Thus: or “In this way” (New International Version as well as Good News Translation), or “By doing these things.” This element may be shifted toward the end of the sentence in some languages so that the translation reads something like “The priest shall make atonement for him … in this way (or, when he does these things).”

In any one of these things: that is, all the cases mentioned in verses 1-4. This may be rendered “for whichever of these sins he is guilty” (New Jerusalem Bible) or “in any of the above cases” (New American Bible). This is left implicit in Good News Translation and New International Version.

The priest shall make atonement …: see 4.20.

The remainder: this word is not in the original text. Literally, the Hebrew reads “it will be for the priest as a grain offering.” The ancient Greek and Latin translations, however, assume that something has dropped out of the original text and therefore add the word “rest” or remainder. Most modern English translations follow these ancient versions. But if the text is not changed, it yields a perfectly acceptable meaning (see HOTTP, page 167). This meaning is contained in the New Jerusalem Bible rendering “In this case, the priest has the same rights as for the cereal offering.” See also Traduction oecuménique de la Bible and New Jerusalem Bible. Furthermore, none of the other paragraphs in the section on the sacrifices to obtain God’s forgiveness deal with the question of what belongs to the priest(s). This subject is treated in 6.17-23.

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 .