Verses 17-30 deal with rules for deciding which animals may be chosen for making sacrifices. It is possible to include a new section heading at this point. New Jerusalem Bible has simply “Sacrificial animals,” while Bible en français courant inserts the heading “Rules for choosing animals to sacrifice.” In the case of Bible en français courant, this section also includes the concluding exhortation in verses 31-33.

Said to Moses: this is the same verb as in 4.1 and many other passages in Leviticus. But in view of the context, and possibly also for stylistic variation, Good News Translation has chosen to render it “commanded” here. The direct quotation of Revised Standard Version is made indirect in Good News Translation. See 2.1.

House of Israel: in many languages it will be unwise to translate this literally, since it is equivalent to the earlier expression “people of Israel” (literally “sons of Israel”).

Sojourners in Israel: this refers to foreigners living among the Israelites. See 16.29. HOTTP proposes a variant reading of the text that may be literally translated “any sojourner who sojourns in Israel.” But this variation is of little significance in a dynamic-equivalent translation.

In payment of a vow or as a freewill offering: see 7.16.

A burnt offering: see chapter 1.

Note that Good News Translation anticipates the expression without blemish in the following verse and introduces the idea here. It is then repeated in verse 19.

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 .