Leviticus 6:28

28 But the vessel of earth in which the flesh was cooked is to be broken; or if a brass vessel was used, it is to be rubbed clean and washed out with water.

Leviticus 6:28 Meaning and Commentary

Leviticus 6:28

But the earthen vessel wherein it is sodden shall be
broken
That being porous, the liquor in which the sin offering was boiled might soak into it, and the smell of it be retained, and therefore, as such vessels were not very costly, they were ordered to be broken; but where the broken pieces were carried and laid, the Jewish writers are at a loss about; for, that vessels, which had served for holy uses, should be laid in an open public place and exposed, they thought was indecent; and as there might be in a course of time great quantities broken, it would look very disagreeable and unseemly to have them lie in heaps in the sanctuary; they therefore have framed a miracle, and conceit that they were swallowed up in the ground where they were laid ^F24:

and if it be sodden in a brazen it shall be both scoured and rinsed
in water;
brass, being more valuable, must not be destroyed; and besides the liquor could not soak into that, and whatever scent it retained was easily and soon removed by scouring and rinsing; the former was with hot water, and the latter with cold, as Ben Gersom affirms.

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FOOTNOTES:

F24 T. Bab. Yoma, fol. 21. 1.

Leviticus 6:28 In-Context

26 The priest by whom it is offered for sin, is to take it for his food in a holy place, in the open space of the Tent of meeting.

27 Anyone touching the flesh of it will be holy: and if any of the blood is dropped on any clothing, the thing on which the blood has been dropped is to be washed in a holy place.

28 But the vessel of earth in which the flesh was cooked is to be broken; or if a brass vessel was used, it is to be rubbed clean and washed out with water.

29 Every male among the priests may take it for his food: it is most holy.

30 No sin-offering, the blood of which is taken into the Tent of meeting, to take away sin in the holy place, may be used for food: it is to be burned with fire.