SECOND SECTION

Special Instructions chiefly for the Priests

Leviticus 6:8–7:38

“Standing Sacrificial Rites and Duties—especially of the Priests.”—LANGE

A.—FOR BURNT OFFERINGS

Leviticus 6:8–13

8, 9And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Command1 Aaron and his sons, saying, This is the law of the burnt offering: It2 is the burnt offering, because of the burning upon the altar [This, the burnt offering, shall be upon the hearth upon the altar3] all night unto the morning, and the fire of the altar shall be burning in it. 10And the priest shall put on his4 linen garment, and his linen breeches shall he put5 upon his flesh, and take up the ashes which the fire hath consumed with the burnt offering [ashes to which the fire hath consumed the burnt offering6] on the altar, 11and he shall put them beside the altar. And he shall put off his garments, and put on other garments, and carry forth the ashes without the camp unto a clean place.7 12And the fire upon the altar shall be burning in [on] it; it shall not be put out: and the priest shall burn wood on it every morning, and lay the burnt offering in order upon it: and he shall burn thereon the fat of the peace offerings. 13The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar; it shall never go out.

B.—FOR OBLATIONS (MEAT OFFERINGS). 6:14–23

14And this is the law of the meat offering [oblation8]; the sons of Aaron shall offer9 it before the LORD, before the altar. 15And he shall take of it his handful, of the flour of the meat offering [oblation8], and of the oil thereof, and all the frankincense which is upon the meat offering [oblation8], and shall burn it upon the altar for a sweet savour, even the memorial of it, unto the LORD. 16And the remainder thereof shall Aaron and his sons eat: with [om. with] unleavened bread [om. bread] shall it be eaten in the [a] holy place; in the court of the tabernacle of the 17[om. the] congregation they shall eat it. It2 shall not be baken with leaven. I have given it unto them for their portion of my offerings made by fire; it is most holy, as is the sin offering, and as the trespass offering. 18All the males among the children of Aaron shall eat of it. It shall be a statute forever in your generations concerning the offerings of the LORD made by fire: every one that [whatsoever10] toucheth them shall be holy.

19, 20And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, This is the offering of Aaron and of his sons, which they shall offer unto the LORD in the day when he11 is anointed; the tenth part of an ephah of fine flour for12 a meat offering [an oblation8] perpetual, half of it in the morning, and half thereof at night.13 21In a pan it shall be made with oil; and when it is baken [fried14], thou shalt bring it in: and the baken15 pieces15 of the meat offering [oblation8] shalt thou offer for a sweet savour unto the LORD. 22And the priest of his sons that is anointed in his stead shall offer it: it is a statute forever unto the LORD; it shall be wholly burnt. 23For every meat-offering [oblation8] for the priest shall be wholly burnt: it shall not be eaten.

C—FOR SIN OFFERINGS. 6:24–30

24And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 25Speak unto Aaron and to his sons, saying, This is the law of the sin offering: In the place where the burnt offering is killed shall the sin offering be killed before the LORD: it is most holy. 26The priest that offereth it for sin shall eat it: in the [a] holy place shall it be eaten, in the court of the tabernacle of the [om. the] congregation. 27Whatsoever shall touch the flesh thereof shall be holy: and when there is sprinkled of the blood thereof upon any garment, thou16 shalt wash that whereon it was sprinkled in the [a] holy place. 28But the earthen vessel wherein it is sodden shall be broken: and if it be sodden in a brazen pot, it shall be both scoured, and rinsed in water. 29All the males among 30the priests shall eat thereof: it is most holy. And [But] no sin offering, whereof any of the blood is brought into the tabernacle of the [om. the] congregation to reconcile [make atonement17] withal in the holy place, shall be eaten: it shall be burnt in the fire.

Footnotes:

1Lev 6:9. צַו. The Sam. has צוי, a form which occurs in MSS. with the pointing צִַוִּי.

2Lev 6:9, 17, 18, 22. הוא. The Sum. and many MSS. have the later form היא indicated by the Masoretic punctuation. This frequent variation will not hereafter be noticed. The conjectural emendation of Houbigant, הוי in the imperative, although expressing the sense, is unnecessary.

3Lev 6:9. The suggested translation is that given by most critics; of its general correctness there can be no doubt; but the sense of מוֹקְדָה (which occurs only here) may be either that of hearth, or of burning. The masculine form, מוֵֹקד (which is found only Ps. 102:4 (3), and Isa. 33:14), is translated in both ways in the A. V., but should have only the latter sense. The weight of authority as well as the context make hearth the preferable translation here. Knobel would make הוא the verb to be in the imperative; but this is not sufficiently supported.

4Lev 6:10. מִדּוֹ. For the suffix on a noun in the constr. Knobel refers to 26:42; Ex. 26:25; Jer. 9:2 (8:23); 2 Sam. 22:33, however, reads מדי.

5Lev 6:10. The Sam. for יִלְבַּשׁ has יִהְיוּ as in 16:4, which scarcely affects the sense.

6Lev 6:10. The propriety of this correction is obvious. Bp. Horsley’s emendation: take up the ashes of the fire which hath consumed—does violence to the Heb.

7Lev 6:11. The Vulg. has this curious addition: usque ad favillam consumi faciet.

8Lev 6:14, etc. מִנְחָה= oblation. See Lev 2:1, Text. and Gram. Note (2). The Sam. has here “the law of the oblation of the drink offerings,” whence the Vulg.: lex sacrificii et libamentorum.

9Lev 6:14. הַקְרֵב, Infin. Abs. as in 2:6; Ex.13:3.

10Lev 6:18. כֹּל אֲשֶׁר might be understood either as every one that, as in the A. V., or as every thing that; but as the latter is the necessary translation of the exactly parallel clause in Lev 6:27 (as in the A. V.), it is better to keep it here also.

11Lev 6:20. The Syr. here has the plural.

12Lev 6:20. The prep. לְ, not in the Heb., is supplied by the Sam. and many MSS.

13Lev 6:20. The paraphrase of the Sam. בֵּין הָעַרְבַּיִם=between the evenings, expresses the connection of this oblation with the evening sacrifice.

14Lev 6:21. מֻרְבֶּכֶת a word of very doubtful meaning, but should certainly have the same translation as in 7:12, where see note.

15Lev 6:21. תֻּפִינֵי, a word ἁπ. λέγ. to which different significations are attached according to its supposed derivation. Fürst, deriving it from תּוּף, gives the sense of the A. V. Gesenius also, deriving from אָפָה, gives the sense of cooked. Others derive it from an Arabic root, and give the meaning broken. So Targ. Onk. (which points תּוּפִינֵי) and the Sam.

16Lev 6:27. עָלֶיהָ תְּכַבֵּם. The sudden change of person, and the feminine suffix in reference to a masculine noun, are both avoided by the Sam. reading עליו יכבם.

17Lev 6:30. לְכַפֵר. There may be but little difference in the sense of the two renderings; but it is better to retain the same form always. Other instances of variation in the A. V. in Lev. are 8:15 and 16:20 only.