Leviticus 3:16

16 The priest shall turn them into smoke on the altar [as] a food [offering]; all the fat [is] an offering made by fire [as] an appeasing fragrance for Yahweh.

Leviticus 3:16 Meaning and Commentary

Leviticus 3:16

And the priest shall burn them upon the altar
Which shows that not the fat only, but the inwards and the kidneys, were burnt also; so Maimonides says ^F12, that the priest salted the parts, and burned them upon the altar; and the priests might not have the breast and shoulder (which were what belonged to them) until the parts were burnt:

[it is] the food of the offering made by fire;
which the Lord ate of, or accepted of:

for a sweet savour;
as a type of the sweet smelling sacrifice of Christ, with which he is well pleased;

all the fat is the Lord's;
that is, all that was upon the parts mentioned in the several sacrifices of peace offerings, which was to be taken off and burnt: though the Jewish writers understand it of all fat in general, and so interpret the law that follows.

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FOOTNOTES:

F12 Ut supra, (Maaseh Hakorbanot) c. 9. sect. 11.

Leviticus 3:16 In-Context

14 He shall present his offering from it [as] an offering made by fire for Yahweh: the fat covering the inner parts and all the fat that [is] on the inner parts,

15 the two kidneys, and the fat that [is] on them, which [is] on the loins, and he must remove the lobe on the liver in addition to the kidneys.

16 The priest shall turn them into smoke on the altar [as] a food [offering]; all the fat [is] an offering made by fire [as] an appeasing fragrance for Yahweh.

17 [This is] a lasting statute for your generations in all your dwellings: you must not eat any fat or any blood.'"

Footnotes

• [a] Or "And the priest"
• [b] Compare v. 11