His finger: if the receptor language has no general word for finger, it may be necessary to indicate which finger was used. In such a case it is probably better to specify the index finger of the right hand.

Sprinkle: this is not the same verb as in 1.5, 11; 3.2, 8, 13, which has also sometimes been mistakenly translated “sprinkle.” In this verse the idea is indeed sprinkling and may be translated “cause to spatter.”

Seven times: the number seven represents completeness or fullness and was considered sacred in the Ancient Near East. For this reason it was thought to be especially effective in such rituals. A footnote explaining this detail may be advisable in some languages.

Before the LORD: although this phrase is left implicit in Good News Translation, it is significant because the LORD was thought to be symbolically present especially in the Most Holy Place where the Covenant Box was kept. In many receptor languages it will be better to make these words explicit.

In front of: that is, on the east side of the curtain dividing the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place, or the side facing the High Priest as he stood inside the Holy Place but outside the Most Holy Place, where he entered only once a year (see chapter 1—especially verse 34—and the arrangement of the Tent in the diagram on page 8). In some languages the meaning may be more clearly rendered “just outside the Most Holy Place” instead of in front of the veil of the sanctuary.

The veil of the sanctuary: Exodus 26.33 provides a description of this object. It has been translated “the sacred curtain” (Good News Translation), “the sacred veil” (New English Bible), and “the curtain of the inner sanctuary” (Moffatt). In some languages there may be no specific term for curtain, so it may be necessary to translate the “holy cloth” (that separates the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place). On the word “sacred” or “holy,” see 2.3.

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 .