The Third Book of Moses, called Leviticus
Leviticus 7
Chapter VII · Vol. I, pp. 372–373
1 The law of the trespass-offering, 11 and of the peace-offering, 12 whether it be for a thanksgiving, 16 or a vow, or a freewill-offering. 22 The fat and the blood are forbidden to be eaten. 28 The priests' portion in the peace-offerings.
1 LIKEWISE this is the a law of the trespass-offering: b it is most holy.
a ch. 5.1-19; 6.1-7; 14.13; 21.22. 1 Pe. 2.22,24.
b See ch. 6.17,25,29; 21.22.
2 In the c place where they kill the burnt-offering shall they kill the trespass-offering: and the blood thereof shall he d sprinkle round about upon the altar.
c ch. 1.3,5,11; 6.25; 4.24,29,33. Mat. 20.18,19; 16.21; xxvi. xxvii.
d ch. 1.5,15; 3.2,8,13, with ch. 4.7,18,25,30,34; 5.9. Jn. 17.19. He. 2.10. Is. 42.21. 2 Co. 5.19.
4 And the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which is by the flanks, and the caul that is above the liver, with the kidneys, it shall he take away:
5 And the priest shall f burn them g upon the altar for an offering made by fire unto the LORD: it is a trespass-offering.
6 Everyh male among the priests shall eat thereof; it shall be eaten in the holy place: i it is most holy.
h ch. 6.16,18,26,29; 14.13; 21.22; 22.4-7. Nu. 18.9,10.
i See ver. 1.
7 As the k sin-offering is, so is the trespass-offering; there is one law for them: the priest that maketh atonement therewith shall have it.
k ch. 6.26,29. 2 Co. 5.21. Is. 53.10-12. 1 Pe. 2.24; 3.18; 1.18,19. Phi. 2.6-11. Lu. 24.26. Jn. 17.4,6.
8 And the priest that offereth any man's burnt-offering, even the priest shall have to himself the l skin of the burnt-offering which he hath offered.
l Ge. 3.21. Ro. 13.13,14. Phi. 3.9.
9 And all m the meat-offering that is baken in the oven, and all that is dressed in the frying-pan, and in the pan, shall be the priest's that offereth it.
m ch. 2.2,5,6,9; 5.11. Is. 53.10. 1 Co. 15.58; 9.7. Ga. 6.6.
10 And every meat-offering mingled with oil, and dry, shall all the sons of Aaron have, n one as much as another.
n Ex. 16.18. Col. 2.10; 3.11. 1 Co. 1.30; 3.21. Ro. 8.30-33.
12 If he offer it p for a thanksgiving,2 then he shall offer with the sacrifice of thanksgiving q unleavened cakes mingled with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil, and cakes mingled with oil, of fine flour fried.
p ch. 22.29. Ps. 50.14; 116.17. 1 Ki. 8.63. 2 Ch. 29.31; 33.16.
2 This was a thank-offering made as a token of gratitude for some signal divine favour; and leavened bread was permitted, because it was commonly used at social feasts, and this offering was the 'spontaneous expression of pious devotion.'—P.
q ch. 2.4; 6.21. Nu. 6.15. 1 Co. 5.8. 1 Pe. 2.1,2. 2 Co. 7.1. Lu. 1.74,75.
13 Besides the cakes, he shall offer for his offering r leavened bread with the sacrifice of thanksgiving of his peace-offerings.3
r ch. 23.17. Mat. 13.33. 1 Co. 5.7,8.
3 From the institution of the passover, Ex. xii., leaven has lain under interdict. Why then is leavened bread admitted, nay prescribed, in peace-offerings and thanksgivings? (1) To show that 'every creature of God is good, if it be received with thanksgivings; for it is sanctified by the word and prayer,' 1 Ti. 4.4,5; 1 Co. 10.23,30. (2) To exhibit a practical illustration of the great principle that, 'not that which goeth into the mouth defileth the man, but that which cometh out of the mouth (if coming from an unrenewed heart) this defileth the man,' Mat. 15.11.—C.
14 And of it he shall offer one out of the whole oblation for an s heave-offering unto the LORD, and it shall t be the priest's that sprinkleth the blood of the peace-offerings.
s Ex. 29.27. Nu. 15.20; 18.9,11,19,29-31.
t ch. 6.17,26; 10.14,15, ver. 8,33.
15 And the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace-offerings for thanksgiving shall be eaten u the same day that it is offered; he shall not leave any of it until the morning.
16 But if the sacrifice of his offering be a x vow,4 or a voluntary offering, it shall be eaten the same day that he offereth his sacrifice; and on the morrow also the remainder of it shall be eaten:
x Nu. 30.2. ch. 22.23; 19.5-7; 27.9.
4 'A votive offering.'—P.
17 But the remainder of the flesh of the sacrifice on the y third day shall be burnt with fire.
y Ge. 22.4. Ex. 19.11. 1 Co. 15.3,4. Ro. 6.3. 1 Co. 10.16, lest it should putrefy, become contemptible, or be used superstitiously, &c.
18 And if any of the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace-offerings be eaten at all on the third day,5 it z shall not be accepted, neither shall it be imputed unto him that offereth it: it shall be an abomination, and the soul that eateth of it a shall bear his iniquity.
5 'When thou vowest a vow, defer not to pay it,' Ec. 5.4. Accordingly, no part of the sacrifice was to remain, in any case, till the third day, clearly typifying the body of Christ, which was not to be suffered 'to see corruption,' Ac. 2.27, and was to be raised on the third day, Mat. 16.21.—C.
z Nu. 18.27. ch. 19.7,8. Is. 1.11-15; 65.4; 66.3. Ge. 4.5. It shall not avail him for good.
19 And the flesh b that toucheth any unclean thing shall not be eaten, it shall be burnt with fire: and as for the flesh, all that be clean shall eat thereof.
A.M. 2514. B.C. 1490.
b ch. 22.2-15; xi. xiii. xv. Nu. xix. Ge. 17.14. 1 Co. 11.27-29. He. 10.29,31. Ps. 68.21.
20 But the soul that eateth of the flesh of the sacrifice of peace-offerings that pertain unto the LORD, having his uncleanness upon him, even that soul shall c be cut off from his people.
c See ver. 21, 25, 27. Shall be excommunicated from the Jewish church, if not deprived of life.
21 Moreover,d the soul that shall touch any unclean thing, as the uncleanness of man, or any unclean beast, or any abominable unclean thing, and eat of the flesh of the sacrifice of peace-offerings which pertain unto the LORD, even that soul shall be cut off from his people.
d ch. xi.-xiv. De. xiv. Nu. xix. Ep. 5.7,11. 2 Co. 6.14-17.
22 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
23 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, Yee shall eat no manner of fat, of ox, or of sheep, or of goat.
e ch. 3.16,17; 4.8-10; 7.6. De. 32.38. 1 Sa. 2.15,17. ver. 24,25. Ep. 1.7; 5.26. He. 10.10-14.
24 And the fat of the beast that f dieth of itself, and the fat of that which is torn with beasts, may be used in any other use; but ye shall in no wise eat of it.
25 For whosoever eateth the fat of the beast, of which men offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD, even the soul that eateth it shall be g cut off from his people.5
g Ge. 17.14. ver. 20,21; ch. 17.10,14. Ro. 9.31,32; 10.3. He. 10.29.
5 It is clear (1) That only the fat of such animals as were permitted to be offered in sacrifice was forbidden. The fat of other clean beasts might be eaten. (2) That when the Israelites entered Canaan, and when the slaughter of animals was permitted in every part of the country for the purposes of food, there is nothing in this command to prevent the eating of fat. (3) Those portions of the fat which are mixed with the ordinary flesh are not prohibited.—P.
26 Moreover,h ye shall eat no manner of blood,6 whether it be of fowl or of beast, in any of your dwellings.
h Ge. 9.4. ch. 3.17; 17.10,12,14. De. 12.16,23; 15.23. 1 Sa. 14.33,34. Ac. 15.29.
6 That fat and blood represented the precious life-giving obedience and sufferings of Christ.
27 Whatsoever soul it be that eateth any manner of blood, even that soul shall be cut off from his people.7
7 The command against the use of blood is absolute and universal.—P.
28 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
29 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, He that offereth the sacrifice of his peace-offerings unto the LORD, shall i bring his oblation unto the LORD of the sacrifice of his peace-offerings.
i ch. iii.; 22.29. Ps. 40.7,8; 110.3.
30 His own hands shall bring the offerings of the LORD made by fire; the fat with the breast, it shall he bring, that k the breast may be waved for a wave-offering8 before the LORD.9
k ver. 32-34. Ex. 29.24-28. ch. 3.5; 8.27; 9.21; 10.14,15.
8 The offerer was required with his own hands to bring these parts of the sacrifice to the priest, that the oblation of them might appear his own voluntary action. The breast (which seems to have included the whole of what is at present, in cutting up slaughtered animals, divided into the two breasts) having been solemnly waved to and fro, as devoted to God, was eaten by the priests in general: but the right shoulder, having been heaved upwards, as in like manner given to the Lord, was the perquisite of the officiating priest.—Scott.
9 According to Jewish tradition the ceremony of 'waving' was as follows: The priest laid the portion on the hands of the offerer, and then placed his own hands beneath, and moved the hands of the offerer forward, toward the altar, to indicate the dedication of the piece to God; then backward, to indicate the giving of it back again for the use of the priests.—P.
31 And the priest shall burn the l fat upon the altar; but the breast shall be Aaron's and his sons'.
l ch. 3.3-5, 9-11, 16. See ver. 5. Ps. 22.13,14. Is. 53.10. Phi. 3.10. Ro. 6.3,4. Pr. 23.26.
32 And the right shoulder shall ye give unto the priest for an m heave-offering of the sacrifices of your peace-offerings.
33 He among the sons of Aaron, that offereth the blood of the peace-offerings and the fat, shall have the n right shoulder for his part.
A.M. 2514. B.C. 1490.
n ch. 10.14,15. Nu. 18.18. De. 18.3. Ex. 29.22-28. Is. 53.10. Jn. 6.33,35,53-58. Ga. 2.20. Phi. 3.9,10. 1 Co. 9.13,14.
34 For the wave-breast and the heave-shoulder have I taken of the children of Israel from off the sacrifices of their peace-offerings, and have given them unto Aaron the priest, and unto his sons, by a statute for ever, from among the children of Israel.
35 This is the portion of the o anointing of Aaron, and of the anointing of his sons,1 out of the offerings of the LORD made by fire, in the day when he presented them to minister unto the LORD in the priest's office;
36 Whichp the LORD commanded to be given them of the children of Israel, in the day that he anointed them, by a statute for ever throughout their generations.
p ch. 6.16-18,26; ver. 6-8,14,30,32-34; ch. 10.12-15. Ex. 29.26-33. Nu. xviii. De. 18.3,4.
37 Thisq is the law of the burnt-offering, of the meat-offering, and of the sin-offering, and of the trespass-offering, and of the consecrations, and of the sacrifice of the peace-offerings;
38 Which the LORD commanded Moses in mount Sinai, in the day that he commanded the children of Israel to offer their r oblations2 unto the LORD, in the wilderness of Sinai.
2 The word rendered oblations is a general name for all sorts of offerings or oblations to God. The root of the word is karab, to approach or bring near; and the term therefore denotes anything brought nigh to be offered or dedicated to the Lord, to whom also the offerer himself was, as it were, brought nigh, having access in the way appointed by the law. The comprehensive term is thus very appropriately introduced here at the conclusion of the account of the different offerings and sacrifices.—I.
Notes
Ver. 13. (1) The prohibition of leaven, in ch. 2.11, related only to things burnt upon the altar; but he did not prohibit the offering of leavened bread for the priest's food. (2) This was a thank-offering to God for blessings, of which leavened bread was one. And it might denote that God rejects not the grateful services of his people, though tainted and mingled with corruption.
Ver. 15. This intimated that Christ and his grace should be received without delay, and with thanksgiving speedily returned; and it also prompted them to invite the poor, or strangers, to share in the entertainment.
Ver. 30. [The offerer must bring the offering with his own hands. The priest cannot bring it as his superior; nor his friend as his equal; nor his servant as his inferior. This points to the fact that none but Christ can offer the sacrifice of reconciliation; and that religion, or faith, repentance, holiness, is a personal concern between God and every man's own soul; of repentance, a bitterness which the world knoweth not; and of hope, a joy with which a stranger intermeddleth not. See Pr. 14.10. C.]
Ver. 38. [Thanksgivings in the wilderness? Why are they not reserved exclusively for Canaan? Is not liberty, the liberty of the Son, abundant compensation for want of a 'continuing city?' Is not manna a sufficient substitute for 'milk and honey?' Whatever be your lot, 'rejoice in the Lord, O! ye righteous, for praise is comely for the upright,' Ps. 33.1. C.]
Reflections.—Ministers of the gospel ought to be plentifully supplied with everything necessary and agreeable. And the more diligent any are in the services of religion, the more abundantly will they reap the advantages thereof. What glorious reward to himself, and redemption to his people, doth Jesus procure by his all-comprehending oblation! What robes! what delicious provision! May I and my friends share with him in his abundant nourishment and consolation! And let me not only timely perform my vows; but where I am left most at liberty, let me with cheerfulness give to the Lord. As there is no medium between God's acceptance and abhorrence of my works, let me examine myself, and take heed to my steps. Let my receiving and feeding upon Jesus be as early, and earnest, and social, as possible; and let me, by an after-improvement of divine ordinances, obtain the real benefit thereof. Never let me attempt to live in sinful pollutions along with feasting on Christ. But always beware of a licentious appetite after things prohibited of God. And while I manifest the utmost regard to Jesus and his atonement, let me, as a ransomed priest, feed upon him as my portion; feed upon his dearest love and choicest supports; always eyeing the grant, appointment, and command of God, as the rule and reason of my conduct.