Exodus 30:19-20 New English Translation
19 and Aaron and his sons must wash their hands and their feet from it.[a] 20 When they enter[b] the tent of meeting, they must wash with[c] water so that they do not die.[d] Also, when they approach[e] the altar to minister by burning incense[f] as an offering made by fire[g] to the Lord,
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- Exodus 30:19 tn That is, from water from it.
- Exodus 30:20 tn The form is an infinitive construct with the temporal preposition ב (bet), and a suffixed subjective genitive: “in their going in,” or, whenever they enter.
- Exodus 30:20 tn “Water” is an adverbial accusative of means, and so is translated “with water.” Gesenius classifies this with verbs of “covering with something.” But he prefers to emend the text with a preposition (see GKC 369 §117.y, n. 1).
- Exodus 30:20 tn The verb is a Qal imperfect with a nuance of final imperfect. The purpose/result clause here is indicated only with the conjunction: “and they do not die.” But clearly from the context this is the intended result of their washing—it is in order that they not die.
- Exodus 30:20 tn Here, too, the infinitive is used in a temporal clause construction. The verb נָגַשׁ (nagash) is the common verb used for drawing near to the altar to make offerings—the official duties of the priest.
- Exodus 30:20 tn The text uses two infinitives construct: “to minister to burn incense”; the first is the general term and expresses the purpose of the drawing near, and the second infinitive is epexegetical, explaining the first infinitive.
- Exodus 30:20 tn The translation “as an offering made by fire” is a standard rendering of the one word in the text that appears to refer to “fire.” Milgrom and others contend that it simply means a “gift” (Leviticus 1-16, 161).
New English Translation (NET)
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