This verse may need to be restructured in some languages in order to bring out the meaning more clearly. The structure of Revised Standard Version, if any one touches … and then eats …, following the chronological order of the events, may be adequate for some languages, but others may prefer “If anyone eats … after having touched…” (compare Moffatt as well as Good News Translation). Translators should consider both structures to determine which one is more natural in the receptor language.

Uncleanness of man or an unclean beast: perhaps better summed up as in Good News Translation “anything ritually unclean, whether from a man or an animal” (which would also include the following phrase).

Or any unclean abomination: this is usually understood as meaning “any unclean, detestable thing.” But some Hebrew manuscripts have a slight alteration of the word here that yields the meaning “reptile” (see Moffatt, New English Bible; compare also New American Bible “some loathsome crawling creature”). Although this is recommended in HOTTP, the majority of English translations have avoided this reading.

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 .