Exo 30:19-20 | NETfull | STEP | and Aaron and his sons must wash their hands and their feet from it.

Exodus 30:19-20

19 and Aaron and his sons must wash their hands and their feet from it. ^{▼▼ That is, from water from it.} 20 When they enter ^{▼▼ The form is an infinitive construct with the temporal preposition bet (ב), and a suffixed subjective genitive: “in their going in,” or, whenever they enter.} the tent of meeting, they must wash with ^{▼▼ “Water” is an adverbial accusative of means, and so is translated “with water.” Gesenius classifies this with verbs of “covering with something.” But he prefers to emend the text with a preposition (see GKC 369 #117.y, n. 1).} water so that they do not die. ^{▼▼ The verb is a Qal imperfect with a nuance of final imperfect. The purpose/result clause here is indicated only with the conjunction: “and they do not die.” But clearly from the context this is the intended result of their washing – it is in order that they not die.} Also, when they approach ^{▼▼ Here, too, the infinitive is used in a temporal clause construction. The verb נָגַשׁ (nagash) is the common verb used for drawing near to the altar to make offerings – the official duties of the priest.} the altar to minister by burning incense ^{▼▼ The text uses two infinitives construct: “to minister to burn incense”; the first is the general term and expresses the purpose of the drawing near, and the second infinitive is epexegetical, explaining the first infinitive.} as an offering made by fire ^{▼▼ The translation “as an offering made by fire” is a standard rendering of the one word in the text that appears to refer to “fire.” Milgrom and others contend that it simply means a “gift” (Leviticus 1–16, 161).} to the Lord,