Leviticus
Leviticus 7
1“ ‘This is the law of the trespass offering: It is most holy. 2In the place where they kill the burnt offering, he shall kill the trespass offering; and its blood he shall sprinkle around on the altar. 3He shall offer all of its fat: the fat tail, and the fat that covers the innards, 4and he shall take away the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which is by the loins, and the cover on the liver, with the kidneys; 5and the priest shall burn them on the altar for an offering made by fire to Yahweh: it is a trespass offering. 6Every male among the priests may eat of it. It shall be eaten in a holy place. It is most holy.
7“ ‘As is the sin offering, so is the trespass offering; there is one law for them. The priest who makes atonement with them shall have it. 8The priest who offers any man’s burnt offering shall have for himself the skin of the burnt offering which he has offered. 9Every meal offering that is baked in the oven, and all that is prepared in the pan and on the griddle, shall be the priest’s who offers it. 10Every meal offering, mixed with oil or dry, belongs to all the sons of Aaron, one as well as another.
11“ ‘This is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings, which one shall offer to Yahweh: 12If he offers it for a thanksgiving, then he shall offer with the sacrifice of thanksgiving unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil, and cakes mixed with oil. 13He shall offer his offering with the sacrifice of his peace offerings for thanksgiving with cakes of leavened bread. 14Of it he shall offer one out of each offering for a heave offering to Yahweh. It shall be the priest’s who sprinkles the blood of the peace offerings. 15The flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offerings for thanksgiving shall be eaten on the day of his offering. He shall not leave any of it until the morning.
16“ ‘But if the sacrifice of his offering is a vow, or a free will offering, it shall be eaten on the day that he offers his sacrifice. On the next day what remains of it shall be eaten, 17but what remains of the meat of the sacrifice on the third day shall be burned with fire. 18If any of the meat of the sacrifice of his peace offerings is eaten on the third day, it will not be accepted, and it shall not be credited to him who offers it. It will be an abomination, and the soul who eats any of it will bear his iniquity.
19“ ‘The meat that touches any unclean thing shall not be eaten. It shall be burned with fire. As for the meat, everyone who is clean may eat it; 20but the soul who eats of the meat of the sacrifice of peace offerings that belongs to Yahweh, having his uncleanness on him, that soul shall be cut off from his people. 21When anyone touches any unclean thing, the uncleanness of man, or an unclean animal, or any unclean abomination, and eats some of the meat of the sacrifice of peace offerings which belong to Yahweh, that soul shall be cut off from his people.’ ”
22Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 23“Speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘You shall eat no fat, of bull, or sheep, or goat. 24The fat of that which dies of itself, and the fat of that which is torn of animals, may be used for any other service, but you shall in no way eat of it. 25For whoever eats the fat of the animal which men offer as an offering made by fire to Yahweh, even the soul who eats it shall be cut off from his people. 26You shall not eat any blood, whether it is of bird or of animal, in any of your dwellings. 27Whoever it is who eats any blood, that soul shall be cut off from his people.’ ”
28Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 29“Speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘He who offers the sacrifice of his peace offerings to Yahweh shall bring his offering to Yahweh out of the sacrifice of his peace offerings. 30With his own hands he shall bring the offerings of Yahweh made by fire. He shall bring the fat with the breast, that the breast may be waved for a wave offering before Yahweh. 31The priest shall burn the fat on the altar, but the breast shall be Aaron’s and his sons’. 32The right thigh you shall give to the priest for a heave offering out of the sacrifices of your peace offerings. 33He among the sons of Aaron who offers the blood of the peace offerings, and the fat, shall have the right thigh for a portion. 34For the waved breast and the heaved thigh I have taken from the children of Israel out of the sacrifices of their peace offerings, and have given them to Aaron the priest and to his sons as their portion forever from the children of Israel.’ ”
35This is the consecrated portion of Aaron, and the consecrated portion of his sons, out of the offerings of Yahweh made by fire, in the day when he presented them to minister to Yahweh in the priest’s office; 36which Yahweh commanded to be given them of the children of Israel, in the day that he anointed them. It is their portion forever throughout their generations. 37This is the law of the burnt offering, the meal offering, the sin offering, the trespass offering, the consecration, and the sacrifice of peace offerings 38which Yahweh commanded Moses in Mount Sinai in the day that he commanded the children of Israel to offer their offerings to Yahweh, in the wilderness of Sinai.
Commentary
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What others are saying
5 commentators · 78 notes on this chapter
Matthew Henry3
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.
Observe here, 1. Concerning the trespass-offering, that, being much of the same nature with the sin-offering, it was to be governed by the same rules, Lev 7:6. When the blood and fat were offered to God to make atonement, the priests were to eat the flesh, as…
All this relates to the peace-offerings: it is the repetition and explication of what we had before, with various additions. I. The nature and intention of the peace-offerings are here more distinctly opened. They were offered either, 1. In thankfulness for…
Here is the conclusion of these laws concerning the sacrifices, though some of them are afterwards repeated and explained. The are to be considered, 1. As a grant to the priests, Lev 7:35, Lev 7:36. In the day they were ordained to that work and office this…
John Gill38
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.
Likewise this is the law of the trespass offering,.... Or the various rites and rules to be observed at the offering of it: the persons for whom it was to be made are described in the two preceding chapters, Leviticus 5:1 both such that sinned through…
In the place where they kill the burnt offering shall they kill the trespass offering,.... See Leviticus 1:11, and the blood thereof shall he sprinkle round about upon the altar; on the upper part of it. There was a scarlet thread that was drawn around the…
And he shall offer of it all the fat thereof,.... To the Lord, that being claimed by him, as in the peace offerings of the herd, and of the flock, whether a bullock or cow, a lamb or a goat, Leviticus 3:3, &c. and in the sin offering of the bullock, Leviticus…
Adam Clarke17
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.
Trespass-offering - See end of the chapter at Lev 7:38 (note).
In the place where they kill the burnt-offering - viz., on the north side of the altar, Lev 1:11.
The rump - See Clarke's note on Lev 3:9, where the principal subjects in this chapter are explained, being nearly the same in both.
Keil & Delitzsch11
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 Law of the Trespass-Offering embraces first of all the regulations as to the ceremonial connected with the presentation. Lev 7:2 The slaughtering and sprinkling of the blood were the same as in the case of the burnt-offering (Lev 1:5); and therefore, no…
The Law of the Peace-Offerings, "which he shall offer to Jehovah" (the subject is to be supplied from the verb), contains instructions, (1) as to the bloodless accompaniment to these sacrifices (Lev 7:12-14), (2) as to the eating of the flesh of the…
This sacrificial gift the offerer was to present upon, or along with, cakes of leavened bread (round, leavened bread-cakes), and to offer "thereof one out of the whole oblation," namely, one cake of each of the three kinds mentioned in Lev 7:12, as a…
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.
the priest shall have to himself the skin of the burnt offering which he hath offered--All the flesh and the fat of the burnt offerings being consumed, nothing remained to the priest but the skin. It has been thought that this was a patriarchal usage…
this is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings--Besides the usual accompaniments of other sacrifices, leavened bread was offered with the peace offerings, as a thanksgiving, such bread being common at feasts.
the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offerings . . . shall be eaten the same day that it is offered--The flesh of the sacrifices was eaten on the day of the offering or on the day following. But if any part of it remained till the third day, it was…
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