Leviticus
Leviticus 2
1“ ‘When anyone offers an offering of a meal offering to Yahweh, his offering shall be of fine flour. He shall pour oil on it, and put frankincense on it. 2He shall bring it to Aaron’s sons, the priests. He shall take his handful of its fine flour, and of its oil, with all its frankincense, and the priest shall burn its memorial on the altar, an offering made by fire, of a pleasant aroma to Yahweh. 3That which is left of the meal offering shall be Aaron’s and his sons’. It is a most holy part of the offerings of Yahweh made by fire.
4“ ‘When you offer an offering of a meal offering baked in the oven, it shall be unleavened cakes of fine flour mixed with oil, or unleavened wafers anointed with oil. 5If your offering is a meal offering made on a griddle, it shall be of unleavened fine flour, mixed with oil. 6You shall cut it in pieces, and pour oil on it. It is a meal offering. 7If your offering is a meal offering of the pan, it shall be made of fine flour with oil. 8You shall bring the meal offering that is made of these things to Yahweh. It shall be presented to the priest, and he shall bring it to the altar. 9The priest shall take from the meal offering its memorial, and shall burn it on the altar, an offering made by fire, of a pleasant aroma to Yahweh. 10That which is left of the meal offering shall be Aaron’s and his sons’. It is a most holy part of the offerings of Yahweh made by fire.
11“ ‘No meal offering which you shall offer to Yahweh shall be made with yeast; for you shall burn no yeast, nor any honey, as an offering made by fire to Yahweh. 12As an offering of first fruits you shall offer them to Yahweh, but they shall not rise up as a pleasant aroma on the altar. 13Every offering of your meal offering you shall season with salt. You shall not allow the salt of the covenant of your God to be lacking from your meal offering. With all your offerings you shall offer salt.
14“ ‘If you offer a meal offering of first fruits to Yahweh, you shall offer for the meal offering of your first fruits fresh heads of grain parched with fire and crushed. 15You shall put oil on it and lay frankincense on it. It is a meal offering. 16The priest shall burn as its memorial part of its crushed grain and part of its oil, along with all its frankincense. It is an offering made by fire to Yahweh.
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5 commentators · 39 notes on this chapter
Matthew Henry2
Writes as a pastor rather than a critic. Expect devotional and practical application over historical or linguistic analysis, read through a Reformed covenantal frame — and expect the Old Testament to be read forward toward Christ throughout.
Why this voice is here: The most widely read English commentary for three centuries. Included as a baseline: where Henry and a modern voice diverge, the divergence itself is usually the interesting part.
There were some meat-offerings that were only appendices to the burnt-offerings, as that which was offered with the daily sacrifice (Exo 29:38, Exo 29:39) and with the peace-offerings; these had drink-offerings joined with them (see Num 15:4, Num 15:7, Num…
Here, I. Leaven and honey are forbidden to be put in any of their meat-offerings: No leaven, nor any honey, in any offering made by fire, Lev 2:11. 1. The leaven was forbidden in remembrance of the unleavened bread they ate when they came out of Egypt. So…
John Gill16
The most exhaustive and the most doctrinally committed here. Expect high — even supralapsarian — Calvinism applied consistently, and unusually heavy use of rabbinic and Talmudic sources for Jewish context. Where a passage bears on election or the will, Gill will read it in one direction, and knowing that in advance is the point.
Why this voice is here: The strongest Calvinist reading available in the public domain, and the best on Jewish background. Read alongside Clarke, not instead of him — between them you get both sides of the argument.
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…
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…
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, 1 Corinthians 9:13 but…
Adam Clarke9
The linguist of this set. Expect Hebrew and Greek word study, oriental custom, and geography — and an Arminian reading of grace and free will where Gill or Henry would read election. Note one real divergence: Clarke denied the eternal sonship of Christ, a position most of the tradition rejects, so read him closely on the person of Christ.
Why this voice is here: Where you want to know what a word actually says, Clarke is the one who will tell you — with the caveat above on Christ’s sonship.
Meat-offering - מנחה minchah. For an explanation of this word see Clarke's note on Gen 4:3, and Lev. vii. Calmet has remarked that there are five kinds of the minchah mentioned in this chapter. 1. סלת soleth, simple flour or meal, Lev 2:1. 2. Cakes and…
His handful of the flour - This was for a memorial, to put God in mind of his covenant with their fathers, and to recall to their mind his gracious conduct towards them and their ancestors. Mr. Ainsworth properly remarks, "that there was neither oil nor…
Baken in the oven - תנור tannur, from נר nar, to split, divide, says Mr. Parkhurst; and hence the oven, because of its burning, dissolving, and melting heat.
Keil & Delitzsch3
The technical one, and Old Testament only. Expect Hebrew grammar, textual argument, and direct engagement with nineteenth-century critical scholarship — closer to a scholarly apparatus than a devotional read. Where a modern critic claims a text is late or composite, this is where the conservative counter-argument was made.
Why this voice is here: Old Testament only, and heavy going — but the place to look when someone asserts a passage cannot mean what it appears to.
The second kind consisted of pastry of fine flour and oil prepared in different forms. The first was maapheh tannur, oven-baking: by תּנּוּר we are not to understand a baker's over (Hos 7:4, Hos 7:6), but a large pot in the room, such as are used for baking…
The presentation of the minchah "made of these things," i.e., of the different kinds of pastry mentioned in Lev 2:4-7, resembled in the main that described in Lev 2:1-3. The מן הרים in Lev 2:9 corresponds to the מן קמץ in Lev 2:2, and does not denote any…
The third kind was the meat-offering of first-fruits, i.e., of the first ripening corn. This was to be offered in the form of "ears parched or roasted by the fire; in other words, to be made from ears which had been roasted at the fire. To this is added the…
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown9
The concise option. Three authors split the canon, so the voice shifts between sections. Expect brief, sober, conservative notes that resolve difficulties rather than dwelling on them — useful for orientation, thinner than Gill or Clarke where a passage is genuinely contested.
Why this voice is here: The quickest way to see what the mainstream Reformed reading of a passage is. Start here, then go to Gill or Clarke when it matters.
shall burn the memorial--rather, "for a memorial"; that is, a part of it.
the remnant of the meat offering shall be Aaron's and his sons'--The circumstance of a portion of it being appropriated to the use of the priests distinguishes this from a burnt offering. They alone were to partake of it within the sacred precincts, as among…
if thou bring an oblation of a meat offering baken in the oven--generally a circular hole excavated in the floor, from one to five feet deep, the sides of which are covered with hardened plaster, on which cakes are baked of the form and thickness of pancakes…
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