Leviticus 7

1 This is the ritual of the guilt offering. It is most holy;

2 at the spot where the burnt offering is slaughtered, they shall slaughter the guilt offering, and its blood shall be dashed against all sides of the altar.

3 All its fat shall be offered: the broad tail, the fat that covers the entrails,

4 the two kidneys with the fat that is on them at the loins, and the appendage of the liver, which shall be removed with the kidneys.

5 The priest shall turn them into smoke on the altar as an offering by fire to the Lord; it is a guilt offering.

6 Every male among the priests shall eat of it; it shall be eaten in a holy place; it is most holy.

7 The guilt offering is like the sin offering, there is the same ritual for them; the priest who makes atonement with it shall have it.

8 So, too, the priest who offers anyone's burnt offering shall keep the skin of the burnt offering that he has offered.

9 And every grain offering baked in the oven, and all that is prepared in a pan or on a griddle, shall belong to the priest who offers it.

10 But every other grain offering, mixed with oil or dry, shall belong to all the sons of Aaron equally.

11 This is the ritual of the sacrifice of the offering of well-being that one may offer to the Lord.

12 If you offer it for thanksgiving, you shall offer with the thank offering unleavened cakes mixed with oil, unleavened wafers spread with oil, and cakes of choice flour well soaked in oil.

13 With your thanksgiving sacrifice of well-being you shall bring your offering with cakes of leavened bread.

14 From this you shall offer one cake from each offering, as a gift to the Lord; it shall belong to the priest who dashes the blood of the offering of well-being.

15 And the flesh of your thanksgiving sacrifice of well-being shall be eaten on the day it is offered; you shall not leave any of it until morning.

16 But if the sacrifice you offer is a votive offering or a freewill offering, it shall be eaten on the day that you offer your sacrifice, and what is left of it shall be eaten the next day;

17 but what is left of the flesh of the sacrifice shall be burned up on the third day.

18 If any of the flesh of your sacrifice of well-being is eaten on the third day, it shall not be acceptable, nor shall it be credited to the one who offers it; it shall be an abomination, and the one who eats of it shall incur guilt.

19 Flesh that touches any unclean thing shall not be eaten; it shall be burned up. As for other flesh, all who are clean may eat such flesh.

20 But those who eat flesh from the Lord's sacrifice of well-being while in a state of uncleanness shall be cut off from their kin.

21 When any one of you touches any unclean thing—human uncleanness or an unclean animal or any unclean creature—and then eats flesh from the Lord's sacrifice of well-being, you shall be cut off from your kin.

22 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

23 Speak to the people of Israel, saying: You shall eat no fat of ox or sheep or goat.

24 The fat of an animal that died or was torn by wild animals may be put to any other use, but you must not eat it.

25 If any one of you eats the fat from an animal of which an offering by fire may be made to the Lord, you who eat it shall be cut off from your kin.

26 You must not eat any blood whatever, either of bird or of animal, in any of your settlements.

27 Any one of you who eats any blood shall be cut off from your kin.

28 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

29 Speak to the people of Israel, saying: Any one of you who would offer to the Lord your sacrifice of well-being must yourself bring to the Lord your offering from your sacrifice of well-being.

30 Your own hands shall bring the Lord's offering by fire; you shall bring the fat with the breast, so that the breast may be raised as an elevation offering before the Lord.

31 The priest shall turn the fat into smoke on the altar, but the breast shall belong to Aaron and his sons.

32 And the right thigh from your sacrifices of well-being you shall give to the priest as an offering;

33 the one among the sons of Aaron who offers the blood and fat of the offering of well-being shall have the right thigh for a portion.

34 For I have taken the breast of the elevation offering, and the thigh that is offered, from the people of Israel, from their sacrifices of well-being, and have given them to Aaron the priest and to his sons, as a perpetual due from the people of Israel.

35 This is the portion allotted to Aaron and to his sons from the offerings made by fire to the Lord, once they have been brought forward to serve the Lord as priests;

36 these the Lord commanded to be given them, when he anointed them, as a perpetual due from the people of Israel throughout their generations.

37 This is the ritual of the burnt offering, the grain offering, the sin offering, the guilt offering, the offering of ordination, and the sacrifice of well-being,

38 which the Lord commanded Moses on Mount Sinai, when he commanded the people of Israel to bring their offerings to the Lord, in the wilderness of Sinai.

Leviticus 7 Commentary

Chapter 7

Concerning the trespass-offering. (1-10) Concerning the peace-offering. (11-27) The wave and heave offerings. (28-34) The conclusion of these institutions. (35-38)

Verses 1-10 In the sin-offering and the trespass-offering, the sacrifice was divided between the altar and the priest; the offerer had no share, as he had in the peace-offerings. The former expressed repentance and sorrow for sin, therefore it was more proper to fast than feast; the peace-offerings denoted communion with a reconciled God in Christ, the joy and gratitude of a pardoned sinner, and the privileges of a true believer.

Verses 11-27 As to the peace-offerings, in the expression of their sense of mercy, God left them more at liberty, than in the expression of their sense of sin; that their sacrifices, being free-will offerings, might be the more acceptable, while, by obliging them to bring the sacrifices of atonement, God shows the necessity of the great Propitiation. The main reason why blood was forbidden of old, was because the Lord had appointed blood for an atonement. This use, being figurative, had its end in Christ, who by his death and blood-shedding caused the sacrifices to cease. Therefore this law is not now in force on believers.

Verses 28-34 The priest who offered, was to have the breast and the right shoulder. When the sacrifice was killed, the offerer himself must present God's part of it; that he might signify his cheerfully giving it up to God. He was with his own hands to lift it up, in token of his regard to God as the God of heaven; and then to wave it to and fro, in token of his regard to God as the Lord of the whole earth. Be persuaded and encouraged to feed and feast upon Christ, our Peace-offering. This blessed Peace-offering is not for the priests only, for saints of the highest rank and greatest eminence, but for the common people also. Take heed of delay. Many think to repent and return to God when they are dying and dropping into hell; but they should eat the peace-offering, and eat it now. Stay not till the day of the Lord's patience be run out, for eating the third day will not be accepted, nor will catching at Christ when thou art gone to hell!

Verses 35-38 Solemn acts of religious worship are not things which we may do or not do at our pleasure; it is at our peril if we omit them. An observance of the laws of Christ cannot be less necessary than of the laws of Moses.

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO LEVITICUS 7

The several things contained in this chapter are the law of the trespass offering, Le 7:1-7 the portion the priests had in the burnt offerings and meat offerings, Le 7:8-10 the law of the peace offerings, whether by way of thanksgiving, or a vow, or voluntary oblation, Le 7:11-21 the prohibition of fat and blood, Le 7:22-27 the parts the priests should have in the peace offerings, the breast and right shoulder, Le 7:28-36 and the chapter is concluded with a recapitulation of the various things contained in this and the preceding chapters, Le 7:37,38.