Leviticus 1:14

14 "'If his offering to ADONAI is a burnt offering of birds, he must offer a dove or a young pigeon.

Leviticus 1:14 Meaning and Commentary

Leviticus 1:14

And if the burnt sacrifice for his offering to the Lord be
of fowls
As it might be for the poorer sort, who could not offer a bullock, nor a sheep, or a lamb, ( Leviticus 5:7 ) ( 12:8 ) :

then he shall bring his offering of turtledoves, or of young
pigeons;
the Jewish writers all agree, that the turtles should be old, and not young, as the pigeons young, and not old; so the Targum of Jonathan, Jarchi, Aben Ezra and Gersom ^F12; the latter gives two reasons for it, because then they are the choicest and easiest to be found and taken: no mention is made of their being male or female, either would do, or of their being perfect and unblemished, as in the other burnt offerings; but if any part was wanting, it was not fit for sacrifice, as Maimonides ^F13 observes. These creatures were proper emblems of Christ, and therefore used in sacrifice, whose voice is compared to the turtle's, and his eyes to the eyes of doves, ( Song of Solomon 2:12 ) ( 5:12 ) and who is fitly represented by them for his meekness and humility, for his chaste and strong affection to his church, as the turtledove to its mate, and for those dove like graces of the Spirit which are in him.

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FOOTNOTES:

F12 Vid. T. Bab. Cholin, fol. 22. 1, 2.
F13 Issure Mizbeach, c. 3. sect. 1, 2. Vid. Misn. Zebachim, c. 7. sect. 5. & Maimon. & Bartenora, in ib.

Leviticus 1:14 In-Context

12 He is to cut it into pieces, and the cohen is to arrange them with the head and fat on the wood which is on the fire on the altar.

13 He is to wash the entrails and lower parts of the legs with water; and the cohen is to offer it all and make it go up in smoke on the altar as a burnt offering; it is an offering made by fire, a fragrant aroma for ADONAI.

14 "'If his offering to ADONAI is a burnt offering of birds, he must offer a dove or a young pigeon.

15 The cohen is to bring it to the altar, snap off its head and make it go up in smoke on the altar; its blood is to be drained out on the side of the altar.

16 He is to remove the food pouch and its feathers from its neck and discard it on the pile of ashes just east of the altar.