Leviticus 6

Sins Requiring a Guilt Offering

1 And the LORD said to Moses, ¹

2 “If someone sins and acts unfaithfully against the LORD by deceiving his neighbor in regard to a deposit or security entrusted to him or stolen, or if he extorts his neighbor

3 or finds lost property and lies about it and swears falsely, or if he commits any such sin that a man might commit—

4 once he has sinned and becomes guilty, he must return what he has stolen or taken by extortion, or the deposit entrusted to him, or the lost property he found,

5 or anything else about which he has sworn falsely. He must make restitution in full, add a fifth of the value, and pay it to the owner on the day he acknowledges his guilt.

6 Then he must bring to the priest his guilt offering to the LORD: an unblemished ram of proper value from the flock.

7 In this way the priest will make atonement for him before the LORD, and he will be forgiven for anything he may have done to incur guilt.”

The Burnt Offering

8 Then the LORD said to Moses, ²

9 “Command Aaron and his sons that this is the law of the burnt offering: The burnt offering is to remain on the hearth of the altar all night, until morning, and the fire must be kept burning on the altar.

10 And the priest shall put on his linen robe and linen undergarments, and he shall remove from the altar the ashes of the burnt offering that the fire has consumed and place them beside it.

11 Then he must take off his garments, put on other clothes, and carry the ashes outside the camp to a ceremonially clean place.

12 The fire on the altar shall be kept burning; it must not be extinguished. Every morning the priest is to add wood to the fire, arrange the burnt offering on it, and burn the fat portions of the peace offerings on it.

13 The fire shall be kept burning on the altar continually; it must not be extinguished.

The Grain Offering

14 Now this is the law of the grain offering: Aaron’s sons shall present it before the LORD in front of the altar. ³

15 The priest is to remove a handful of fine flour and olive oil, together with all the frankincense from the grain offering, and burn the memorial portion on the altar as a pleasing aroma to the LORD.

16 Aaron and his sons are to eat the remainder. It must be eaten without leaven in a holy place; they are to eat it in the courtyard of the Tent of Meeting.

17 It must not be baked with leaven; I have assigned it as their portion of My food offerings. It is most holy, like the sin offering and the guilt offering.

18 Any male among the sons of Aaron may eat it. This is a permanent portion from the food offerings to the LORD for the generations to come. Anything that touches them will become holy.”

19 Then the LORD said to Moses,

20 “This is the offering that Aaron and his sons must present to the LORD on the day he is anointed: a tenth of an ephah of fine flour ^[a] as a regular grain offering, half of it in the morning and half in the evening.

21 It shall be prepared with oil on a griddle; ^[b] you are to bring it well-kneaded and present it as a grain offering broken ^[c] in pieces, a pleasing aroma to the LORD.

22 The priest, who is one of Aaron’s sons and will be anointed to take his place, is to prepare it. As a permanent portion for the LORD, it must be burned completely.

23 Every grain offering for a priest shall be burned completely; it is not to be eaten.”

The Sin Offering

24 And the LORD said to Moses, ⁴

25 “Tell Aaron and his sons that this is the law of the sin offering: In the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered, the sin offering shall be slaughtered before the LORD; it is most holy.

26 The priest who offers it shall eat it; it must be eaten in a holy place, in the courtyard of the Tent of Meeting.

27 Anything that touches its flesh will become holy, and if any of the blood is spattered on a garment, you must wash it in a holy place.

28 The clay pot in which the sin offering is boiled must be broken; if it is boiled in a bronze pot, the pot must be scoured and rinsed with water.

29 Any male among the priests may eat it; it is most holy.

30 But no sin offering may be eaten if its blood has been brought into the Tent of Meeting to make atonement in the Holy Place; it must be burned.

Leviticus 6 Commentary

Chapter 6

Concerning trespasses against our neighbour. (1-7) Concerning the burnt-offering. (8-13) Concerning the meat-offering. (14-23) Concerning the sin-offering. (24-30)

Verses 1-7 Though all the instances relate to our neighbour, yet it is called a trespass against the Lord. Though the person injured be mean, and even despicable, yet the injury reflects upon that God who has made the command of loving our neighbour next to that of loving himself. Human laws make a difference as to punishments; but all methods of doing wrong to others, are alike violations of the Divine law, even keeping what is found, when the owner can be discovered. Frauds are generally accompanied with lies, often with false oaths. If the offender would escape the vengeance of God, he must make ample restitution, according to his power, and seek forgiveness by faith in that one Offering which taketh away the sin of the world. The trespasses here mentioned, still are trespasses against the law of Christ, which insists as much upon justice and truth, as the law of nature, or the law of Moses.

Verses 8-13 The daily sacrifice of a lamb is chiefly referred to. The priest must take care of the fire upon the altar. The first fire upon the altar came from heaven, ch. 9:24 ; by keeping that up continually, all their sacrifices might be said to be consumed with the fire from heaven, in token of God's acceptance. Thus should the fire of our holy affections, the exercise of our faith and love, of prayer and praise, be without ceasing.

Verses 14-23 The law of the burnt-offerings put upon the priests a great deal of care and work; the flesh was wholly burnt, and the priests had nothing but the skin. But most of the meat-offering was their own. It is God's will that his ministers should be provided with what is needful.

Verses 24-30 The blood of the sin-offering was to be washed out of the clothes on which it should happen to be sprinkled, which signified the regard we ought to have to the blood of Christ, not counting it a common thing. The vessel in which the flesh of the sin-offering was boiled must be broken, if it were an earthen one; but if a brazen one, well washed. This showed that the defilement was not wholly taken away by the offering; but the blood of Christ thoroughly cleanses from all sin. All these rules set forth the polluting nature of sin, and the removal of guilt from the sinner to the sacrifice. Behold and wonder at Christ's love, in that he was content to be made a sin-offering for us, and so to procure our pardon for continual sins and failings. He that knew no sin was made sin (that is, a ( 2 Corinthians. 5:21 ) only pardon, but power also, against sin, ( Romans 8:3 ) .

Cross References

• 1. (Leviticus 5:14–19; Leviticus 7:1–10)
• 2. (Leviticus 1:1–17)
• 3. (Leviticus 2:1–16)
• 4. (Leviticus 4:1–35; Leviticus 5:1–13)

Footnotes

• [a]. A tenth of an ephah is approximately 2 dry quarts or 2.2 liters (probably about 2.6 pounds or 1.2 kilograms of flour).
• [b]. That is, a shallow pan for baking or frying
• [c]. Or baked

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO LEVITICUS 6

This chapter treats of the trespass offering for sins committed knowingly and wilfully, Le 6:1-7 and of the law of the burnt offering, and of cleansing the altar of burnt offering, and keeping the fire burning on it continually, Le 6:8-13 and of the meat offering, which is repeated with some additional circumstances, Le 6:14-18 and of the offering at the consecration of the high priest, Le 6:19-23 and of the sin offering, and where to be killed and eaten, and by whom, Le 6:24-30.