Since this celebration lasted for seven days, it is impossible in most languages to say that the fifteenth day is the feast of unleavened bread. Is the feast is therefore understood in the sense of “begins the feast” in Moffatt and Wenham as well as Good News Translation. In some languages one may prefer to say “is the beginning of….”

The feast of unleavened bread: on the translation of the idea of unleavened bread, see 2.4. This festival reflects an agricultural background and was celebrated at the beginning of the grain harvest. During this seven-day period the people ate unleavened bread and made an offering of the first fruits of their harvest. Compare also Exodus 12.15-20.

To the LORD: this phrase is left implicit in Good News Translation. As in verse 3, it indicates the sacred character of the celebration.

You shall eat unleavened bread: this requirement excludes the eating of any other kind of bread. In some languages it will be better to state this negatively, as in Good News Translation, or to say “the only bread you eat must be made without yeast.”

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 .