Oven: see 2.4 for a description of such an oven. While the adjective “clay” may possibly be understood as describing only the stove in Good News Translation, it is intended to qualify both the oven and the stove. It should also be noted that, while this adjective is added by Good News Translation, it is not in the original Hebrew, and according to some experts it is both unnecessary and inaccurate.

Stove: the Hebrew word found here does not occur anywhere else in the Old Testament, and its meaning is uncertain. It probably refers to a kind of portable hearth supporting two cooking pots. However, the uncertainty of its meaning is clearly seen in the variety of renderings found in English versions. In addition to stove without any further qualification, we also find “ranges for pots” (King James Version), “chafing pots” (Moffatt), “fire pot” (An American Translation), “jar-stand” (New American Bible), “cooking pot” (New International Version), and “clay stove” (Good News Translation).

It shall be broken in pieces: the future tense is used here to indicate something which must be done. The passive form will have to be translated by an active form in some languages: “They [indefinite] must destroy it” or “You must destroy 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 .