired hand into your bed, as one who throws a stone and then sleeps with her in this: one who is hired and then falls from the work with you, and another who is divided in her mind over her wages, and you sleep with her and give her her wages before you sleep, so that you may be delivered from the reproach of the opposite side, from the side that rules you with violence. Do not eat the slander of your companion, for slander is the casting of stones against those who are far away when they are not near, like one who eats his neighbor in this sin: your companion and your brother calls to the sons of his race. In this, only those who were afraid of God at that time did not mix a mixture in your animal, like a stallion upon a female that is from his own kind, whether a mule or a camel, and like an Arabian camel upon a she-camel, and that one from his own kind is a hybrid. A hybrid is one that has two humps; a she-camel is one that has one hump. Because the species are separate, they do not give birth and raise in deceit or in blessing in the first fruits of fruit and vegetables. Do not sow your fields with a mixture, that is, mixed with sins and hairs, or with pits and thorns. The mixture of dough is leavened with many kinds of seeds, turned in baskets and with fingers. Do not practice divination by the beast of the field, that is, do not let a man raise the voice of the potter's clay that is called "kiamth," in which there is a good or evil omen, or a divination, or speak about a change of air and rain, because these things happen through the workings of demons. The beast of the field is called "the eater of flesh" for the bird. Do not grow hair, that is, do not make for them curls like women or braids like pagans. Do not damage the small face, that is, the one under the lower lip.

Others say that the whole face is a person. The incisions of the face: for the whole of the forehead it says, "as the whole face is a person." And the incisions of the face upon the soul itself: it calls the incisions those which are made upon the skin with iron or with a stylus, because of the mourning for the dead and the writings of brands: "You shall not make" those which are inscribed on the hands and arms with the names of demons and are called by the name of incisions; and they are cast into the pit of the abyss or something. And "You shall not give your daughter to fornicate," as is the custom of the pagans who formerly prostituted their daughters with the priests and thus came to partnership. "You shall not go after wizards and soothsayers": it calls wizards those who cut from the head; and soothsayers those who confess that they know hidden things. "You shall not commit iniquity in judgment, in measure or in weight": it calls measure that by which oil, wine, and vinegar are measured, and weight that small one by which silver and pearls are weighed; and it calls measure the qapiza, the sa'ta, and the griwa. And "if you bend their necks with the people of the land": if you have mercy on him, because he brought himself to death. "Its source is revealed": it calls its source as when seed and blood flow; and it is not like a source after the law that decrees death: the law imposes upon the priests. Upon the soul of the dead: by the law concerning corporeal things it hints at spiritual things. For if a visible dead person defiles the priests, how much more does a hidden dead person defile, which is the soul that died in sins? But if in their proximity, because of their weakness, it permits them that in their proximity they are not defiled.

They did not cut the incisions on their heads, that is, the tonsure and the shaving of the hair; and they did not shave the sides of their beards in the mystery of the demons; and its head they did not uncover, nor did they reveal their head, and they did not disturb and dishevel their hair. And the widow and the divorced woman who is defiled by fornication, it is not because when she separated from her first body, she has no other body with them except the word of fornication. Because the crown of God is upon him, that crown which has the name of God in four letters, YHWH, that is, letters. Because every man who has a blemish, he commands that he be a priest without blemish, because they should not be negligent. When the priest who covers them is lame or blind. Serem calls. To one whose face is flattened and crushed, and small and lowly, and his nose is sunken, that one whose nose is flat and simple, or narrow and cut off. Or one whose eyes are wide open: at night and he does not see. Or one who has holes, he has holes, the pupils that are in the eyes: that one who stands like beams in the eyes, or rather inside the chambers of the eyes, that one to whom also squints are brought. He calls bent the one who is bowed and cannot stretch out. He calls small the dwarf and short of stature. Hunchback to one who has flesh like a hump on his shoulders or on his back. That one found on the measure of the sign: that which is below the organ of partnership, all remembrance he does not eat with the sanctity. He calls the sanctity the firstfruits and the tithes; he warns about the generations and the offerings that are offered without blemish. The fire is finished for the reception; it is not that he offered it as it was received.

he who saw the one whose ears were small and whose tail was short. Others said that he who had something like a spot on his skin, or he who had large ears and was hairy and had a long tail and dragged on the ground. He cut off the one whose body was hard: and he crushed his hair: and he had nails that are called claws. He crushed the one whose bones were broken: an ox or a sheep for him and his son, they did not cover on that day. This teaches about mercy: that even if a father and his son are guilty of death, the son should not be killed with his father, but the son should be left for the continuation of the race, so that the memory of them should not be completely lost. Others said concerning the firstborn, it hints that they should not be covered with their fathers, but that they should be separated and given to the priests. After these, the festivals come when they begin from the Sabbath. There were three festivals: those over which they were not permitted to perform work except in Jerusalem, and they were not allowed to abolish them. One of the Unleavened Bread, which occurred on the fourteenth of Nisan, and they celebrated it for seven days; the second is that of Weeks, which is the memorial of the giving of the Law, which was their Pentecost; the third of Atonement and Tabernacles, which occurred on the tenth of the seventh month, which is Tishri the First, and they celebrated it for seven days of Atonement and seven other days. Of Tabernacles, because they dwelt in tabernacles when they came out of Egypt. These are the festivals of the Lord, which are called, in which are performed works and offerings through the sacrifices of victims, even with the sprinkling of blood. In the evenings, when they begin. The twelfth is the tithe that occurred.

One of the five of the paschal lamb. Bread and water, water, those who were rolling in sins or hairs. And afterwards they separated from him. And there is a time when, apart from the mountain, they separated from her. Seven weeks, seven sevens, which make fifty days, when from the feast of Passover until Pentecost it is completed. The feast of harvest, that is, of separation, from the feast of Passover begins until the feast of Weeks, which is Pentecost, that is, the memorial of the giving of the Law on Mount Sinai. For this feast was in the month of Iyyar. Two loaves and leavened and unleavened, he commanded to offer leavened bread in this feast, because of the signs of Passover and of harvest. And also of the offering of the first and last loaves. Literally, he commanded in it leavened and unleavened, not only new to know alone, but also to remind of the feasts that passed. For he called them firstfruits to the loaves, because the new is joined, or as for the memorial of the excellence of the heads of the fathers and the likeness of the Egyptians, or as he reminds them of their former sins, that they fled from the likeness of the Egyptians. Others commanded that in this feast they should not offer leavened with unleavened, because in it the new begins to enter, reminding them not of the old seed which they brought out and sowed. For something was small and was increased by many leaves because of sins, that is, on the old customs of iniquity he reminds them. The feast of the cities he calls that which is called in the villages, as all of them gathered to the temple because of the heat and the giving of the Law and the cessation from work.

After these things he commanded concerning the feast of Atonement: "Humble your souls in fasting, as you have been commanded for Atonement." After the ten days of the feast of the Congregation, they used to do as is fitting for the remission of sins. The Sabbath of Sabbaths is for you every day like a Sabbath, and it becomes for you as if the yoke is not only of labor and work but also of the grinding of sins, and because of this it is called uniquely "the feast." And after the feast of Atonement, he commands concerning booths, that they be made of the fruits of trees: citrons, and the leaves of palm trees, and myrtle, and willows—citron, ethrog, and willow, that is, of the branch. And after the law of the feast, he commands concerning the offering that was offered every morning. Twelve loaves in the form of summer and winter, six and six in a row, on the table in the form of four changes, two in summer and two in winter. On the sixth day the order was made; on the Sabbath day he says, as on the eve the bread was baked, and this is because they were not permitted on the Sabbath, and it was delayed until the next Sabbath, while the order of creation and its nature was being fulfilled. In those six days it was delayed because of the bread of the face. Others say that every day new ones were arranged and the old ones were raised up, and they brought an offering to that of David when the priest gave him the bread of the Lord. For there was no bread except that of the face, which they offered before the Lord to place leavened bread on the day it was taken. On the day when God was revealed with the sign of creation, the priests also were revealed in their food.

And Bar Salibi distinguishes the name and blasphemy: he distinguishes the name of God and blasphemy, that if God were to be angry with you, you would not take it. For the evil one who is among the living, the Lord commanded that he be translated: his father was an Egyptian and his mother an Israelite. Among the things he commanded them concerning the offering of sacrifices: bulls and rams and goats and lambs and young pigeons, according to the tradition of these, which Abraham established, and the offering and the mystery of the body and blood of Christ. The rest of the land: he commanded concerning the land of rest in seven years and for the poor; and in fifty years it returns to its owners, everything that was sold, except for the days of the week. Two weeks were commanded to be observed: one that was for seven years and the other for fifty years. And in these seven, fields and servants were not freed, but their fields and vineyards and olive trees within were sealed before everyone; in that great one of fifty, servants and maidservants and lands were freed. For this is the great jubilee, for the one who was oppressed and sold his land, or his son, in the middle of the weeks, what was it for the years until the end of the weeks? And as they were, he would take the prices of the sellers, so that when the end of the great jubilee arrived, the seller would not be harmed when the inheritance or the servant or the sold item went from him. The rest of the land: one year out of seven years for the poor and for the animals. The garment of your harvest: he calls the garment the seed that is green and stands from the rain and from the dew and from the rain. The branches of your branches: he calls branches the cut branches of the trees.

Again the seven weeks are called the lower baskets. He sanctified the fiftieth year and distinguished it for the release of lands and slaves. From time to time, from hour to hour, it was for his generations, his inheritance for his sons, the sons of his sons. Houses of fields, that is, houses of villages of estates, he calls thus, because they have no walls. Do not take interest and usury. Interest is: a loan and a deposit, how many extra zuzé the lender takes from the borrower. Also, for each zuz, even a quarter of a grain, and even a measure of pressed wine. And usury derives its name from the increase of money. And it is: how many extra zuzé the lender takes from the borrower, after an hour or after a month, of the fees for images. The standing stones for those that are planted and standing, if they are wood and stones. Stones of worship he calls those that are carved for them: likenesses in the likeness of men, and they worship them. And when they are stones, they make for them a head and hands and a form and feet. After that, head and hands and form and feet, after that they are entrusted with the reward of good works. You shall understand that the threshing floor for the vintage is like the threshing floor of grain and barley which was earlier, and also the vintage of olives and wine and the rest. For you, one after another, understand, because of the weakness of the cause. And a sword shall not pass through your land, that is, the sword of the enemy shall not rule over you. The breaking of the yoke of your servitude: remember what I did for you, how I broke the kingdom of the Egyptians and delivered you.

...walk in the simple stature, like free men who rule over themselves, when you are delivered from the servitude and oppression of the bondage of the Egyptians, and I raised you up above them. After this, he speaks of the punishment of evil servants. If you do not obey me, I will command a wonder upon you. He calls a wonder that which astonishes a man's heart within him, and he does not know what he sees, and when he stands, he does not know where he stands, nor what he does. He also calls a wonder a stone in which a body is struck and does not move, but is paralyzed and withered; afterwards, the man dies at the head, because he is nullified from sensation. The master of the wonder is seen as a scale that penetrates the flesh of a man like scales, and often it is dry and does not moisten. A rod that consumes eyes is that of excessive weeping, which takes from pain and heartache an addition, and purifies hearts; it also afflicts the leper. And I will make your names like iron, that is, famous for the clouds of rain or of dew, which he calls that which does not fall upon the earth. If you walk with me in a village manner, that is, in a measured way, with stiffness of neck and obstinacy, your faces will be ten and twenty, that is, he speaks of the scarcity that occurs with famine, like that which was in Samaria and also in Jerusalem before the captivity, with the scarcity of causes, and with the sieges of enemies, so that when they are pressed to count ten and twenty, they suffice to make one loaf of bread, with each one being a handful of flour, and they divide it piece by piece. And I will destroy your temples, that is, your places of worship. The word "temple" is a mixed word: from Hebrew and Arabic: "to worship" means to prostrate oneself in worship; it is interpreted in Syriac. Do not let there be for them a resurrection, that is, strength and standing, that is, strength and standing.

...the hardness of their hearts is broken, and they are circumcised in their foreskin, that is, the blood that was for them these evils. Then they are separated and broken from the hardness of their hearts, which is called foreskin. And afterwards they know that because of their injustice they received evils, for it was not because of this injustice that they were among the nations, but in the punishment of their injustice they are circumcised, confessing clearly that they are worthy because of their injustice of these evils. A man who wishes to separate himself, that is, who wishes to offer himself to God, does not serve before God in his standing, but gives the price of his work to the priest. And the fifty shekels are weighed on this scale of holiness. The interpreters have a division: some say that fifty shekels are a thousand zuzin; others say that fifty shekels are fifty staters, each shekel being four zuzin. In the seed of the foreskin, the hairs are shaved, so that when they sow one kor of wheat in these fifty shekels, the value of the land will be that of a kor of wheat. The land was heavy for them at that time, all the anathema that was anathematized by men, it was not shaken, not because of love of honor and many rebellions, and they anathematized themselves to God, as it was for them a place to stand in the house of God and to serve the service of the priesthood. It is good that the fear of the decree of death restrained them by this which said that he should not redeem, but he should be killed, not that he was killed. But the anathema is not permitted to be redeemed, because he was anathematized in the head to God. And he who redeems him cannot again because of the anathema placed upon him, and he cannot again be in the house of God as a priest.

...ed. The ban is distinct from a vow, in that a ban is not redeemed and no substitute is given for it. For the cause is at the boundary of death, and it cuts off the one who imposes a ban from any action of this kind. End of the Literal Commentary on the book called Leviticus. And upon us, peace.