Leviticus 7

Additional Laws for Guilt Offerings

1 " 'And this [is] the regulation of the guilt offering; it [is] {a most holy thing}.

2 In the place where they slaughter the burnt offering, they must slaughter the guilt offering, and he must sprinkle its blood upon the altar all around.

3 And he must present all of its fat: the fat tail and the fat that covers the inner parts,

4 and the two kidneys, and the fat that [is] on them, which [is] on the loins, and he must remove the lobe on the liver in addition to the kidneys.

5 And the priest shall turn it into smoke it on the altar [as] a food offering made by fire for Yahweh; it [is] a guilt offering.

6 Every male among the priests may eat it; it must be eaten in a holy place; it [is] {a most holy thing}.

7 [The] instruction [is] {the same for the guilt offering as for the sin offering}; {it belongs to} the priest, who makes atonement with it.

Portions for the Priests

8 " 'And the priest who presents {a person's} burnt offering, to that priest {belongs} the skin of the burnt offering that he presented.

9 And every grain offering that is baked in the oven and all that is prepared in a cooking pan or on a flat baking pan {belongs to} the priest who presented it.

10 And every grain offering, [whether] mixed with oil or dry, shall be for all of Aaron's sons {equally}.

Additional Laws for Fellowship Offerings

11 " 'And this [is] the regulation of the fellowship offerings that he must present to Yahweh:

12 If he presents it for thanksgiving, in addition to the thanksgiving sacrifice he shall present ring-shaped unleavened bread mixed with oil and unleavened bread wafers smeared with oil and well-mixed ring-shaped bread cakes of finely milled flour mixed with oil.

13 In addition to ring-shaped cakes of bread [with] yeast, he must present his [grain] offering together with his sacrifice of thanksgiving peace offerings.

14 And he shall present one of each kind of [grain] offering [as] a contribution for Yahweh; {it belongs to} the priest who sprinkles the fellowship offerings' blood.

15 And the meat of the sacrifice of his thanksgiving fellowship offerings must be eaten on the day of his offering; he must not leave it until morning.

16 " 'But if his sacrifice [is] [for] a vow or [as] a freewill offering, it must be eaten on the day of his presenting his sacrifice, and on the next day the remainder from it may be eaten,

17 but the remainder from the sacrifice's meat must be burned up in the fire on the third day.

18 And if indeed some of the meat of his fellowship offerings' sacrifice is eaten on the third day, it will not be accepted; it will not be considered [of benefit] for the one who presented it--it shall be unclean [meat], and the person who eats it shall bear his guilt.

19 And the meat that touches anything unclean must not be eaten; it must be burned with fire, and as for the [clean] meat, anyone who is clean may eat the meat.

20 And the person who eats meat from the fellowship offerings' sacrifice, which [is] for Yahweh, and whose uncleanness [is] upon him--that person shall be cut off from his people.

21 And when a person touches anything unclean, [whether] human uncleanness or an unclean animal or any unclean detestable thing, and he eats from the meat of the fellowship offerings' sacrifice, which [is] for Yahweh, then that person shall be cut off from his people.'"

Instructions for the People

22 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

23 "Speak to the {Israelites}, saying, 'You must not eat any fat of ox, or sheep, or goat;

24 and a dead body's fat or mangled carcass's fat may be used for any {purpose}, but you certainly must not eat it.

25 When anyone eats fat from the domestic animal from which he presented an offering made by fire for Yahweh, then that person who ate shall be cut off from his people.

26 And in any of your dwellings, you must not eat any blood {belonging to} birds or domestic animals.

27 Any person who eats any blood, that person shall be cut off from his people.'"

Portions of Fellowship Offerings for Priests

28 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

29 "Speak to the {Israelites}, saying, 'The one who presents his fellowship offerings' sacrifice for Yahweh shall bring his offering to Yahweh from his fellowship offerings' sacrifice.

30 His [own] hands must bring Yahweh's offerings made by fire. He must bring the fat in addition to the breast section to wave the breast section [as] a wave offering before Yahweh,

31 and the priest shall turn the fat into smoke on the altar, and the breast section shall be for Aaron and his sons.

32 And the right upper thigh you must give [as] a contribution for the priest from your fellowship offerings' sacrifice.

33 [As for] the one from Aaron's sons who presents the blood of the fellowship offerings and the fat, the right upper thigh {shall belong to him} [as] his share,

34 because I have taken the wave offering's breast section and the contribution [offering's] upper thigh from the {Israelites} out of their fellowship offerings' sacrifices, and I have given them to Aaron the priest and his sons from the {Israelites} [as] a lasting rule.'"

35 This [is] Aaron's allotted portion and his sons' allotted portion from Yahweh's offerings made by fire {when} he brought them forward to serve as priests for Yahweh.

36 This is what Yahweh commanded to give them from the {Israelites} on the day of his anointing them; [it is] a lasting statute for their generations.

Concluding Summary Concerning the Offerings

37 This [is] the regulation for the burnt offering, for the grain offering and for the sin offering and for the guilt offering and for the consecration [offering] and for the fellowship offerings' sacrifice,

38 which Yahweh commanded Moses on {Mount Sinai} on the day of his commanding the {Israelites} to present their offerings to Yahweh in the desert of Sinai.

Leviticus 7 Commentary

Chapter 7

Concerning the trespass-offering. (1-10) Concerning the peace-offering. (11-27) The wave and heave offerings. (28-34) The conclusion of these institutions. (35-38)

Verses 1-10 In the sin-offering and the trespass-offering, the sacrifice was divided between the altar and the priest; the offerer had no share, as he had in the peace-offerings. The former expressed repentance and sorrow for sin, therefore it was more proper to fast than feast; the peace-offerings denoted communion with a reconciled God in Christ, the joy and gratitude of a pardoned sinner, and the privileges of a true believer.

Verses 11-27 As to the peace-offerings, in the expression of their sense of mercy, God left them more at liberty, than in the expression of their sense of sin; that their sacrifices, being free-will offerings, might be the more acceptable, while, by obliging them to bring the sacrifices of atonement, God shows the necessity of the great Propitiation. The main reason why blood was forbidden of old, was because the Lord had appointed blood for an atonement. This use, being figurative, had its end in Christ, who by his death and blood-shedding caused the sacrifices to cease. Therefore this law is not now in force on believers.

Verses 28-34 The priest who offered, was to have the breast and the right shoulder. When the sacrifice was killed, the offerer himself must present God's part of it; that he might signify his cheerfully giving it up to God. He was with his own hands to lift it up, in token of his regard to God as the God of heaven; and then to wave it to and fro, in token of his regard to God as the Lord of the whole earth. Be persuaded and encouraged to feed and feast upon Christ, our Peace-offering. This blessed Peace-offering is not for the priests only, for saints of the highest rank and greatest eminence, but for the common people also. Take heed of delay. Many think to repent and return to God when they are dying and dropping into hell; but they should eat the peace-offering, and eat it now. Stay not till the day of the Lord's patience be run out, for eating the third day will not be accepted, nor will catching at Christ when thou art gone to hell!

Verses 35-38 Solemn acts of religious worship are not things which we may do or not do at our pleasure; it is at our peril if we omit them. An observance of the laws of Christ cannot be less necessary than of the laws of Moses.

Footnotes

• [a]. Literally "a holiness of holinesses"
• [b]. Or, taking the verb as an indefinite (thus passive) imperfect 3mp, "the sin offering is slaughtered"
• [c]. Or, taking the verb as an indefinite (thus passive) imperfect 3mp, "the guilt offering must be slaughtered"
• [d]. That is, the priest; understood by context and 3ms verb
• [e]. Hebrew "all of its fat from it"
• [f]. Or "entrails"
• [g]. Literally "a holiness of holinesses"
• [h]. Literally "as the sin offering as the guilt offering one for them"
• [i]. Literally "for him it shall be" or "it will become his"
• [j]. Or "As for"
• [k]. Literally "of a man"
• [l]. Hebrew "the"
• [m]. Literally "to/for him it shall be"
• [n]. Hebrew "the"
• [o]. Or "and"
• [p]. Literally "for him it shall be" or "it will become his"
• [q]. Literally "each as his brother"
• [r]. Implied by v. 12
• [s]. Or "in addition to"
• [t]. Implied by v. 12
• [u]. Literally "for him it shall be" or "it will become his"
• [v]. Or "And"
• [w]. Or "and the remainder"
• [x]. Or "and"
• [y]. Or "soul"
• [z]. Understood by context
• [aa]. Or "the soul"
• [ab]. Or "the soul"
• [ac]. Or "a soul"
• [ad]. Or "and"
• [ae]. Or "the soul"
• [af]. Or "And"
• [ag]. Literally "sons/children of Israel"
• [ah]. Plural
• [ai]. Or "and"
• [aj]. Or "and"
• [ak]. Or "and"
• [al]. Literally "work"
• [am]. Or "and"
• [an]. Plural
• [ao]. Or "and"
• [ap]. Or "the soul"
• [aq]. Plural
• [ar]. Literally "to/of"
• [as]. Hebrew "the bird"; generic article with a collective noun
• [at]. Or "and"
• [au]. Hebrew "the domestic animal"; generic article with a collective noun
• [av]. Or "any soul" or "all soul(s)"
• [aw]. Or "and that soul"
• [ax]. Or "And"
• [ay]. Literally "sons/children of Israel"
• [az]. Hebrew "for his"
• [ba]. Plural
• [bb]. Plural
• [bc]. Literally "for him it shall be"
• [bd]. Literally "sons/children of Israel"
• [be]. Hebrew "to his"
• [bf]. Literally "sons/children of Israel"
• [bg]. Literally "in a day"
• [bh]. Literally "sons/children of Israel"
• [bi]. Literally "the mountain of Sinai"
• [bj]. Literally "sons/children of Israel"

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO LEVITICUS 7

The several things contained in this chapter are the law of the trespass offering, Le 7:1-7 the portion the priests had in the burnt offerings and meat offerings, Le 7:8-10 the law of the peace offerings, whether by way of thanksgiving, or a vow, or voluntary oblation, Le 7:11-21 the prohibition of fat and blood, Le 7:22-27 the parts the priests should have in the peace offerings, the breast and right shoulder, Le 7:28-36 and the chapter is concluded with a recapitulation of the various things contained in this and the preceding chapters, Le 7:37,38.