To be accepted: this passive expression will have to be rendered in some languages as active. Some suggestions are “If God is to accept the animal…,” “If you want God to accept your sacrifice…,” or, reordering the whole verse, “Unless the animal is a male without defects, the LORD will not accept it.”

Without blemish: see 1.3. The following verses provide a list of the various “blemishes” or physical defects which exclude an animal from being offered as a sacrifice.

Of the bulls or the sheep or the goats: literally “among the herd (see 1.2), among the sheep or among the goats.” On the latter two types of animals, see 1.10. In the present context this whole expression has been left implicit in Good News Translation. However, it will probably be better in most languages to make it explicit. This information is expressed in Good News Translation in the following verse as “any animal.”

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 .