Leviticus 1 Study Notes

1:6 The skinning provided the gift of the hide for the priest (7:8).

1:7-8 Whereas the offerer prepared the animal, the priest prepared the altar and laid the pieces on it.

1:9 Washing the internal organs and legs (lower back legs) removed filth, making the sacrifice ritually fit for God. A fire offering is the traditional translation, but it may be generally “a food offering.” Pleasing aroma is a frequent expression meaning the Lord accepted the gift (vv. 13,17; Gn 8:21; Ex 29:18); fragrant incense (Ex 30:7; Lv 4:7; 16:12) explains the agreeable scent that masked the odor of the burning flesh. The Greek translation of the phrase (osme euodias) is used of the sacrifice of Christ in Eph 5:2 and of Christian giving in Php 4:18.

1:10-13 Sheep were the most common burnt offering. The north side of the altar was especially for the flock (also sin offering, 4:24,29,33), perhaps because less space was needed for them than cattle, which were slaughtered “before the Lord,” that is, on the larger east side facing the entrance to the tent of meeting (1:5).

1:14 Easily domesticated, numerous, and affordable for the poor, these two species of birds were common offerings (5:7; 12:8; 14:21-22; cp. Gn 15:9). Mary offered birds at Jesus’s birth for her purification (Lk 2:22-24).

1:15-17 The blood was too meager to be caught in a receptacle; nevertheless, proper disposal (i.e., squeezing it out, Jdg 6:38) was necessary to show that the life belonged to God (Lv 17:10-17). The place for ashes (lit “fat” because of animal fat deposits) was east of the altar; a priest cleaned off the altar each morning and took the ash heap outside the camp to purge the refuse from God’s sight (6:10-11).