Moses: the Hebrew has only the pronoun here. Literally the verse begins “he killed it and Moses took….” This has led some commentators to believe that the first action was performed by Aaron. But the majority of the scholars feel that Moses is the subject of both verbs in spite of this unusual structure.
Killed it: or better, “slaughtered it” (see 1.5).
The blood: the ancient Greek version has “some of the blood.” This is only logical, since the remainder of it is poured out at the base of the altar later in the verse. For this reason it will be wise in many languages to translate as in Good News Translation, “some of the blood” and “the rest of the blood.”
His finger: see 4.6.
The horns of the altar: the altar referred to is the altar of sacrifice (see verse 11). The word horns refers to the corners of the altar. See 4.7.
Purified … and consecrated …: it may be difficult in some languages to find two different verbs to express these two ideas. The first verb contains the rather negative idea of removing “sin” or eliminating the mundane character of the altar. The second verb is a more positive statement of the same idea and may be translated “set apart” or “given over to God.” The root of this verb is the same as in verses 10-12. One translation sums up the purpose of this dedication by saying “In this way he consecrated the altar (of sacrifice) so that it might be suitable for ceremonies for the forgiveness of sins.” Another possibility is “he removed all sin from the altar and dedicated it to God.” To use the verb “dedicate” twice in succession, as in Good News Translation, may give the wrong impression that two separate acts of dedication took place.
Poured out the blood: that is, the blood that remained after having used some of it on the corners of the altar.
To make atonement for it: this indicates the purpose of previous actions. It may be that some languages will require a different word for atonement here, since this involves an altar instead of people (compare 1.4 and 4.20). New Jerusalem Bible has “cleansing the altar,” and New Jerusalem Bible has “performing the rite of expiation over it.”
Quoted with permission from Péter-Contesse, René and Ellington, John. A Handbook on Leviticus. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1990. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .