Levitico 5:8

8 E li porterà al sacerdote, il quale offrirà prima quello per il peccato; gli spiccherà la testa vicino alla nuca, ma senza staccarla del tutto;

Levitico 5:8 Meaning and Commentary

Leviticus 5:8

And he shall bring them unto the priest
Either two turtledoves, or two young pigeons:

who shall offer [that] which [is] for the sin [offering] first;
that which is chosen for it, as the Targum of Jonathan; and this choice was made, not by the priest, but by the man that brought the offering, who separated it, and said, lo, this is a sin offering, and after that said, lo, this is a burnt offering ^F1; the sin offering was offered first, which was to make atonement for sin, and then the burnt offering, to denote the divine acceptance of it; and so Ben Gersom observes, it was proper to offer the sin offering first, to atone for his sin, that after he (God) was appeased this way, he might receive his gift; for the burnt offering was as a gift. Jarchi compares it to an advocate, who first goes in to appease, and when he has appeased, the gift goes in after him:

and wring off his head from his neck, but shall not divide it
asunder:
be it a turtledove or a young pigeon, so it was to be served; the head was not to be separated from the body, but was nipped by the nail of the priest "in" the neck, as it might be rendered ^F2; over against the neck, as the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan render it; the hinder part, or what is behind the throat, as Jarchi and Ben Molech interpret it; so that the part which was nipped was the neck; and this nip was made so large, as that the blood was let out by it, as appears from the following verse ( Leviticus 5:9 ) , and yet the head was not divided from the body; the head hung by a piece of skin on the back part; of the manner of performing this, and the mystery of it, (See Gill on Leviticus 1:15).

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FOOTNOTES:

F1 Ib. (Maimon & Bratenora) in Misn. Zebachim, c. 10. sect. 4.
F2 Vid. Noldium, p. 611. No. 1637.

Levitico 5:8 In-Context

6 recherà all’Eterno, come sacrifizio della sua colpa, per il peccato che ha commesso, una femmina del gregge, una pecora o una capra, come sacrifizio per il peccato; e il sacerdote farà per lui l’espiazione del suo peccato.

7 Se non ha mezzi da procurarsi una pecora o una capra, porterà all’Eterno, come sacrifizio della sua colpa, per il suo peccato, due tortore o due giovani piccioni: uno come sacrifizio per il peccato, l’altro come olocausto.

8 E li porterà al sacerdote, il quale offrirà prima quello per il peccato; gli spiccherà la testa vicino alla nuca, ma senza staccarla del tutto;

9 poi spargerà del sangue del sacrifizio per il peccato sopra uno dei lati dell’altare, e il resto del sangue sarà spremuto appiè dell’altare. Questo è un sacrifizio per il peccato.

10 Dell’altro uccello farà un olocausto, secondo le norme stabilite. Così il sacerdote farà per quel tale l’espiazione del peccato che ha commesso, e gli sarà perdonato.