LEVITICUS 7 COMMENTARY

LEVITICUS 7 COMMENTARY
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
The Guilt Offering
1 “‘These are the regulations for the guilt
offering, which is most holy:
BARNES, "See Lev_5:14 note. In Lev_7:2 “sprinkle” should rather be cast Lev_1:5.
All the details regarding the parts put on the altar are repeated for each kind of sacrifice,
because the matter was one of paramount importance.
CLARKE, "Trespass-offering - See end of the chapter at Lev_7:38 (note).
GILL, "Likewise this is the law of the trespass offering,.... Or the various rites
and rules to be observed at the offering of it: the persons for whom it was to be made are
described in the two preceding chapters, Lev_5:1 both such that sinned through
ignorance, and knowingly, and here the place and parts of the offering, and how to be
disposed of, are declared:
it is most holy; wholly devoted for sacred use, either to the Lord, or to his priests;
there were some things the Jews call light holy things, and others most holy in the
highest degree, of this sort was the trespass offering.
HENRY 1-10, "Observe here, 1. Concerning the trespass-offering, that, being much of
the same nature with the sin-offering, it was to be governed by the same rules, Lev_7:6.
When the blood and fat were offered to God to make atonement, the priests were to eat
the flesh, as that of the sin-offering, in the holy place. The Jews have a tradition (as we
have it from the learned bishop Patrick) concerning the sprinkling of the blood of the
trespass-offering round about upon the altar, “That there was a scarlet line which went
round about the altar exactly in the middle, and the blood of the burnt-offerings was
sprinkled round about above the line, but that of the trespass-offerings and peace-
offerings round about below the line.” As to the flesh of the trespass-offering, the right to
it belonged to the priest that offered it, Lev_7:7. He that did the work must have the
wages. This was an encouragement to the priests to give diligent attendance on the altar;
the more ready and busy they were the more they got. Note, The more diligent we are in
the services of religion the more we shall reap of the advantages of it. But any of the
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priests, and the males of their families, might be invited by him to whom it belonged to
partake with him: Every male among the priests shall eat thereof, that is, may eat
thereof, in the holy place, Lev_7:6. And, no doubt, it was the usage to treat one another
with those perquisites of their office, by which friendship and fellowship were kept up
among the priests. Freely they had received, and must freely give. It seems the offerer
was not himself to have any share of his trespass-offering, as he was to have of his peace-
offering; but it was all divided between the altar and the priest. They offered peace-
offerings in thankfulness for mercy, and then it was proper to feast; but they offered
trespass-offerings in sorrow for sin, and then fasting was more proper, in token of holy
mourning, and a resolution to abstain from sin. 2. Concerning the burnt-offering it is
here appointed that the priest that offered it should have the skin (Lev_7:8), which no
doubt he might make money of. “This” (the Jews say) “is meant only for the burnt-
offerings which were offered by particular persons; for the profit of the skins of the daily
burnt-offerings for the congregation went to the repair of the sanctuary.” Some suggest
that this appointment will help us to understand God's clothing our first parents with
coats of skins, Gen_3:21. It is probable that the beasts whose skins they were were
offered in sacrifice as whole burnt-offerings, and that Adam was the priest that offered
them; and then God gave him the skins, as his fee, to make clothes of for himself and his
wife, in remembrance of which the skins ever after pertained to the priest; and see Gen_
27:16. 3. Concerning the meat-offering, if it was dressed, it was fit to be eaten
immediately; and therefore the priest that offered it was to have it, Lev_7:9. If it was dry,
there was not so much occasion for being in haste to use it; and therefore an equal
dividend of it must be made among all the priests that were then in waiting, Lev_7:10.
JAMISON, "Lev_7:1-27. The law of the Trespass Offering.
Likewise this is the law of the trespass offering — This chapter is a
continuation of the laws that were to regulate the duty of the priests respecting the
trespass offerings. The same regulations obtained in this case as in the burnt offerings -
part was to be consumed on the altar, while the other part was a perquisite of the
priests - some fell exclusively to the officiating minister, and was the fee for his services;
others were the common share of all the priestly order, who lived upon them as their
provision, and whose meetings at a common table would tend to promote brotherly
harmony and friendship.
K&D, "The Law of the Trespass-Offering embraces first of all the regulations as to the
ceremonial connected with the presentation.
COFFMAN, "Verse 1
"And this is the law of the trespass-offering: it is most holy. In the place where they
kill the burnt-offering shall they kill the trespass-offering; and the blood thereof
shall he sprinkle upon the altar round about. And he shall offer of it all the fat
thereof: the fat tail, the fat that covereth the inwards, and the two kidneys, and the
fat that is on them, which is by the loins, and the caul upon the liver, with the
kidneys, shall he take away; and the priest shall burn them upon the altar for an
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offering made by fire unto Jehovah: it is a trespass-offering. Every male among the
priests shall eat thereof: it shall be eaten in a holy place: it is most holy. As in the
sin-offering, so is the trespass-offering; there is one law for them: the priest that
maketh atonement therewith, he shall have it. And the priest that offereth any man's
burnt-offering, even the priest shall have to himself the skin of the burnt-offering
which he hath offered. And every meal-offering that is baken in the oven, and all
that is dressed in the frying-pan, and on the baking-pan, shall be the priest's that
offereth it. And every meal-offering, mingled with oil, or dry, shall all the sons of
Aaron have, one as well as another."
"One as well as another ..." (Leviticus 7:10) appears to have been the ancient way of
saying, "share and share alike."
There is hardly anything here different from the instructions listed in previous
chapters concerning these different offerings, the focus here being on exactly what
portions were allowed to priests as their personal possession.
WHEDON, "2. The blood… shall he sprinkle — See Leviticus 1:5, note. “The
sprinkling of the blood,” says Outram, “was by much the most sacred part of the
entire service, since it was that by which the life and soul of the victim were
considered to be given to God as the supreme Lord of life and death.” In explaining
the significance of this rite, orthodox writers assert that the blood, as representing
the life of an innocent animal, was offered to Divine justice as the substitute for the
death-penalty inflicted on the guilty soul of the offerer. On the other hand, Socinian
and rationalistic writers deny the possibility of rendering a satisfaction to the justice
of God. Bahr, with much depth of thought and apparent conformity to the
fundamental truths of the Scriptures, insists that there is no symbolical execution of
punishment, but rather a typical giving away of the soul of the offerer unto God.
“As the presentation of the blood of the beast is a giving up and away of the beast-
life in death, so must the natural, that is, selfish life of the offerer, acting in
contrariety to God, be given up and away, that is, die; but since this is a giving away
to Jehovah, it is no mere ceasing to be, but a dying which, eo ipso, goes into life.
Accordingly, the meaning of a sacrifice is in short this, that the natural, sinful being
(life) is given up to God in death, in order to obtain the true being (sanctification)
through fellowship with God.” This view proceeds upon the supposition that sin is a
mere trifle, a bitter-sweet good, a necessary misstep of the infant tottering from his
probationary cradle to the state of fixed holiness, and needing no atonement in a
universe in which all finite personalities are only manifestations of the one
impersonal and nondescript agency called God, and the radical distinction between
sin and holiness is an illusion. This exegesis of the bloodshedding on Jewish altars
and on Mount Calvary is admirably adapted “to a mystical, pantheistic nature-
religion,” but it is extremely repugnant to the plain theistical religion typically set
forth by Moses, and actually established by the Son of God.
PARKER, "For All Gleaners
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"... this is the law."— Leviticus 7:1
We are thankful for definiteness.—Again and again this word occurs in the
directions given to Moses.—Men are not called upon to make any vital laws for
themselves.—They are called upon to a kind of legislation which is either limited by
momentary convenience or is expressive of an eternal law underlying the very
constitution of life and society.—It would be impossible, for example, to make a. law
to steal.—Even if the law were laid down in so many words the heart would
instantly detect its wickedness, and the spirit of Prayer of Manasseh , inspired by
the Almighty, would rise against it in burning rebellion. Here and there a man
might be found base enough to avail himself of such a law; but the great human
heart would disallow and disavow so wicked a pretence.—There will be no difficulty
in asserting the law where the mind and the heart are free from prejudice.—God
always looks for the honest heart, the pure heart, the contrite heart, the broken
heart; with such a heart God has no difficulty, every word of his addresses itself
instantly to that heart"s necessity and pain.—We are not at liberty to fix upon
isolated lines in the Bible and magnify these into laws; our duty, where anything is
wanting in absolute definiteness, is to compare Scripture with Scripture, and to find
out the Biblical and spiritual meaning rather than the narrow letter, which by its
very narrowness may fail to express the divine purpose.—The way to understand
the divine law is to discover it in the very spirit of the whole Bible.—To find out one
line of vital importance it may be necessary to read the whole Scripture through
from end to end.—Where does the Bible point to two Christs? Where does the Bible
justify the worship of two Gods? Where does the Bible encourage the worship of
God and Mammon? The Bible is always calling its readers to definiteness Of
conviction and preciseness of religious homage.—There is nothing merely dogmatic
or narrow-minded in this.—It may be made dogmatic and narrow-minded by those
who pervert divine instructions; but definiteness has no necessary connection with
arbitrary dogmatism.—The giving of definite instructions saves time; the giving of
definite instructions saves the imagination from fruitless wondering and
unprofitable speculation.—What doth the Lord thy God require of thee but to do
justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? They who turn religion
into a difficulty, or spiritual worship into a metaphysical puzzle, have in them an
evil heart of unbelief, and are not to be trusted as teachers of the divine law.
PETT, "Introduction
e-Sword Edition Note: This material was originally presented at the end of Leviticus
Chapter 7. To make these summary-style comments more visible within the e-Sword
edition, these comments have also been included here:
Final Summary.
We will now very briefly draw together the strands of what we have learned. The
offerings and sacrifices divide up into five.
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1) The Whole Burnt Offering (‘olah - that which goes up). This offering was
presented basically in worship and dedication, and for the purposes of atonement. It
was the foremost of the offerings. Apart from the skin or hide which was given to
the priest it was totally offered up to Yahweh as an offering made by fire and
presented a pleasing odour to God. It was offered up morning and evening in the
daily offerings and in all the great festivals, including the Day of Atonement. It was
symbolic of Christ offering Himself up as pleasing to God, shedding His blood for us
and making atonement for us, drawing us into Himself that we might be fully
dedicated to God and find atonement through His blood. It basically represented
being accounted righteous through faith, and full acceptance in Him.
2) The Grain Offering (minchah). This offering was in praise and gratitude for the
provision of the basics of life, grain and olive oil, and an offering of daily labour as a
love offering to God. Worship was expressed by adding frankincense, a foreign
product which meant that the offering was on behalf, not only of Israel, but of the
whole world. A memorial handful was offered by fire along with the frankincense,
the remainder was partaken of by the priests, except when it was a priest’s offering.
It was regularly offered along with the whole burnt offering (in which case the
frankincense was omitted). It was an offering made by fire and presented a pleasing
odour to God. It was symbolic of Christ as the corn of wheat who fell into the
ground and died and Who would thus produce much fruit, and of Jesus as the
bread of life Who would feed and satisfy those who constantly come to Him in trust
and obedience.
3) The Peace Sacrifice (zebach shelamim and various). This offering was one offered
from a sense of wellbeing and with a desire to be at peace with God and man. In one
form the blood and the fat, with the vital parts, were offered to God as an offering,
and the flesh was eaten by the worshippers, with breast and thigh going to the
priest. It was an offering made by fire and presented a pleasing odour to God. It
symbolised Jesus the Prince of Peace Who came to make peace between men and
God through the blood of His cross, and Whose flesh and blood we can partake of
through faith in His sacrifice for us, so that we might have eternal life and enjoy
fullness of life and peace with both God and men in loving fellowship.
4) The Purification For Sin Offering (chatta’ah ). This was specifically an offering
for sin when it became known, but was also offered at the great festivals, in
recognition of the sin of Israel, and especially at the Day of Atonement. Its aim was
purification for sin, cleansing in the sight of a holy God, as well as atonement. At its
lesser levels it could be partaken of by the priest. It was an offering by fire and
presented a pleasing odour to God, but only in a secondary way. Its main purpose
was purification from sin. The blood from it was daubed on the horns of the altar(s)
to purify the altar, and thrown at the base of the altar to sanctify it and make
atonement for it, and for the people, for the altar represented the offerings of the
people. It symbolised Christ as offering Himself once-for-all as a purification for sin
offering on our behalf so that we might be made pure before God. Its concern was
being clean in the sight of God, pure as He is pure (1 John 3:1-2).
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5) The Guilt Offering (’asam). This was a kind of sin offering, but was for more
specific sins where confession or restitution needed to be made. It was mainly
personal, and is a reminder that we need to deal with individual sins, confess them
to others where it will do good, and make restitution for any loss we have caused.
Like the purification for sin offering it symbolised Christ as dying for us so that we
might be forthright in dealing with specific sins.
Verses 1-7
The Law of The Guilt Offering. (Leviticus 7:1-7).
The overwhelming sense of the holiness of the purification for sin offering now
carries over into the consideration of the Guilt Offering. Its holiness is immediately
emphasised. And we are also now informed that the priests can partake of the meat
of the guilt offering as long as it is in a holy place, as they can presumably of the
purification of sin offering, for there is one law for them both.
Leviticus 7:1-2
‘And this is the law of the guilt offering. It is most holy. In the place where they kill
the whole burnt offering shall they kill the guilt offering; and its blood shall he
sprinkle on the altar round about.’
Like the purification for sin offering, the guilt offering too is killed in the place
where the whole burnt offering is killed. This would seem to emphasise the priority
of the whole burnt offering. That is at the head of all offerings. But the purification
for sin and guilt offerings are so holy that they are carried out in the same place as
the whole burnt offering.
And the blood of the guilt offering is sprinkled on the altar round about as with the
whole burnt offering. This identical application of the blood confirms that the whole
burnt offering is also to be seen as an atonement offering as well. But it is different
from that for the purification for sin offering where purification for sin on a larger
scale has primary importance.
PULPIT, "CONTINUATION OF THE SUPPLEMENTAL REGULATIONS
ADDRESSED TO THE PRIESTS, RESPECTING THE RITUAL OF THE
SACRIFICES.
This chapter treats of the ritual of the trespass offering and the peace offerings, as
the last chapter treated of that of the burnt offering, the meat offering, and the sin
offering. The LXX. version attaches the first ten verses of this chapter to Leviticus
6:1-30, beginning Leviticus 7:1-38 with our Leviticus 7:11.
Leviticus 7:1-6
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Further ritual of the trespass offering (see note on Le Leviticus 5:14). It is to be
noted that the blood of the trespass offering is not to be placed on the horns of the
altar, as was the rule in the ordinary sin offering, but cast against the inner side of
the altar, as in the burnt offering and peace offering. The rump in Leviticus 7:3
should be translated tail, as in Leviticus 3:9.
BI 1=7, "The law of the trespass-offering.
Lessons
1. The fatness and grossness of the carnal heart is to be removed and taken away.
2. God requires the heart.
3. Against covetousness in ministers.
4. To receive the sacraments reverently and with due preparation. (A. Willet, D. D.)
The trespass-offering
The trespass-offering may be considered as a variety of the sin-offering. The
distinguishing characteristic of the trespass-offering proper was restitution. The offences
for which it was offered were such as admitted of restitution, and the distinction from
the sin-offering cannot be better expressed than in the words of Prof. Cave: “The sin and
trespass-offerings were both sacrifices for sins; but in the former the leading idea was
that of atonement, the expiation of sin by a substituted life; in the latter the leading
feature was that of satisfaction, the wiping out of sin by the payment of a recompense.” It
is well worthy of note that in the trespass-offering for sins against God, the ritual
prescribed was sacrifice first, restitution following; while in those against man the order
was reversed: restitution first, followed by sacrifice on the altar. The appropriateness of
the difference will be readily seen. In the former case, where the sin consisted in
withholding from God that which was His due, it was not really God that lost anything, it
was the sinner. Giving to God is not regarded as a debt which a man must pay, but rather
as a privilege which he may enjoy; and, accordingly, before a man can enjoy the privilege
of which he has foolishly deprived himself, he must come and offer his sacrifice upon the
altar. But when the sinner has been withholding from his fellow-man that which is his
due, the delinquency is regarded in the light of a debt, and he is not allowed to go to the
altar of God until he has paid his debt, and not only discharged the principal in full, but
added one-fifth part thereto. (J. M. Gibson, D. D.)
This is the law
We find this text in many places (see Lev_6:25; Lev_7:1; Lev_7:11; Lev_7:37). What we
want is just this-definiteness. There must be a line of certainty somewhere, or the
universe could not be kept together. There may be ten thousand contributory lines,
contingent or incidental lines, but there must be running right through the heart of
things a law of definiteness and certitude; otherwise coherence is impossible, and
permanence is of the nature of a dissolving cloud. We want to get upon that line. Quest
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in search of that line is orthodoxy. To seek after truth, what is this but to love wisdom
and to pant for God? What have you? You have great information. What is the value of
information? Nothing, beyond that which is merely momentary and tentative. It is the
last thing to be known or that is known. But then in two hours we shall know something
more. Information is never final. Hence men say, “To the best of my knowledge.” What a
confession is in these simple words if we submit them to their last analysis! “To the best
of my judgment,” “So far as I know,” “According to the best advice I can get”; what is all
this but sand? You could not build a house upon such sand. It would never do for
information to be final or complete or authoritative; it is by this kind of uncertainty that
we are kept modest, it is by this kind of incertitude we are often inspired, and it is
because intellectual life is a continual tumult that we grow athletically, that the brain
becomes stronger. What we want to come upon is the line of law which itself is a line of
progress, a line of change into ever-increasing largeness, but never a change of quality or
of moral purpose. If we want to know the law we can find it. If you want to be right you
can be right. “To him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” Can we
go to the law? We can do better. It is the business of the gospel minister to say how. We
can not only go to the law, we can go to the Lawgiver, we can go to the living Jesus
Christ. We can see Him face to face, or, better still, using the word “face” in its true
interpretation, we Can see Him soul to soul. (J. -Parker, D. D.)
The priest shall have to himself the skin of the burnt-offering.
The skin legislated for
Why God should think of so small and base a thing as the skin, some may ask a reason;
and see you the reason and tile good of it.
1. It notably confirmeth our faith in His providence, that He will never forget us and
leave us destitute of things needful and good for us, seeing we are much better than
the skin of a brute beast, whereof yet He hath care and thought.
2. It showed that sweet and comfortable care that the” Lord then had, and still hath,
of the ministry, that it should be maintained, and not defrauded of the least thing
allotted to it, which still He showeth in all other particulars, urging still that they be
given to the priests according to His will.
3. This care of the Lord for the beast’s skin, to appoint it to one that should have it,
well taught that people then, and still teacheth us ever to be careful to,prevent strife,
and to take away all questions and controversies as much as we may., that every one
knowing what is his may therein rest, and peace ensue. The more God hath given
you, the more must be your pain this way, in your good health and perfect memory.
(Bp. Babington.)
2 The guilt offering is to be slaughtered in the
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place where the burnt offering is slaughtered, and
its blood is to be splashed against the sides of the
altar.
CLARKE, "In the place where they kill the burnt-offering - viz., on the north
side of the altar, Lev_1:11.
GILL, "In the place where they kill the burnt offering shall they kill the
trespass offering,.... See Lev_1:11,
and the blood thereof shall he sprinkle round about upon the altar; on the
upper part of it. There was a scarlet thread that was drawn around the altar
in the middle, the blood of some of the sacrifices was sprinkled below it; and
some above it, as was the blood of the trespass offering.
3 All its fat shall be offered: the fat tail and the fat
that covers the internal organs,
CLARKE, "The rump - See Clarke’s note on Lev_3:9, where the principal subjects
in this chapter are explained, being nearly the same in both.
GILL, "And he shall offer of it all the fat thereof,.... To the Lord, that being
claimed by him, as in the peace offerings of the herd, and of the flock, whether a bullock
or cow, a lamb or a goat, Lev_3:3, &c. and in the sin offering of the bullock, Lev_1:8,
and the rump, or tail, which of sheep and rams, for the trespass offering, was very
large and fat in those countries; See Gill on Exo_29:22, Lev_3:9,
and the fat that covereth the inwards; called the "omentum".
K&D, "Lev_7:3-7
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The fat portions only were to be burned upon the altar, viz., the same as in the sin and
peace-offerings (see Lev_4:8 and Lev_3:9); but the flesh was to be eaten by the priests,
as in the sin-offering (Lev_6:22), inasmuch as there was the same law in this respect for
both the sin-offering and trespass-offering; and these parts of the sacrificial service must
therefore have had the same meaning, every trespass being a sin (see Lev_6:26). -
Certain analogous instructions respecting the burnt-offering and meat-offering are
appended in Lev_7:8-10 by way of supplement, as they ought properly to have been
given in ch. 6, in the laws relating to the sacrifices in question.
PETT, "Leviticus 7:3-4
‘And he shall offer of it all its fat; the fat tail, and the fat that covers the innards,
and the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which is by the loins, and the
covering on the liver, with the kidneys, shall he take away, and the priest shall burn
them on the altar for an offering made by fire to Yahweh. It is a guilt offering.’
No animal has been identified as yet but this would seem to point to a sheep because
of the fat tail (Leviticus 3:9). But he is clearly only summarising and therefore it
probably signifies that it could alternatively be a (Leviticus 5:6). The point again
being emphasised is that the fat and all the innards are to be offered to Yahweh on
the altar, as an offering by fire to Yahweh. Thus the blood and the fat are offered in
the usual way. It is then emphasised that it is a guilt offering.
4 both kidneys with the fat on them near the loins,
and the long lobe of the liver, which is to be
removed with the kidneys.
CLARKE, "The fat that is on them - Chiefly the fat that was found in a detached
state, not mixed with the muscles; such as the omentum or caul, the fat of the mesentery,
the fat about the kidneys, etc. See Clarke’s note on Lev_3:9, etc.
GILL, "And the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them,.... Which are usually
covered with fat:
which is by the flanks: or rather that which is "upon" them (y); for this respects not
the situation of the kidneys, nor the fat upon them, but the fat which is upon the flanks,
as distinct from that, and where there are great collops of it, see Job_15:27,
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and the caul that is above the liver; the lobe upon the liver, according to the
Septuagint:
with the kidneys, it shall he take away; all the fat before mentioned, together with
the kidneys, were to be taken away from the ram of the trespass offering, and burnt, as
follows.
5 The priest shall burn them on the altar as a food
offering presented to the Lord. It is a guilt
offering.
GILL, "And the priest shall burn them upon the altar,.... Fat taken off of the
several parts before mentioned, and the kidneys: which were to be
for an offering made by fire unto the Lord; and was acceptable to him, being
typical of the offering of Christ, which is a sweet smelling savour, bearing the fire of
divine wrath in the room and stead of his people:
it is the trespass offering; an offering for a trespass committed, to make atonement
for it; and this part of it, the burning of the fat, was properly the offering to the Lord, all
the rest were the priest's, as follows.
TRAPP, "Leviticus 7:5 And the priest shall burn them upon the altar [for] an
offering made by fire unto the LORD: it [is] a trespass offering.
Ver. 5. It is a trespass offering.] And, as in the sin offering, the priest was to have the
remainder. They had many a good morsel besides their tithes and lands.
6 Any male in a priest’s family may eat it, but it
must be eaten in the sanctuary area; it is most
holy.
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GILL, "Every male among the priests shall eat thereof,.... Of the flesh of it, after
the fat was taken off and burnt, the rest belonged to the priests and their sons, and to
them only, not to their wives and daughters:
it shall be eaten in the holy place; in the court of the tabernacle, in some apartment
in it, for that purpose, as afterwards in the temple; it was not to be carried home to their
houses, for all in the family to partake of, only the priests and their sons were to eat of it:
it is most holy; and therefore none but such who were devoted to holy services might
eat of it; only sanctified persons, true believers, who are made priests unto God, have a
right to eat of the altar Christ, or, can eat his flesh in a spiritual sense, and feed upon him
by faith, and receive nourishment from him, Heb_13:10.
JAMISON, "As the sin offering is, so is the trespass offering, there is one law
for them,.... The same as in Lev_6:27,
the priest that maketh atonement therewith shall have it; who by offering it
made atonement for the trespass of the person that brings it, as typical of the atonement
by the sacrifice of Christ; he was to have all but what was burnt, for himself and his sons;
though no doubt but other priests then on duty in the court ate with him.
CALVIN, "In these passages Moses confirms what we have seen before as to the
rights of the priests, and also adds an exception to which he had not yet referred. In
general, therefore, he claims for the priests whatever remained of the holier victims;
and distinguishes them by this prerogative from the other Levites; from whence we
gather how free from all self-seeking Moses was, when by God’s command he
deprives his own sons not only of the dignity which was conferred on his nephews,
but also of their pecuniary advantages. Let none, he says, but the sons of Aaron
enjoy the sacred oblations, because they are divinely anointed that they may
approach the altar. But, since some rivalry might have arisen among themselves, he
adds a special law, that certain kinds of offerings should only be taken by the priest
who had offered them. For although they ought all to have disinterestedly
discharged their duties, and not to have been attracted by lucre, yet, that all might
perform their parts more cheerfully, he appoints a reward for their labor and
diligence. On this account he prescribes that the residue of the minha in the peace-
offerings, and also the right shoulder of the victim, and the flesh that remained of
the trespass-offerings, should be the recompense of the priest who had performed
the office of atonement and sprinkling the blood. It is unquestionable that many
were attracted by the desire of gain, who would otherwise have neglected their
duties; but this was a proof of God’s fatherly indulgence, that He consulted their
infirmity so that their hire might be a spur to their diligence. Meanwhile He did not
desire to hire their services like those of slaves, so that they should be mercenaries in
heart; but rather, when He reproves them by His Prophet because there were none
of them who would “kindle fire on His altar for nought.” (Malachi 1:10.) He
aggravates their ingratitude, not only because they would not give their services
12

gratuitously, but because, when they received their hire, they defrauded Him who
had appointed them to be His ministers.
PETT, "Leviticus 7:6
‘Every male among the priests shall eat of it. It shall be eaten in a holy place. It is
most holy.’
But the remainder of the guilt offering may be eaten by the priests in a holy place,
but only by them for it is most holy.
7 “‘The same law applies to both the sin
offering[a] and the guilt offering: They belong to
the priest who makes atonement with them.
GILL, "As the sin offering is, so is the trespass offering, there is one law for
them,.... The same as in Lev_6:27,
the priest that maketh atonement therewith shall have it; who by offering it
made atonement for the trespass of the person that brings it, as typical of the atonement
by the sacrifice of Christ; he was to have all but what was burnt, for himself and his sons;
though no doubt but other priests then on duty in the court ate with him.
WHEDON, "7. As the sin offering is, so is the trespass offering — Though much
alike in their interior essence and symbolical meaning, they had this difference, the
trespass offering was always personal, while the sin offering might be
congregational. See Leviticus 5:6, note.
BENSON, "Leviticus 7:7-8. As is the sin-offering, so is the trespass-offering — In
the matter following, for in other things they differed. The priests shall have it —
That part of it which was by God allowed to the priest. The priest shall have to
himself the skin — The note of Bishop Patrick is worth transcribing here: “All the
flesh of the burnt-offerings being wholly consumed, as well as the fat upon the altar,
there was nothing that could fall to the share of the priest but the skin, which is here
given him for his pains. It was observed upon Genesis 3:21, that it is probable Adam
himself offered the first sacrifice, and had the skin given him by God, to make the
13

garments for him and his wife. In conformity to which the priests ever after had the
skin of the whole burnt-offerings for their portion; which was a custom among the
Gentiles, (as well as the Jews,) who gave the skins of their sacrifices to their priests,
when they were not burned with the sacrifices, as in some sin-offerings they were
among the Jews, see Leviticus 4:11; and they employed them to a superstitious use,
by lying upon them in their temples, in hopes to have future things revealed to them
in their dreams. Of this we have a proof in Virgil’s seventh Æneid, line 86. See
Dryden’s translation, 7:127.”
PETT, "Leviticus 7:7
‘As is the purification for sin offering, so is the guilt offering; there is one law for
them: the priest who makes atonement by it, he shall have it.’
Indeed it is like the purification for sin offering, as with the one, so with the other.
There is one law for both of them. And they are both most holy. So the main new
stress here is on the similarity between the purification for sin offering and the guilt
offering, and the holiness of them both, and that the meat and skins from both go to
the priests (with some exceptions).
PULPIT, "Leviticus 7:7-10
contain a general precept or note as to the priests' portion in the sin offering,
trespass offering, burnt offering, and meat offering. The officiating priest was to
have the flesh of the trespass offering and of the sin offering (except the fat burnt on
the altar), and the skin of the burnt offering and the cooked meat offerings (except
the memorial burnt on the altar), while the meat offerings of flour and of parched
grains, which could be kept longer, were to be the property of the priestly body in
general, all the sons of Aaron,… one as much as another. The skins of the peace
offerings were retained by the offerer ('Mishna, Sebaeh,' 12, 3).
8 The priest who offers a burnt offering for
anyone may keep its hide for himself.
BARNES, "The skin of the burnt offering - It is most likely that the skins of the
sin-offering and the trespass-offering also fell to the lot of the officiating priest.
14

CLARKE, "The priest shall have to himself the skin - Bishop Patrick supposes
that this right of the priest to the skin commenced with the offering of Adam, “for it is
probable,” says he, “that Adam himself offered the first sacrifice, and had the skin given
him by God to make garments for him and his wife; in conformity to which the priests
ever after had the skin of the whole burnt-offerings for their portion, which was a
custom among the Gentiles as well as the Jews, who gave the skins of their sacrifices to
their priests, when they were not burnt with the sacrifices, as in some sin-offerings they
were among the Jews, see Lev_4:11. And they employed them to a superstitious use, by
lying upon them in their temples, in hopes to have future things revealed to them in
their dreams.
Of this we have a proof in Virgil, Aen. lib. vii., ver. 86-95.
“ - huc dona sacerdos
Cum tulit, et caesarum ovium sub nocte silenti
Pellibus incubuit stratis, somnosque petivit;
Multa modus simulncra videt volitantia miris,
Et varias audit voces, fruiturque deorum
Colloquio, atque imis Acheronta affatur Avernis.
Hic et tum pater ipse petens responsa Latinus
Centum lanigeras mactabat rite bidentes,
Atque harum effultus tergo stratisque jacebat
Velleribus. Subita ex alto vox reddita luco est.”
First, on the fleeces of the slaughter’d sheep
By night the sacred priest dissolves in sleep,
When in a train, before his slumbering eye,
Thin airy forms and wondrous visions fly.
He calls the powers who guard the infernal floods,
And talks, inspired, familiar with the gods.
To this dread oracle the prince withdrew,
And first a hundred sheep the monarch slew;
Then on their fleeces lay; and from the wood
He heard, distinct, these accents of the god.
- Pitt.
The same superstition, practiced precisely in the same way and for the same purposes,
prevail to the present day in the Highlands of Scotland, as the reader may see from the
following note of Sir Walter Scott, in his Lady of the Lake: - “The Highlanders of
Scotland, like all rude people, had various superstitious modes of inquiring into futurity.
One of the most noted was the togharm. A person was wrapped up in the skin of a
newly-slain bullock, and deposited beside a water-fall, or at the bottom of a precipice, or
in some other strange, wild, and unusual situation, where the scenery around him
suggested nothing but objects of horror. In this situation he revolved in his mind the
question proposed; and whatever was impressed upon him by his exalted imagination,
passed for the inspiration of the disembodied spirits who haunt these desolate recesses.
One way of consulting this oracle was by a party of men, who first retired to solitary
places, remote from any house, and there they singled out one of their number, and
15

wrapt him in a big cow’s hide, which they folded about him; his whole body was covered
with it except his head, and so left in this posture all night, until his invisible friends
relieved him by giving a proper answer to the question in hand; which he received, as he
fancied, from several persons that he found about him all that time. His consorts
returned to him at day-break; and then he communicated his news to them, which often
proved fatal to those concerned in such unwarrantable inquiries. “Mr. Alexander Cooper,
present minister of North Virt, told me that one John Erach, in the Isle of Lewis, assured
him it was his fate to have been led by his curiosity with some who consulted this oracle,
and that he was a night within the hide above mentioned, during which time he felt and
heard such terrible things that he could not express them: the impression made on him
was such as could never go off; and he said, for a thousand worlds he would never again
be concerned in the like performance, for it had disordered him to a high degree. He
confessed it ingenuously, and with an air of great remorse, and seemed to be very
penitent under a just sense of so great a crime: he declared this about five years since,
and is still living in the Isle of Lewis for any thing I know.” - Description of the Western
Isles, p. 110. See also Pennant’s Scottish Tour, vol. ii., p. 301; and Sir W. Scott’s Lady of
the Lake.
GILL, "And the priest that offereth any man's burnt offering,.... In which the
flesh was wholly burnt, and nothing of it remained to requite the priest for his trouble, as
in other offerings:
even the priest shall have to himself the skin of the burnt offering, which he
hath offered; in some cases the skin itself was burnt, and then he could have nothing,
see Lev_4:11 but in others the skin was reserved for the priest. There seems to be an
emphasis upon the phrase "to himself", and may signify, that though in other things
other priests might partake with him, yet not in this; and so Maimonides (z) observes,
that the skin was not given to every priest, but to him that offered the sacrifice; and
elsewhere (a) he says, the skins of light holy things are the owner's, but the skins of the
most holy things are the priest's. And some have thought this law has some respect to
the case of Adam, and is agreeable thereunto; who having offered sacrifice according to
divine directions given him, had coats made for him and his wife of the skins of the slain
beasts; and it was usual with the Heathen priests to have the skins of the sacrifices, and
in which they slept in their temples and others also were desirous of the same, in order
by dreams or otherwise to get knowledge of things future; See Gill on Amo_2:8.
JAMISON, "the priest shall have to himself the skin of the burnt offering
which he hath offered — All the flesh and the fat of the burnt offerings being
consumed, nothing remained to the priest but the skin. It has been thought that this was
a patriarchal usage, incorporated with the Mosaic law, and that the right of the sacrificer
to the skin of the victim was transmitted from the example of Adam (see on Gen_3:21).
K&D, "Lev_7:8-10
In the case of the burnt-offering, the skin of the animal was to fall to the lot of the
16

officiating priest, viz., as payment for his services. ‫ן‬ ֵ‫ֹה‬‫כּ‬ ַ‫ה‬ is construed absolutely: “as for
the priest, who offereth - the skin of the burnt-offering which he offereth shall belong to
the priest” (for “to him”). This was probably the case also with the trespass-offerings and
sin-offerings of the laity; whereas the skin of the peace-offerings belonged to the owner
of the animal (see Mishnah, Sebach. 12, 3). - In Lev_7:9, Lev_7:10, the following law is
laid down with reference to the meat-offering, that everything baked in the oven, and
everything prepared in a pot or pan, was to belong to the priest, who burned a portion of
it upon the altar; and that everything mixed with oil and everything dry was to belong to
all the sons of Aaron, i.e., to all the priests, to one as much as another, so that they were
all to receive an equal share. The reason for this distinction is not very clear. That all the
meat-offerings described in ch. 2 should fall to the sons of Aaron (i.e., to the priests),
with the exception of that portion which was burned upon the altar as an azcarah,
followed from the fact that they were most holy (see at Lev_2:3). As the meat-offerings,
which consisted of pastry, and were offered in the form of prepared food (Lev_7:9), are
the same as those described in Lev_2:4-8, it is evident that by those mentioned in Lev_
2:10 we are to understand the kinds described in Lev_2:1-3 and Lev_2:14-16, and by the
“dry,” primarily the ‫לוּי‬ ָ‫ק‬ ‫יב‬ ִ‫ב‬ ָ‫,א‬ which consisted of dried grains, to which oil was to be
added (‫ן‬ ַ‫ָת‬‫נ‬ Lev_2:15), though not poured upon it, as in the case of the offering of flour
(Lev_2:1), and probably also in that of the sin-offerings and jealousy-offerings (Lev_
5:11, and Num_5:15), which consisted simply of flour (without oil). The reason therefore
why those which consisted of cake and pastry fell to the lot of the officiating priest, and
those which consisted of flour mixed with oil, of dry corn, or of simple flour, were
divided among all the priests, was probably simply this, that the former were for the
most part offered only under special circumstances, and then merely in small quantities,
whereas the latter were the ordinary forms in which the meat-offerings were presented,
and amounted to more than the officiating priests could possibly consume, or dispose of
by themselves.
COKE, "Verse 8
Leviticus 7:8. The priest shall have to himself the skin of the burnt-offering— I
subjoin here the learned note of Bishop Patrick: "All the flesh of the burnt-offerings
being wholly consumed, as well as the fat, upon the altar, (ch. Leviticus 1:8-9.) there
was nothing that could fall to the share of the priest, but the skin; which is here
given him for his pains. I observed upon Genesis 3:21 that it is probable Adam
himself offered the first sacrifice, and had the skin given him by GOD, to make the
garments for him and his wife. In conformity to which, the priests ever after had the
skin of the whole burnt-offerings, for their portion; which was a custom among the
Gentiles, (as well as the Jews,) who gave the skins of their sacrifices to their priests,
when they were not burnt with the sacrifices, as in some sin-offerings they were
among the Jews; (see ch. Leviticus 4:11.) and they employed them to a superstitious
use, by lying upon them in their temples, in hopes to have future things revealed to
them in their dreams. Of this we have a proof in Virgil's 7th AEneid, ver. 127 of
Dryden's translation:
17

The priest on skins of offerings takes his ease, And nightly visions in his slumbers
sees; A swarm of thin aerial shapes appears, And, fluttering round his temples,
deafs his ears: There he consults, the future fates to know From powers above, and
from the fiends below.
And in the Eleusinia, the Daduchus put on the skin of the beasts which had been
sacrificed to Jupiter; and which was called Διος κωδια, the fleece of Jupiter."
TRAPP, "Leviticus 7:8 And the priest that offereth any man’s burnt offering, [even]
the priest shall have to himself the skin of the burnt offering which he hath offered.
Ver. 8. The priest shall have to himself.] It is a sign of gasping devotion when men
are so straithanded to their ministers, who should have part of all. [Galatians 6:6]
WHEDON, "8. The skin of the burnt offering — This was a perquisite of the priest,
to be kept or sold at his pleasure. Bishop Patrick suggests that Adam was the first
priest who offered a burnt offering, and that the presentation of the skin to him by
the Creator established the precedent here ratified by the ceremonial law. The same
custom is found among pagans, whose priests superstitiously thought that by lying
upon these skins they would be endowed with the gift of prescience. See Virgil’s
AEneid, book vii, 7:86-95. The same superstition lingers to this day in the Highlands
of Scotland.
PETT, "Verses 8-10
Brief Comments About The Whole Burnt Offering and the Grain Offering
(Leviticus 7:8-10).
Spurred on by reference to the guilt offering meat as being the priest’s portion, this
summary concludes by describing what belongs to the priests of the other offerings.
Leviticus 7:8
‘And the priest who offers any man's whole burnt offering, even the priest shall
have to himself the skin of the whole burnt offering which he has offered.’
In the case of the whole burnt offering the priest who offers the offering receives the
animal’s skin or hide. These skins were very valuable and were later a source of
great revenue for the priests.
It would seem that the priests received the skins of most whole burnt offerings,
purification for sin offering, and guilt offerings, but not the skin of peace sacrifices
which went to the offerer.
18

9 Every grain offering baked in an oven or cooked
in a pan or on a griddle belongs to the priest who
offers it,
GILL, "And all the meat offering that is baked in the oven,.... Or "every meat
offering" (b), whether dressed in one way or another, and which was done in one or
other of these three ways, of which this was one, baked in an oven heated for that
purpose:
and all that is dressed in the frying pan; such as we call pancakes:
and in the pan; which was different from the frying pan; it seems to be what was set
upon an hearth made hot, and soon baked; See Gill on Lev_6:21 of these three different
ways of dressing the meat offering, see Lev_2:4.
COKE, "Verse 9
Leviticus 7:9. And all the meat-offering, &c.— See ch. Leviticus 2:6. The author of
the Observations remarks, from some customs now prevailing among the Arabs,
that the pouring oil on a meat-offering baken in a pan, and broken to pieces, was,
according to the way of those times, when they would regale their friends in a more
elegant manner; and, consequently, was to be done out of respect to the priests of
the LORD, to whom they were appropriated. We refer the reader, curious on this
topic, to the 131st page of the Observations.
Note; The hide of the burnt-offering, and the meat-offering which was dressed, were
the priest's who offered them; but the undressed meat-offerings were divided among
all the priests in waiting. Learn, 1. They who labour most in the service of God,
deserve to be best paid. 2. They who serve at the same altar, should be careful to
communicate one to another of their good things: a covetous priest is a monster in
the sanctuary!
TRAPP, "Leviticus 7:9 And all the meat offering that is baken in the oven, and all
that is dressed in the fryingpan, and in the pan, shall be the priest’s that offereth it.
Ver. 9. And all the meat offering.] Which seems to be so called, partly because it
went as meat unto the priest - the labourer is surely worthy of his meat, - but
19

[Matthew 10:10] principally as leading to Christ, whose "flesh is meat indeed."
[John 6:55]
WHEDON, " 9. The meat offering — The bread offering, variously prepared, is
described in chap. 2, notes.
Shall be the priest’s that offereth it — Thus individual diligence was stimulated and
rewarded; but to provide the sick and aged priests with materials for their own
sustenance and for offerings to God, the commandment is given in Leviticus 7:10
that all the sons of Aaron should have the oil and unbaked flour, the largest part,
one as much as another — Thus there was a blending of individual interests with
community-life as a safeguard against indolence. Moreover, if the whole had been
given to the officiating priest there would have been more than he could consume.
The cooked-bread offering is supposed to have been small in amount.
BENSON, "Leviticus 7:9. All the meat or meal-offering shall be the priest’s —
Except the part reserved by God, (Leviticus 2:2; Leviticus 2:9,) these being ready
dressed, and hot, and to be eaten presently. And the priest who offered it was, in
reason, to expect something more than his brethren who laboured not about it, and
that he had only in this offering; for the others were equally distributed. For
(Leviticus 7:10) every meat or meal-offering, which was of raw flour, whether
mingled with oil or dry, that is, without oil, or drink-offering, all the sons of Aaron
were to share equally among them. And there was manifest reason for this
difference, because these were offered in greater quantities than the former; and,
being raw, might more easily be reserved for the several priests, to dress them in the
way which each of them might prefer.
PETT, "Leviticus 7:9-10
‘And every grain offering that is baked in the oven, and all that is dressed in the
frying-pan, and on the baking-pan, shall be the priest's who offers it. And every
grain offering, mingled with oil, or dry, shall all the sons of Aaron have, one as well
as another.’
All that remains of the grain offerings after the burning of the memorial part were
also intended for the priests. The cooked ones went to the priest who offered them,
the uncooked ones to all the priests. The latter could be kept longer.
All these provisions meant that the priests did not have to concern themselves about
obtaining a living. Their living was provided for them, and their families would be
provided for from the tithe of the firstfruits. As Paul said, ‘those who wait on the
altar have their portion with the altar’ (1 Corinthians 9:13). They could thus devote
themselves entirely to their duties.
And as Paul was pointing out, these provisions are a reminder to us that we too
should make sure that those whom we acknowledge to have been called by God to
20

full time ministry are provide for materially by those who benefit from their
ministry. This includes missionaries, for they serve there on our behalf.
10 and every grain offering, whether mixed with
olive oil or dry, belongs equally to all the sons of
Aaron.
GILL, "And every meat offering mingled with oil, and dry,.... Rather it should
be rendered "or dry" (c); that is, as Jarchi interprets it, that has no oil in it; the meat
offering in common, let it be dressed in what way soever, was mingled with oil; but in
the poor man's offering for sin, which was as a meat offering, no oil was to be put upon
it, Lev_5:11 but whether the offering was with or without oil, moist or dry, it
shall all the sons of Aaron have, one as much as another; it was to be equally
divided among them; or a priest offering it at one time, was to have the same as another
priest at another time; it was always alike, all that remained, except the handful that was
burnt, was the priest's.
TRAPP, "Leviticus 7:10 And every meat offering, mingled with oil, and dry, shall
all the sons of Aaron have, one [as much] as another.
Ver. 10. Have, one as much as another.] In their father’s house was bread enough.
"Put me, I pray thee, into one of the priest’s offices, that I may eat a piece of bread."
[1 Samuel 2:36] This the Tirshatha would not suffer those turn-coats to do. [Ezra
2:63] But how hard put to it was that poor priest that answered young Pareus,
asking him an alms, according to the custom of those times, Nos pauperi fratres, nos
nihil habemus, an piscis, an caro, an panis, an misericordia habemus? (a)
The Fellowship Offering
21

11 “‘These are the regulations for the fellowship
offering anyone may present to the Lord:
GILL, "The Law of the Peace-Offerings, “which he shall offer to Jehovah” (the
subject is to be supplied from the verb), contains instructions, (1) as to the bloodless
accompaniment to these sacrifices (Lev_7:12-14), (2) as to the eating of the flesh of the
sacrifices (Lev_7:15-21), with the prohibition against eating fat and blood (Lev_
7:22-27), and (3) as to Jehovah's share of these sacrifices (Lev_7:28-36). - In Lev_7:12
and Lev_7:16 three classes of shelamim are mentioned, which differ according to their
occasion and design, viz., whether they were brought ‫ה‬ ָ‫ד‬ ‫ל־תּ‬ַ‫,ע‬ upon the ground of
praise, i.e., to praise God for blessings received or desired, or as vow-offerings, or
thirdly, as freewill-offerings (Lev_7:16). To (lit., upon, in addition to) the sacrifice of
thanksgiving (Lev_7:12, “sacrifice of thanksgiving of his peace-offerings,” Lev_7:13 and
Lev_7:15) they were to present “unleavened cakes kneaded with oil, and flat cakes
anointed with oil (see at Lev_2:4), and roasted fine flour (see Lev_6:14) mixed as cakes
with oil,” i.e., cakes made of fine flour roasted with oil, and thoroughly kneaded with oil
(on the construction, see Ges. §139, 2; Ewald §284 a). This last kind of cakes kneaded
with oil is also called oil-bread-cake (“a cake of oiled bread,” Lev_8:26; Exo_29:23), or
“cake unleavened, kneaded with oil” (Exo_29:2), and probably differed from the former
simply in the fact that it was more thoroughly saturated with oil, inasmuch as it was not
only made of flour that had been mixed with oil in the kneading, but the flour itself was
first of all roasted in oil, and then the dough was moistened still further with oil in the
process of kneading.
HENRY, "All this relates to the peace-offerings: it is the repetition and explication of
what we had before, with various additions.
I. The nature and intention of the peace-offerings are here more distinctly opened.
They were offered either, 1. In thankfulness for some special mercy received, such as
recovery from sickness, preservation in a journey, deliverance at sea, redemption out of
captivity, all which are specified in Ps. 107, and for them men are called upon to offer the
sacrifice of thanksgiving, Lev_7:22. Or, 2. In performance of some vow which a man
made when he was in distress (Lev_7:16), and this was less honourable than the former,
though the omission of it would have been more culpable. Or, 3. In supplication for
some special mercy which a man was in the pursuit and expectation of, here called a
voluntary offering. This accompanied a man's prayers, as the former did his praises. We
do not find that men were bound by the law, unless they had bound themselves by vow,
to offer these peace-offerings upon such occasions, as they were to bring their sacrifices
of atonement in case of sin committed. Not but that prayer and praise are as much our
duty as repentance is; but here, in the expressions of their sense of mercy, God left them
more to their liberty than in the expressions of their sense of sin - to try the generosity of
their devotion, and that their sacrifices, being free-will offerings, might be the more
22

laudable and acceptable; and, by obliging them to bring the sacrifices of atonement, God
would show the necessity of the great propitiation.
JAMISON, "this is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings — Besides the
usual accompaniments of other sacrifices, leavened bread was offered with the peace
offerings, as a thanksgiving, such bread being common at feasts.
CALVIN, "Leviticus 7:11.And this is the law of the sacrifice. I have elsewhere (282)
stated my reasons for calling this kind of sacrifice “the sacrifice of prosperities.”
That they were offered not only in token of gratitude, but when God’s aid was
implored, is plain both from this and other passages; yet in all cases the Jews thus
testified that they acknowledged God as the author of all good things, whether they
returned thanks for some notable blessing, or sought by His aid to be delivered from
dangers, or whether they professed in general their piety, or paid the vows which
they had made simply and without condition; for the payment of a conditional vow
was an act of thanksgiving. At any rate, since in all they honored God with His due
service, they gave proof of their gratitude. Hence this name was justly given to these
sacrifices, because in them they either besought good success of Him, or
acknowledged that what they had already obtained was owing to His grace, or asked
for relief in adversity, or congratulated themselves on their welfare and safety.
Moses, however, distinguishes one kind, as it were, from the others:, i.e., the
sacrifice of thanksgiving, whereby they professedly returned thanks for some
notable deliverance, which was not; always offered. (283) In this case he commands
unleavened cakes fried in oil, wafers seasoned with oil, and fine flour fried to be
offered, together with leavened bread; and also commands that the flesh of the
sacrifice should be eaten on the day of the oblation, so that none should be left. In
vows and free-will-offerings greater liberty is conceded, viz., that they might eat the
residue on the next day, provided they kept nothing till the third day. In the passage
which I have inserted from chapter 22, the words I have translated “unto your
acceptance,” might also be rendered “unto His good-will,” (in beneplacitum,) for the
gratuitous favor of God is called ‫,רצון‬ ratson. The meaning therefore is, if you would
have your sacrifice accepted by God, take care that none of the flesh should remain
to the following day. Others, however, understand it of man’s good-will, as if it were
said, “at your own will,” or “as it shall please you.” And I admit, indeed, that the
word ‫רצון‬ , ratson, is sometimes used in this sense; but since in the same chapter
(284) it can only be taken for God’s favor or acceptance, I have preferred avoiding a
variation; yet I make no objection if any one likes the other reading better. But if my
readers weigh well the antithesis, when it is presently added, that if the flesh should
remain beyond the proper time (285) the sacrifice would not be pleasing to God,
they will agree with me. There is, indeed, an apparent discrepancy here, since in this
way Moses would command the voluntary sacrifice to be eaten on the same day,
which, however, he does not do. If we prefer understanding it of the liberal feelings
of men, he will exhort the people cheerfully to offer their victims in thanksgiving. I
have, however, shewn the meaning which I approve of, and thus it will be easy to
reconcile these things, for God’s goodwill does not require this similarity, (286) nor
23

is it necessary to observe the same mode of offering that they may be grateful; but
they are said to offer “unto their acceptance,” when they intermix no corruption,
but offer purely and duly. If the cause of this distinction is asked, it is no clearer to
me than is the variety between the bread and wafers or cakes. It is certain, indeed,
that God had a reason for dealing more strictly or more indulgently; but to inquire
now-a-days as to things unknown, and which conduce not at all to piety, is neither
right nor expedient.
COFFMAN, "Verse 11
"And this is the law of the sacrifice of peace-offerings, which one shall offer unto
Jehovah. If he offer it for a thanksgiving, then he shall offer with the sacrifice of
thanksgiving unleavened cakes mingled with oil, of fine flour soaked. With cakes of
leavened bread he shall offer his oblation with the sacrifice of his peace-offerings for
thanksgiving. And if he shall offer one out of each oblation for a heave-offering unto
Jehovah; it shall be the priest's that sprinkleth the blood of the peace-offering."
The peace-offering was the only sacrifice in which the worshiper himself was
privileged to eat the meat offered and to share it with his friends. "The peace-
offering was the only one that laymen were allowed to eat."[1] From this, it has been
supposed that upon occasions of peace-offerings many of the Israelites had a rare
opportunity to eat meat. The peace-offerings were discussed in Leviticus 3; the
additional instruction here regards the particular type of peace-offering intended
also as a thanksgiving-offering. Additional items are specified here as being
necessary in those cases.
A different order of these sacrifices is observed in Leviticus 7 from that in the
previous chapters, but we have been unable to assign any significance whatever to
this, or any reason for it. The peace-offering is the one oddly placed in Leviticus 7.
The mention of thanksgiving-offering here reminds us that:
"The peace-offerings of Leviticus 3:2-27 were further classified as: (1)
thanksgiving (Leviticus 7:12-15); (2) votive (Leviticus 7:16-18); and (3) freewill. The
difference between the first and the other two was in the times when they could be
eaten."[2]
The latter two of these are discussed in the next paragraph.
Verse 15
"And the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace-offerings for thanksgiving shall be eaten
on the day of his oblation; he shall not leave any of it until morning. But if the
sacrifice of his oblation be a vow, or a freewill offering, it shall be eaten on the day
that he offereth his sacrifice; and on the morrow that which remaineth of it shall be
eaten: but that which remaineth of the flesh of the sacrifice on the third day shall be
burnt with fire. and if any of the flesh of his peace-offerings be eaten on the third
24

day, it shall not be accepted, neither shall it be imputed unto him that offereth it: it
shall be an abomination, and the soul that eateth of it shall bear his iniquity."
These verses serve to distinguish among the three different types of peace-offerings,
the principal distinction being in the times during which the flesh was to be eaten.
Several opinions are offered as to why the thanksgiving type of peace-offering had
to be consumed on the day of its offering; but the most logical, it appears to us, is
that suggested by Wenham, (1) either it was for the purpose of encouraging the
offerer to invite others to share it, or (2) it showed that the worshipper trusted God
to supply his future needs.[3] Cate thought the word "abomination" meant the same
thing as "spoiled".[4]
TRAPP, "Leviticus 7:11 And this [is] the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings,
which he shall offer unto the LORD.
Ver. 11. Sacrifice of peace offerings.] Or, pay offering. See Psalms 116:14. "I will
pay," or, I will perfect. Fitly; for a vow, till paid, is an imperfect thing.
WHEDON, "Verse 11
LAWS OF THE PEACE OFFERING, Leviticus 7:11-21.
11. The law of… the peace offerings — See chap. 3, notes. There are added to the
description given there the chief elements of the bread offering, namely, unleavened
cakes and oil. Both offerings are eucharistic, affording an expression of gratitude to
Jehovah for the peace which he gives to the obedient, and of fellowship with all the
children of Israel. Here the peace offering appears under three divisions, the todha,
or thanksgiving; the nedher, or vow, and the n’dhabha; the freewill. The last was
quite inferior, since a defective victim might be sacrificed.
Leviticus 22:23. The three are thus distinguished — the first is an outgushing of
praise for spontaneous tokens of Jehovah’s goodness; the second is an obligatory
requital for some act of Divine beneficence done in consideration of a vow; and the
third has regard to no special benefaction, but affords a method of taking the
initiative in seeking God.
BENSON, "Verse 11
Leviticus 7:11. This is the law of the sacrifice of peace-offerings — These are the
only sort of offerings to be spoken of. There were several sorts of them, which
required various rites. The first was a gratulatory offering, or a sacrifice of
thanksgiving, so called because it was offered to God for some particular benefit
received, Leviticus 7:12. Such sacrifices were accompanied with feasting, and
sometimes with high demonstrations of joy, 1 Samuel 11:15; 1 Kings 8:6. Of these
the psalmist speaks, when he says, Let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving,
and declare his works with rejoicing, <19A722>Psalms 107:22. The second was a
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votive-offering, or vow, being also a sacrifice of thanksgiving, but offered in
consequence of a vow, or religious oath, whereby the party obliged himself to offer
to God such a sacrifice, in case of receiving some particular benefit. The third was a
voluntary offering, being a sacrifice freely made beforehand, in the nature of a
prayer for obtaining some future blessing, Leviticus 7:16; or, as Le Clerc explains it,
a voluntary offering was a sacrifice offered, not for any particular benefit either
received or expected, but merely from the overflowing of a heart grateful to God for
his goodness in general. We find this oblation plainly distinguished from a votive-
offering, Leviticus 22:23.
SIMEON, "THE PEACE-OFFERING
Leviticus 7:11. This is the law of the sacrifice of peace-offerings.
IN the order in which the different offerings are spoken of, the peace-offering
occurs the third; but, in the third chapter, the law of the peace-offerings is no
further stated than it accords with the burnt-offering; and the fuller statement is
reserved for the passage before us. Hence in the enumeration of the different
offerings in verse 37, the peace-offering is fitly mentioned last. That we may mark
the more accurately its distinguishing features, we shall state,
I. The particular prescriptions of this law—
Many of them were common to those of the burnt-offering; the sacrifices might be
taken from the herd or from the flock: the offerer was to bring it to the door of the
tabernacle, and to put his hands upon it: there it was to be killed; its blood was to be
sprinkled upon the altar, and its flesh, in part at least, was to be burnt upon the
altar. Of these things we have spoken before; and therefore forbear to dwell upon
them now.
But there were many other prescriptions peculiar to the peace-offering; and to these
we will now turn our attention. We notice,
1. The matter of which they consisted—
[Though the sacrifices might be of the herd or of the flock, they could not be of
fowls: a turtle-dove or pigeon could not on this occasion be offered. In the burnt-
offering, males only could be presented; but here it might be either male or female.
In the meat-offering, either cakes or wafers might be offered; but here must be both
cakes and wafers: in the former case, leaven was absolutely prohibited; but here it
was enjoined; leavened bread was to be used, as well as the unleavened cakes and
wafers [Note: Leviticus 3:1; Leviticus 7:12-13.].]
2. The manner in which they were offered—
[Particular directions were given both with respect to the division of them, and the
26

consumption. The meat-offering was divided only between the altar and the priests:
but, in the peace-offering, the offerer himself had far the greatest share. God, who
was in these things represented by the altar, had the fat, the kidneys, and the caul,
which were consumed by fire [Note: Leviticus 3:3-5.]. The priest who burned the fat
was to have the breast and the right shoulder: the breast was to be waved by him to
and fro, and the shoulder was to be heaved upwards by him towards heaven. By
these two significant actions, God was acknowledged both as the Governor of the
universe, and as the source of all good to all his creatures: and from them these
portions were called “the wave-breast, and the heave-shoulder [Note: 0–34.].” One
of the cakes also was given to the priest who sprinkled the blood upon the altar,
who, after heaving it before the Lord, was to have it for his own use [Note: 4.]. All
the remainder of the offering, as well of the animal as the vegetable parts of it,
belonged to the offerer; who together with his friends might eat it in their own tents.
Two cautions however they were to observe; the one was, that the persons partaking
of it must be “clean,” (that is, have no ceremonial uncleanness upon them;) and they
must eat it within the time prescribed.
We will not interrupt our statement by any practical explanations, lest we render it
perplexed: but shall endeavour to get a clear comprehensive view of the subject, and
then make a suitable improvement of it.]
Let us proceed then to notice,
II. The occasions whereon the offering was made—
There were some fixed by the divine appointment, and some altogether optional.
The fixed occasions were, at the consecration of the priests [Note: Exodus 29:28.] ;
at the expiration of the Nazarites’ vow [Note: Numbers 6:14.] ; at the dedication of
the tabernacle and temple [Note: Numbers 7:17; 1 Kings 8:63.] ; and at the feast of
firstfruits [Note: Leviticus 23:19.]. But besides these, the people were at liberty to
offer them whenever a sense of gratitude or of need inclined them to it. They were
offered,
1. As acknowledgments of mercies received [Note: 2.] —
[It could not fail but they must sometimes feel their obligations to God for his
manifold mercies: and here was a way appointed wherein they might render unto
God the honour due unto his name. In the 107th Psalm we have a variety of
occurrences mentioned, wherein God’s interposition might be seen: for instance, in
bringing men safely to their homes after having encountered considerable
difficulties and dangers: in redeeming them from prison or captivity, after they had
by their own faults or follies reduced themselves to misery: in recovering persons
from sickness, after they had been brought down to the chambers of the grave: in
preserving mariners from storms and shipwreck: in public, family, or personal
mercies of any kind. For any of these David says, “Let them sacrifice the sacrifice of
thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing [Note: Psalms 107:22.].”]
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2. As supplications for mercies desired—
[These might be offered either as free-will offerings, or as vows [Note: 6.] ; between
which there was a material difference; the one expressing more of an ingenuous
spirit, the other arising rather from fear and terror. We have a striking instance of
the former, in the case of the eleven tribes, who, from a zeal for God’s honour, had
undertaken to punish, the Benjamites for the horrible wickedness they had
committed. Twice had the confederate tribes gone up against the Benjamites, and
twice been repulsed, with the loss of forty thousand men: but being still desirous to
know and do the will of God in this matter, (for it was God’s quarrel only that they
were avenging,) “they went up to the house of God, and wept and fasted until even,
and offered burnt-offerings and peace-offerings unto the Lord:” and then God
delivered the Benjamites into their hand; so that, with the exception of six hundred
only, who fled, the whole tribe of Benjamin, both male and female, was extirpated
[Note: Judges 20:26.].
Of the latter kind, namely, the vows, we have an instance in Jonah and the
mariners, when overtaken with the storm. Jonah doubtless had proposed this
expedient to the seamen, who, though heathens, readily adopted it in concert with
him, hoping thereby to obtain deliverance from the destruction that threatened
them [Note: Jonah 1:16.]. And to the particular vows made on that occasion, Jonah
had respect in the thanksgiving he offered after his deliverance [Note: Jonah 2:9.].
Between the peace-offerings which were presented as thanksgivings, and those
presented in supplication before God, there was a marked difference: the tribute of
love and gratitude was far more pleasing to God, as arguing a more heavenly frame
of mind: and, in consequence of its superior excellence, the sacrifice that was offered
as a thanksgiving must be eaten, on the tame day; whereas the sacrifice offered as a
VOW or voluntary offering, might, as being less holy, be eaten also on the second
day. But, if any was left to the third day, it must be consumed by fire [Note: 5–18.].]
Having stated the principal peculiarities of this law, we shall now come to its
practical improvement. We may find in it abundant matter,
1. For reproof—
[The Jews, if they wished to express their humiliation or gratitude in the way
appointed by the law, were under the necessity of yielding up a part of their
property (perhaps at a time when they could but ill afford it in sacrifice to God. But
no such necessity is imposed on us: “God has not made us to serve with an offering,
nor wearied us with incense:” the offerings he requires of us are altogether
spiritual: it is “the offering of a free heart,” or “of a broken and contrite spirit,”
that he desires of us; and that he will accept in preference to “the cattle upon a
thousand hills.” Well therefore may it be expected that we have approached God
with the language of the Psalmist, “Accept, I beseech thee, the free-will offerings of
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my mouth [Note: Psalms 119:108.].” But has this been the case? Have our sins
brought us unto God in humiliation: our necessities, in prayer; our mercies, in
thankfulness? What excuse have we for our neglects? These sacrifices required no
expense of property, and but little of time. Moreover, we should never have brought
our sacrifice, without feasting on it ourselves. Think, if there had not been in us a
sad aversion to communion with God, what numberless occasions we have had for
drawing nigh to him in this way! Surely every beast that was ever slaughtered on
those occasions, and every portion that was ever offered, will appear in judgment
against us to condemn our ingratitude and obduracy!— — —]
2. For direction—
[Whether the peace-offering was presented in a way of thanksgiving or of
supplication, it equally began with a sacrifice in the way of atonement. Thus,
whatever be the frame of our minds, and whatever service we render unto God, we
must invariably fix our minds on the atonement of Christ, as the only means
whereby either our persons or our services can obtain acceptance with God.
Moreover, having occasion to offer sacrifice, we must do it without delay, even as
the offerers were to eat their offerings in the time appointed [Note: Hebrews
3:13-15; Psalms 119:60; 2 Corinthians 6:2.] — — — We must be attentive too to our
after-conduct, “lest we lose the things that we have wrought, instead of receiving a
full reward [Note: 2 John,.].” However carefully the offerers had observed the law
before, yet, if any one presumed to eat the smallest portion of his offering on the
third day, instead of being accepted of God, his offering was utterly rejected; and he
was considered as having committed a deadly sin [Note: 8.]. O that those who spend
a few days in what is called ‘preparing themselves’ for the Lord’s supper, and after
receiving it return to the same worldly courses as before, would consider this! for no
service can be pleasing to God which does not issue in an immediate renunciation of
every evil way, and a determined, unreserved, and abiding surrender of the soul to
God. In coming to God, we must, at least in purpose and intention, be “clean;” else
we only mock God, and deceive our own soul [Note: 0.]: and, after having come to
him, we must proceed to “cleanse ourselves from all filthiness both of flesh and
spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God [Note: 2 Corinthians 7:1.].”]
3. For encouragement—
[On these occasions a female offering was received, as well as a male, and leavened
bread together with the unleavened. What a blessed intimation was here, that “God
will not be extreme to mark what is done amiss!” A similar intimation is given us in
his acceptance of a mutilated or defective beast, when presented to him as a free-will
offering [Note: Leviticus 22:23.]. Our best services, alas! are very poor and
defective: corruption is blended with every thing we do: our very tears need to be
washed from their defilement, and our repentances to be repented of. But, if we are
sincere and without allowed guile, God will deal with us as a Parent with his beloved
children, accepting with pleasure the services we render him, and overlooking the
weakness with which they are performed [Note: Proverbs 15:8; Psalms 147:11.].]
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PETT, "Verses 11-21
The Law of the Sacrifice of the Peace Offerings (Leviticus 7:11-21).
Finally the peace or wellbeing sacrifices are dealt with. These are of three types, the
thanksgiving offering, which was a way of expressing thanks to God for particular
blessings received, the votive offering or offering in respect of completing a vow, and
the freewill offering, which was simply offered with the purpose of paying tribute to
God and acknowledging Him as Lord, an offering made simply out of love for God.
Leviticus 7:11
‘And this is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings, which one shall offer to
Yahweh.’
The purpose of what follows is to explain further concerning the peace or wellbeing
offerings. The first type is the thanksgiving offering. This was a common offering as
any animal that was put to death had to be offered in one way or another, and
where there was no special reason for making an offering, thanksgiving might be an
obvious choice. It would partly depend on how long he wanted his feast to last.
PULPIT, "Leviticus 7:11-21
Further ritual of the peace offering (see note on Leviticus 3:1). There are three sorts
of peace offerings—thank offerings (Leviticus 7:12-15), votive offerings, and
voluntary offerings (Leviticus 7:16-18). Of these, the thank offerings were made in
thankful memorial for past mercies; votive offerings were made in fulfillment of a
vow previously taken, that such offering should be presented if a terrain condition
were fulfilled. Voluntary offerings differ from votive offerings by not having been
previously vowed, and from thank offerings by not having reference to any special
mercy received. The thank offering must be eaten by the offerer and his friends, on
the same day that it was offered; the votive and the voluntary offerings, which were
inferior to the thank offering in sanctity, on the same day or the next. The reason
why a longer time was not given probably was that the more the meal was delayed,
the less would a religious character be attached to it. The necessity of a quick
consumption also took away the temptation of acting grudgingly towards those with
whom the feast might be shared, and it likewise precluded the danger of the flesh
becoming corrupted. If any of the flesh remained till the third day, it was to be
burnt with fire; if eaten on that day, it should not be accepted or imputed unto him
that offered, that is, it should not be regarded as a sacrifice of sweet savour to God,
but an abomination (literally, a stench), and whoever ate it should bear his iniquity,
that is, should be guilty of an offense, requiring, probably, a sin offering to atone for
it. The bread gift accompanying the animal sacrifice was to consist of three kinds of
unleavened cakes, and one cake of leavened bread, and one out of the whole
oblation, that is, one cake of each kind, was to be offered by heaving and then given
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to the officiating priest, the remaining cakes forming a part of the offerer's festive
meal. If any one took part of a feast on a peace offering while in a state of Levitical
uncleanness, he was to be cut off from his people, that is, excommunicated, without
permission to recover immediate communion by offering a sin offering. St. Paul
joined in a votive offering (Acts 21:26).
BI, "The law of the sacrifice of peace-offerings.
The peace-offering
I. Characteristics.
1. The animal offered might be a male or a female—differing in this from the burnt-
offering.
2. It was not to be wholly consumed as the burnt offerings.
3. If for a thanksgiving offering, unleavened cakes, mingled with oil, as well as
leavened, might be offered.
4. If for a vow or a voluntary offering, the parts to be eaten must be eaten on the
same or the following day.
5. No ceremonially-unclean person could eat of the peace-offering.
II. Significance.
1. The peace-offering, as the name implies, presents to us our Lord Jesus as our
peace (Eph_2:14).
2. This is the key to this symbolic offering, by which may be unlocked, with certainty,
some, at least, of its rich treasures.
(1) The parts consumed—representing the most excellent parts, the inward parts,
the hidden energies—were offered on the altar unto God the Father—in which He
was “well pleased.”
(2) The other parts eaten by the priests representing the true believer feeding on
Christ as his Peace, having laid his hand of faith on Him; the sprinkled blood
being the ground of peace.
(3) The wave-breast representing the love of Christ, and the heave-shoulder His
all-power, give the two leading elements in Christ on which the believer feeds
with joyous delight.
(4) The unleavened cakes, representing the new nature of the believer, being
mingled with oil, the oil representing the Holy Spirit, show the necessity for even
the regenerated to be assisted by the power of the Spirit for profitable
communion with God in Christ, and to enter into the fulness of the love and
power of Christ.
(5) Leavened bread, signifying evil, was to be offered as well as unleavened, to
signify that our sinful nature should be recognised in our “sacrifice of
thanksgiving”—not for condemnation, but for joy that it is judged. The sin in us
should not hinder our communion with God in Christ, if we have no sin upon us.
(6) The ceremonially-unclean could not eat of the wave-breast or heave-
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shoulder, to signify that sin unconfessed, and therefore unpardoned, is an
insurmountable hindrance to fellowship with God in Christ. (D. C. Hughes, M.
A.)
The peace-offering
I. THE PEACE-OFFERING A SACRIFICE OF THANKSGIVING. Three forms of it are
specified—
1. The offering of thanksgiving, i.e., for some special blessing.
2. The vow, the fulfilment of a promise to God.
3. The voluntary offering, made from a principle of gratitude, when, with no special
occasion, the worshipper called upon his soul and all within him to praise and bless
God’s holy name. It was a peace-offering, a national thanksgiving, which Solomon
made at the dedication of the Temple. It is this sacrifice which is so frequently
referred to in the Psalms. In connection with the celebration of the Passover there
were two peace-offerings. The former of these is continued in the Lord’s Supper,
which is a feast of thanksgiving for God’s greatest gift to men. We should thank God
at the sacramental table for all special exhibitions of the Divine goodness.
II. The peace-offering is a sacrifice of fellowship. This, taken with thanksgiving, is its
characteristic idea. The feature peculiar to it was the sacrificial meal; the partaking of
that which was offered by the worshipper. The priests shared in what was offered in the
meat and sin-offerings. The worshipper also partook of the peace-offering. The sacrifice
was an act of holy communion. Also a social meal.
III. The basis of communion in the peace-offering is sacrifice; and in the sacrifice, the
shedding of blood. The shedding of the blood in this particular sacrifice does not
represent, as in the sin-offering, the act of atoning for sin. The bleeding Christ as our
Peace-offering is not our sin-bearer. But His blood in this offering also declares that an
atonement has been made, and that the sole ground of fellowship with God is the
reconciling blood of the Lamb (Eph_2:13-14).
IV. The peace-offering requires holiness in the worshipper. This fact is expressed in the
provision that unleavened bread should be offered as a part of the sacrifice. Yeast, or
leaven, was a symbol of corruption. The principle of corruption must be carefully
excluded, if our offering is to find acceptance. Is there old leaven of sin in your life?
V. In the peace-offering the sinfulness of a nature partially sanctified is confessed. The
curse of sin is no more on us, but it is in us. (G. R. Leavitt.)
Thanksgiving and thanksgiving
It is most interesting to find, here among the sober directions that Moses was
commissioned to deliver to the Israelites, one which assumes a constant recognition of
God’s love and bounty. The peace-offering seems to have for its definite end the earnest
inculcation of a perpetual exercise of devotion, without any special occasion, as well as
with some which are carefully mentioned. Perhaps the best account of the whole
ordinance is given in the familiar words of Kurtz: “A state of peace and of friendship with
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God was the basis and the essential of the presentation of the peace-offering; and the
design of the presentation, from which its name was derived, was the realisation and
establishment, the verification and enjoyment, of the existing relation of peace,
friendship, fellowship, and blessedness.” It may be well for us just to pick out the
particulars of this form of description.
I. In the peace-offering there was inculcated a spirit of tranquil trust. When one made
the sacrifice, it signified that he was in the state of reconciliation with God. The law had
lost its curse; sin was in process of being subdued; the soul of the glad believer simply
rested upon the promises of redemption, and waited for its salvation. Among the severe
passes of the Scottish highlands, it is memorable always to mention Glencoe; for no one
who has ever climbed the fatiguing steeps can forget that, after the weary way had led
him up and on, and beneath the shadow of the grotesque Ben Arthur, past many a
disappointing elevation which he thought surely would be the last, he finally reached
that mossy stone, by the winding wayside, on which are written the welcome words,
“Here rest, and be thankful!” There, sitting down in peace, one sees the rare prospect of
beautiful hill and vale, rock and loch kindling and shadowing each other, far away
towards the blue horizon; and just beside him, at the turn of the road, is also the long
path by which he came. Such spots of experience there are on the mountains of life,
when the forgiven sinner, now a child, pauses to say to himself, “Return unto thy rest, O
my soul, for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee.” In the original verse this reads
“resting-places.”
II. In the peace-offering there was inculcated also a spirit of heartfelt gratitude. This
service is called “the sacrifice of thanksgiving” (Psa_116:17). How many mercies have
been given us! How many perils have been averted! How many fears have been allayed I
How many friendly communions have been granted l How many anticipations have been
kindled! How many hopes have been gratified! Per contra, just a serious thought might
likewise be bestowed upon the other side of the ledger. Said old Christmas Evans, in an
unusually lengthened period of reminiscence, “Thy love has been as a shower; the
returns, alas I only a dewdrop now and then, and even that dewdrop stained with sin!”
At this point the suggestion which this ceremonial makes concerning permanency of
devout acknowledgment is welcome. “Thanksgiving is good,” said the venerable Philip
Henry to his children, “but thanksgiving is better.” We ought not to seek to exhaust our
gratitude upon any single day’s exercise. It is better to live our thanks through all our
lifetime. A happy, grateful spirit is the Christian’s best offering to God, morning, noon,
and night.
III. In the peace-offering there was likewise inculcated a spirit of faithful consecration.
There are always two sides to any covenant. When we plead God’s promises, we certainly
have need to remember our own. God expects a Christian who has been favoured to be
un-forgetful. Alexander Severus is reported to have made an edict that no one should
salute the emperor on the street who knew himself to be a thief. And it must be
unbecoming for any one to praise or pray who remembers that his life contains the
record of some vow made once but still unkept. Hence it sometimes happens that one
part of our history will give help to another, for it quickens the zeal of our love to call to
remembrance a day in which God’s love drew forth our engagement. It is related of the
famous Thomas Erskine, before he was a Christian man, that once when wandering in a
lonely glen among the mountains of his own land, he came across a shepherd pasturing
his flock. “Do you know the Father?” asked the plain man, with unmistakable gentleness
of devotion. The proud scholar vouchsafed no reply, but the arrow struck. He was never
33

easy again till he found peace with pardon of his sins. He would have been glad to thank
his modest unknown benefactor. So he went forth along the same path for many a
useless day. Years afterwards, he saw him almost in the identical spot. “I know the
Father now,” he said, with sweet, grave greeting.
IV. In the peace-offering there was inculcated a spirit of lively joy. We find this in the
very unusual ceremony of waving a portion of the sacrifice in the air. There is no
explanation given of this; what could it have meant but the holding up of one’s whole
heart in the offering in the fall sight of God? It makes us think of the significant gesture
of courtesy the world over, the swing of one’s hand when his wish is keen and his happy
heart longs still to send it aloft, while the distance is too far for speech. A Christian,
waving the offering of his gratitude before God, ought to be the happiest being on all the
earth.
V. In the peace-offering there was inculcated a spirit of confident supplication. Near a
hundred years after this, it is recorded (Jdg_21:4) that the men of Israel, “bewailing the
desolation of Benjamin,” offered “burnt-offerings and peace-offerings” upon the same
altar. That is to say, they mingled their prayers with gifts of appropriate penitence. So
again., after a disastrously lost battle (Jdg_20:26). And even down in David’s time,
almost five hundred years later, the same conjunction of the two sacrifices is to be
observed. He stayed the plague by his penitence in a burnt-offering, and he received
relief in answer to his prayer in a peace-offering (2Sa_24:25). Nothing can be more
attractive than this artless trust in the Divine mercy. “To give thanks for grace already
received is a refined way of begging for more.”
VI. Finally, in the peace-offering there was inculcated a spirit of affectionate solicitude.
(C. S. Robinson, D. D.)
Thank-offerings, vows, and freewill-offerings
It is easy to connect the special characteristics of these several varieties of the peace-
offering with the great Antitype. So may we use Him as our Thank-offering; for what
more fitting as an expression of gratitude and love to God for mercies received than
renewed and special fellowship with Him through feeding upon Christ as the slain
Lamb? So also we may thus use Christ in our vows; as when, supplicating mercy, we
promise and engage that if our prayer be heard we will renewedly consecrate our service
to the Lord, as in the meal-offering, and anew enter into life-giving fellowship with Him
through feeding by faith on the flesh of the Lord. And it is beautifully hinted in the
permission of the use of leaven in this feast of the peace-offering, that while the work of
the believer, as presented to God in grateful acknowledgment of His mercies, is ever
affected with the taint of his native corruption, so that it cannot come upon the altar
where satisfaction is made for sin, yet God is graciously pleased, for the sake of the great
Sacrifice, to accept such imperfect service offered to Him, and make it in turn a blessing
to us, as we offer it in His presence, rejoicing in the work of our hands before Him. But
there was one condition without which the Israelite could not have communion with
God in the peace-offering. He must be clean; even as the flesh of the peace-offering must
be clean also. There must be in him nothing which should interrupt covenant fellowship
with God; as nothing in the type which should make it an unfit symbol of the Antitype.
(S. H. Kellogg, D. D.)
34

Why the law of the peace-offering is given last of all
It is interesting, to observe that, although the peace-offering itself stands third in order,
yet “the law” thereof is given us last of all. This circumstance is not without its import.
There is none of the offerings in which the communion of the worshipper is so fully
unfolded as in the peace-offering. In the burnt-offering it is Christ offering Himself to
God. In the meat-offering we have Christ’s perfect humanity. Then, passing on to the
sin-offering, we learn that sin, in its root, is fully met. In the trespass-offering there is a
full answer to the actual sins in the life. But in none is the doctrine of the communion
and worship unfolded. The latter belongs to “the peace-offering”; and hence, I believe,
the position which the law of that offering occupies. It comes in at the close of all,
thereby teaching us that, when it becomes a question of the soul’s feeding upon Christ, it
must be a full Christ, looked at in every possible phase of His life, His character, His
Person, His work, His offices. And, furthermore, that, when we shall have done for ever
with sin and sins, we shall delight in Christ, and feed upon Him throughout the
everlasting ages. It would, I believe, be a serious defect in our study of the offerings were
we to pass over a circumstance so worthy of notice as the above. If “the law of the peace-
offering” were given in the order in which the offering itself occurs, it would come in
immediately after the law of the meat-offering; but, instead of that, “the law of the sin-
offering,” and “the law of the trespass-offering” are given, and then “the law of the peace-
offering” closes the entire. (C. H. Mackintosh.)
“Shall be eaten the same day that it is offered”
The priest that sprinkled the blood was to eat the pieces of this peace-offering the same
day that it was offered. Some say this rule prevented covetousness arising in the priests;
no one had it in his power to hoard up. Others say this rule was fitted to promote
brotherly love; for he must call together his friends, in order to have it all finished. But
these uses are only incidental. The true uses lie much nearer the surface. Israel might
hereby be taught to offer thanksgiving while the benefit was still fresh and recent.
Besides this, and most specially, the offerer who saw the priest cut it in pieces and feast
thereon, knew thereby that God had accepted his gift, and returned rejoicing to his
dwelling, like David and his people, when their peace-offerings were ended, at the
bringing up of the ark (2Sa_6:17-19). The Lord took special notice of this free,
spontaneous thank-offering, inasmuch as He commanded it to be immediately eaten,
thus speedily assuring the worshipper of peace and acceptance. The love of our God is
too full to be restrained from us one moment longer than is needful for the manifestation
of His holiness. (A. A. Bonar.)
12 “‘If they offer it as an expression of
35

thankfulness, then along with this thank offering
they are to offer thick loaves made without yeast
and with olive oil mixed in, thin loaves made
without yeast and brushed with oil, and thick
loaves of the finest flour well-kneaded and with oil
mixed in.
BARNES, "For a thanksgiving - i. e., a thank-offering for mercies received.
CLARKE, "If he offer it for a thanksgiving - See the notes at the end of this
chapter at Lev_7:38 (note).
GILL, "If he offer it for a thanksgiving,.... Which Jarchi restrains to the wonderful
deliverances of seafaring persons, of travellers, and of such as have been confined in
prison, or have laboured under violent diseases and disorders of body; and so Aben Ezra
seems to understand it only of thanksgivings on account of being delivered out of
distress; but it might be for the common mercies of life, or any particular mercy or
instance of divine goodness a man was sensible of, and thought proper in this way to
make an acknowledgment of it:
then he shall offer with the sacrifice of thanksgiving; which, if of the herd, was
either a bullock or a cow; and if of the flock, was either a lamb or a goat:
unleavened cakes mingled with oil; ten of them, according to the Jewish writers;
the measure of flour, of which they were made, were, as Jarchi says, five Jerusalem seahs
or pecks, which were six of those used in the wilderness, and made twenty tenths or
omers, an omer being the tenth part of an ephah (d); the oil they were mingled with, as
to the quantity of it, was half a log (e); a fourth part of it was for the cakes, hastily baked,
(said in the latter part of this verse to be fried,) an eighth part for those baked, (intended
in this clause,) and an eighth part for the wafers next mentioned:
and unleavened wafers anointed with oil; these were a thinner sort of cakes, made
without leaven as the others, but the oil was not mixed with the flour in the making of
them, but put upon them when made, and therefore said to be anointed with it; there
were also ten of these:
and cakes mingled with oil of fine flour fried; these were such as were hastily and
36

LEVITICUS 7 COMMENTARY

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