Leviticus 1:11

11 and he shall kill it on the north side of the altar before the LORD, and Aaron's sons the priests shall throw its blood against the altar round about.

Leviticus 1:11 Meaning and Commentary

Leviticus 1:11

And he shall kill it on the side of the altar northward
before the Lord
This is a circumstance not mentioned in the killing of the bullock: Maimonides F7 says, there was a square place from the wall of the altar northward, to the wall of the court, and it was sixty cubits, and all that was over against the breadth of this, from the wall of the porch to the eastern wall, and it is seventy six cubits; and this foursquare place is called the "north", for the slaying of the most holy things; so that it seems this being a large place, was fittest for this purpose. Aben Ezra intimates, as if some respect was had to the situation of Mount Zion; his note is, "on the side of the altar northward", i.e. without, and so "the sides of the north", ( Psalms 48:2 ) for so many mistake who say that the tower of Zion was in the midst of Jerusalem; and with this agrees Mr. Ainsworth's note on ( Leviticus 6:25 ) hereby was figured, that Christ our sin offering should be killed by the priests in Jerusalem, and Mount Sion, which was on "the sides of the north", ( Psalms 48:2 ) crucified on Mount Calvary, which was on the northwest side of Jerusalem; as by the Jews' tradition, the morning sacrifice was killed at the northwest horn of the altar F8:

and the priests, Aaron's sons, shall sprinkle the blood round about
upon the altar; (See Gill on Leviticus 1:5).


FOOTNOTES:

F7 In Misn. Zebachim, c. 5. sect. 1.
F8 Misn. Tamid, c. 4. sect. 1.

Leviticus 1:11 In-Context

9 but its entrails and its legs he shall wash with water. And the priest shall burn the whole on the altar, as a burnt offering, an offering by fire, a pleasing odor to the LORD.
10 "If his gift for a burnt offering is from the flock, from the sheep or goats, he shall offer a male without blemish;
11 and he shall kill it on the north side of the altar before the LORD, and Aaron's sons the priests shall throw its blood against the altar round about.
12 And he shall cut it into pieces, with its head and its fat, and the priest shall lay them in order upon the wood that is on the fire upon the altar;
13 but the entrails and the legs he shall wash with water. And the priest shall offer the whole, and burn it on the altar; it is a burnt offering, an offering by fire, a pleasing odor to the LORD.
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.