Bring with his own hands: the task of bringing this offering to the LORD could not be delegated to another person. In some languages it may be more natural to say something like “he himself must bring….”

The offerings by fire: see 1.9 and discussion on page 5, in “Translating Leviticus.”

The fat: in some languages the meaning will be clearer if the words “of the animal” are added here, as in Good News Translation.

With the breast: literally “over the breast.” The preposition here has been interpreted in three different ways:
a) “the fat (which is) on the breast.” This is the interpretation followed by New Jerusalem Bible with “the fat adhering to the forequarters.”
b) The preposition may be understood in a strictly locative sense: “he will bring the fatty parts (placing them) on the breast,” but very few scholars accept this.
c) The preposition is taken in the sense of “along with” or “in addition to.” This is the interpretation of the majority of English versions including both Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation.

The word translated breast in most versions has been rendered “forequarters” in the 1985 edition of the New Jerusalem Bible.

Waved as a wave offering: this is not a separate kind of offering. It is more likely that it had to do with a particular gesture associated with sacrifices that required something extra. Both Good News Translation and New English Bible place the emphasis on the special nature of the sacrifice rather than on the gesture itself. It is probably best to translate here “present it as a special gift,” as in Good News Translation. This is similar to the problem discussed in verse 14, but the word used here is different.

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 .