Leviticus 1:11

11 And he shall lay his hand on its head; and they shall kill it by the side of the altar, toward the north before the Lord, and the sons of Aaron the priests shall pour its blood on 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).

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FOOTNOTES:

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

Leviticus 1:11 In-Context

9 And the entrails and the feet they shall wash in water, and the priests shall put all on the altar: it is a burnt-offering, a sacrifice, a smell of sweet savour to the Lord.

10 And if his gift of the sheep to the Lord, or of the lambs, or of the kids for whole-burnt-offerings, he shall bring it a male without blemish.

11 And he shall lay his hand on its head; and they shall kill it by the side of the altar, toward the north before the Lord, and the sons of Aaron the priests shall pour its blood on the altar round about.

12 And they shall divide it by its limbs, and its head and its fat, and the priests shall pile them up on the wood which is on the fire, on the altar.

13 And they shall wash the entrails and the feet with water, and the priest shall bring all the and put them on the altar: it is a burnt-offering, a sacrifice, a smell of sweet savour to the Lord.