Leviticus 6:8-7:38

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 'Command Aaron and his sons,¹ saying: “This is the ritual of the burnt offering. The burnt offering itself shall remain on the hearth upon the altar all night until the morning,² while the fire on the altar shall be kept burning. The priest shall put on his linen vestments after putting on his linen undergarments next to his body; and he shall take up the ashes to which the fire has reduced the burnt offering on the altar, and place them beside the altar. Then he shall take off his vestments and put on other garments, and carry the ashes out to a clean place outside the camp.³ The fire on the altar shall be kept burning; it shall not go out.⁴ Every morning the priest shall add wood to it, lay out the burnt offering on it, and turn into smoke the fat pieces of the offerings of well-being. A perpetual⁵ fire shall be kept burning on the altar; it shall not go out.”'

'”This is the ritual of the grain offering: The sons of Aaron shall offer it before the Lord, in front of the altar. They shall take from it a handful of the choice flour and oil of the grain offering, with all the frankincense that is on the offering, and they shall turn its memorial portion into smoke on the altar as a pleasing odor to the Lord. Aaron and his sons shall eat what is left of it; it shall be eaten as unleavened cakes in a holy place;⁶ in the court of the tent of meeting they shall eat it. It shall not be baked with leaven. I have given it as their portion of my offerings by fire; it is most holy, like the sin offering and the guilt offering. Every male⁷ among the descendants of Aaron shall eat of it, as their perpetual due throughout your generations, from the Lord’s offerings by fire; anything that touches them shall become holy.⁸”'

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 'This is the offering that Aaron and his sons shall offer to the Lord on the day when he is anointed:⁹ one-tenth of an ephah of choice flour as a regular offering, half of it in the morning and half in the evening. It shall be made with oil on a griddle; you shall bring it well soaked, as a grain offering of baked pieces, and you shall present it as a pleasing odor to the Lord. And so the priest, anointed from among Aaron’s descendants as a successor, shall prepare it; it is the Lord’s—a perpetual due—to be turned entirely into smoke. Every grain offering of a priest shall be wholly burned; it shall not be eaten.¹⁰'

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 'Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying: “This is the ritual of the sin offering. The sin offering shall be slaughtered before the Lord at the spot where the burnt offering is slaughtered; it is most holy. The priest who offers it as a sin offering shall eat of it;¹¹ it shall be eaten in a holy place, in the court of the tent of meeting. Whatever touches its flesh shall become holy; and when any of its blood is spattered on a garment, you shall wash the bespattered part in a holy place.¹² An earthen vessel in which it was boiled shall be broken; but if it is boiled in a bronze vessel, that shall be scoured and rinsed in water. Every male among the priests shall eat of it; it is most holy. But no sin offering shall be eaten from which any blood is brought into the tent of meeting for atonement in the holy place; it shall be burned with fire.”'

'”This is the ritual of the guilt offering. It is most holy; 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. All its fat shall be offered: the broad tail, the fat that covers the entrails, 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. The priest shall turn them into smoke on the altar as an offering by fire to the Lord; it is a guilt offering. Every male among the priests shall eat of it; it shall be eaten in a holy place; it is most holy. 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. So, too, the priest who offers anyone’s burnt offering shall keep the skin of the burnt offering that he has offered.¹³ 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. But every other grain offering, mixed with oil or dry, shall belong to all the sons of Aaron equally.”'

'”This is the ritual of the sacrifice of the offering of well-being that one may offer to the Lord.¹⁴ 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. With your thanksgiving sacrifice of well-being you shall bring your offering with cakes of leavened bread.¹⁵ 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.¹⁶ 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. 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; but what is left of the flesh of the sacrifice shall be burned up on the third day. 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.¹⁷ Flesh that touches any unclean thing shall not be eaten; it shall be burned up.¹⁸ As for other flesh, all who are clean¹⁹ may eat such flesh. 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.²⁰ 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.”'

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 'Speak to the people of Israel, saying: “You shall eat no fat of ox or sheep or goat.²¹ The fat of an animal that died or was torn by wild animals may be put to any use, but you must not eat it. 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.²² You must not eat any blood whatever,²³ either of bird or of animal, in any of your settlements. Any one of you who eats any blood shall be cut off from your kin.²⁴”'

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: '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. 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. The priest shall turn the fat into smoke on the altar, but the breast shall belong to Aaron and his sons. And the right thigh from your sacrifices of well-being you shall give to the priest as an offering; 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. 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.”'

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

1 These instructions are directly for the priests, not for the common people giving the sacrifice.

2 In this way the sacrifice is continually “given” to God throughout the night

3 Even disposal of the ashes is covered, which makes sense.

4 The eternal nature of God's presence is symbolized with an eternal flame.

5 “perpetual” emphasizing the eternal nature again.

6 The holy food must remain in a holy place as it is eaten.

7 Turning what may have appeared to just be an allowance into a command.

8 The priests are noted as holy in themselves, granting holiness on what they touch – the flip side of “unclean” laws.

9 Apparently an offering the priests give when they attain priesthood.

10 Since the priest is the one offering it, it makes sense that they cannot eat of it.

11 Now clear that other offerings are eaten by the priests, not just the grain offerings.

12 All things in contact with the sacrifice must be regarded as holy.

13 The skin is kept, and apparently used, by the priests along with the meat. One imagines an impressive butchering operation within the temple.

14 The direction appears to switch from the priests to the common people?

15 The first note of “leavened” bread being acceptable for an offering.

16 The offering is for the Lord, but does belong to the priest. ;)

17 The first rebuke in this passage – leaving the sacrifice too long before eating it is an abomination. It no longer even counts as a sacrifice. My Study Bible suggests that this may be meant to keep people from just staying in the temple for days after a sacrifice.

18 Though the priests can make the flesh holy, they apparently cannot overcome it if the flesh becomes unclean.

19 Does this mean “all priests who are clean”, or any person who is clean? The context is unclear to me.

20 Extreme punishment – eating holy meat while unclean seems to mean exile. My Study Bible, however, says that this phrasing likely refers to “a divine threat to exterminate ones lineage”, and thus only refers to a punishment that will be carried out by God, not anything that would be enforced by the community.

21 The ban on eating of suet fat is emphasized, and expanded to include the suet fat of all animals, not just sacrifices.

22 The punishment is again extreme.

23 Ban on eating blood as well as fat.

24 And the same punishment given.


Take-home: The priests are given instructions so that they may conduct the sacrifice in an appropriate manner. Throughout the instructions the holiness of all involved is emphasized – not just the place, but also the fire, the priests, and the sacrificed meat itself.