Leviticus 1:14

14 “If you present a bird as a burnt offering to the LORD, choose either a turtledove 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 Then cut the animal in pieces, and the priests will arrange the pieces of the offering, including the head and fat, on the wood burning on the altar.

13 But the internal organs and the legs must first be washed with water. Then the priest will burn the entire sacrifice on the altar as a burnt offering. It is a special gift, a pleasing aroma to the LORD .

14 “If you present a bird as a burnt offering to the LORD, choose either a turtledove or a young pigeon.

15 The priest will take the bird to the altar, wring off its head, and burn it on the altar. But first he must drain its blood against the side of the altar.

16 The priest must also remove the crop and the feathers and throw them in the ashes on the east side of the altar.