John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

Leviticus 2:1



INTRODUCTION TO LEVITICUS 2



This chapter contains the law of the meat offering, and gives an account of what it was made of, fine flour, with oil poured, and frankincense put upon it, Le 2:1 what was done with it; part of it burnt upon the altar, and the rest was the property of the priests, Le 2:2 how it was to be when baked in an oven, or in a pan, or fried in a frying pan, Le 2:4 what was prohibited in it, leaven and honey, Le 2:11 what was to be used in it, salt, Le 2:13 and what was to be the oblation and meat offering of the first fruits, and what to be done with it, Le 2:12.



Ver. 1. And when any man will offer a meat offering unto the Lord,.... Or, "when a soul", and which Onkelos renders "a man", so called from his more noble part; and, as the Jews say, this word is used because the Minchah, or meat offering here spoken of, was a freewill offering, and was offered up with all the heart and soul; and one that offered in this manner, it was all one as if he offered his soul to the Lord {s}: there were some meat offerings which were appointed and fixed at certain times, and were obliged to be offered, as at the daily sacrifice, the consecration of priests, the waving of the sheaf, &c.

Ex 29:40 but this was a freewill offering; wherefore it is said, "when any man will offer"; the Hebrew word

hxnm, "a meat offering", may be derived from hxn, "to bring" or "offer", and so is a name common to offerings of any sort; or from

xynh, to "recreate" and delight, it being of a sweet savour to the Lord, as other offerings were; others derive it from xnm, a root not in use, and in the Chaldee language signifies a gift or present, in which sense this word is used, Ge 32:13



his offering shall be of fine flour; of flour of wheat,

Ex 29:2 for, as the Jews say, there is no fine flour but wheat, and this was for the meat offering, 1Ch 21:23 and this was to be of the finest of the wheat; for all offerings, whether private or public, were to be of the best, and to be brought from those places which were noted for having the best; and the best places for fine flour were Mechmas and Mezonicha, and the next to them were Caphariim, in the valley; and though it might be taken out of any part of the land of Israel and used, yet it chiefly came from hence {t}; and according to the Jewish writers {u}; the least quantity of fine flour used in a meat offering was the tenth part of an ephah, which was about three pints and a half, and a fifth part of half a pint: Christ was prefigured by the meat offering; his sacrifice came in the room of it, and put an end to it, Ps 40:7 whose flesh is meat indeed, the true meat or bread, in distinction from this typical meat offering, Joh 6:55 the fine flour denotes the choiceness, excellency, and purity of Christ; the dignity of his person, the superiority of him to angels and men, being the chiefest, and chosen out of ten thousand; the purity of his human nature being free from the bran of original corruption, and the spotlessness of his sacrifice: and fine flour of wheat being that of which bread is made, which is the principal part of human sustenance, and what strengthens the heart of man, and nourishes him, and is the means of maintaining and supporting life; it is a fit emblem of Christ, the bread of life, by which the saints are supported in their spiritual life, and strengthened to perform vital acts, and are nourished up unto everlasting life, and who, as the meat offering, is called the bread of God, Le 21:6 Joh 6:33



and he shall pour oil upon it; upon all of it, as Jarchi observes, because it was mingled with it, and it was the best oil that was used; and though it might be brought from any part of the land of Israel, which was a land of oil olive, yet the chief place for oil was Tekoah, and the next to it was Ragab beyond Jordan, and from hence it was usually brought {w}; and the common quantity was a log, or half a pint, to a tenth deal of fine flour, as Gersom asserts from the wise men, and to which Maimonides {x} agrees; and Gersom on the place observes, that it is proper that some of the oil should be put in the lower part of the vessel, and after that the fine flour should put in it, and then he should pour some of it upon it and mix it: the oil denotes the grace of the Spirit poured out upon Christ without measure, the oil of gladness, with which he was anointed above his fellows, and from whence he has the name of Messiah or Christ, or Anointed; and with which he was anointed to be prophet, priest, and King, and which renders him very desirable and delightful to his people, his name being as ointment poured forth, Ps 45:7



and put frankincense thereon; on a part of it, as Jarchi's note is; and according to him, the man that brought the meat offering left an handful of frankincense upon it on one side; and the reason of this was, because it was not to be mixed with it as the oil was, and it was not to be taken in the handful with it {z}; and the quantity of the frankincense, as Gersom says, was one handful: this denoted the sweet odour and acceptableness of Christ, the meat offering, both to God and to his people: it is an observation of the Jewish writers, that the pouring out of the oil on the fine flour, and mixing it with it, and putting on the frankincense, might be done by a stranger, by any man, by the man that brought the meat offering, but what follows after the bringing of it to the priest were done by him {a}.



{s} Jarchi, Aben Ezra, & Baal Hatturim, in loc. {t} Misn. Menachot, c. 8. sect. 1. {u} Jarchi & Gersom in loc. {w} Misn. Menachot, c. 8. sect. 3. {x} Hilchot Maaseh, Hakorbanot, c. 13. sect 5. {z} Vid T. Bab. Sotah, fol. 14. 2. {a} T. Bab. Menachot, fol. 9. 1. & 18. 2. & Pesachim, fol. 36. 1. & Jarchi in loc.





Leviticus 2:2



Ver. 2. And he shall bring it to Aaron's sons, the priests,.... And this is all that he did with it; he left it with the priest, who carried it to the altar, to the southwest horn of it {b}: the order of bringing it, according to Maimonides {c}, was this,



"a man brings fine flour from his house in baskets of silver or of gold or of other kind of metals, in a vessel fit to be a ministering vessel; and if it is a meat offering of fine flour, he puts it into a ministering vessel, and sanctifies it in a ministering vessel;''



then did what follows:



and he shall take thereout his handful of the flour thereof, and of the oil thereof; as mixed together: the Jews say {d}, this was done with the right hand, which is very likely, that being generally used in this way: the Talmudists thus describe the manner in which the handful was taken; the priest stretched out his three fingers over the palm of his hand, and gathered the handful in the plate or pan, and parted it off with his thumb above, and with his little finger below; and this was the most difficult piece of service in the sanctuary {e}: though Maimonides {f} rejects this notion of difficulty, and says it was done in the common way, in which men take up a handful of anything: but Bartenora says {g}, it was not in the usual way, but much as before described: the priest put the sides of his fingers into the flour, and gathered the flour with the sides of his fingers within his hand, and took of the flour only three fingers' full, upon the palm of his hand, and no more; and that it might not be heaped or go out, he pared it off, above with his thumb, and below with his little finger; and this he affirms, according to the Gemara, and what his masters had taught him, was one of the hardest pieces of service in the sanctuary:



with all the frankincense thereof; this was not taken along with the handful of flour and oil; for if there was ever so small a quantity of frankincense in the handful it was not right {h}; for the frankincense, when brought, was put on one side of the fine flour, and when the handful was taken, then that was taken altogether, and put upon it:



and the priest shall burn the memorial of it upon the altar: that is, he was to burn the handful of fine flour and oil with the frankincense, as a "memorial"; either to put the Lord in mind of his lovingkindness to his people, and of his covenant with them, and promises unto them, to which the allusion is, Ps 20:3 or to put the offerer in mind of the great sacrifice of Christ, who was to be offered for his sins, and to be a meat offering to him: this was the part the Lord had in this offering, and which related to his worship, as the word used sometimes signifies, as De Dieu has observed:



[to be] an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord;

See Gill on "Le 1:9".



{b} T. Bab. Sotah, ib. & Meaachot, fol. 8. 2. {c} Hilchot Maaseh Hakorbanot, c. 13. sect. 12. {d} Misn. Menachot, c. 1. sect. 2. {e} T. Bab. Menachot, fol. 11. 1. {f} In Misn. Menachot, ib. {g} In ib. {h} Misn. ib. & Jarchi in loc.





Leviticus 2:3



Ver. 3. And the remnant of the meat offering shall be Aaron's and his sons',.... Which not only shows the care taken by the Lord for the maintenance of the priests, from whence the apostle argues for the support of ministers of the Gospel, 1Co 9:13 but denotes that such who are made priests unto God by Christ, have a right to feed upon Christ the meat offering by faith; who is that altar and meat offering, which none but such have a right to eat of:



it is a thing most holy of the offerings of the Lord made by fire; some offerings with the Jews were only holy things, or, as they call them, "light" holy things, comparatively speaking; others were heavy holy things, or most holy; or, as it is in the original, "holiness of holiness", the most holy of all.





Leviticus 2:4



Ver. 4. And if thou bring an oblation of a meat offering baken in an oven,.... This is another kind of meat offering, or in another form; the former was only fine flour and oil mixed together, and frankincense put on it, but this was made up into cakes, and baked in an oven, and not in anything else, according to the Jewish tradition {i}; he that says, lo, upon me be a meat offering baked in an oven, he may not bring that baked otherwise; and this meat offering was made into cakes and wafers, and then baked, as follows: and



[it shall be] unleavened cakes of fine flour mingled with oil, or unleavened wafers anointed with oil; which according to the Jews were made after this manner {k}; the priest put the oil into a vessel before the making of it, then put the fine flour to it, and put oil upon it, and mixed it, and kneaded it, and baked it, and cut it in pieces, and put oil upon it, and mixed it, and again put oil upon it, and took the handful, and it was the fourth part of an hin of oil that was divided into the several cakes; the cakes, they say, were obliged to be mixed, and the wafers to be anointed; the cakes were mixed, but not the wafers the wafers were anointed, and not the cakes. The oil denoted the grace of the Spirit of God in Christ, and in his people; and being unleavened, the sincerity and truth with which the meat offering, Christ, is to be upon.



{i} Misn. Menachot, c. 5. sect. 9. Maimon. & Bartenora in. ib. {k} T. Bab. Menachot, fol. 75. 1.





Leviticus 2:5



Ver. 5. And if thy meat offering be an oblation [baken] on a pan,.... Which had no edge or covering, and the paste on it hard, that it might not run out:



it shall be of fine flour unleavened, mingled with oil; signifying the same as before.





Leviticus 2:6



Ver. 6. Thou shalt part it in pieces,.... This answered to the dividing of the pieces of the burnt offering, Le 1:6 and signified the same thing; See Gill on "Le 1:6" see Gill on "Le 1:12" All meat offerings, it is said {l}, that were prepared in a vessel, were obliged to be cut to pieces; the meat offering of an Israelite, one (cake) was doubled into two, and two into four, and then divided, each piece was about the quantity of an olive:



and pour oil thereon; after parted into pieces,

See Gill on "Le 2:4"



[it is] a meat offering; as well as that of fine flour, or that which was baked in an oven.



{l} Misn. Menachot, c. 6. sect. 4. Maimon. Maaseh Hakorbanot, c. 13. sect. 10.





Leviticus 2:7



Ver. 7. And if thy oblation [be] a meat offering [baken] in the fryingpan,.... It is asked {m}, what difference there is between the pan, and the fryingpan? the fryingpan has a cover, but the pan has no cover; the fryingpan is deep, and its works (or paste) flow, or are thin, but the pan is extended, and its works (or paste) are hard or stiff; which Maimonides {n} explains thus, the fryingpan is a deep vessel, which has a lip or edge round about it, and the paste which is baked in it is thin and flows; the pan is a vessel which has no lip or edge, and therefore its paste is hard or stiff, that it flow not: now all these acts of mixing the flour, and kneading, and baking, and frying, and cutting in pieces, as well as burning part on the altar, signify the dolorous sufferings of Christ when he was sacrificed for us, to be both an atonement for our sins, and food for our faith:



it shall be made of fine flour with oil: as the other sort of meat offerings before mentioned.



{m} Misn. Menachot. c. 5. sect. 8. {n} Misn. ib. & Maaseh Hakorbanot, c. 5. sect. 7. Vid. Jarchi & Gersom & Ben Melech in loc.





Leviticus 2:8



Ver. 8. And thou shalt bring the meat offering, that is made of these things, unto the Lord,.... Either to the tabernacle, the house of the Lord, or to the Lord's priest, as it follows:



and when it is presented to the priest; by the owner of it:



he shall bring it unto the altar; to the south west horn of the altar {o}.



{o} Jarchi & Gersom in loc. T. Bab. Sotah, fol. 14. 2. Menachot, fol. 8. 2. Zebachim, fol. 63. 1.





Leviticus 2:9



Ver. 9. And the priest shall take from the meat offering a memorial thereof,.... That is, an handful of it; as of the fine flour, Le 2:2 so of the pieces of that which was baked, whether in the oven, or pan, or fryingpan:



and shall burn it upon the altar; the memorial or handful:



[it is] an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord;

See Gill on "Le 1:9".





Leviticus 2:10



Ver. 10. And that which is left of the meat offering,.... Not burnt with fire:



[shall be] Aaron's and his sons'; the high priest took his part first, and then the common priests:



[it is] a thing most holy of the offerings of the Lord made by fire; See Gill on "Le 2:3".





Leviticus 2:11



Ver. 11. No meat offering which ye shall bring unto the Lord shall be made with leaven,.... It might be used in peace offerings, and in the wave loaves, Le 7:13 but not in meat offerings; not only in the handful that was burnt, but in the rest that was eaten by Aaron and his sons; for so is the rule {p},



"all meat offerings are kneaded in hot water, and are kept that they might not be leavened; and if what is left of them be leavened, a negative precept is transgressed, Le 2:11.''



It denoted in Christ, the antitype of the meat offering, freedom from hypocrisy and all false doctrines, which were the leaven of the Scribes and Pharisees, Lu 12:1 and in his people that feed upon him by faith, that they should be clear of malice and wickedness, and of communion with profane and scandalous persons, 1Co 5:6 so the Jews {q} say, the corruption of nature is like to leaven, and therefore forbid:



for ye shall burn no leaven, nor any honey, in any offering of the Lord made by fire; as leaven was used in some offerings, so honey was brought with the first fruits, 2Ch 31:5 but neither of them might be used in offerings made by fire; they are forbidden to be burnt: the reason why they were forbidden, some think is, because they were used by the Heathens in their sacrifices, so Maimonides {r}, whose customs were not to be followed; and certain it is that honey was used in Heathen sacrifices: Homer speaks of honey as the sweet food of the gods {s}, and what they desire; and so Pausanias {t} relates of the Eleans, that, according to an ancient custom, they used to offer on the altar frankincense, and wheat mixed with honey: Porphyry {u} observes, that the ancient sacrifices with most were sober, the libations of water; after these, libations of honey, ready prepared by the bees, the first of moist fruits, next libations of oil, and, last of all, libations of wine; the Egyptians used honey in their sacrifices {w}; or the reason is, because it was much of the same fermenting nature with leaven, as Aben Ezra, and when burnt gave an ill smell, which was not proper in offerings made by tire, of a sweet savour to the Lord; or rather because a symbol of sin and sinful pleasures. Baal Hatturim on the place says, the corruption of nature is sweet to a man as honey, and intimates that that is the reason of its prohibition: it denotes unto us that such as would feed by faith on Christ ought to relinquish sinful lusts and pleasures; and that those that will live godly in Christ Jesus must not expect their sweets, but bitters, even afflictions, reproaches, and persecutions, for Christ's sake, in this life.



{p} Misn. Menachot, c. 5. sect. 2. {q} Baal Hatturim in loc. {r} Moreh Nevochim, par. 3. c. 46, p. 481. {s} ----- meli clwron, &c. Hymn. in Mercur. prope finem.

crhston melitwma, &c. Batrachomyo. {t} Eliac. 1. sive l. 5. p. 316. {u} De Abstinentia, l. 2. c. 20, 21. {w} Herodot. Euterpe, sive l. 2. c. 40.





Leviticus 2:12



Ver. 12. As for the oblation of the firstfruits, ye shall offer them unto the Lord,.... Or "in" or "with the oblation", as some render it; that is, along with the oblation of the firstfruits leaven and honey might be offered: the Arabic version is very express, "but for a sacrifice of firstfruits ye" shall offer both to God; as they might be, as before observed; so the Targum of Jonathan,



"for the leavened bread of the firstfruits shall be offered, and dates in the time of the firstfruits; the fruits with their honey shall be offered, and the priest shall eat them:''



but they shall not be burnt on the altar for a sweet savour; which they could not make, and besides were to be the portion of the priests.





Leviticus 2:13



Ver. 13. And every oblation of thy meat offering shalt thou season with salt,.... Which makes food savoury, and preserves from putrefaction; denoting the savouriness and acceptableness of Christ as a meat offering to his people, he being savoury food, such as their souls love, as well as to God the Father, who is well pleased with his sacrifice; and also the perpetuity of his sacrifice, which always has the same virtue in it, and of him as a meat offering, who is that meat which endures to everlasting life, Joh 6:27 and also the grave and gracious conversation of those that by faith feed upon him, Mr 9:50



neither shall thou suffer the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meat offering; this seems to suggest the reason why salt was used in meat offerings, and in all others, because it was a symbol of the perpetuity of the covenant, which from thence is called a covenant of salt, Nu 18:19 namely, the covenant of the priesthood, to which these sacrifices belonged, Nu 25:13 hence the Targum of Jonathan,



"because the twenty four gifts of the priests are decreed by the covenant of salt, therefore upon all thine offerings thou shalt offer salt:''



with all thine offerings thou shall offer salt, even those that were not to be eaten, as well as those that were; as the burnt offering of the herd, of the flock, and of fowls, and their several parts; all were obliged to be salted that were offered, excepting wine, blood, wood, and incense {x}; hence there was a room in the temple where salt was laid up for this purpose, called xlm tkvl, "the salt room" {y}; and which was provided by the congregation, and not by a private person {z}; our Lord has reference to this law in Mr 9:49 the Heathens always made use of salt in their sacrifices {a}.



{x} Maimon. Issure Mizbeach, c. 5. sect. 11. {y} Misn. Middot, c. 5. sect. 2. {z} Maimon. Issure Mizbeach, c. 5. sect. 13. {a} Ante Deos Homini, &c. Ovid. Fastor. l. 1. Vid. Horat. Carmin. l. 3. Ode 23.





Leviticus 2:14



Ver. 14. And if thou offer a meat offering of thy firstfruits unto the Lord,.... This, according to Aben Ezra, was not any of the offerings of the firstfruits, which they were obliged to, as at the passover or pentecost, or feast of tabernacles, but a free will offering; but Jarchi thinks it is to be understood of the meat offering of the Omer, Le 23:13 and so Gersom, which was offered up on the sixteenth of Nisan; and this is the general sense of the Jewish writers {b}:



thou shalt bring for the meat offering of thy firstfruits green ears of corn dried by the fire; these were ears of barley, which began to be ripe in the month Abib, which month had its name from hence, and is the word here used; these were dried by the fire, being green and moist, or otherwise they could not have been ground; for, according to Gersom, these were afterwards ground into fine flour:



[even] corn beaten out of full ears; and so made the finest flour: the firstfruits were a type of Christ, who is so called, 1Co 15:23 the beating of the ears of corn, and drying of them by the fire, and the grinding of them, denoted the sufferings of Christ.



{b} Maimon. & Bartenora in Misn. Menachot, c. 10. sect. 4.





Leviticus 2:15



Ver. 15. And thou shalt put oil upon it, and lay frankincense thereon,.... Either on the ears of corn dried, or on the fine flour of them when ground; in like manner as the oil and frankincense were put upon the fine flour of wheat, and upon the cakes and wafers baked, Le 2:1



it [is] a meat offering; one sort of it, and like the rest.





Leviticus 2:16



Ver. 16. The priest shall burn the memorial of it,.... That which is taken out of it for a memorial, the same with the handful of fine flour and cakes of the meat offering:



part of the beaten corn thereof; or that which was ground in a mill:



and part of the oil thereof, with all the frankincense thereof; as was done in the other meat offerings:



it is an offering made by fire unto the Lord, see Le 2:2.

 

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

Leviticus 3:1



INTRODUCTION TO LEVITICUS 3



This chapter contains the law of the peace offerings, and gives an account what they consisted of, and of the various rites and ceremonies used at them, as of the bullock and the rites appertaining to that, Le 3:1 and of the lamb, and of the rites peculiar to it, Le 3:6 and of the goat, and of the rites belonging to it, Le 3:12 and the chapter is concluded with a law forbidding the eating of fat and blood throughout their dwellings for ever, Le 3:17.



Ver. 1. And if his oblation [be] a sacrifice of peace offering,.... The Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan render it, the "sacrifice of holinesses", or "sanctifications"; so called, not because they were more holy than other sacrifices; for they were what the Jews {c} call the lighter holy things, in distinction from the most holy things, such as the meat offerings were, Le 2:10 but as Ainsworth suggests, either because none but holy persons might eat of them, Le 7:19 though this also was enjoined in other sacrifices, or because hereby the name of God was sanctified. These offerings were either by way of thanksgiving for favours received, or for free devotion, or as a vow, and in order to obtain for himself that offered and family health and safety, peace and prosperity, see Le 7:11 all which the word used signifies; and these sacrifices are by the Septuagint called "sacrifices of salvation" or "health", because offered either in gratitude for it, or to enjoy it; or else they were offered to make peace and reconciliation, and therefore are called peace offerings, and that they were for this purpose is certain from Eze 45:15 and Gersom says they had their name from hence, because they bring peace between God and men; they were a kind of a pacific festival between God, the priests, and the owner, and were typical of Christ, who has made peace for us by his blood and sacrifice. There is something very offensive to God in sin, it being a breach of his law, and contrary to his nature and will, provoking to the eyes of his glory, deserving of wrath, and death itself, and so not only sets man at a distance from him, but creates an enmity between them; hence a peace offering became necessary; such an one man could not bring acceptable to God; for neither his repentance nor good works would do; but Christ has offered up himself a sacrifice, and thereby has made reconciliation for sin and sinners, and procured peace with God for them; the consequence of which is spiritual peace here, and eternal peace hereafter; and so is a "sacrifice of peaces", as the Hebrew phrase here may be literally rendered, and is the proper antitype and full completion of this sort of sacrifice:



if he offer [it] of the herd; that is, a bullock:



whether [it be] a male or female; as it might be either; showing, as some think, that in Christ Jesus, and in the Gospel churches, and under the Gospel dispensation, there is no distinction of male and female, with respect to blessings and privileges, Ga 3:28 or rather as others, denoting both strength and weakness in Christ; strength in his obedience, and weakness in his sufferings; strong he was as the man of God's right hand made so by him, and yet was crucified through weakness:



he shall offer it without blemish before the Lord: signifying the perfection and purity of Christ's sacrifice of peace offering in the sight of God: "before the Lord"; this, according to Gersom, was on the west side of the court.



{c} Misn. Zebachim, c. 5. sect. 7.





Leviticus 3:2



Ver. 2. And he shall lay his hand upon the head of his offering,.... "His right hand with strength", the Targum of Jonathan says; perhaps both his hands were imposed; the Septuagint and Arabic versions read it in the plural number, "hands"; this same rite was used in the sacrifice of burnt offering, See Gill on "Le 1:4"; which might be done in any place in the court where it was slain, only with this difference: according to Maimonides {d}, there was no confession of sin made at laying on of hands upon the peace offerings, but words of praise were spoken:



and kill it at the door of the congregation; it seems as if it was not the priest, but the owner that brought it, and laid his hands on it, that killed it; and so the last mentioned writer says, that slaying the peace offering by a stranger was right; and as he and others {e} say, it might be slain in any part of the court; it was not obliged to be slain in the north part of it, as the burnt offering was, Le 1:11



and Aaron's sons the priests shall sprinkle the blood upon the altar round about; in like manner as the blood of the burnt offering was, and it was done with two sprinklings, which were as four {f}; See Gill on "Le 1:5" this was typical of the blood of Christ, called "the blood of sprinkling".



{d} Maaseh Hakorbanot, c. 3. sect. 15. {e} Misn. Zebachim, c. 5. sect. 7. {f} Misn. ib.





Leviticus 3:3



Ver. 3. And he shall offer of the sacrifice of the peace offering,.... That is, the priest, not all of it, but some of it, even what is after mentioned:



an offering made by fire unto the Lord; for what was offered to the Lord was burnt, and is that part of it which is next mentioned in this and the following verse:



the fat that covereth the inwards, and all the fat that is upon the inwards; both that which covered them, and that which stuck to them; and the fat being the best, it was the Lord's, and offered to him, and denoted Christ the fatted calf, whose sacrifice is best and most excellent; and which was typified by that which Abel offered up, and which being of the fat of the flock, and offered up by faith in Christ's sacrifice, was more excellent than Cain's, Ge 4:4.





Leviticus 3:4



Ver. 4. And the two kidneys, and the fat that [is] on them, which is [by] the flanks,.... Meaning either the two kidneys which were next the flanks, or the fat upon them, which was next to them; these, and the burning of them, may signify the burning zeal and flaming love and affections of Christ for his people, which instructed him, and put him upon offering himself a sacrifice of peace offering for them, see

Ps 16:7



and the caul above the liver, with the kidneys, it shall he take away; or the caul, which is a thin membrane or skin, in which the liver is enclosed, with the liver, together with the kidneys, he separated from the rest in order to burn, at least with a part of the liver; so Jarchi and Gersom interpret it, that he should take a little of the liver with the caul; and indeed some think the word rendered "caul" signifies a part of the liver, that which the Greeks call the "table", the broader part of it, like a table; and which word the Talmudists {g} retain, who speak of adbkd hyvprj, "the table of the liver"; and by which Jarchi on Ex 29:13 interprets the caul above the liver, the same as here.



{g} T. Bab. Cholin, fol. 46. 1.





Leviticus 3:5



Ver. 5. And Aaron's sons shall burn it on the altar,.... That is, the fat of the several parts before mentioned; this signified the sufferings of Christ, by which our peace is made, and by whose death we are reconciled to God: this rite of burning the fat of the inwards of sacrifices was used by the Pagans, and is still retained by the idolatrous Indians to this day {h}:



upon the burnt sacrifice; which, as Gersom says, was the burnt offering of the daily sacrifice of the morning, which was offered first of all sacrifices; so Jarchi says,



"we learn that the daily burnt offering preceded every other offering:''



this was an eminent type of Christ's sacrifice:



which is upon the wood that [is] on the fire; that is, which burnt offering was laid upon the wood on the fire, and the fat of the peace offering upon that:



[it is] an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord; as Christ's sacrifice is, Eph 5:2

See Gill on "Le 1:9".



{h} See the Abridgment of Mr. Brainerd's Journal, published in 1748, p. 30.





Leviticus 3:6



Ver. 6. And if his offering, for a sacrifice of peace offering unto Lord, be of the flock,.... As it might be: and be either male or female; which he pleased:



he shall offer [it] without blemish; See Gill on "Le 3:1".





Leviticus 3:7



Ver. 7. If he offer a lamb for his offering,.... Which was of the flock, and must be of the first year; this is a rule laid down by Maimonides {i}, that where ever this word is used in the law, it signifies one of the first year:



then shall he offer it before the Lord; bring it into the court, and present it to the priest.



{i} Maaseh Hakorbanot, c. 1. sect. 14.





Leviticus 3:8



Ver. 8. And he shall lay his hand upon the head of his offering,.... The Targum of Jonathan adds here, as before,



"his right hand with strength:''



and kill it before the tabernacle of the congregation; in the court, in any part of it; for, as Gersom says, all places were right for this; the man that brought it killed it, or the butcher, as the Targum of Jonathan says here also as on Le 3:2:



and Aaron's sons shall sprinkle the blood thereof round about upon the altar; upon the four horns of it, See Gill on "Le 3:2".





Leviticus 3:9



Ver. 9. And he shall offer of the sacrifice of the peace offering,.... That is, the priest, Aaron, or one of his two sons:



an offering made by fire unto the Lord; that part of it which was to be burnt with fire; and in the peace offering of the lamb there was something more than in the peace offering of the bullock, or of the goat, which follows:



the fat thereof, [and] the whole rump, it shall he take off hard by the backbone; not the rump or tail, but the fat of it; the copulative "and" is not in the text; wherefore Aben Ezra says, that Gaon was mistaken in reading it as we do, "the fat there of", and "the whole rump"; but it should be rendered, "its fat of the whole rump", or "tail": in the eastern countries {k}, some sheep and lambs had very large tails, and very fat ones, the least weighing ten or twelve pounds, the largest above forty, and were put in little carts for ease and safety; see Gill "Ex 29:22" now such as were "whole", entire, perfect, and without blemish, as the word signifies, the fat of them that was next to the backbone was to be taken off of such as were brought for peace offerings:



and the fat that covereth the inwards, and all the fat that is upon the inwards; as before; See Gill on "Le 3:3".



{k} Vid. Ludolf. Hist. Ethiop. l. 1. c. 10. sect. 14.





Leviticus 3:10



Ver. 10. And the two kidneys,.... The same direction is given here as about the bullock of the peace offering, See Gill on "Le 3:4".





Leviticus 3:11



Ver. 11. And the priest shall burn it upon the altar,.... The fat of the tail, of the inwards, the two kidneys, and the caul of the liver:



[it is] the food of the offering made by fire unto the Lord; or "bread"; this part of the offering that was burnt belonged to the Lord; it was his food, and what was accepted of by him, and therefore is elsewhere called the bread of God, Le 21:8.





Leviticus 3:12



Ver. 12. And if his offering be a goat,.... As it might be, and which also was of the flock:



then he shall offer it before the Lord; in the same place and manner as the bullock and the lamb, Le 3:1





Leviticus 3:13



Ver. 13. And he shall lay his hand upon the head of it,.... His right hand, according to the Targum of Jonathan, as before; the same directions are given for the killing of it, and for the sprinkling of its blood, as in the offerings of the bullock and lamb.





Leviticus 3:14



Ver. 14. And he shall offer thereof his offering,.... The same rules are laid down about taking the fat off of several parts as in the sacrifice of the bullock; but nothing is said of the fat of the rump and tail, as is said of the lamb.





Leviticus 3:15



Ver. 15. See Gill on "Le 3:14".





Leviticus 3:16



Ver. 16. And the priest shall burn them upon the altar,.... Which shows that not the fat only, but the inwards and the kidneys, were burnt also; so Maimonides says {l}, that the priest salted the parts, and burned them upon the altar; and the priests might not have the breast and shoulder (which were what belonged to them) until the parts were burnt:



[it is] the food of the offering made by fire; which the Lord ate of, or accepted of:



for a sweet savour; as a type of the sweet smelling sacrifice of Christ, with which he is well pleased;



all the fat is the Lord's; that is, all that was upon the parts mentioned in the several sacrifices of peace offerings, which was to be taken off and burnt: though the Jewish writers understand it of all fat in general, and so interpret the law that follows.



{l} Ut supra, (Maaseh Hakorbanot) c. 9. sect. 11.





Leviticus 3:17



Ver. 17. [It shall be] a perpetual statute for your generations,.... That is, unto the end of the Mosaic dispensation, until the Messiah comes, and his sacrifice is offered up, and his blood is shed, till that time in all generations: and



throughout all your dwellings; wherever their habitations should be, it is a law to be observed:



that ye eat neither fat nor blood; the Jewish writers think, that this is not to be restrained to the fat and blood of sacrifices, because these were not offered in their dwellings, but in the tabernacle and temple, and therefore interpret it of fat and blood in general; but what fat and blood are meant may be seen in Le 7:23 the Targum of Jonathan adds,



"but upon the top of the altar it shall be offered to the name of the Lord,''



which seems to restrain it to the sacrifices.

 

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

Leviticus 4:1



INTRODUCTION TO LEVITICUS 4



This chapter contains the law of the sin offering, which was offered for sins committed through ignorance, error, and mistake, Le 4:1 and gives an account of the matter of them, and the rites belonging thereunto, which were different according to the persons for whom it was made, as for the anointed priest, Le 4:3 for the whole congregation, Le 4:13 and for the ruler, Le 4:22 and for any of the common people, Le 4:27.



Ver. 1. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying. Continued to speak to him, or, after some pause made, proceeded to speak to him, and give things in commandment concerning the sin offering, what it should be, and for whom, as follows.





Leviticus 4:2



Ver. 2. Speak unto the children of Israel, [saying],.... For this law concerning the sin offering, as the rest, only belonged to them, and such as were proselyted to them:



if a soul should sin through ignorance; sin is from the soul, though committed by the body; it is the soul that sins, Eze 18:4 it includes, as Aben Ezra observes, both Israelites and proselytes; who sinned through ignorance either of the law, that such things were forbidden, or of having committed them, they being done unobserved, and through inadvertency; or were forgotten that they were done, or were done through error and mistake; these sins are what the apostle calls the errors of the people, their strayings out of the way through ignorance and inadvertency, Heb 5:2 such sins as a man is overtaken with unawares, and is drawn into at once through temptation and the prevalence of corruption; these are the errors and secret faults which David distinguishes from presumptuous sins,

Ps 19:12:



against any of the commandments of the Lord ([concerning things] which ought not to be done.) The Jewish writers {m} distinguish the commandments of the Lord into affirmative and negative, and make their number to be six hundred and thirteen; two hundred and forty eight are affirmative, according to the number of bones in a man's body, and three hundred sixty five are negative ones, according to the number of the days of the year; and they observe {n}, it is only the transgression of negative precepts that is here meant, and for which a sin offering was to be brought:



and shall do against any of them; it must be something done, and not merely said: hence the Jews {o} say, that as the neglect of circumcision, and of the passover, does not come under this law, because they are affirmative precepts; so neither blasphemy, because there is nothing done, only something said: of these sins of ignorance, they give instances as follows; if any man eats the fat that is about the kidneys, thinking it is the fat that is about the heart; or that lies with a woman forbidden by the law, thinking her to be his wife; or that commits idolatry, by bowing to the idol, thinking that the law forbids sacrifice, incense, and libation, but not bowing; or that profanes the sabbath, thinking it is a common day {p}.



{m} T. Bab. Maccot, fol. 23. 2. {n} Maimon. in Misn. Horayot, c. 2. sect. 3. Bartenora in Misn. Ceritot, c. 1. sect. 1. Gersom in loc. {o} Misn. Ceritot, c. 1. sect. 2. & Bartenora in ib. Maimon. Hilchot Shegagot, c. 1. sect. 2. {p} Maimon & Bartenora in Misn. Ceritot, ib.





Leviticus 4:3



Ver. 3. If the priest that is anointed do sin,.... That is, the high priest, as the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan, and the Septuagint version, render it; who in after times was only anointed, though at first Aaron's sons were anointed with him; so an high priest is described in Le 21:10 and such an one was liable to sin, and often did; which shows not only that the greatest and best of men are not without sin, but proves what the apostle observes, that the law made men high priests which had infirmity, even sinful infirmities, who needed to offer for themselves as well as for the people; by which it appeared that perfection could not be had by the Levitical priesthood, and that it was proper it should cease, and another priesthood take place, Heb 7:11:



according to the sin of the people; committing the like sins of error and ignorance as the common people, to which he was liable as they; or "to make the people guilty"; as the margin reads; to which agrees the Septuagint version, "so that the people sin"; and the Vulgate Latin version, "making the people to sin"; either by his doctrine or example, and both through ignorance, heedlessness, and inadvertency: the Targum of Jonathan is,



"when he offers the offering of sin for the people, not according to its manner''



or rite; as if his sin lay in erring while he was offering; but be it in which way it may, whether by any unadvised inadvertent action of his own, or ignorant instruction of the people, so causing them to err, or any ignorance or mistake in offering the sacrifices of the people:



then let him bring for the sin which he has sinned; in either way:



a young bullock; not an ox which was three years old, nor a calf which was but of one year, but a bullock which was of two years; so Maimonides {q} observes, that wherever it is said a calf, that is a young one of the first year, but a bullock it is a young one of the second year: as are men's characters, so are the aggravations of their sins, and sacrifices were proportioned thereunto; the high priest was obliged to bring the same offering as the whole congregation did in a like case; see Le 4:13



without blemish; a type of the sacrifice of Christ offered up without spot to God, as it follows;



unto the Lord; against whom sin is committed, and therefore sacrifice both in the type and antitype must be brought and offered up to him, by whom it is accepted, and to whom it is of a sweetsmelling savour, namely, the unblemished sacrifice of Christ:



for a sin offering; or "for sin": the sin offering is called sin itself, and so is Christ the antitype of it, 2Co 5:21 Christ is most holy in himself, had no sin in him, nor knew any, nor were any committed by him; yet he appeared in the likeness of sinful flesh, took the place of sinners, and was their substitute, had all their sins laid upon him, and was by imputation made sin itself, and became an offering for it, and so fully answered the type of the sin offering.



{q} Maaseh Hakorbanot, c. 1. sect. 14.





Leviticus 4:4



Ver. 4. And he shall bring the bullock unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the Lord,.... As the bullock of the burnt offering; See Gill on "Le 1:3":



and shall lay his hand on the bullock's head; the Targum of Jonathan says his right hand; See Gill on "Le 1:4":



and kill the bullock before the Lord; at the door of the tabernacle, that is, in the court, as Gersom observes; according to the above Targum, the butcher killed it, and not the priest:

See Gill on "Le 1:5" all this is typical of the imputation of sin to Christ, and of his death.





Leviticus 4:5



Ver. 5. And the priest that is anointed shall take of the bullock's blood,.... Let out and received into a basin; this he did himself, and not another, for he offered for himself, and the blood was to make atonement for him:



and bring it to the tabernacle of the congregation; out of the court where the bullock was slain, into the holy place, where were the vail that divided between the holy of holies, and the altar of sweet incense, after mentioned.





Leviticus 4:6



Ver. 6. And the priest shall dip his finger in the blood,.... The finger of his right hand, as Gersom observes, and so Maimonides {r}; for blood was always taken and sprinkled with the right hand, if done with the left it was wrong, according to the Jewish canons {s} and though it is only said the priest, and not that is anointed, as before, yet it seems to mean him and not another; though if a private priest did this, Gersom says, it would be right, and so Maimonides {t}:



and sprinkle of the blood seven times before the Lord; a figure of the blood of Christ, called, in allusion to this rite, the blood of sprinkling; which being presented before the Lord, calls for pardon from him, and sprinkled on the conscience, speaks peace there, and perfectly cleanses from all sin, which the seven times sprinkling is a symbol of:



before the vail of the sanctuary: the words may be literally rendered, "the face of the vail of the sanctuary": as if the blood was sprinkled on the outside of the vail. Jarchi's note is,



"over against the place of its holiness, he directed (it) over against between the staves; the blood shall not touch the vail, but if it touches, it touches it;''



that is, it is no matter. And according to Maimonides {u} the blood of bullocks and goats burnt was sprinkled seven times upon the vail, which divided between the and the holy of holies. This typified the vail of flesh, whose blood gives boldness to enter into the holiest of all,

Heb 10:19.



{r} Maaseh Hakorbanot, c. 5. sect. 7. Bartenora in Misn. Menachot, c. 3. sect. 4. {s} Misn. Zebachim, c. 2. sect. 1. & Bartenora in ib. {t} Maaseh Hakorbanot, c. 5. sect. 15. {u} Ib. sect. 13.





Leviticus 4:7



Ver. 7. And the priest shall put [some] of the blood,.... With his finger, which he dipped into it:



upon the horns of the altar of sweet incense before the Lord, which is in the tabernacle of the congregation; this was the golden altar on which incense was offered: it was placed before the vail, on the outside of it, in the holy place, see Ex 30:1 and the priest, when he put the blood on the horns of it, began at the northeast horn, so to the northwest, then to the southwest, and last to the southeast {w}; and the priest dipped his finger at every horn, and when he had finished at one horn, he wiped his finger at the edge of the basin, and after that dipped a second time; for what remained of the blood on his finger was not fit to put upon another horn {x}. This rite shows, that the intercession of Christ, signified by the altar of sweet incense, proceeds upon the foot of his blood and sacrifice, Re 8:3 1Jo 2:1:



and shall pour all the blood of the bullock at the bottom of the altar of burnt offering, which is at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation; this altar stood without the holy place, and the altar of incense within; and after the priest had sprinkled of the blood of the bullock, upon the horns of the altar of incense, what remained he poured at the bottom of the altar of burnt offering; for though it is said "all" the blood, it can mean no more than what was left; wherefore the Vulgate Latin version renders it, "all the remaining blood": and Jarchi's explanatory note is, the rest of the blood. The place where this was poured, according to Maimonides {y}, was the west bottom of the altar; and Gersom on the place observes the same. This denotes the efficacy of Christ's blood to make atonement for sin, and the reverent esteem it ought to be had in, being precious blood.



{w} Misn. Yoma, c. 5. sect. 5. Maimon. ib. (Maasch Hakorbanot c. 5.) sect. 10. 14. {x} Maimon. ib. sect. 8. {y} Ib. sect. 11.





Leviticus 4:8



Ver. 8. And he shall take off from it all the fat of the bullock for the sin offering,.... When the priest had killed the bullock, and sprinkled and poured the blood, as before commanded; he then cut up the bullock, and took out its inwards, and put them in a vessel, and salted them, and strowed them on the fires {z}, and burnt them, and the fat of them, as he did with the sacrifice of the peace offerings; so that what is here said, and in the two next verses Le 4:9, is the same with what is ordered concerning them in Le 3:3

See Gill on "Le 3:3" see Gill on "Le 3:4" see Gill on "Le 3:5". Jarchi and Gersom both observe that they agree, that as one brings peace into the world, so does the other.



{z} Maimon. ib. (Maasch Hakorbanot) c. 7. sect. 2.





Leviticus 4:9



Ver. 9. See Gill on "Le 4:8".





Leviticus 4:10



Ver. 10. See Gill on "Le 4:8".





Leviticus 4:11



Ver. 11. And the skin of the bullock,.... Not taken off; for the sin offerings that were burnt were not flayed at all, but were cut in pieces with their skins on them {a}; in other burnt offerings the skin was taken off, and was a perquisite of the priest, Le 7:8 but this being an offering for the priest, the skin was burnt with the rest:



and all his flesh, with his head, and with his legs, and his inwards, and his dung; the burning of these denoted the sufferings of Christ, and these several parts the extent of them, they reaching to all parts of his body as stretched upon the cross; and the dung particularly the reproach of them, he dying the death of the cross, and was made sin and a curse for his people.



{a} Ib. (Maasch Hakoranot) c. 5. sect. 18. & 7. 2.





Leviticus 4:12



Ver. 12. Even the whole bullock shall he carry forth without the camp,.... The Jewish writers interpret it without the three camps {b}, the camp of the tabernacle, the camp of the Levites, and the camp of the Israelites; when the temple was built, such sacrifices were carried and burnt without the city of Jerusalem; there were three places for burning; one was in the midst of the court, where they burnt such sacrifices as were unfit and rejected; the other was in the mountain of the house called Birah, where they burnt such as any accident befell them, after the carrying of them out of the court; and the third place was without Jerusalem, called the place of ashes {c}: this was typical of Christ being had out of the city of Jerusalem, and suffering without the gates of it, Heb 13:11:



unto a clean place, where the ashes are poured out; the ashes of the burnt offerings. This, according to Ainsworth, answered to the place where Christ was crucified, being a place of skulls, or dead men's ashes, Joh 19:17:



and burn him on the wood with fire; any wood might be used for the burning of it, even straw or stubble, which in the Hebrew language are called wood, as Gersom on the place observes, and so Maimonides {d}; and it is added, "with fire", as the last writer says {e}, to exclude lime and cinder coals:



where the ashes are poured out shall he be burnt; openly without; and seeing it is not said, that the priest shall carry forth the bullock, and shall burn it, it is concluded by Gersom on the place, that both may be done lawfully by a stranger, and so Maimonides {f}.



{b} T. Bab. Yoma, fol. 68. 1. 2. & Sanhedrin, fol. 42. 2. Maimon. & Bartenora in Misn. Zebachim, c. 12. sect. 5. Jarchi in loc. {c} Maimon. Maaseh Hakorbanot, c. 7. sect. 3, 4. {d} Maimon. Hilchot Maaseh Hakorbanot, c. 7. sect. 5. {e} Ib. Vid. T. Bab. Pesachim, fol. 75. 1. {f} Maimon. ib.





Leviticus 4:13



Ver. 13. And if the whole congregation of Israel sin through ignorance,.... That is, all Israel, or the greatest part of them, as Gersom interprets it, through the ignorant teaching of the judges, who by their instruction cause the people to err, and commit sins of ignorance, as Baal Hatturim on the place observes, and Maimonides elsewhere {g}; wherefore Jarchi, and some others, by the congregation of Israel understand the sanhedrim, or the bench of judges, consisting of seventy one. Ainsworth remarks on the words, that the church may err:



and the thing be hid from the eyes of the assembly; congregation or church, so that they do not know that it is a sin which they have committed:



and they have done [somewhat against] any of the commandments of the Lord, [concerning things] which should not be done; transgressed negative precepts:



and are guilty; of sin, though as yet they know it not.



{g} Hilchot Shegagot, c. 12. sect. 1.





Leviticus 4:14



Ver. 14. When the sin which they have sinned against it,.... Any of the commandments of the Lord forbidding such a thing to be done:



is known; is made known to them by the priest, or any other, so that they are convinced that what has been done is wrong, though done through ignorance:



then the congregation shall offer a young bullock for the sin, and bring him before the tabernacle of the congregation; the same offering with that of the anointed priest, he being, as Aben Ezra on the place observes, equal to all Israel.





Leviticus 4:15



Ver. 15. And the elders of the congregation shall lay their hands upon the head of the bullock before the Lord,.... These must be two at least, some say three, and some say five {h}; the more generally received notion is, that they were three of the sanhedrim {i}; though the Targum of Jonathan makes them to be the twelve rulers of the twelve tribes:



and the bullock shall be killed before the Lord; in the court near the altar of burnt offering, either by a priest, or Levite, or by a butcher, as the above Targum expresses it.



{h} Misn. Sotah, c. 9. sect. 1. {i} Maimon & Bartenora in Misn. Menachot, c. 9. sect. 7. Maimon. Hilchot Maaseh Hakorbanot, c. 3. sect. 10.





Leviticus 4:16



Ver. 16-21. And the priest that is anointed shall bring of the bullock's blood,.... That is, the chief priest, as the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan explain it:



to the tabernacle of the congregation; as he brought the blood of his own bullock, Le 4:5 from hence to the Le 4:16 an account is given of the same rites to be observed in the sin offering, for the congregation, as for the anointed priest;

See Gill on "Le 4:6" see Gill on "Le 4:7" see Gill on "Le 4:12".





Leviticus 4:17



Ver. 17. See Gill on "Le 4:16".





Leviticus 4:18



Ver. 18. See Gill on "Le 4:16".





Leviticus 4:19



Ver. 19. See Gill on "Le 4:16".





Leviticus 4:20



Ver. 20. See Gill on "Le 4:16".





Leviticus 4:21



Ver. 21. See Gill on "Le 4:16".





Leviticus 4:22



Ver. 22. When a ruler hath sinned,.... Or "prince", the "nasi", one that is lifted up above others in honour, power, and authority, or that bears the weight of government: the word comes from one which signifies to lift up, or to bear; it may be understood of a governor of a family, or of a tribe, as Aben Ezra observes; and so in the Talmud {k} it is said, it means the prince of a tribe, such as Nachson the son of Amminadab, prince of the tribe of Judah. Maimonides {l} says a king is designed, over whom none has power; and so Gersom on the place, who observes, that David the king is called a prince, Eze 34:24





and done [somewhat] through ignorance [against] any of the commandments of the Lord his God; the phrase, "his God", is here added, and is not used neither of the anointed priest, nor of the congregation, nor of one of the common people; only of the prince, to show, that though he is above others, God is above him, and he is accountable to him; he is his God, of whom he is, and by whom he rules; wherefore if he breaks any of his commandments, though ignorantly, he must bring a sacrifice for it:



[concerning things] which should not be done, and is guilty; of transgressing negative precepts, which are as binding on him as others.



{k} T. Bab. Horayot, fol. 11. 1. {l} Hilchot Shegagot, c. 15. sect. 6.





Leviticus 4:23



Ver. 23. Or if his sin wherein he hath sinned come to his knowledge,.... Or rather, "and if his sin", &c. {m} either by means of others informing him of it, or of himself calling to mind what he has done, and considering it to be a transgression of the law:



he shall bring his offering, a kid of the goats, a male without blemish; his offering was to be a "kid of the goats", a fat and a large one; because, as Baal Hatturim observes, he ate fat things every day; and to distinguish it from the offering of one of the common people; and "without blemish"; as all sacrifices were, that they might be typical of the offering of Christ without spot.



{m} wa kai Sept. "et postea", V. L. & Noldius, p. 3. No. 23.





Leviticus 4:24



Ver. 24. And he shall lay his hand upon the head of the goat,.... His right hand, as the Targum of Jonathan; See Gill on "Le 1:4"



and kill it; not the prince, but the priest after mentioned, or the butcher, as the same Targum:



in the place where they hill the burnt offering before the Lord; in the court on the north side of the altar, see Le 1:11:



it is a sin offering: an offering for his sin of ignorance, or "sin"; so Christ our offering is said to be, 2Co 5:21.





Leviticus 4:25



Ver. 25. And the priest shall take of the blood of the sin offering with his finger,.... With the finger of his right hand, as the Talmudists {n} observe, and Gersom on the place; the priest first received the blood into a basin or ministering vessel, and then dipped the finger of his right hand into it, that next the thumb:



and put it upon the horns of the altar of burnt offering; the four horns of it; in this there was a difference between the sacrifice of the anointed priest and of the congregation, and this of the ruler; the blood of the former was put upon the horns of the altar of incense, this upon the horns of the altar of burnt offering:



and shall pour out his blood at the bottom of the altar of burnt offering; the South bottom of it; the order of the priest's proceeding in putting the blood was different from that used in putting it on the horns of the altar of incense; here he first put the blood upon the southeast horn, then upon the northeast, next upon the northwest, and then upon the southwest; and upon the bottom of that horn where he finished, he poured the remainder of the blood, which was the southern bottom {o}.



{n} T. Bab. Zebachim, fol. 24. 1. {o} Maimon. Hilchot Maaseh Hakorbanot, c. 5. sect. 10.





Leviticus 4:26



Ver. 26. And he shall burn all his fat upon the altar, &e.] Of burnt offering, that is, the priest shall do it:



as the fat of the sacrifice of peace offerings; see Le 3:3



and the priest shall make an atonement for him as concerning his sin; in a typical way, directing to the great sacrifice of Christ, which is the only real atonement and propitiation for sin: the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Arabic versions, render, "the priest shall pray for him": for the pardon of his sin:



and it shall be forgiven him; not for the prayers of the priest, nor for the sacrifice offered up, but for the sake of Christ, the antitype of such sacrifices, and when faith was exercised on him; or the meaning is, he shall not be punished for it.





Leviticus 4:27



Ver. 27. And if anyone of the common people sin through ignorance,.... Or, "if one soul of the people of the earth": that is, a single person, and so is distinguished from the congregation, one of the common sort of people; however is neither an high priest, nor a prince, or king, but either a common priest, or Levite, or Israelite; no man is free from sin; all sorts of persons, of all ranks and degrees, high and low, rich and poor, men in office, civil or ecclesiastical, or in whatsoever state of life, are liable to sin, and do sin continually, either ignorantly or willingly; and Christ is a sacrifice for all sins and for all sorts of sinners:



whilst he doeth somewhat; &c. See Gill on "Le 4:2" see Gill on "Le 4:13" see Gill on "Le 4:22".





Leviticus 4:28



Ver. 28. Or if his sin which he hath sinned come to his knowledge,.... So that he is convinced that he has sinned:



then he shall bring his offering; to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, to the priest there:



a kid of the goats: a young goat:



a female without blemish; and so inferior to the offering of the ruler or prince; for the characters of men are aggravations of their sins, and sacrifices were to be in some measure answerable to them, and suitable to their circumstances:



for the sin which he hath sinned; to atone for it in a typical way.





Leviticus 4:29



Ver. 29. And he shall lay his hand upon the head of the sin offering,.... His right hand, as the Targum of Jonathan; not the priest that shall offer it, but the man that has sinned, that brings it, thereby confessing his sin, and transferring it to the sacrifice:



and slay the sin offering in the place of the burnt offering; that is, on the north side of the altar.





Leviticus 4:30



Ver. 30-31. And the priest shall take of the blood,.... So that all the preceding actions, the bringing the offering, the putting the hand upon the head of it, and slaying it, were done by the man that sinned; of this and what follows here and in the next verse Le 4:31,

See Gill on "Le 4:25" see Gill on "Le 4:26".





Leviticus 4:31



Ver. 31. See Gill on "Le 4:30".





Leviticus 4:32



Ver. 32. And if he bring a lamb for a sin offering,.... As he might if he would; the Jews observe, that in all places a lamb is put before a goat, as being more excellent in its kind; but here it is mentioned after, which shows, they say, that they are equally alike {p}:



he shall bring it a female without blemish; typical of Christ the Lamb of God, without spot and without blemish, 1Pe 1:19.



{p} T. Bab. Pesachim, fol. 57. 2. & Ceritot, fol. 28. 2.





Leviticus 4:33



Ver. 33. He shall lay his hand upon the head of the sin offering,.... On the head of the lamb, as on the head of the goat, even his right hand, as the above Targum, as before:



and slay it for a sin offering, in the place where they kill the burnt offering: for if it was not slain for a sin offering, but for something else, or on any other account, as for a burnt offering, it was not right {q}.



{q} T. Bab. Zebachim, fol. 7. 1. & Menachot, fol. 4. 1.





Leviticus 4:34



Ver. 34-35. And the priest shall take of the blood,....

See Gill on "Le 4:25" See Gill on "Le 4:26".





Leviticus 4:35



Ver. 35. See Gill on "Le 4:34".

 

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

Leviticus 5:1



INTRODUCTION TO LEVITICUS 5



This chapter treats of the trespass offering, points at the sins for which it was to be made, and the matter of it; it was for secret sins, and sins of ignorance, such as refusing to bear witness in a known case, Le 5:1 touching unclean things and false swearing, Le 5:2 the things directed to in such cases are confession, Le 5:5 sacrifice of a lamb, or kid of the goats, Le 5:6 and in case of poverty, two turtle doves, or two young pigeons; concerning the offering of which instructions are given, Le 5:7 and if not able to bring them, then a meat offering of fine flour, about which rules are laid down, Le 5:11 and for sins committed through ignorance in holy things or sacrileges, the sacrifice of a ram is enjoined, and satisfaction ordered to be made for the injury done in the holy thing, by adding a fifth part to it, Le 5:14 and for sins committed ignorantly against negative precepts, only a ram is appointed for the trespass offering, Le 5:17.



Ver. 1. And if a soul sin,.... The soul is put for the person, and is particularly mentioned, as Ben Melech says, because possessed of will and desire:



and hear the voice of swearing; or cursing, or adjuration; not of profane swearing, and taking the name of God in vain, but either of false swearing, or perjury, as when a man hears another swear to a thing which he knows is false; or else of adjuration, either the voice of a magistrate or of a neighbour adjuring another, calling upon him with an oath to bear testimony in such a case; this is what the Jews {r} call the oath of testimony or witness, and which they say {s} is binding in whatsoever language it is heard:



and is a witness; is able to bear witness to the thing he is adjured about:



whether he hath seen or known of it; what he has seen with his eyes, or knows by any means: of such a case, the Jews observe {t}, that there may be seeing without knowing, or knowing without seeing, and in either case a man ought to bear witness:



if he do not utter it; tell the truth, declare what he has seen or known:



then he shall bear his iniquity; he shall be charged with sin, and be obliged to acknowledge his offence, and bring a trespass offering for it: it is said {u}, that the witnesses are not guilty of the oath of the testimony, but in these ten cases; if they are required; if the testimony is concerning goods; if the goods are movable; if he that requires binds himself to pay for their testimony only, in case they bear witness; if they refuse after required; if they refuse in the sanhedrim; if the adjuration or oath is made there by the name of God, or his titles; if knowledge of the testimony goes before the oath; if he particularizes his witnesses in the time of the oath, or at the time of the requirement; and if the oath is in a language they understood.



{r} Misn. Sotah, c. 7. 1. {s} Maimon. & Bartenora in ib. T. Bab. Sotah, fol. 33. 1. {t} T. Bab. Shebuot, fol. 33. 2. & 34. 1. {u} Maimon. Hilchot, Shebuot, c. 9. sect. 3.





Leviticus 5:2



Ver. 2. Or if a soul touch any unclean thing,.... Meaning an Israelite, for only such were bound by this law, which pronounced a person unclean that touched anything that was so in a ceremonial sense; this is the general, including whatsoever by the law was unclean; the particulars follow:



whether [it be] a carcass of an unclean beast, as the camel, the coney, the hare, and the swine, Le 11:2



or a carcass of unclean cattle; as the horse, and the ass, which were unclean for food, and their dead carcasses not to be touched,

Le 11:26



or the carcass of unclean creeping things: such as are mentioned in

Le 11:29



and if it be hidden from him; that he has touched them; or the uncleanness contracted by touching, he having inadvertently done it; or being ignorant of the law concerning such uncleanness:



he also shall be unclean; in a ceremonial sense, by thus touching them:



and guilty; of a breach of the command which forbids the touching of them: this is by way of prolepsis or anticipation; for as yet the law concerning unclean beasts, and creeping things, and pollution by touching them, was not given: Jarchi and Gersom interpret this guilt, of eating of holy things, and going into the sanctuary when thus defiled: in the Jewish Misnah {w} it is said, the word "hidden" is twice used, to show that he is guilty, for the ignorance of uncleanness, and for the ignorance of the sanctuary.



{w} Misn. Shebuot, c. 2. sect. 5.





Leviticus 5:3



Ver. 3. Or if he touch the uncleanness of man,.... The dead body of a man, or the bone of a dead body, or a grave, or any profluvious or menstruous person:



whatsoever uncleanness [it be] that a man shall be defiled withal: not morally, but ceremonially:



and it be hid from him; he is not sensible that he has touched any thing ceremonially unclean:



when he knoweth [of it], then he shall be guilty: acknowledge his guilt, and offer a sacrifice for it, as after directed.





Leviticus 5:4



Ver. 4. Or if a soul swear,.... A rash or vain oath:



pronouncing with his lips; not in his heart, as Jarchi notes; not saying within himself that he would do this, or that, or the other thing, but expressing his oath plainly and distinctly, with an audible voice:



to do good, or to do evil; which was either impossible or unlawful for him to do; whether the good or evil he swears to do is to himself or to another; whether he swears to do good to himself, and evil to another, or, good to another, and evil to himself, see Ps 15:4. The Targum of Jonathan paraphrases it,



"whatsoever a man expresses, whether of anything present or future;''



as if he swears he has done such and such a thing, whether good or evil; or that he will do it, be it what it will, and it is not in the power of his hands to do it, or, if he did it, it would be doing a wrong thing:



whatsoever [it be] that a man shall pronounce with an oath, and it be hid from him; he has forgot that he ever swore such an oath:



and when he knoweth [of it], then he shall be guilty in one of these; when he is told of it, and it is made clearly to appear to him, that he did at such a time, and in such a place, deliver out a rash oath concerning this, or the other thing, then he shall be chargeable with guilt in one of these; either in rashly swearing to do good when it was not in his power, or to do evil, which would have been unlawful. The Targum of Jonathan is,



"if he knows that he has falsified, and repents not, he is guilty.''





Leviticus 5:5



Ver. 5. And it shall be, when he shall be guilty in one of these things,.... Before expressed in the preceding verses; the Targum of Jonathan is,



"in one of the four things,''



which Ben Gersom particularly mentions in the oath of witness, or the pollution of the sanctuary, or the pollution of its holy things, or a vain oath:



that he shall confess that he hath sinned in that [thing]; not make confession of sin in general, but of that particular sin he is guilty of; and this he was to do before he brought his offering, or at least at the time of his bringing it; for without confession his offering would be of no avail; and which he made, as Ben Gersom says, by laying his hand on the head of the offering, thereby signifying and declaring his guilt, and that he deserved to die as the creature would about to be sacrificed for him; or he might make a verbal confession and acknowledgment of his offence. Fagius, from the Jewish writers, has given us the form of it, which was this;



"I beseech thee, O Lord, I have sinned, I have done wickedly, I have transgressed before thee, so and so have I done; and, lo, I repent, and am ashamed of what I have done, and I will never do the same again.''



Though perhaps this form may be of too modern a date, yet doubtless somewhat like this was pronounced; and they make confession of sin necessary to all sacrifices, and say {x}, atonement is not made by them without repentance and confession.



{x} Maimon. Hilchot Teshubah, c. 1. sect. 1.





Leviticus 5:6



Ver. 6. And he shall bring his trespass offering unto the Lord, for the sin which he hath sinned,.... To make atonement for it; this was typical of the sacrifice of Christ, whose soul was made an offering for sin, Mva, "Asham" a trespass offering, Isa 53:10 where the same word is used as here:



a female from the flock, a lamb, or kid of the goats, for a sin offering; it is generally thought there was a difference between a trespass offering and a sin offering; but it is not easy to say wherein the difference lies; and what has been observed by learned men is not very satisfactory: and certain it is, that the same offering is here called both a trespass offering and a sin offering; and such as were men of substance, and capable of it, were to bring a female lamb or kid; it being for sins of ignorance, a sacrifice of a less value was admitted; yet it must be a lamb, typical of Christ the Lamb of God; and atonement cannot be made, even for sins of ignorance, but by the blood and sacrifice of Christ:



and the priest shall make an atonement for him concerning his sin; that is, by offering his sacrifice for him, which was a type of the atonement made by the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without spot and blemish.





Leviticus 5:7



Ver. 7. And if he be not able to bring a lamb,.... He is not possessed of a lamb, nor able to purchase one:



then he shall bring for his trespass which he hath committed, two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, unto the Lord; either the one or the other; these were common, and in great plenty in the land of Israel, as Maimonides {y} observes, which was the reason of their being ordered, since to be had cheap. The turtledoves were larger, as the Targum of Jonathan calls them, being older, and the pigeons lesser, being young; or the one were grown, and not little, and the other little, and not grown, as the Jewish writers {z} observe; and either of them were proper emblems of Christ in his purity, innocence, and meekness, by whom an atonement is made both for the rich and poor:



one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering; one of the turtle doves or pigeons, whichsoever were brought, was offered up as a sin offering, and the other that remained was offered up as a burnt offering; so that the poor man had two sorts of offerings out of what he brought, when the rich had but one; and may denote the completeness of his sacrifice, and the full atonement made by it.



{y} Moreh Nevochim, par. 3. c. 46. {z} Maimon & Bartenora in Misn. Cholin, c. 1. sect. 5.





Leviticus 5:8



Ver. 8. And he shall bring them unto the priest,.... Either two turtledoves, or two young pigeons:



who shall offer [that] which [is] for the sin [offering] first; that which is chosen for it, as the Targum of Jonathan; and this choice was made, not by the priest, but by the man that brought the offering, who separated it, and said, lo, this is a sin offering, and after that said, lo, this is a burnt offering {a}; the sin offering was offered first, which was to make atonement for sin, and then the burnt offering, to denote the divine acceptance of it; and so Ben Gersom observes, it was proper to offer the sin offering first, to atone for his sin, that after he (God) was appeased this way, he might receive his gift; for the burnt offering was as a gift. Jarchi compares it to an advocate, who first goes in to appease, and when he has appeased, the gift goes in after him:



and wring off his head from his neck, but shall not divide it asunder: be it a turtledove or a young pigeon, so it was to be served; the head was not to be separated from the body, but was nipped by the nail of the priest "in" the neck, as it might be rendered {b}; over against the neck, as the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan render it; the hinder part, or what is behind the throat, as Jarchi and Ben Molech interpret it; so that the part which was nipped was the neck; and this nip was made so large, as that the blood was let out by it, as appears from the following verse Le 5:9, and yet the head was not divided from the body; the head hung by a piece of skin on the back part; of the manner of performing this, and the mystery of it,

See Gill on "Le 1:15".



{a} Ib. (Maimon & Bratenora) in Misn. Zebachim, c. 10. sect. 4. {b} Vid. Noldium, p. 611. No. 1637.





Leviticus 5:9



Ver. 9. And he shall sprinkle of the blood of the sin [offering] upon the side of the altar,.... Or "wall" {c} it is asked {d},



"what is the wall at which the rest of the blood is wrung out? this is the lower wall, namely, the half of the height of the altar below, under the thread (of scarlet that goes round the middle of the altar) that the rest of the blood may be squeezed at the bottom of the altar, and because of this the sin offering of the fowl is below,''



that is, the sprinkling of its blood. And so Ben Gersom observes; from hence we learn, says he, that the sprinkling of the sin offering of the fowl was in the lower part of the altar; and I think this sprinkling, adds he, was not in the length, but in the breadth:



and the rest of the blood shall be wrung out at the bottom of the altar; the blood sprinkled was that which dropped from it when nipped by the priest; this here was squeezed out by him, and was shed at the foot of the altar; so that the altar had all the blood, and nothing but the blood of the fowl, all the rest belonged to the priest {e}: this might be an emblem both of the drops of blood which fell from Christ in the garden, and of the shedding of his blood upon the cross, whereby remission of sin was obtained, and atonement made:



it [is] a sin [offering]; an offering whereby sin was typically expiated and stoned.



{c} ryq le epi ton toicon, Sept. "super parietem", Pagninus, Montanus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Drusius; "ad parietem", Tigurine version. {d} Maimon. in Misn. Zebachim, c. 6. sect. 4. {e} Misn. ib.





Leviticus 5:10



Ver. 10. And he shall offer the second for a burnt offering, according to the manner,.... That is, the second turtledove or young pigeon, after the other was made a sin offering; and the manner according to which this was offered was not according to the rite or manner of the bird chosen first for a sin offering, as the Targum of Jonathan, but according to the burnt offering of the fowl in Le 1:15 so Jarchi and Ben Gersom:



and the priest shall make an atonement for him, for his sin which he had sinned, and it shall be forgiven him; upon the atonement made; and so forgiveness of sin with God proceeds upon the atonement made by the blood of Christ, Heb 9:22. God never took one step towards it, without a regard to Christ the propitiation for sin; he promised it with a view to him; there is no instance of pardon under the Old Testament but in this way, and God always has respect to Christ in pardon, it is for his sake; and this way of forgiveness best provides for the glory of the divine perfections; there can be no better way, or infinite wisdom would have used it; there could be no other way, considering the council and covenant of peace; to pardon, without atonement and satisfaction, is not consistent with the purity, justice, and veracity of God; and to observe this great truth, the phrase is afterwards frequently repeated,





Leviticus 5:11



Ver. 11. But if he be not able to bring two turtledoves, or two young pigeons,.... Which is supposing a man to be in the poorest circumstances he can well be; and such is the grace and goodness of God, that he has provided for the atonement and forgiveness of the poorest, as well as of the rich:



then he that hath sinned shall bring for his offering the tenth part of an ephah of fine flour for a sin offering; which is an omer, Ex 16:36 and is as much as a man can eat in one day, as Aben Ezra remarks:



he shall put no oil upon it, neither shall he put [any] frankincense thereon; to distinguish it from the common meat offering, which had both, Le 3:1 and to make it as easy, and as little chargeable to the poor as possible, both oil and frankincense being things of value; and some think that these were prohibited, to show that atonement and forgiveness, and even the salvation of men, are not owing to grace in them, comparable to oil, or to their prayers, signified by frankincense, and so to any or all of their duties, but to Christ alone, and his atoning sacrifice: or these were forbidden, because emblems of joy and gladness, and therefore not so proper at a confession of sin, and humiliation for it: or rather to show how disagreeable and offensive sin was to the Lord, being contrary to grace, of which oil was an emblem, and far from being acceptable to him, which frankincense might signify; and therefore being prohibited, might denote how unacceptable, yea nauseous, sin is to him; which agrees with the reason given;



for it [is] a sin [offering], and therefore must not be honoured, as Jarchi, or must have everything removed from it that is beautiful and amiable, as Ben Gersom, such as oil and frankincense.





Leviticus 5:12



Ver. 12. Then shall he bring it to the priest,.... The flour just as it was, not kneaded and made into a cake, as appears by what follows:



and the priest shall take his handful of it; as much of the flour as he could hold in one hand:



[even] a memorial thereof; to bring to mind his sin, and the goodness of God in admitting of an offering for it, and forgiving it upon that:



and burn [it] on the altar, according to the offerings made by fire unto the Lord; in the same manner as other burnt offerings were made:



it [is] a sin [offering]; or an expiatory sacrifice for sin.





Leviticus 5:13



Ver. 13. And the priest shall make an atonement for him,.... By burning the handful of flour brought by him, as an emblem of the painful sufferings of Christ, whereby he made atonement for the sins of his people:



as touching his sin that he hath sinned in one of these; for whatsoever sin he had committed in any of the above cases, Le 5:1:



and it shall be forgiven him; upon the foot of the atonement made;

See Gill on "Le 5:10":



and [the remnant] shall be the priest's as a meat offering; the whole tenth part of an ephah of fine flour was the priest's, excepting the handful he took and burnt, just as in the case of a common meat offering, Le 2:3.





Leviticus 5:14



Ver. 14. And the Lord spake unto Moses,.... Out of the tabernacle of the congregation, Le 1:1 he continued to speak to him:



saying, as follows.





Leviticus 5:15



Ver. 15. If a soul commit a trespass, and sin through ignorance in the holy things of the Lord,.... In the payment of tithes, or offering first fruits as he ought, by withholding them, or any part of them, or through eating of sacred things he ought not:



then shall he bring for his trespass unto the Lord; for it being a trespass in holy things, it might be properly called a trespass to or against the Lord; unless this is rather to be understood of the offering brought to the Lord for his trespass as follows:



a ram without blemish out of the flocks; out of the sheep and not the goats, as Ben Gersom observes; and this being for sacrifice, or for a trespass in holy things though ignorantly done, an offering of more value is required than for sins of ignorance in other cases, Le 5:6 a type of Christ, who for his strength may be compared to a ram, and to one without blemish, for his purity and holiness, and to a choice one, selected out of the flock, for his being chosen out from among the people:



with thy estimation by shekels of silver, after the shekel of the sanctuary, for a trespass offering; that is, either an estimation was to be taken of the damage done in the holy things, an account of which was to be brought along with the ram, and the cost paid; or else the ram brought was to be of the value of, or worth shekels of silver; and the least of many being two, as Aben Ezra and Ben Gersom observe, the sense is, that the ram brought for the trespass offering should be at least worth two shekels of silver; so Jarchi and Ben Gersom.





Leviticus 5:16



Ver. 16. And he shall make amends for the harm that he hath done in the holy thing,.... This seems to favour the sense of the word "estimation", in the preceding verse, as understood of the estimate of the damage done in the holy things, which belonged to the priests, for which recompense was to be made according as the damage was valued:



and shall add the fifth part thereto, and give it unto the priest; besides paying the whole damage, he was to give a fifth part of the whole to the priest; which was ordered to show the evil nature of the sin of sacrilege, though done ignorantly, and to make men careful and cautious of committing it: the fifth part, according to the Jewish writers {f}, is the fourth part of that of which a man eats, ("viz." of the holy things,) which is the fifth of the whole; thus, if he eats the value of a penny, he pays the penny and the fourth part of one, and so it is in all the fifths mentioned in the law; or, as Ben Gersom on the place expresses it, if he has had profit by the holy things to the value of four shekels, he pays five shekels; for the fifth of the shekels they add the fifth part to the four shekels; in this he observes, all are alike, the priest, the anointed, the prince, and a private person, for the law makes no difference between them in this:



and the priest shall make an atonement for him with the ram of the trespass offering; by offering it up for him:



and it shall be forgiven him; after he has paid the whole damage, and a fifth part besides, and offered the trespass offering for atonement; See Gill on "Le 5:10".



{f} Maimon. & Bartenora in Misn. Trumot, c. 6. 1.





Leviticus 5:17



Ver. 17. And if a soul sin, and commit any of these things which are forbidden to be done by the commandments of the Lord,.... Respecting holy things:



though he wist it not; or did not know that he had transgressed a negative command:



yet he is guilty, and shall bear the iniquity; be chargeable with guilt, and is liable to punishment, and must make an atonement and satisfaction for it; see Lu 12:48.





Leviticus 5:18



Ver. 18. And he shall bring a ram without blemish out of the flock,.... See Gill on "Le 5:15"



with thy estimation for a trespass [offering] to the priest; along with the offering was to be brought an estimate of whatsoever damage had been done through the breach of any of the commands of God, where damage could take place, that so recompense be made as before directed; or else the ram brought was to be valued, and examined whether it was worth two shekels of silver, as before explained,

See Gill on "Le 5:15" but no fifth was required as in the former cases:



and the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his ignorance wherein he erred, and wist [it] not, and it shall be forgiven him; See Gill on "Le 5:10" this is what the Jews call "Asham Talui", doubtful trespass offering.





Leviticus 5:19



Ver. 19. It [is] a trespass [offering],.... An offering for a trespass committed:



he hath certainly trespassed against the Lord; though committed ignorantly, and therefore an offering must be brought; for no sin of any kind must be overlooked, passed by, or forgiven, without a sacrifice, or without atonement made by sacrifice: or, "he shall offer a trespass offering to the Lord", or before the Lord, as Onkelos; or before the Word of the Lord, as Jonathan; and Maimonides out of Siphri {g} observes, that whereas it is said, a trespass or trespass offering to the Lord, it was not lawful for the priests to eat of it.



{g} Maimon. in Misn. Temurah, c. 7. sect. 6.

 

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

Leviticus 6:1



INTRODUCTION TO LEVITICUS 6



This chapter treats of the trespass offering for sins committed knowingly and wilfully, Le 6:1 and of the law of the burnt offering, and of cleansing the altar of burnt offering, and keeping the fire burning on it continually, Le 6:8 and of the meat offering, which is repeated with some additional circumstances, Le 6:14 and of the offering at the consecration of the high priest, Le 6:19 and of the sin offering, and where to be killed and eaten, and by whom, Le 6:24.



Ver. 1. And the Lord spake unto Moses,.... Continuing his speech with him, for the same law of the trespass offering is still discoursed of, only with respect to different persons:



saying: as follows.





Leviticus 6:2



Ver. 2. If a soul sin, and commit a trespass against the Lord,.... All sin is against the Lord, contrary to his nature and will, and a transgression of his law; but some sins are more apparently so than others, and against which he expresses greater indignation and abhorrence, being attended also with very aggravating circumstances, as these that follow; which are such as are not only contrary to the will of God, but to the good of society, and tend to the subversion of it, of which he is the founder and supporter, and especially when he is sworn by, and appealed to as a witness, in a case not only injurious but false:



and lie unto his neighbour in that which was delivered him to keep; whether money or goods, or any living creature, sheep, cow, horse, &c. and should deny that ever anything was delivered to him, and take his oath upon it; which is a very grievous crime, and not to go unpunished, as was known by the light of nature, and declared by the Heathen oracle {h}; and yet there was to be a trespass offering to make atonement for such a sin: Jarchi thinks, by his neighbour is meant a third person between them; but if that third person was a witness of the goods being delivered, there would have been no occasion of an oath, as follows: the case supposed seems to be, when anything was delivered to the care and custody of another, without the knowledge of any but the person that delivered it, and he to whom it was delivered; who retaining it for his own use, embezzling the goods, and acting the unfaithful part, affirms to the owner he never had anything of him, and so lies to him, and to that lie adds an oath of perjury:



or in fellowship: in partnership; as, for instance, having received money belonging to them both, denies he ever received any, and so cheats his partner of what was his due, and being put to his oath, takes it: or, "in putting of the hand" {i}, as persons usually do when they enter into fellowship or partnership, they give each other their hand in token of it; or in putting anything into the hand, as money to trade with, and he denies he received any; or by way of purchase for anything bought, and the person of whom the purchase is made affirms the purchaser never put anything into his hand, or paid him anything, but insists upon being paid again; or in a way of lending, as Jarchi and Ben Gersom, because then money is put into the hand of him that receives it, and, in the case supposed, the borrower denies that ever any was put into his hand, or he borrowed any; and being called upon to swear, swears falsely:



or in a thing taken away by violence: without the will and knowledge of the owner; privately and secretly, but being suspected, is challenged with it, and denying it, is made to swear, which he does falsely:



or hath deceived his neighbour; cheated him in trade and commerce, defrauded him in business, extorted money from him; or by calumny and false accusation got anything out of his hands, see Lu 19:8 or by detaining the wages of the hireling; so Jarchi and Ben Gersom.



{h} "Spartano cuidam respondit", &c. Juvenal. Satyr. 13. prope finem. {i} dy tmwvtb "in positione manus", Montanus.





Leviticus 6:3



Ver. 3. Or have found that which was lost, and lieth concerning it,.... Who having found anything lost, at once concludes it his own, and converts it to his own use, never inquiring after the proprietor of it, or taking any method to get knowledge of him, and restore it to him; but so far from that, being suspected of finding it, and charged with it denies it: Maimonides {k} gives a reason why a lost thing should be restored, not only because so to do is a virtue in itself praiseworthy, but because it has a reciprocal utility; for if you do not restore another's lost things, neither will your own be restored to you:



and sweareth falsely; which is to be understood, not of the last case only, but of all the rest, or of anyone of them, as it follows:



in any of all these that a man doeth, sinning therein; by unfaithfulness in a trust, cheating, defrauding, lying, and false swearing.



{k} Moreh Nevochim, par. 3. c. 40.





Leviticus 6:4



Ver. 4. Then it shall be, because he hath sinned and is guilty,.... Owns his guilt through remorse of conscience, and makes a confession of it; or otherwise, upon conviction, without such confession he was to pay double, see Ex 22:7 whereas, in this case it is only ordered,



that he shall restore that which he took violently away: whether money, goods, or cattle:



or the thing which he hath deceitfully gotten; by outwitting him, by extortion, by false accusation, or detention of wages:



or that which was delivered him to keep; in which he was unfaithful to his trust, be it what it will:



or the lost thing which he found; and denied he had it.





Leviticus 6:5



Ver. 5. Or all that about which he hath sworn falsely,.... In all and each of the above cases, in which he had committed a trespass and denied it, and to the denial adds a false oath, and yet after all acknowledges it:



he shall even restore it in the principal; whatsoever he has embezzled, or cheated another of, or detained from the right owner, the whole of that was to be restored:



and shall add the fifth part more thereto; to the principal, see Le 5:16 but Maimonides {l} says, this was an instruction to add a fifth to a fifth; and Aben Ezra takes the word to be plural, and observes, that the least of many is two, and so two fifths were to be added to the principal, but the first sense seems best:



[and] give it unto him to whom appertaineth; as, to his neighbour, who had deposited anything in his hands; or his partner, he had any ways wronged; or whomsoever he had defrauded in any respect; or the proprietor of lost goods; Ben Gersom observes, it was not to be given to his son, nor to his messenger: in the case of taking anything away by violence, though but the value of a farthing, it is said, that he shall be obliged to bring it after him (from whom he has taken it) even unto Media (should he be there); he shall not give it to his son, nor to his messenger, but he may give it to the messenger of the sanhedrim; and if he dies, he must return it to his heirs {m}:



in the day of his trespass [offering]; when he brings that, but restoration must first be made: the Targum of Jonathan renders it, in the day he repents of his sin: and so Aben Ezra interprets it,



"in the day he returns from his trespass;''



when he owns and confesses it, is sorry for it, and determines to do so no more. Maimonides observes {n}, that one that takes away anything by violence (which is one of the cases supposed) is not fined so much as a thief; he only restores the principal; for the fifth part is for his false oath; the reasons of which are, because robbery is not so frequently, and is more easily committed, and is more open, and against which persons may guard and make resistance, and the robber is more known than a thief who steals secretly; see Ex 22:1.



{l} In Misn. Trumot, c. 6. sect. 1. {m} Misnah Bava Kama, c. 9. sect. 6. {n} Ut supra, ({l}) c. 41.





Leviticus 6:6



Ver. 6. And he shall bring his trespass [offering] unto the Lord,.... That is, to the tabernacle of the Lord, to the altar of the Lord in it, and to his priest ministering therein, as it follows:



a ram without blemish out of the flock, with thy estimation, for a trespass [offering] unto the priest; the same offering that was ordered for a trespass through ignorance, Le 5:16 typical of the sacrifice of Christ offered up both for sins of ignorance and wilful transgressions, for his blood cleanses from all sin,

See Gill on "Le 5:16"; the phrase "with thy estimation", used there also Le 5:16, is here interpreted by Ben Gersom of two shekels, the value the ram was to be of, brought for the trespass offering.





Leviticus 6:7



Ver. 7. And the priest shall make an atonement for him before the Lord,.... By offering the ram he brought, by which a typical, but not real atonement was made; for the blood of bulls and goats, of sheep and rams, could not take away sin; but as they were types of Christ, and led to him, the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world:



and it shall be forgiven him, for anything of all that he hath done, in trespassing therein; any and everyone of the above sins, with all the aggravations of them, were forgiven, upon the atonement made, though they were so enormous; and, indeed, all manner of sin is forgiven for Christ's sake, except the sin against the Holy Ghost: and L'Empereur {o} rightly observes, against the Socinians, who deny that sacrifices were offered for crimes very grievous, that these were of such a nature; for what more vile than unfaithfulness in a trust, than cheating and defrauding, stealing, lying, and perjury?



{o} In Misn. Bava Kama, c. 9. sect. 5.





Leviticus 6:8



Ver. 8. And the Lord spake unto Moses,.... It maybe after some intermission, or pause made; for some here begin a new chapter, and indeed a new section here begins in the Hebrew copies:



saying; as follows:





Leviticus 6:9



Ver. 9. Command Aaron and his sons,.... Who were nominated, selected, and appointed to the office, though not yet consecrated to it and invested with it, see Le 8:1



saying, this [is] the law of the burnt offering; of the daily sacrifice, morning and evening:



it [is] the burnt offering, because of, [or] for the burning upon the altar all night unto the morning; as there was nothing offered on the altar of burnt offering after the evening daily sacrifice, nor anything before the morning daily sacrifice, it was the more difficult to keep the fire of the altar burning in the night; wherefore a slow fire was used in the evening sacrifice, and several things remained to be burnt in the night: so Maimonides {p} says, the remainder of the fat of the members were burnt all night until the pillar of the morning (first rays of the rising sun, Editor.):



and the fire of the altar shall be burning in it; not without it, as Aben Ezra observes, but on it; that is, should be ever burning on it, night and day, as it is after declared.



{p} In Misn. Beracot, c. 1. sect. 1.





Leviticus 6:10



Ver. 10. And the priest shall put on his linen garment,.... "His measure" {q}, as the word signifies, a garment that was just the measure of his body, and exactly fitted it; it was a sort of a shirt, which he wore next his body, and reached down to his feet; and in this he always officiated, and was an emblem of the purity and holiness of Christ our high priest, who was without sin, and so a fit person to take away the sin of others, by offering up himself without spot to God:



and his linen breeches shall he put upon his flesh; to cover his nakedness; that indecency might be prevented, and that he might not be exposed to ridicule; and though these two garments are only mentioned, yet the wise men say the word "put on" includes the bonnet and the girdle; for the removing of the ashes from the altar, which is the thing he was to be thus clothed to do, was done in the four garments, though the Scripture mentions but two {r}:



and take up the ashes which the fire hath consumed, with the burnt offering on the altar; this was the first thing the priests did in a morning, and which in later times they cast lots for, and the first lot was for this service, and which was performed very early {s};



"every day they cleansed or swept the altar, at cockcrowing or near it, whether before or after, and on the day of atonement at midnight, and at the feasts from the time of the first watch:''



and he shall put them beside the altar: without, at the corner of the altar, as Aben Ezra, on the east side of it; so says Jarchi, the priest takes a full censer of the innermost consumptions (that is, of the innermost parts of the sacrifice reduced to ashes), and puts them in the east of the rise of the altar; or, as by another {t} expressed, he takes the ashes in a censer, more or less, and lays them down at the east of the rise of the altar, and there leaves them, and this is the beginning of the morning service: and we are told by another writer {u}, that there was a place called the house of ashes, and it was at the east of the rise of the altar, at a distance from the foot of it ten cubits and three hands' breadth; where the priest, before they began to sacrifice, laid the ashes of the sacrifices, and of the candlestick, and of the altar of incense, and of the offering of the fowl that were cast out.



{q} wdm, "est" dm "proprie vestis commensurata corpori", Munster; so Jarchi. {r} Maimon. in Misn. Tamid, c. 5. sect. 3. {s} Misn. Yoma, c. 1. sect. 8. {t} Bartenora in ib. {u} Jacob. Jud. Leo. Tabnitid Hecal, No. 90. apud Wagenseil. Sotah, p. 426.





Leviticus 6:11



Ver. 11. And he shall put off his garments,.... Those before mentioned, he is said to put on:



and put on other garments; not common garments or lay-habits, what the priests wore when they were not on duty; for, as Ben Gersom says, these were priestly garments, though meaner than the first, or those that were put off: and so Jarchi says, they were worse than they were: it seems as if they were such that were spotted and dirty, and threadbare, almost worn out, and only fit for such sort of work as to carry out ashes: and so Maimonides {w} observes, that these other garments are not to be understood of common garments; but of such that are meaner in value and esteem, for both are holy garments; and, indeed, nothing belonging to the priestly office was to be performed but with the priestly garments, and they were only to be worn by the priests while in service:



and carry forth the ashes; when these, gathered on a heap, were become large, as Jarchi says, and there was no room for the pile of wood, they carried them out from thence; and this, he observes, was not obligatory every day, but the taking of them up, as in the preceding verse Le 6:10, they were bound to every day: and these they carried



without the camp, unto a clean place; for though they were ashes, yet being ashes of holy things, were not to be laid in an unclean place, or where unclean things were: as the burnt offering was a type of Christ in his sufferings and death, enduring the fire of divine wrath in the room and stead of his people; so the carrying forth the ashes of the burnt offering, and laying them in a clean place, may denote the burial of the body of Christ without the city of Jerusalem, wrapped in a clean linen cloth and laid in a new tomb, wherein no man had been laid, Mt 27:59.



{w} In Misn. Tamid, c. 5. sect. 3.





Leviticus 6:12



Ver. 12. And the fire upon the altar shall be burning in it, it shall not be put out,.... There were three fires, or piles of wood for fire continually; the first was a large one, on which the daily sacrifice was burnt; the second less, and called the pile of the incense, because they took from it fire in a censer to burn the morning and evening incense; and the third was only for preserving the fire that it might not go out: and of this it is written, Le 6:12 {x}; and Maimonides {y} observes, that some say, the first of these is meant by the burning all night, Le 6:9 and the second by the fire of the altar burning in it, Le 6:12 but his own sense is, the third is meant by it; and in the sense of R. Joses, these three fires were all burning upon the altar; the first was towards the east side of the altar, the second towards the southwest, as being nearer to the rise of the altar, where the priests were, and the third was made in any part of the altar as was thought fit {z}; and this is the fire not to be put out, and he that quenched it, though but one coal, was to be beaten, yea, though it be brought down from the altar {a}:



and the priest shall burn wood in it every morning: until the fourth hour of the day, according to the Targum of Jonathan; that is, unto ten o'clock in the morning:



and lay the burnt offering in order upon it; both morning and evening, and as often as any sacrifices of that kind were offered up:



and he shall burn thereon the fat of the peace offerings; that which was upon the inwards and covered them, and upon the kidneys, and flanks, and caul of the liver; see Le 3:3.



{x} Maimon. Hilchot Tamidin, c. 2. sect. 4. Bartenora in Misn. Tamid, c. 2. sect. 4. & in Yoma, c. 4. sect. 6. {y} In ib. sect. 5. & in Yoma, c. 4. sect. 6. {z} Maimon. Hilchot Tamidin, c. 2. sect. 7, 8, 9. {a} Ibid. sect. 6.





Leviticus 6:13



Ver. 13. The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar,.... This was what first fell from heaven, Le 9:24 and which in after ages was maintained by constant fuel put unto it, there being every day burnt offerings upon it; which was an emblem of the love of Christ to his people, which is ever in a flame and burning, and can never be quenched by the many waters of their sins and iniquities; nor by all the sufferings he underwent to atone for them; nor by all the meanness and afflictions they are attended with; his love is fervent towards them, and always the same: and also of their love to him, which is unquenchable by the persecutions of men, by afflictions by the hand of God, by divine desertions, by Satan's temptations, or their own corruptions: it likewise may be an emblem of the graces of the Spirit of God in the hearts of his people, which have both light and heat in them; and though they are sometimes very low as to exercise, yet are in a wonderful manner preserved amidst great oppositions made unto them from within and from without; and may also be a symbol of the word of God, sometimes compared to fire for its light and heat, and may be signified by the fire on the altar for its perpetuity, which continues and abides, notwithstanding the attempts of men and devils to get it out of the world; and though the ministers of it die, that lives, and has been preserved in the worst of times, and will burn most clearly, and shine most brightly in the end of the world. This perpetual fire may also point at the prayers of saints, the fervency of them, and their perseverance in them; or rather to the efficacy and acceptance of the sacrifice of Christ, which always continues; nor may it be amiss applied to the afflictions of God's people, which constantly attend them in this world, and they must expect to have while in it; and even to the wrath of God on wicked men to all eternity, and which is the fire that cannot be quenched:



it shall never go out; as it is highly probable it never did, until the destruction of the temple by Nebuchadnezzar; though the author of second Maccabees states that:



"For when our fathers were led into Persia, the priests that were then devout took the fire of the altar privily, and hid it in an hollow place of a pit without water, where they kept it sure, so that the place was unknown to all men.'' 2 Maccabees 1:19)



pretends that some devout priests, who were carried captives into Persia, hid the fire of the altar privily in the hollow of a pit, where was no water, and in which it was kept sure and unknown to men, and was found and restored in the times of Nehemiah,



"20 Now after many years, when it pleased God, Neemias, being sent from the king of Persia, did send of the posterity of those priests that had hid it to the fire: but when they told us they found no fire, but thick water; 21 Then commanded he them to draw it up, and to bring it; and when the sacrifices were laid on, Neemias commanded the priests to sprinkle the wood and the things laid thereupon with the water. 22 When this was done, and the time came that the sun shone, which afore was hid in the cloud, there was a great fire kindled, so that every man marvelled.'' (2 Maccabees 1)



but this is contrary to what the Jews always assert {b}, that the fire from heaven was wanting in the second temple; and yet from the account Josephus {c} gives of a festival called "Xylophoria", or the feast of the wood carrying, it seems to have been then in being, and great care was taken to preserve it that it might not go out; for, he says, at that feast it is a custom for all to bring wood to the altar, that so there might never be wanting fuel for the fire, for it always remained unextinguished: as to, what some have observed out of Diodorus Siculus {d}, that Antiochus Epiphanes, when he went into the temple, quenched this fire, it appears to be a mistake; for Diodorus does not say that he put out the fire of the altar, but that he extinguished the immortal lamp, as it was called by them (the Jews), which was always burning in the temple; by which he plainly means the lamp in the candlestick, and perhaps what the Jews call the western lamp, which was always burning, and was the middle lamp bending to the west, and to which the rest bent: the Heathens in many places imitated this perpetual fire: the Brahmans among the Indians speak of fire falling from heaven, kept by them on everlasting hearths, or in fire pans {e}, for that purpose: the Persians had their perpetual fire, having a great opinion of that element: in the march of Darius against Alexander, it is observed by the historian {f}, that the fire which the Persians call sacred and eternal was placed on altars of silver, and he is said to adjure his soldiers by the gods of their country, and by the eternal fire on the altars, &c. to rescue the Persian name and nation from the last degree of reproach {g}: the Grecians have many traces of this continual fire on the altar among them: at Mantinia, as Pausanias {h} relates, was a temple of Ceres and Proserpina, where a fire was kindled, and great care taken that it might not be extinguished; and in the temple of Pan, a fire burned which was never quenched: and the same writer says {i}, with the Eleans was an altar which had fire continually burning on it night and day: and Aelianus {k} makes mention of an altar of Venus at Eryce in Sicily, which burnt night and day; and of which he says many things wonderful and fabulous: and it is well known that the Romans had their goddess Vesta, whom Velleius Paterculus {l} calls the keeper of the perpetual fires; and there were certain virgins, called the "vestal" virgins, whose business it was to take care that the fire never went out; and is by Virgil {m} called the eternal fire: and Vesta itself is thought by some learned men to be the same with hy-va "Esh-jah", the fire of Jehovah: now these were all satanical imitations of the perpetual fire on the altar of God.



{b} T. Hieros. Taaniot, fol. 65. 1. T. Bab. Yoma, fol. 21. 2. {c} De Bello Jud. l. 2. c. 17. sect. 6. {d} Eclog. 1. ex l. 34. p. 902. {e} Ammian. Marcellin. l. 23. {f} Curt. Hist. l. 3. c. 3. {g} Curt. Hist. l. 4. c. 14. {h} Arcadica sive, l. 8. p. 469, 516. {i} Eliac. 1. sive, l. 5. p. 316. {k} Hist. Animal. l. 10. c. 50. {l} Hist. l. 2. in fine. {m} "Vos aeterni igneis", &c. Aeneid. l. 2.





Leviticus 6:14



Ver. 14. And this [is] the law of the meat offering,.... Or the rules to be observed concerning that, for which, though directions are given, Le 2:1, &c. yet is here repeated with some additions to it:



the sons of Aaron shall offer it before the Lord; being brought unto them by the children of Israel:



before the altar; or at the face of it, for what was properly offered was burnt upon it, as in the following verse Le 6:15: for it should be rather rendered "in", or "on the altar" {n}; the face of it is the top of it, on which every sacrifice was offered, and not before it.



{n} xbzmh ynp la "in altari", Noldius, p. 82. No. 391.





Leviticus 6:15



Ver. 15. And he shall take of it his handful,....

See Gill on "Le 2:2".





Leviticus 6:16



Ver. 16. And the remainder thereof shall Aaron and his sons eat,.... What quantity of fine flour the meat offering consisted of is not said; very probably it was left to the offerer to bring what he would, since it was a freewill offering:



[with] unleavened [bread] shall it be eaten in the holy place; or rather, "unleavened shall it be eaten"; for it cannot well be thought that bread of any sort should be eaten with this offering, which, properly speaking, was itself a bread offering, and so it should be called, rather than a meat offering; and certain it is, that no meat offering was to be made of leaven, but of fine flour unleavened, and so to be eaten, not by the priests in their own houses, but in the tabernacle; not in that part of it properly called the holy place, in distinction from the holy of holies, but as it follows:



in the court of the tabernacle of the congregation they shall eat it; in a room provided in that court for that purpose, as afterwards in the temple.





Leviticus 6:17



Ver. 17. It shall not be baked with leaven,.... Which, as it was a type of Christ, may denote his sincerity both in doctrine, life, and conversation; and as it may respect the offerer, may signify his uprightness and integrity, and his being devoid of hypocrisy and insincerity:



I have given it [unto thee for] their portion of my offerings made by fire; this was part of the provision made for the maintenance of the priests, as it was but just that they that ministered at the altar should live of it; and the rather, as the priests and Levites had no portion and inheritance in the land of Israel, and therefore must be supported in another way, which the Lord took care of:



it [is] most holy, as the sin [offering], and as the trespass [offering]; as they, so this being devoted to sacred uses, what were not consumed upon the altar belonged to the priests, and were their perquisites, nor might they be appropriated to the use of any other.





Leviticus 6:18



Ver. 18. All the males among the children of Aaron shall eat of it,.... And they only, for none but they might eat in the holy place, and therefore these holy things that were to be eaten there, were only eaten by them; what might be eaten by the priests in their own houses, their wives and daughters ate of, but in the holy place only their males, and a male was one that was thirteen years of age:



[it shall be] a statute for ever in your generations, concerning the offerings of the Lord made by fire; a statute to last till the Messiah should come, the true meat or bread offering; and the bread he gave was his flesh, and he that eats of it shall not die, but live for ever, Joh 6:27:



everyone that toucheth them shall be holy; signifying, that no one ought to touch them but a holy person, one devoted to holy services, the priests and their sons; or "whatsoever" {o} toucheth them, the dishes they eat those offerings out of, or the knives they cut them with, were not to be used for anything else.



{o} rva lk "quicquid", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Drusius.





Leviticus 6:19



Ver. 19. And the Lord spake unto Moses,.... At the same time the above laws were delivered:



saying; as follows.





Leviticus 6:20



Ver. 20. This is the offering of Aaron and his sons,.... That is, of such of them as succeeded him in the high priesthood, as appears from Le 6:22 so Aben Ezra, of him, or of one of his sons in his room; though some think the common priests offered the following oblation at the time of their initiation into their office, though they were not anointed as the high priest was, nor obliged as he to continue the offering daily:



which they shall offer unto the Lord in the day when he is anointed; when he, or any of his sons in his stead, were anointed, for as yet he himself was not; see Le 8:2 some, as Aben Ezra observes, think that b, "in", is instead of m, "from", and that the sense is, that Aaron, or his successor, and every of them, were to offer the following offering perpetually from the time of their being anointed, and put into the office of the high priest, and which certainly was the case, as appears by what follows:



the tenth part of an ephah of fine flour for a meat offering perpetual; which was an omer, and as much as a man could eat in one day; and this the high priest offered every day, as long as he lived, or was in his office, and that at his own expense, as Josephus says {p}, not altogether, but in the following manner:



half of it in the morning, and half of it at night; so that this constantly returned as the morning and evening sacrifices did, and followed them. Jarchi says of this, that it was the common meat offering at the consecration of a priest, but the high priest offered it every day; and it appears from the Misnic writers {q} that this meat offering consisted of twelve cakes, the same number as those of the shewbread; the same phrase, a "perpetual statute", being used of one as the other; and six of these were offered in the morning, and six at evening; and this as the daily sacrifice had the same mystical meaning, and respected the continual efficacy of the sacrifice of Christ.



{p} Antiqu. l. 3. c. 10. sect. 7. {q} Misn. Menachot, c. 6. sect. 5. & Maimon. & Bartenora in ib.





Leviticus 6:21



Ver. 21. In a pan it shall be made with oil,.... With oil olive, as the Targum of Jonathan; the pan in which it was made was a vessel that had no covering, nor hollow in the middle, nor any lip or edge, but was a plane, and extended, and the dough made on it was hard and stiff, that it might not run off {r}. In the temple was a chamber of those that made the cakes {s}, where, as Bartenora {t} observes, was prepared the meat offering, which the high priest offered, one half in the morning, and the other half in the evening:



[and when it is] baked, thou shalt bring it in; not thoroughly baked, but very little, as says Josephus, hastily, so that it swells, and rises up in bubbles. Jarchi says, the flour was first mixed in hot water, and after that it was baked in an oven, and then fried in a pan:



and the baked pieces of the meat offering shalt thou offer [for] a sweet savour unto the Lord; or the meat offering cut in pieces shalt thou offer, as both the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem; the twelve cakes were broken each into two, and twelve halves were offered in the morning, and twelve at evening: the manner in which it was done was, the priest divided every cake into two by measure, so that he might offer half in the morning, and half in the evening; and he took the halves and doubled everyone of them into two, and broke them, until he found every broken piece doubled into two, and he offered the halves with half the handful of frankincense in the morning, and in like manner in the evening {u}: this may have respect to the body of Christ being broken for us, whereby he became fit food for faith, and an offering of a sweet smelling savour to God.



{r} Misn. Menachot, c. 5. sect. 8. & Maimon. & Bartenora in ib. Maimon. Maasch Hakorbanot, c. 13. sect. 7. {s} Misn. Middot, c. 1. sect. 4. {t} In ib. {u} Maimon. Misn. Middot. sect. 4.





Leviticus 6:22



Ver. 22. And the priest of his sons that is anointed in his stead shall offer it,.... The successor of the high priest:



it is a statute for ever unto the Lord; which he by an everlasting statute appointed to be offered to him by every high priest, until the Messiah should come:



it shall be wholly burnt; of a common meat offering only a handful was burnt, and the rest was the priest's; see Le 6:15.





Leviticus 6:23



Ver. 23. For every meat offering for the priest shall be wholly burnt,.... Wherefore the priest that offered this for the high priest got nothing by it: he served him gratis:



it shall not be eaten; neither by himself, nor any other priest. The priests by eating the offerings of the people bore their iniquities, and made atonement for them, Le 10:17 but the priests might not eat their own sacrifices, to show that they could not bear their own sins, and make atonement for them; and this proves the insufficiency of the legal sacrifices, and the need there was for one to arise of another order to take away sin; and it is thought by some to be typical of the active obedience of Christ {w}, every day yielded to the law and will of God, and is perfect, as the word here signifies, and to be distinguished from hlwe, "a burnt offering".



{w} Vid. Michaelis Observ. Sacr. Exercitat. 6. p. 57. & Mede in ib. p. 58.





Leviticus 6:24



Ver. 24. And the Lord spake unto Moses,.... Continued his discourse with him:



saying; as follows.





Leviticus 6:25



Ver. 25. Speak unto Aaron, and to his sons, saying, this [is] the law of the sin [offering],.... Or the rules to be observed concerning that, besides what had been already delivered in Le 4:1:



in the place where the burnt offering is killed shall the sin [offering] be killed before the Lord; and that was on the north side of the altar, see Le 1:11 and so Aben Ezra and Ben Gersom observe, that the place of slaying every sin offering was the north; and some have observed that Mount Calvary, where our Lord was crucified, lay pretty much to the north of Jerusalem, see Ps 48:2:



it is most holy; sacred to the Lord, offered up to him, and accepted by him, and typical of the most pure and holy sacrifice of Christ, who was made sin, and an offering for sin, in the room and stead of his people.





Leviticus 6:26



Ver. 26. The priest that offereth it for sin shall eat it,.... Thereby signifying that he bore the sin of the person that brought the offering, and made atonement for it; as a type of Christ, who bore the sins of his people in his own body on the tree, and made satisfaction for them; see Le 10:17. This is to be understood not of that single individual priest only that was the offerer, but of him and his family; for, as Ben Gersom observes, it was impossible for one man to eat all the flesh of a beast at one meal or two; but it means, as he says, the family of the priest that then officiated, the male part;



in the holy place shall it be eaten, in the court of the tabernacle of the congregation; within the hangings, as Ben Gersom's note is, with which the court of the tabernacle was hung and made; in some room in that part of the sanctuary did the priest, with his sons, eat of the holy offerings that were appropriated to them; an emblem of spiritual priests, believers in Christ, feeding in the church upon the provisions of his house, the goodness and fatness of it.





Leviticus 6:27



Ver. 27. Whatsoever shall touch the flesh thereof shall be holy,.... None but holy persons, such as were devoted to holy services, even the priests and their sons, might touch and eat of the flesh of the sin offering: all that did so were sacred persons; and even what were used in eating it, dishes and knives, were to be put to no other use, not to any common service, or for anything but holy things; which was done to keep up a veneration for the sacrifices, and especially for the great sacrifice they typified, the sacrifice of Christ, whose flesh is meat indeed; and whoever eats of that by faith dwells in Christ, and Christ dwells in him, Joh 6:55:



and when there is sprinkled of the blood thereof upon any garment; the garment of the priest that slays and offers it:



thou shalt wash that whereon it was sprinkled in the holy place; it was not to be carried out of the tabernacle, and washed elsewhere, but in the sanctuary; either at the laver, where the priests washed their hands and feet, or in some room in the court for that purpose. This was done to preserve an esteem and value for the blood of the sacrifice, as typical of the precious blood of Christ.





Leviticus 6:28



Ver. 28. But the earthen vessel wherein it is sodden shall be broken,.... That being porous, the liquor in which the sin offering was boiled might soak into it, and the smell of it be retained, and therefore, as such vessels were not very costly, they were ordered to be broken; but where the broken pieces were carried and laid, the Jewish writers are at a loss about; for, that vessels, which had served for holy uses, should be laid in an open public place and exposed, they thought was indecent; and as there might be in a course of time great quantities broken, it would look very disagreeable and unseemly to have them lie in heaps in the sanctuary; they therefore have framed a miracle, and conceit that they were swallowed up in the ground where they were laid {x}:



and if it be sodden in a brazen it shall be both scoured and rinsed in water; brass, being more valuable, must not be destroyed; and besides the liquor could not soak into that, and whatever scent it retained was easily and soon removed by scouring and rinsing; the former was with hot water, and the latter with cold, as Ben Gersom affirms.



{x} T. Bab. Yoma, fol. 21. 1.





Leviticus 6:29



Ver. 29. And all the males among the priests shall eat thereof,.... As of the meat offerings, Le 6:18 and this shows that not the single priest that offered only ate of it, Le 6:26 but his male children, and not those only, but those of other priests then upon duty, or in the court:



it [is] most holy; See Gill on "Le 6:25".





Leviticus 6:30



Ver. 30. And no sin [offering], whereof [any] of the blood is brought into the tabernacle of the congregation to reconcile [withal] in the holy place, shall be eaten,.... Every offering, and so every sin offering, was killed in the court of the tabernacle, on the north side of the altar; and the blood of some of them, as on the day of atonement, was carried within the vail and sprinkled on the mercy seat for reconciling the holy place, and making atonement for it; now the flesh of such sin offerings might not be eaten by the priests, though all others might:



it shall be burnt in the fire. Ben Gersom says, it was burnt in its place in the court, in a place prepared there to burn things rejected, and sanctified; and I think, adds he, this place was on the east side, i.e. of the court; but it is clear from Le 16:27 where the above case is mentioned, that it was to be carried out without the camp, and burnt there. What use the apostle makes of this, applying it to Christ, see Heb 13:11.

 

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