offering (qorban)

The Hebrew qorbān (קָרְבָּן) originally means “that which is brought near.” Most English Bibles translate it as “offering.” The Hebraic English translation of Everett Fox uses near-offering and likewise the German translation by Buber-Rosenzweig has (the neologism) Darnahung.

See also burnt-offering and offering..

Language:  · 

Translation commentary on Leviticus 7:15

The flesh of the sacrifice: the flesh, or “meat,” here refers to that part of the sacrifice left to the person making the offering, after certain (fatty) parts had been burned on the altar (see 3.3-5) and others had been given to the priests (7.28-36). This may need to be made explicit in some languages by saying something like “the meat left for the offerer of the sacrifice.”

His peace offerings for thanksgiving: the pronoun his refers to the person offering the sacrifice (referred to as “one” in verse 11). Peace offerings is also a repetition of information found in verse 11, and for thanksgiving is repeated from verse 12. Since this verse is still a part of the same paragraph, some or all of this information may be left implicit in many languages.

Shall be eaten on the day of his offering; he shall not leave any of it until the morning: the same requirement is repeated in both positive and negative form at the end of the verse. In those languages where such repetition is undesirable, the meaning may be translated one time in either the positive or the negative form, but with added emphasis if possible. In some languages it will be convenient to drop the passive formulation in order to make the verse less repetitious.

This rule is similar to the requirement about the eating of the Passover lamb in Exodus 12.10.

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 .