Leviticus 1:14

14 Forsooth if the offering of burnt sacrifice to the Lord is of birds, of turtles, or of culvers birds, (And if the offering to the Lord is a burnt sacrifice of birds, that is, of turtledoves, or of young 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 part the members, the head, and all things that cleave to the maw (and they shall cut the members, the head, and the suet, or the fat), and they shall put them on the wood, under which the fire shall be set;

13 soothly they shall wash in water the entrails and [the] feet; and the priest shall burn all things offered on the altar, into burnt sacrifice, and sweetest odour to the Lord. (and they shall wash the innards and the feet in water; and the priest shall burn all the things offered on the altar, for a burnt sacrifice, to make the sweetest aroma to the Lord.)

14 Forsooth if the offering of burnt sacrifice to the Lord is of birds, of turtles, or of culvers birds, (And if the offering to the Lord is a burnt sacrifice of birds, that is, of turtledoves, or of young pigeons,)

15 the priest shall offer it at the altar; and when the head is writhed to the neck, and the place of the wound is broken, he shall make the blood run down on the brink of the altar.

16 Soothly he shall cast forth the little bladder of the throat, or the crop, and the feathers beside the altar, at the east coast, in the place in the which the ashes be wont to be cast out; (And he shall throw away the crop of the throat, and the feathers, beside the altar, on the east side, in the place where the ashes be poured out;)