Said to Moses: see 4.1.

Say …: see 1.2.

Any man of the people of Israel: since the phrase people of Israel is repeated here, it may be well to translate it by a pronoun, as has been done in Good News Translation.

Strangers …: see 17.8. Compare 16.29.

Gives any of his children: see 18.21. Here the word children may be understood to refer to any descendants of a person; that is, their children, grandchildren, and so on. Although the scholars are divided on the subject, the verb “to give” in this context may imply the dedication of boys and girls to temple prostitution rather than to giving them to be burned as sacrifices. But since scholarly opinion is divided, it is best to use a more neutral term if one can be found.

To Molech: while some commentators understand Molech to be a technical term meaning “human sacrifice,” it is probably better to take it as a proper name of a foreign deity. Compare Deuteronomy 18.10; 2 Kings 23.10; Ezekiel 20.31; as well as Leviticus 18.21.

Shall be put to death: this is a very emphatic construction in Hebrew which may be translated literally, “dying he shall die.” The emphasis is retained in translations like “surely he shall be put to death” (King James Version, New American Standard Bible). Other English versions underline the certainty of this punishment by using the auxiliary verb “must.” Other languages may say something like “there is no doubt that he will be executed.”

The people of the land: this means the whole people as a body, or “all the people.” Compare 4.27.

Stone him with stones: literally “stone him with the stone.” This expression is a rather technical one, indicating the death penalty by means of throwing stones at the guilty party. It may be translated “shall kill him by throwing stones on him.”

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 .