Leviticus 1:14

14 And if he bring his gift, a burnt-offering to the Lord, of birds, then shall he bring his gift of doves or pigeons.

Leviticus 1:14 Meaning and Commentary

Leviticus 1:14

And if the burnt sacrifice for his offering to the Lord be
of fowls
As it might be for the poorer sort, who could not offer a bullock, nor a sheep, or a lamb, ( Leviticus 5:7 ) ( 12:8 ) :

then he shall bring his offering of turtledoves, or of young
pigeons;
the Jewish writers all agree, that the turtles should be old, and not young, as the pigeons young, and not old; so the Targum of Jonathan, Jarchi, Aben Ezra and Gersom ^F12; the latter gives two reasons for it, because then they are the choicest and easiest to be found and taken: no mention is made of their being male or female, either would do, or of their being perfect and unblemished, as in the other burnt offerings; but if any part was wanting, it was not fit for sacrifice, as Maimonides ^F13 observes. These creatures were proper emblems of Christ, and therefore used in sacrifice, whose voice is compared to the turtle's, and his eyes to the eyes of doves, ( Song of Solomon 2:12 ) ( 5:12 ) and who is fitly represented by them for his meekness and humility, for his chaste and strong affection to his church, as the turtledove to its mate, and for those dove like graces of the Spirit which are in him.

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FOOTNOTES:

F12 Vid. T. Bab. Cholin, fol. 22. 1, 2.
F13 Issure Mizbeach, c. 3. sect. 1, 2. Vid. Misn. Zebachim, c. 7. sect. 5. & Maimon. & Bartenora, in ib.

Leviticus 1:14 In-Context

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.

14 And if he bring his gift, a burnt-offering to the Lord, of birds, then shall he bring his gift of doves or pigeons.

15 And the priest shall bring it to the altar, and shall wring off its head; and the priest shall put it on the altar, and shall wring out the blood at the bottom of the altar.

16 And he shall take away the crop with the feathers, and shall cast it forth by the altar toward the east to the place of the ashes.