LIBRARY I'NJNCETON. N. ./. SectiU.,.Q/f.'7S....U- - \ \m , ^ No. (Am. No. Shelf. No. Booh. Tlio John >l. Eircbs Donation. JRaV 7fi •-X NOTES, CRITICAL AND PRACTICAL, ON THE BOOK OF LEVITICUS: DESIGNED AS A GENERAL HELP TO BIBLICAL READING AND INSTRUCTION. By GEORGE BUSH, PROF. OF irEB. AND ORIENT. LIT. N. Y. CITY UNIVERSITY. NEW YORK: PUBLISHED BY MARK H. NEWMAN & CO.; 199 BROADWAY. 1850. Entered according to act of Congress, r» the year one thousand eight hundred and forty-two, by GEORGK BUSH, In ihe Clerk's office of the District Court of the Southern District of New- York. 8. W. BENEDICT, STEREOTYPER AND FRINTEa No. 12S Fulton Street, N. Y. INTRODUCTION § 1. Title, Author, Bate, 8fC. The Hebrews, according to their usual custom, denominate this, the third book in the order of the Pentateuch, i^'Ip'^T va-yikra, and he called, from its initial word. By the Septuagint it is called AcvXtikov, letiitikon (levitikon) , of which the Vulgate title ' Leviticus' is the Latinized form ; and this has been retained by our own and all the modern versions. It is so called from the fact that it treats principally of the rites and ceremonies, the services and sacrifices, of the religion of the Israelites, the charge of whi^h was committed to the Levitical priesthood, that is, to Aaron and his sons, or descendants, who were of the tribe of Levi, and who alone of that tribe exercised the priestly office. It is not, therefore, the ministry of the Levites properly so called, who constituted a dis- tinct order from the priests, and subordinate to them, that forms the subject of this book, for oi their services a much fuller account is contained in the book of Numbers than in the present. It is of the peculiar functions of the sacerdotal body usually termed ' the sons of Aaron,' that the book, for the most part, treats, for which reason it is denominated by the Talmudists fi'^Sn^n rmn torath hak- kohanim, the law of the priests, and niDD^pn rrniTl torath hakkorbanoth, the law of the offerings. The ' sons of Aaron,' or the priests, were mf^rely assisted in the performance of their sacred office by the descendants of the other branch of Levi's family, who obtained the privilege of officiating as a kind of second order of the priesthood, in recompense of the ready zeal which they displayed against idolatry and the worshippers of the golden calf. That Moses was the real author of this book, is proved, not only by the gen- eral arguments which demonstrate him to have written the whole Pentateuch, but by particular passages in other portions of the Scriptures where it is expressly cited as his inspired work. Thus, Nehem. 8. 14, ' And they found written in tlie law which the Lord had commanded 61/ Moses, that the children of Israel should dwell in booths in the feast of the seventh month.' This ordinance is contained Lev. 23. 34, 42. Again it is said of the mother of Jesus, Luke 2. 22, that ' When the days of her purification according to the laxr of Moses, were accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem,' a law which is to be found Lev. 12. 6. Once more, it is said 2 Chron. 30. 16, of the priests and Levites,, that ' they stood in their place, after their manner, according to the law of Moses, the man of the Lord ; the priests sprinkled of the blood which they received of the hand of the Levites.' This regulation occurs Lev. 1. 5. The true authorship of the book is by these passages put beyond question. The time and place at which the book was written, are determined by the IV INTRODUCTION. words occurring th. 27. 34, ' These are the commandments which the Lord com- manded Moses for the children of Israel in Mount Sinai.' That this is to be understood not only of those laws which were orally promulgated at that time and pkice, but of those also which were committed to writing, may be inferred from the parallel expression, Num. 36. 13, ' These are the commandments and the judgments which the Lord commanded by the hand of Moses, unto the child- ren of Israel, in the plains of Moab, by Jordan, near Jericho,' As it was in the plains of Moab here mentioned that Moses died, and as the precepts in the book of Numbers could not have been written either prior or subsequent to the period of the sojourn at that station, it is reasonable to conclude, that if in one case mention is made of^ written laws, the same is to be understood in the other. So that there is no room to question that this book was written during the encamp- ment of Israel at the foot of Mount Sinai. This is strikingly confirmed by such allusions as the following, indicating that the state of the Israelites at the time, was that of an encampment, instead of a permanent settlement in cities and villages. Lev. 4. 12, ' The whole bullock shall he carry forth without the camp.' V. 28, ' And afterward he shall come into the camp.'' Ch. 14. 33, * And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying. When ye be come into the land of Canaan which I give to you,' &c. implying that they had not yet arrived there. § 2. The Period embraced by the History. Archbishop Usher, who is followed by Mr. Home, supposes that the book comprises the history of the transactions of a single month, viz. from April 21 to May 21, of the year 2514, which answers to the first month of the second year after the departure from Egypt. Others consider it as containing only the ac- count of what passed during the eight days of the consecration of Aaron and his sons. The former is the more generally received opinion, but as the book itself contains no definite data by which the chronological arrangement of its facts can be adjusted, we can affirm nothing positive on the subject. § 3. Divisions, Contents, ^c. By the Jews this book is divided into ten TiTU^S parashoth, or larger divisions, and twenty-three C'^'^nD siderim, or smaller divisions. These, in the arrange- ment of our Bibles, are comprised in twenty-seven chapters, of which the contents may be again subdivided and classified as follows : Part I. — Laws concerning Sacrifices. CHAPTERS I. Of the burnt-ofierings, 1 II. Of the meat-offerings, 2 III. Of the peace-oflorings, .-- 3 IV. Of the sin-otferings, 4, 6 V Of the trespass-offerings, 6, 7 Part U.— Institution of the Priesthood. I. The consecration of Aaron and his sons, 8 II. The offerings at the consecration of the priests, ... J) III. Death of Nadab and Abihu, • - - 10 INTRODUCTION. V CHAPTERS Part HI- — Distinction of Clean and Unclean Animals. I. Unclean beasts, birds, fishes, &c. specified, .... n Part IV. — Laws concerning Purification. I. Of women after child-birth, 12 II. Of persons infected with leprosy, 13,14 III. Of persons having bad issues, 15 Part V. — Various Regulations. I. Concerning the great day of atonement, 16 II. " the place of offering sacrifices, .... 17 III. " things prohibited to be eaten, 17 IV. " incestuous connexions, ...... 18 V. " idolatry and various other crimes, • - • 19-22 Part VI. — Laws concerning the Festivals, Vows, and Tithes. I. The sabbath, passover, pentecost, feast of trumpets, day of atone- ment, and feast of tabernacles, 23 II. Various ceremonial and judicial rites relative to sacred festivals, 24 III. Law of the sabbatic year, year of jubilee, &c. .... 25 IV. Prohibition of idolatry, &c. 26 V. Of vows, things devoted, and tithes, 27 § 4. Argument, Scope, ^c. Although the book of Leviticus contains some matters purely historical, yet its leading scope is to record the laws concerning the sacrifices, ordinances, and institutions of that remarkable economy from which it derives its name. The established worship of the Hebrews was offering — not prayer, said or chanted, nor instrumental music, nor any like form of devotion — but the presenting to the Deity certain articles of food and drink. This system of worship is not to be understood as having originated at the time to which the book refers. As there were moral laws in the world by which human conduct was more or less governed prior to the delivery of the Decalogue from Mount Sinai, so it is evident from the history of Cain and Abel, of Noah, of Abraham, and other patriarchs, that sacrificial offerings are to be dated back to the earliest periods of which we have any account. They constituted the prevailing form in which the spirit of devo- tion was taught to express itself from the very infancy of the race. But as sac- rifices were ordained to enter largely into the dispensation now about to be estab- lished, they are in this book instituted, as it were, anew, placed upon their true foundation, and commanded with circumstances which gave them greater im- portance, and served to illustrate their typical character with more effect. The sacrifices prescribed in the Levitical worship, were of two kinds j the bloody and the unbloody ; or the animal and the vegetable offerings ; the latter consisting of fruits and libations. (I.) The Bloody Sacrifices.— These consisted, (1.) of Holocausts, which were offered to the Lord entire, and were considered as ranking highest in dig- 1* Vi INTKODUCTION. nity and excellence, for which reason Moses commences the law of sacrifices with them. (2.) Sin and Trespass-offerings, distinguished from the holocausts by certain parts only of the animal being burnt on the altar, while the flesh was eaten by the priests. (3.) Eucharistical Sacrifices, or Thank-offerings. la these the fat only was consumed on the altar, a small portion being allotted by law to the priest, and all the rest being eateu at a solemn and joyful feast by the ofierer and his guests. (II.) Unbloody Sacrifices, or Meat- offerings. — These consisted of flour, bread, cakes, and ears of corn and grain roasted, of which a full account is given in ch. 2. The libations were of wine, and although the mode of pouring them out is nowhere described, yet it is most likely that the wine was poured out of some vessel upon the top of the altar. That these sacrifices had all of them a typical intent ; that they were ' sha- dows of good things to come,' pointing more or less distinctly to * the body which is of Christ,' the whole epistle to the Hebrews is a continued proof. The impo- sition of hands upon the head of the victim, the shedding of its blood, and the consumption of its members upon the altar, were prefigurative acts setting forth, by a kind of dramatic representation, the future ofiering of the ' Lamb of God slain from the foundation of the world.' The requisite qualities of these sacri- ficial victims were emblematical of Christ's immaculate character, and the law of their oblation was a practical hieroglyphic of the great gospel truth of the atonement. So also were the outward washings and purifications enjoined by the Mosaic law, designed to intimate the necessity of inward purity. Indeed, if these institutions be severed from their New Testament relations, we have no key to unlock the hidden meaning of the Pentateuch, and the whole ritual con- tained in it dwindles down to a burdensome round of unmeaning ceremonies. But when regarded in the light now suggested, the whole service, like the veil on the face of Moses, conceals a spiritual radiance under an outward covering, and the wisdom of the various appointments appears at once worthy of its di- vine Author. To what extent the spiritual import of these rites was actually understood by the Jews themselves, it may not be easy to determine ; but that something, over and above the simple act of slaying and offering the animal victim, was required by the spirit of the law is evident from, the fact, that the obedience of the chosen people is frequently represented as faulty, notwith- standing their scrupulous observance of the outward rite. Thus Isai. 1. 11, 12, * To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the Lord : I am iull of the burnt-offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts ; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats.' But while the Jews probably in great measure fell short of apprehending the true typical genius of their own dispensation, and consequently rejected its divine FulfiUer when he came, an error is often committed on the other l)and, in modern times, by the attempt to elicit more from these figurative institutions than they were intended to convey. It by no means follows that beciiuse cer- tain portions of the Leviiical economy have a typical purport, we have therefore a right to give loose to imagination and multiply types at will, as if the Scrip- lures meant all that they can be made to mean. This was the fault of many of the earlier interpreters, who so abounded in mystical senses as to convert nearly the whole system into a mass of fancied allegories and typical allusions, which INTRODUCTION. VU Luther very properly characterized as the ^ froth of scripture.' To such lengths was this style of interpretation carried by Origen, Hesychius, and their disciples in later times, that one can scarcely open a volume of their commentaries with- out reading in the title-page that the ' mystical sense is duly expounded ;' evi- denlly implying that the duty of the commentator was by no means discharged by the accurate grammatical exegesis of the text j but that he was bound in addition to penetrate beyond the surface of the letter, and enlighten his readers by an exhibition of the manifold occult meanings hidden beneath the surface, and constituting those abysmal depths of import, which the plummet of lexicogra- phy could never presume to sound. It may be difficult, indeed, to lay down precise rules which shall be universally applicable in the way of interpretation, but the grand canon undoubtedly is, to follow strictly the apostolical explanations, where we have them ; and, where we have them not, to proceed with extreme caution, adhering rigidly to the analogy of faith, and standing as remote as possible from any thing which may appear fanciful, and give occasion to cavillers to discard typical expositions altogether. Under these restrictions we may safely recognize a typical import in many items of the Levitical law which are not expressly affirmed by the New Testament writers to be possessed of that character; and, in fact, in no other way will that v.^ondrous polity disclose to us the whole richness of its evangeli- cal implications. § 5, Commentators. The remark made under this head in the introduction to the Notes on Exo- dus, holds strictly true of the book of Leviticus, viz. that it has been the subject of few commentaries except such as have at the same time embraced either the whole Pentateuch or the whole Bible. In pointing out therefore the sources of illustration for this portion of the Mosaic writings, I can do little more than recite the authorities already specified in my preceding volumes. They will be found enumerated at considerable length in the prolegomena to the work on Exodus, with critical estimates of the character and value of each. These it will be unnecessary to repeat at length in the present connexion, but it may sub- serve the convenience and information of the reader, to be furnished with the titles of those works, from which he may hope to derive the most essential aid in the study of the scope and genius of the Levitical law. The following may be cited as claiming perhaps the first place in this relation : — Saurin's Dissertations. Michaelis' Comment, on Lawsof Moses. Spencer de Legibus Hebraeorum. Graves on the Pentateuch. Warburton's Divine Legation. Davison on Sacrifices. Sykes on do. Bahr's Symbolik of the Mosaic Worihip (Germ.) Owen's Prelim. Dissert, on Epistle to the Hebrews. Witsiufi' Miscellanea Sacra. 1 Ainsworth on the Pentateuch. Outram's Dissertations on the Jewish Sacri- fices. Lowmau on the Hebrew Ritual, J. P. Smith on the Sacrifice and Priesthood of Christ. Faber on the Three Dispensations. " Horse Mosaicae. Willett's Hexapla on Leviticus. Pir.torial Bible. Lightfoot's Works. Magee on the Atonement VIU INTRODUCTION. To most of the above works I have had recourse in the preparation of the ca- suing Notes, but to one of the number — The Pictorial Bible — I feel constrained on this, as on former occasions, to express my indebtedness in a more particular manner. The Notes of the Editor, Mr. Kitto, can scarcely be consulted on any point of which he treats without advantage, but it is more especially in the department of modern oriental manners and usages, that his work is so signally in advance of any other Biblical Commentary. From having himself spent sev- eral years as a traveler in the East, he has been enabled to make the existing institutions^ laws, and customs of those ancient regions of the globe most happily tributary to the explanation of a multitude of passages which had never before the light of a satisfactory solution cast upon them. On all subjects of this nature, it will be perceived that I have drawn largely upon his pages, and so also in the natural history of the beasts, birds, and fishes mentioned in the eleventh chapter, in laying down the distinction between the clean and the un- clean. For a very large part of the annotations on that chapter, requiring a species of knowledge to which a mere critical or practical expositor can seldom be expected to lay claim, I have been indebted to the results of his accurate inquiries. Being conscious of the necessity, in this province of my work, of * entering into other men's labors,' I trust the reader, instead of objecting to my copious extracts, will rather be grateful that I have provided so liberally from this source for his information in a field of comment, into which he has probably often come ' seeking fruit, and finding none.' In reference to the work now ofiered as a new korhan on the altar of Biblical learning, a few words will be permitted. The book which I have here under- taken to illustrate on the plan of my previous volumes, constitutes a part of the sacred canon less read, and usually accounted less interesting and important^ than almost any other. Although not omitted, of course, in any regular reading of the Scriptures entire from beginning to end, yet it is seldom returned to on any other occasion ; and in Bible-dass and Sunday-school instruction is almost invariably passed by. May I be allowed to express the hope, that the present volume will be found, in no small measure, to have redeemed this book from the comparative disparagement which has fallen upon it ? If the ensuing notes shall have the effect of transferring to the reader, in any good degree, the feel- ing of intense interest which has pervaded the mind of the author in the prose- cution of his labors, the book will rise in his estimation with the perusal of every successive chapter, till at the close he shall acknowledge that revelation is rich even in its poorest parts, and that without the accurate knowledge of the Law which he here acquires, he never could so fully have understood the nature and value of the Gospel. No apology will be required by the thorough student of the Bible for the very frequent citation of the original in its appropriate type. The sentences are always translated, and I doubt not they will in many instances verify to the reader's mind the remark, which has so often occurred to my own, that a strictly literal rendering of a passage of Scripture is, in multitudes of cases, the very best commentary that can be offered upon it. The Hebrew is given without points, not from any slight esteem of the value of that appendage to the language, but simply in order to preserve the symmetry of the page by preventing the lines from being thrown unduly asunder. THE BOOK OF LEVITICUS. CHAPTER I. THE BURNT-OFFERING. In the system of Jewish sacrifices, llie Buint-offerings, treated of in this chapter, lield the most conspicuous placp. They were of all others the most ancient ] as the acceptable offer- ing of Abel was undoubtedly of this description, and the worship both of Noah and Abraliam, long prior to the lin-.e of JMoses, included them as an essential element, Indeed, the direc- tions concerning offerings in the chapter before us, afe introduced in such a way as to indicate that the Lawgiver was not propounding anew form of worship, but regulating the ritual of one already understood and used : ' When any man of you shall bring an offering to the Lord, ye shall bring your offering of the cattle, even of the herd and of the flock.' The earliest records of heathen anti- quity show, moreover, that such sacri- fices were in use among nearly all nations, and distinguished by accompa- nying rites and ceremonies very similar to those observed by the Hebrews, clearly indicating that tliey derived their origin from the same source, to wit, a divine institution ordained to the pa- rents of the race, and kept up among the antediluvians, from whom, through Noah and his family, it was transmitted to all subsequent generations of men, wherever dispersed over the earth. The original term for burnt-offering, iH^y olah; comes from the root, ri^3> dlfih, to ascend. It is so called, be- cause it was laid whole on the altar, and then, with the exception of the skin, being consumed by fire, the greatest part of it ascended towards heaven. Its equivalents in other languages are as follows; Chal. I^r^^ altfi , ascension ^ i"i^i kelilf entireness ; i<1"'?33 gemira, oblation. Gr. oXoKao-m: tf.j, Kap-Mjia^ oXc- KavTMjia, all conveying the idea of a fire-offering wholly consumed, which is also clearly intimated by the Latin word ' holocuustum,' holocaust. The sacrifice consisted in the immolating of a male animal victim, which was some- times a bull of tliree years old, some- times a sheep or goat of one year old, and sometimes, but more rarely, a tur- tle-dove, or young pigeon. But from whatever class of the animal kingdom it were taken, whether from the lierd or the flock, whether it were bullocic, ram, or goat, one thing was indispensable — • it was to be perfect in its kind, ' a male without blemish.' This rule was given to intimate to tlie people the reverence and respect with which they should regard God, and every part of his ser- vice. It would be highly unbecoming to offer to him any thing that was lame, or blind, or diseased, or in any other way of little value. He will be served with every creature's best. But this was not all. The animal was to be the most excellent of its kind, in order the more fitly to shadow forth the excellen- cies of Him who was to be the great substance of this type, the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, and who alone of all that ever partook of our nature Avas truly without sin. As he was to be a spotless Savior, so his representing type was to be a spotless victim. In addition to this it is to be observed, tliat the animal was to be se- lected from among those that were used for food, and were most eminently scr- 10 LEVITICUS. [B. C. 1490. viceaLle to man ; thus teaching hirrij | that in serving God we are not to with- \ hold from him even that which is most ] near and dear to us, which goes to sus- tain our being and constitute our com- forts. As we received all ("rnm him, so | wc must render back all to him. Nor j must we here fail to notice that peculiar ^ filature of the law, by which the obla- tion was to be varied according to tiie j ability of the offerer. While llie rich man presenled his bullock, the considt^r- ! ate and benignant spirit of ihe law made : provision for the poor man also, who, as his circumstances would permit, might bring a lam.b or a pigeon, wiih the assurance of its being equally ac- ceptable with the costlier gift of his neighbor. No one was to be discouraged from approaching God, by tlie consider- ation that he was not able to present to him such an offering as he could wish. He would have no man, however hum- ble, excluded from tlie pleasures and benefits, to say nothing of the duties, of such a religious observance. So legibly do we find the stanip of the divine bene- ficence impressed upon the smallest items of his institutions. The various ceremonies connected with the rite of the Burnt-offoring, will te considered in detail, as we proceed in our annotations ; but we observe here, in regard to the occasions on which this species of offering was made, that Ihey were both public and private. As their design was, in the mmn, expiatory, they were presented, partly, in the name of the whole nation, daily, every morn- ing and evening, as also in connexion with a sin-offering on the great day of atonement, and on the three principal anniversary festivals ;— partly, on the solemnity of consecration to office — and partly by private persons, in order to be freed from the condition of Leviiical undeanness ; namely, by women aftf^r child-bearing, at the end of the legally prescribed period for the purification, — by lepers when cured, — by Nazarites, when tlicy had touched a dead body, — and by those referred to in Lev. 15, 1-15. We say that the design of these offerings was mainly exjriatory ^ and such was undoubtedly the case. At the same time, it is to be observed, that in the early ages of the world, when no otlier sacrifices were offered but Avhole burnt-offerings, this one kind of sacri- fice was also petilionary and eucha- ristic. and was in fact applied to every part of sacred worshijt, according to the circumstances and promptings of each individual. This is clearly deducible from the inspired liistorj-. Noah offered burnt-offerings as an expression of gra- titude to God for the preservation c-f himself and his family through the perils of the deluge. Job added burnt- offerings to prayers, wl\en he interceded for forgiveness for liis sons and his friends. Balaam, following, beyond doubt, the general custom, directed burnt-offerings to be prepared when he was about to pray for safety to Balak, and destruction to the Israelites. That burnt offerings used also to be presented as votiTe and voluntary oblations, may be inferred from the language of David, Ps. 63. 13-J5, * I will go into thine house with burnt-offerings j I will pay thee my vows, which my lips have uttered, and my mouth liath spoken, when I was in trouble. I will offer unto thee buriit-sacrifices of fallings, with the incense of rams ; I w ill offer bul- locks with goats.' Ps. 61. 18, 19. ' Do good in thy good ))Ieasure unto Zion ; build thou the walls of Jerusalem. Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt- offerings and wh le burnt-offerings ; then sliall they offer bullocks upon thine allal-.' In the former of these passage-s is doubtless to be understood votive offerings ; and in the latter, voluntary ones. And it is voluntary offerings, unques- tionably, which are contemplated in the B. C, 1-190.] CHAPTER I. i: CHAPTER I. A ND the Lorda called unto Mo- X5L ses, and spake unto Iiimb out '^ Ex. 19, 3. of the tabernacle of the congrega- tion, saying, b Ev. 40, 34, 35. Num. 12, 4, 5. chapter before us. The burnt-niTering about which directions are here given, \v:\.s not the j/ublic ofloring of the lamb, nioniing Riul evening, nor ows pre- : scribed to the Israelites at any aj^point- 1 cd lime, or upon any particular occa- ] sion. It liad respect to an offering to [ be brought by any individuil, whenever , he felt himself so disposed. It was ' ordered in view of those seasons in the pious Israelite's experience, when he felt his mind under more than ordinary I impressions 5 when he was sensible of his gf-neral sinfulness and deficiencies ; ' and when he would humbly seek mercy for those manifold oflenccs and failings which are not particularly specified, and had no express ofiering appointed for them. As to the leading typical design of the Burnt-offering, notliing can be clear- er than that it had a special regard to the offering of Christ in a human body. It is so stated in the epistle to the He- brews ; ' When he cometh into the world he saith, sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not, but a body hast thou pre- pared me ; in burnt-offerings and sacri- fices for sill thou hast no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me), to do thy will, God.' Here were the sins of a whole world to be atoned for ; here were innumerable transgressions of in- numerable persons, which needed mer- cy. The time was come when the cattle upon a thousand hills would be no longer accepted, but the offering of the Son of God was to supersede them all. He was to be slain, who alone could present an oblation worthy to be accepted as an expiation for the sins of untold millions of human beings. Such an offering he did present in the sacri- fice of himself on the cross and the intensity of his sufferings in undergoing that vicarious martyrdom is not inaptly denoted by the burning of the whole Burnt-offering which was so expressly enjoined. But without appearing to inesa the coincidences between the type and the antitype, when every thing is taken into consideration, we see not how a -doubt can remain that the sacri- fice of the Burnt-offering was designed as a piacular substitute for the indivi- dual in whose behalf it was brought to the altar. With these remarks we are prepared to enter upon the explication of the text. 1. And the Lord called unto Moses, and spake unto him, ^-c. Heb. itlp'^l vayikra, and he called. The word < Lord,' though inserted by our transla- tors in the first clause, occurs in the original only in the second ; — ' And he called unto Moses, and the Lord said,' &c, A similar construction occurs in Lev. 8. 15: ' And he slew it, and Moses look the blood,' &c.— where it would seem, from the context, that it was INIoscs who slew the sacrifice. Still the note on that passage will show that there is some degree of doubt as to the true construction. The Jerus. Targ. in this place renders, ' And the Word of the Lord called,' &c. As the cloud of glory now filled the tabernacle, and prevented all access to its interior, Moses stood without while an audible voice from the mercy-seat addressed him in the words immediately follow- ing. The word < called,' in the original, has the last letter written in smaller character than the rest, intimating, ac- cording to the Jews, that God now spake, not with a loud thundering voice, as upon Mount Sinai, but in lower and gentler tones, as befitted a milder and more permanent mode of communica- 12 LEVITICUS. [B. C. 1490 2 Speak unto the children of Is- rael, and say unto them,c If any man of you bring an offering unto c ch. '1-2, 13, 19. lion. IT Out of the tabernacle of the congregation. Heb. 1;j>1;q ^ui^^ m'io- hel moid, more correctly rendered ta- bernacle of meeting, or convention-tent, i. e., ihe tent or tabernacle where God and his people met at stated times. See Note on Ex. 27. 21, where it is shown that the term implies the meet- ing of two parties by previoas appoint- ment. Gr. LK Trj(; (jKni'T]; tov jjaoTvpiaVj from the tabernacle of the testimony. Compare Num. II. 53, Acts 7. 14. By the phrase * out of the tabernacle/ is meant, out of the most holy place, from over the mercy-seat, and between the cherubim, where God was said pecu- harly to reside. Hitherto he had spoken to Moses out of heaven, or out of the cloud; but having taken possession of the temple prepared for him, he makes that his audience-chamber, and gives his servant orders from thence. It does not appear that Moses was com- manded to come into the tabernacle, as the precluding glory probably now filled the sacred edifice, but we may suppose that he stood without, at or near the entrance, and there reverently listened to the uttered voice of Jehovah. 2. If any man of you bring an offer- ing. Heb. "p-ip di?3 n^^pT ^^ Dnj^ adam ki yakrib mikkem korban, a man u-hen he shall bring of you an offering. The original word here and elsewhere rendered ' offering,' is *pnp korbdn,(le- rived from the verb n^p kdrab, signify- ing radically to approach, to draw near to, and in what is termed the Hiphil, or Causative form, to cause to approach, to bring near, to present ; hence in the Hiphil, the verb is generally rendered in our version to offer, a sense oi the term expressly confirmed by the fact that the original words for ' bring near,' and • offer,' are used interchangeably the Lord, ye shall bring your of- fering of the cattle, even of the herd, and of the flock. with each other in the following pas» sages:— 1 Chron. 16. 1, 'And they offered (l^'^^p^ yakrihu,) btirnt-sacri- iices and peace-offerings before God / for which 2 Sam. G. 17 has, ' And David offered (^S>"> yaal,) burnt-offerings and peace-offerings before the Lord.' In accordance with this, the noun ^^l^p korban, Gr. Jo^pai' gift, is used to denote ' an offering,' or that which was brought to the altar, and dedicated to God, whe- ther it was a thing animate or inani- mate, a human being or a brute beast. (On the use of the word in the Ne\-? Testament, Mark 7. 11, in rejcrence to a practice condemned by our Savior, see Barnes' note, in loc.) Thus the bread or meat-offering, and the oblation of the first fraits, Lev. 2. 1-12, have the appellation ' korban ' given them : 'And when any man will offer a meat-offer- ing (rneal-offering,) unto the Lord, his offering (korban,) shall be of fine flour,'' &c. So also the silver vessels, cattle^ sheep, &c., offered by the princes, Num. 7. 10-17, et inf. are comprehended under the general name of ' korban.' Nay, the very wood which was used to burn the sacrifices on the altar, Nehcm. 10. 34, from its being brought for that pur-> pose, is denominated 'korban.' And what is still more worthy of notice, the same phraseology is employed in refer- ence to {he Levites as a consecrated body of men, from their being brought near and presented to the Lord for the service of the sanctuary : Num. S. 10 ' And thou shalt bring (rin'*lpn hikrah- ta,) the Levites before the Lord,' i. e. shalt offer them as holy persons dedi- cated to the service of Jehovah. As the verb 'ZI'D kdrab, however, in its Hiphil form, denotes principally the bare act of bringing anything to a par- ticular place or person, though rendered B* C. 1490.] CHAPTER I. 13 3 If his offering he a burnt-sacri- fice of the herd, let him offer a <^ Exod. 12. 5. ch. 3. 1, and 22, 20, 21. by the word ' offer,' it is to be observed, that when any private individual is said lb ' offer ' an animal or other oblation, it is to be understood simply of his bringing it to the altar, not of his per- forming any part of the oflice which Avas exclusively appropriated to llie Priests and Levites IF Ye shall bring your offering of the cattle, (even) of the herd and of the flock. The term ' cattle' here is generic, including the 'herd' and the ' flock ' mentioned in cohnec- tion. The word ' even therefore properly supplied in our version, to in- dicate that 'herd 'and 'flock' are ex- egetical of ' cattle.' The Ifeb. term ■^i^IS tzon, compreliends both sheep and goats, as is evident from v, 10. It ap- pears, therefore, that there were only five kinds of living creatures which were accepted in sacrifice, viz. of animals : beeves, sheep, and goats, including the young of each kind of eight days old, Lev. 22. 27 ; and of fowls: turtle-doves and young pigeons, 1. 44. These being of the most tame, gentle, and harmless species of creatures, the most easily ob- tained, as well as the most serviceable to man, were well adapted at once to point out the distinguishing moral attri- butes of Christ and his people, those ' living sacrifices ' which were ' accept- able to God,' and also to intimate man's absolute dependance upon God for tiiose blessings to which he owes his food and raiment, the crowning comforts of life. Besides, as some of the sacrifices were followed by a feast on the victim, which was esteemed a covenant rite, therefore such animals as were allowed for food, would naturally be required to be offer- ed in sacrifice. 3. A burnt-sacrifice. Heb. n^y olah, more correctly rendered whole burnt- offering. The prescribed sacrificial offerings are distinguished in Hebrew 2 male 'Vithout blemish: he shall offer it of his own voluntary will Deut. 15. 21. Mai. 1. 14. Eph. 5. 27. Heb. 9. 14. IPet. 1. 19. by two several terms, tllTi^ isheh, and n^5> olah, of whicli the first being a dc- rivativc from r!!5 ish,fire, denotes an of- fering by fire, and is applied both to of- ferings burnt wholly, and to those burnt in part. This word is generally ren- dered by ' offering by fire.' The word tl^'S olah, on the other hand, literally signifying ' ascension,' from ^^5'^ alah, to ascend, because these offerings went up in flame and smoke into the air, is applied to sacrifices wholly burnt, which the Greeks denominated oXokqv- TWjiaTa holokautomata, or bXoKavarov ho- lokauston from which the word ' holo- caust' has been transferred into our lan- guage. If rendered in English phrase, it should properly be ' whole burnt- offering,' whereas by its being generally rendered by our translators ' burnt-of- fering,' the genuine distinction between the original words is hidden from the ordinary reader, as there is no difier- ence between the expression ' burnt-of- fering,' and ' offering by fire.' But let the phrase ' whole burnt-offering' be employed, and the distinction is ob- vious. Every holocaust or ' olah,' was an ' isheh,' or offering by fire, but every 'isheh,' or fire offering, was not a holocaust. It may liere be remarked, that the ' whole burnt-offering' was the first or principal sacrifice with which God was daily served by liis people, Num. 28. 3, no part of it being eaten, but the whole consumed upon the altar. It pointed to the offering of the body of Christ, as is evident from Heb. 10. 10. In Deut. S3, 10, it is rendered ' whole burnt sacrifice.' — IT A male u-ithout blemish. Heb. D'^l^H tdmim, perfect ; i. e. having neither deformity, defect, nor superfluity of mem! ers, and free from distemper. Whence the pro- phet says, Mai. 1.14, 'Cursed be the deceiver who hath in his flock a male, 14 LEVITICUS. [B. C. 1490. at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the Lord. (i. e. a perfect male,) and voweth and sacrificelh unlo the Lord a corrupt thingj' where ' corrupt' is opposed to ' male.' This was a prefigur:\tioii of the perfect excellence of the sacrifice of Christ, who was ' a lamb without blemish and without spot.' 1 Pet. 1. 19. And not only so ; it was doubtless de- signed to mtimale that we are to offer to God the best of all we have ; the best of our time and strength, the vigor of our days, and the utmost of our ta- lents. Will he Vv'ho would have no- thing hut the best of Israel's herds and flocks, be pleased with such poor ren> nants of our time and thoughts as may be left from the service of the world ? Had the Jew brought an inferior beast, It would have been rejected by the priest, or the offering would have been void by law. Let us not suppose that the de- fectiveness of our spiritual oblations will be overlooked by him who searches the heart. What a man soweth, that shall he reap. Niggardly and unwilling gifts, weary and distasteful services, hasty and perturbed devotions, Avill find no more acceptance than the Is- raelite's blemished ox. — All the Burnt- offerings of beasts were to be males, but this is not prescribed in regard to the fowls. — IT Of his own voluntary will. Ileh. 1!:12"1^ lirtzono, to his (i. e. God's) good pleasure, or favorable ac- ceptance. Tiius the phrase is rendered by the Gr. 6e>.Tov evavn K.vptnv, accepta- ble before the Lord, and the Lat. ' ad placandum sibi Dorninum,' to render the Lord propitious to him, and thus by the Chaldee, ' that acceptableness may be to him before the Lord.' This sense is moreover confirmed by v. 4 following, and by Lev. 23. 11, ' And he shall wave tbe sheaf before tlie Lord to be accepted for you, (Cj32^^ lirtz- onekem),^ and by Jer. 6. 20, ' Your burut-offerings are not acceptable 4 ©And he shall put his hand up- e ch. 4. 15. and 3. 2, 8. 13. and 8. 14, 33- and 16. 21. C]1ir'n^ lerdtzon).'* RosenmuUer adopts the same construction. At the same time, the sense given in our version does no positive violence to the origi* nal, and is supported by respectable names, but we think the other deci- dedly preferable. — IT At the door of the tabernacle. Because here in the open space of the court the altar of Burnt- offerings was placed, upon which alone, even on pain of death, these oblations were to be made. Comp. Lev. 17. 3-7, The additional phrase, ' before the Lord,' has its usual import of before the Shekinah, tlie visible symbol of the divine presence. By thus bringing his offering to the place prescribed, the offerer acknowledged that the Lord dwelt there in a peculiar manner, and he moreover publicly, before all the people acknowledged himself a sinner, like unto his brethren, and needing mer- cy no less than the vilest of the human race. 4. Shall put his hand upon the head, 4c. From Lev. 16. 21, it is probable that by ' hand ' here is implied both the hands. The act denoted that the vic- tim offered was thereby wholly given over and devoted to God, being as it were henceforth solemnly manumitted from the possession of the offerer, who from this time ceased to claim any far- ther interest in it or control over it. It significantly intimated, moreover, the offerer's desire that his transgression might be put upon the animal thus pre- sented, and that tlie death to which he now devoted it, might be instead of that death which he had himself most justly deserved. The sinner who pre- sented the victim thus disburdened him- self of the sin he acknowledged before God, and laid the weight of it upon the sacrifice. It thus taught the grand gos- pel doctrine of substitution. IT It shall be accepted for him. Heb. 1^ B. C. 1490.] CHAPTER I. 15 on the head of the burnt-offering; and it shall be ^accepted for him Bto make atonement for him. f ch. 22. 2i, 27. Isai. 5G, 7. Rom. 12. 1. Phil. 4. IS. t' ch. 4. 20, 26, 31, 35, and 9. 7, nil"l] nlrlzCth lo, from the same root with 'jli^'n ratzon, above v. 3, and con- firming the interpretation there given. ' M To make an atonement for him,. Hpb. 1-1^5? n!:-p Ickapptr Cilauv, This •R'as the great purport of the appoint- ment. In hope of this the worshipper brought liis oficring ; tlirough it he souglit pardon and reconciliation with God ; and when lie offered it rightly, it became an atonement for him, not for any value of its own, but by virtue of that great sacrifice which it prefigured. Tlie original word "IS^ kdphar signi- fies primarily to cover ; not so much, however, in the sense of wrapping as with a garment, as in that of smearing or jilaistering, it being applied, Gen. 6. 14, lo the act of coating the ark with pitch Its radical sense, therefore, is rather that of an adhesive than a loose covering. From this primary notion of covering, it came to be applied by met- aphorical usage to the appeasing of anger, or to that act of an offending party by which he succeeds in procuring favor and forgiveness from the person or party offended. In this sense it is applied to the appeasing of an angry countenance, Gen. 32. 20, ' For he said, I will appease him, (Heb. will cover his face) with the present.' 2 Sam. 21. 3, •' What shall I do for you, and where- with shall I make the atonement (Heb. cover) V Prov. 16. 14, ' The wrath of a king is as messengers of death, but a Avise man will pacify it (Heb. will cover it).' Its predominant usage is in relation to the reconciliation effected between God and sinners, in which sense atonement for sin is the covering of sin, or the securing the sinner from pnnishment. Thus when sin is par- doned, or its consequent calamity re- moved, the sin or person m.ay be said to 5 And he shall kill the I'bullock before the Lord : iand the priests, and 16. 24. Numb. 15. 25. 2 Chron. 29. 23, 24. Rom. 5. 11 i' Micah 6. G. ' 2 Chron. 35. 11. Heb. 10. 11. be covered, made safe, expiated, or atoned. Accordingly we find the par- don of sin expressly called the covering of sin^ Nehem. 4. 4, 5, < Our God give them for a prey in the land of captivity, and cover not their iniquity, and let not their sin be blotted out from before thee.' Ps. 32. 1, ' Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.' Ps. 85.2, * Thou hast brought back the captivity of Jacob ; thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people; thou hast covered all their sin.' All such expiatory offerings pointed direct- ly to Christ, who is the grand atone- ment or reconciliation for the sins of men. Dan. 9. 24. 1 John 2. 2. Heb. 10, 8, 10. The burnt-offering, it is to be observed, had not, like the sin-offer* ing, respect to any particular sin, but was designed to make atonement for sin in general. Thus it is said of Job, ch. I. 5, That he ^offered burnt-offerings, (saying.) it may be that my sons have sinned.' 5. And he shall kill the bullock, Heb. tsntDI ve-shdhat ; in all probably an in- stance of the usage very common in Hebrew, where a verb is employed in a kind of impersonal sense, equivalent to the ' on dit,' one says of the French, or the * man sagt,' id. of the German, both of which are evidently tantamount to the passive, it is said. The expression before us is not intended, we conceive, to assert that the offerer, or any one in particular, was to kill the victim, but simply to say that one, some one, shall kill it. In conformity with this idea, the Gr. preserves the indefinite form of the expression, by rendering it (npa^ovciv they shall slay. A similar phraseology appears in the following passages, Gen. 11.9,' Therefore is the name of it call- ed Babel (Heb. ^3^ 173^13 fi^*lp one called 16 LEVITICUS. [B. C. 1490. Aaron's sons, shall bring the blood, kand sprinkle the blood round about upon the altar that is by k ch.3. S. Heb. 12. 24. iPet. 1. 2. the name of it Babel) J Gen. 16. 14, ' Wherefore the iccll u-as called C^^p one called the u-ell) Beer-lahai-roi.' Dcut. 32. 37, ' And he shall say (^tJt one shall say — it shall be said) where are their gods,' &c. Examples of this usage might be almost indefinitely mul- tiplied, but those now adduced will probably be sufficient to confirm our rendering in the passage before us. It is higlily probable that the offerer him- self and the common Levites united in the act of slaughtering the animal. Indeed Patrick labors to show from Maimonides, that * the killing of the holy things might lawfully be done by a stranger (one not of Aaron's seed), yea, of the most holy things, whether they were the holy things of private persons, or of the whole congregation.' This would appear to be confirmed by 2 Chron. 30. 17, where it is said that * there were many in the congregation that were not sanctified ; therefore the Levites had charge of the killing of the passovers for every one that was not clean ;' implying that if they had been clean they would have been authorized to perform the service themselves. TT Spj-inkle the blood round about, ^c. Tliis is doubtless the true sense of the original, but both the Gr. and the Lat. render it by the stronger term ' pour,' ' pour out.' The sprinkling may be supposed perhaps to have been very copious, as Maimonides tells us that the priest was to sprinkle the blood twice on the upper surface of the altar, and the rest of the blood was to be poured out at the bottom of the altar on the south side — a rite to which there is doubtless allusion, Ri>v. 6. 9, 'I saw under the altar (i. e. at the bottom of the altar) the souls of them that were slain for the word of God.' As the life the door of the tabernacle of th^ congregation. 6 And he shall flay the burnt« offering, and cut it into his pieces. or soul was especially in the blood, so tile ' souls under the altar,' denotes the blood of the martyrs plentifully shedj and flowing as a sacrificial offering un» der the altar. The act of sprinkling the blood was, during every period of the Mosaic economy, exclusively the prerogative of the priesthood. It was in the effusion of blood, which is the life, that the virtue of the sacrifice consisted, it being always understood that life went to redeem life. It was calculated and probably designed to remind the offerer that he deserved to have his own blood shed for his sins, and alluded moreover to the pacifying' and purifying of the blood of Jesus shed for us for the remission of sins. Every reader of the New Testament knows how much our salvation is attributed to the blood of Christ ; and this great evangelical truth was thus taught in shadow to the Israelites under the Law. They were by this rite must impres- ■ sively taught that without the shedding of blood there was no remission of sins ; and however some of them might have dim and darkened views on this subject, while the veil was upon their minds, we at least know the truth. We know that the blood of all the animals shed at the altar of burnt-offering owed all its excellency to its being a type of that blood of Jesus by whicli he hath obtained eternal redemption for us. 6. He shall flay. Gr. SetpavTCi they having flayed, shall divide,' &c. The Heb. t2"''L*i:n hiphshit, one shall flay, doubtless affords another instance of tiie impersonal form of speech illus- trated above. The meaning is simply that those whose office it was to per- form this part of the ceremony should strip the skin from the victim, and then cut up the body into its appropriate B. C. 1490.] CHAPTER I. 17 7 And the sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire upon the altar, and 'lay the wood in order upon the fire. 8 And the priests, Aaron's sons, 1 Gen. 22. 9. parts. This would seem from 2 Chron. 29. 34, to have been usually the duly of the priests ; * The priests were too few, and not able to flay all the burnt-offer- ings ; therefore their brethren the Le- vites helped them.' The skin in such cases, it is to be remembered, was a part of the perquisites of the priest, Lev. 7. 8. — IT Cut it into his pieces. That is, into its natural, appropriate, suitable pieces, such as head, neck, shouldejrs, legs, &c., or as the Gr. ren- ders it, Kara [ic'Sri, according to its mem- bers. Chal. ' He shall divide it by the members thereof.' It was to be done in an orderly and systematic manner, and not confusedly. ' Why were not the greater members cut into small pieces ? Because it is written, He shall cut it into the pieces thereof, and not. Shall cut it into pieces.' Maimoni- des. It is doubtless in allusion to this that the apostle says, 2 Tim. 2. 15, ' rightly dividing {npOorojwvvTa) the word of truth.' 7. Shall put fire. Heb. 'D'^J* ^2113 nclthenu ish, shall give fire ; by which is probably meant stirring up, cherish- ing, supplying fuel for, the fire that was originally kindled from heaven, and which was to be kejit jierpetually burn- ing on the altar, as may be seen fron^ Lev. 6. 11. — IT Lay the xcood in order. Heb. llD'^y areku, implying, as rightly rendered in our version, an orderly and methodical arrangement, and spoken of the setting or furnishing a table, and marshalling the ranks of an arrny, Judg. 20. 22 ; also metaphorically of the proper disposition of words in a prayer or discourse, Ps. 5. 4. Job, 32. 14.— 37. 19 2* shall lay the parts, the head, and the fat, in order upon the wood that 75 on the fire, which is upon the altar. 9 But his inwards and his legs shall he wash in water: and liie priest shall burn all on the altar, 8. Shall lay the parts. Heb. tl"^nn:n hannethdhijn. As the same word is rendered in v. 6. ' pieces,' it would have conduced more to the absolute precision which ought to be consulted in every translation of the Scriptures to have preserved that rendering in the present instance. Uniformity's sake alone is often sufficient to determine a transla- tor in his choice of one out of two or more renderings. This regular divid- ing and laying on of the pieces of the sacrifice was observed in all cases of the Burnt-offering. Comp. Ex. 29. 17, 18. 1 Kings, IS. 23, 33. Lev. 8. 20, 21.— 9. 13. 9. His inwards and his legs shall he wash in water. These parts, in order that no filthy adhesions might pollute the sacred otlerings, were not to be burnt upon the altar until they had been thoroughly cleansed by washing in wa- ter ; a process which, according to Mai- monides, was tln-ee times repeated be- fore the ablution was thought to be complete. The typical import of this ceremony is distinctly inliniated by the Apostle, Heb. 10. 22, ' Let us draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bo- dies washed with pure ivater.'' — IT The priest shall buryi all on the altar. Heb. 1"'L;pn hiktir, shall burn as a perfume, as the original properly implies. See the import of the term fully explained in the Note on Ex. 29. 13. It is not the usual word for consuming by fire, and consequently we lose in our translation the peculiar expressiveness of the origi- nal, especially when taken in connex- ion with what follows.—' The burning 18 LEVITICUS. [B. C. 1490. to be a bumt-sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a ^sweet savour unto the Lord. 10 '^ And if his offering be of the flocks, nameli/, of the sheep, or of the goats, for a burnt-sacrifice; he shall hring it a male nwithout blemish. 11 oAnd he shall kill it on the side of the altar northward before the Lord : and the priests, Aaron's sons, shall sprinkle his blood round about upon the altar : 12 And he shall cut it into his pieces, with his head and his fat; "' Gen. 8. 21. Ezek. 20. 23, 41. 2 Cor. 2. 15. Eph. 5. 2. Phil. 4. 18. 'i ver. 3. "ver. 5. and brolHng of the beasts could yield no sweet savor ; but thereto was addod wine, oil, and incense, by God's appoint- ment, and then there was a savor of rest in it. Our prayers, as from us, would never please ; but as indited by the Spirit, and presented by Christ, they are highly accepted in heaven.' — Trapp. TT An offering made by fire, of a sweet savor unto the Lord. Heb. ni^S" rji'l mn"'] "-.'X^o/a/i tshch rehanihovah, a fire-offering, an odor of rest ; or as the Gr. renders it, ' a sacrifice of a sweet- smelling savor,' which words the apos- tle plainly had in view in writing Eph. 5. 2, ' Christ hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savor.' See note on Gen. S. 21. Hence we learn that the holocaust, or whole burnt-offering, which, with the excep- tion of ilie .skin, was entirely consumed, no part of it being left even for the food of the priests, tyjjified the sacrifice and death of Christ for the sins of the world. Chal. ' Wliich shall be received with favorable acceptation before the Lord.' The Burnt-offering of the Flock. 10. If his offering be of the flocks. In the divine requirement of tlic various oblations, the circumstances of the offerers were kindly consulted. The and the priest shall lay them in order on the wood that 75 on the fire which is upon the altar: 13 But he shall wash the in- wards and the legs with water: and the priest shall bring it all, and burn it upon the ahar : it is a burnt-sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord. 14 1[ And if the burnt-sacrifice for his ofiering to the Lord be of fowls, then he shall bring his of- fering of pturtle-doves, or of young pigeons. P cli. 6. 7. and 12. 8. Luke 2. 24. less wealthy, who could not so well afford to offer a bullock, would bring a sheep or a goat ; and those who were not able to do that were expected to bring a turtle-dove or a young pigeon. Thus it appears that the parents of our Lord, from their humble circumstances in life, brought this latter kind of offer- ing upon the purification of Mary, Luke 2. 23-25. Indeed it will be observed throughout, that the directions respect- ing the poor man's ofiering are as mi- nute and particular as any ; intimating that God is no respecter of persons, and that las ministers are to be as anxious for the welfare, and as attentive to the interests, of the poorest of their flock, as of the most opulent. IL On the side of the altar northward. If the victim had been slain on the east of the altar, wliere the ashes were cast, it might have obstructed the entrance to the court ; on the south was the ascent to the altar, and on the west, the tabernacle ; so that the north was on all accounts the most c:onvenicnt quarter for this purpose, not only for the slaugh- ter of ihestieep, but also of all the other animals offered. The Burnt-offering of Fowls. 14. Turtle doves or of young pigeons. From the Hob. "nin tur (toor) comes the B. C. 1490.] CHAPTER I. 19 15 And the priest shall bring it unto the altar, and wring off his head, and burn it on the altar : and the blood thereof shall be wrung out at the side of the altar : 16 And he shall pluck away his crop with his feathers, and cast it qbeside the altar on the east part, by the place of the ashes : q ch. fi. 10. Latin ' luriur,' and the English * turtle,' generally rendered ' turtle-dove.' By a beautiful metaphor this bird is made by Ihe P.salmist to denote tlie churcli : Ps. 74. 19, ' O deliver not the soul of thy lurtle-dove unto the multitude of the -enemies.' And Solomon. Cant. 3. 12, mentions the return of this bird as one of the indications of spring : ' The voice of the turtle is heard in our land.' Young pigeons (Heb. 'sons of the dove') were thought preferable for food to the old, whereas the full grown turtle-dove was accounted more deli- cious than the young. The sacrifice was ordered accordingly. 15. IVring off the head. Heb. ^^?3 mulak. The original term occurs only here and Lev. 5. 8, so that we are chiefly dependent upon the ancient versions for its genuine sense. The Sept. renders it by a~oKVL^w, to cut with the nail. It })robably means to make a section or cut in the head by pinching it with the fingers and nails, so that the blood might distil from the wound. In this case the head was not actually separated from the body, an idea which would seem to be confirmed by Lev. 5. 8, where it is said that the priest should ' wring ofi"his head (Heb ' cut with the nail ') but should not divide it asunder ;' i. e. should not entirely separate any one part from another. Though trans- lated ' wring,' it is to be observed that it is wholly a different word in the ori- ginal from that rendered ' wrung' in the close of the verse. 16. With his feathers ; or, u-ith the filth thereof. The latter is undoubtedly 17 And he shall cleave it with the wings thereof, but rshall not divide it asunder : and the priest shall burn it upon the altar, upon the wood that is upon the fire : sit is a burnt-sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord. f Gen. 15. 10. = ver. 9. 13. the true rendering, as in the Heb. the pronominal suflix for ' his ' is in the feminine gender, necessarily referring to ' crop,' and not to ' bird.' The drift of the precept is to order that the crop or maw with its contents sliould be cast away. This was done in order to ren- der the sacrifice clean, and it was to be cast as far as possible from the most holy place, to intimate that all moral uncleanness was to be removed from the worship of God. 17. Shall cleave it with the wings thereof. That is, with the wings still remaining, though partially severed from the body. The sacrifice of birds, Maimonides observes, was one of the most difiicult services of the sanctuary ; and as on this account the attention of the priest was not less engrossed by the poorest sacrifice than by the most splen- did, the necessity of attending to minute details in the duties of religion was strikingly inculcated. Resiarks. — (1.) God, in his wisdom, has seen fit, for the most part to address his creatures through the intervention of mediators ; and though the moral lav/ was spoken in thunder and light- ning from Sinai, the ceremonial law, pointing to the great gospel sacrifice, was given in a milder voice from the mercy seat. (2 ) Those sacrifices and oflferings are peculiarly acceptable to God, which are prompted rather by voluntary im- pulse than by legal precept. (2.) Although the light of nature alone may suggest to man the duty of worshipping the Creator, yet the proper 20 LEVITICUS. [B. C. 1490. mode of rendering him homage is not left to human invention, but is matter of divine revelation. (3.) It is fit tliat the offerings which are designed for the greatest and best of Beings, the infinitely perfect Jeho- v.ih, should be the best, and most per- fect of their kind. 'A male without blemish.' (4.) In all our religious services and sacrifices our faith should aim to lay it^hand upou the head of the one great Atoning Victim for sin. Failing of this our offerings are of little worth. (5.) Were it not for the solution afiorded in the gospel, what an inexpli- cable mystery would be the whole Jesv- isli ritual ! How strange the fact that the temple of God should so much re- semble a slaughter-house ! (9.) How precious iu the estimation of the Most Higli must be the merit of Christ's sacrifice, that it should avail to convert the nauseous odor of burning flesh to a perfumed and refreshing in- cense ! CHAPTER II. THE MEAT-OFFERING. The second in the enumeration of the legal offerings, and that which occu- pies the present chapter is the Meat- offering. The original term is tmfZ min'hah, from the obsolete root ri2?2 mnna'h, to give, to bestow, and is equi- valent to gift, present, oblation. It is not exclusively, though it is predomi- nantly, applied to religious offerings of tlio bloodless species made to God. In some cases, it is spoken of gifts pre- sen ted to men, as Gen. 32. 13, ' And he (Jacob) took of that which lie had with him a present (WH^TZ) for Esau his bro- ther.' Gen. 43. 11, 'And their father Israel said unln them, Take of lln^ best fruits of the land in your vessels, and carry down the m;in a present (r;n!3?2).' But the present made by Jacob to Esau was (A living things, viz. cattle, where- as that carried to Josepli was of things that had not life. In like manner both the ofi'ering of Cain, which was of the fruits of the earth, and that of Abel, which was of iht' firstlings of the jlock, are each of them called ' Min'hah,' Gen. 4. 3 — 5. So tliat the word in its general import, does iu^ply things slain as well as things not slain, although some com- mentators have maintained ilie contrary. But in ordinary usage, its meaning was restricted to an ofiering 7nade of fine flour, whether of wheat or barley. The common rendering of the term in the English Bible by ' meat-offering' is in- correct according to the modern accep- tation of the word ' meal,' which is now applied exclusively to flesh, al- though at the time when our translation was made it appears to have denoted very nearly the same as llie word ' food.' A more suitable rendering therefore at the present day would be ' meal-offer- ing,' ' flour-oflering,' or even * bread- offering,' as the flour, before it was of- fered, was generally, though not in every case, made into thin cakes or wafe^^ . - r something very nearly resemll.iig bread. The materials of the Meat-of- fering Avere fine flour, with oil poured on it, and frankincense and salt added to it. The flour w^as either that of wheat or barley, and might be presented in the form of flour, or it might be pre- sented after undergoing the process of baking, or frying, in the form of cakes or wafers. Sometimes the Meat-ofler- ing, instead of being made of fine flour, consisted of the first fruits of the corn. In this case the ears Avere to be taken when full, but yet green ; to be parched or dried before the fire ; the corn to be beaten out ; and the offering then to be made with oil, frankincense, and salt, as before. The Meat-offerings were either pre- senled by tlu'iiiselvcs, or as an accom- paniment to tlie stated burnt-oflerings. In the latter case they, together with ihcir attendant di ink-offerings, were wholly consun\'^d ou the altar; but in B. C. 1490.] CHAPTER II. 21 the former, ihey were burnt only in part, the remainder being given to the priests for their support. It is of these tliut the present chapter treats. The part of the oifering which was burnt, together with the frankincense, was called ' the memorial' of it, for reasons which are assigned in the note on v. 2. The meat-offerings which were not commanded by the divine law, but were the votive or voluntary oblations of in- dividuals, were of five kinds, consisting of some preparation of flour ; as 1. Fine flour unbaked. 2. Flour baked in a pan or on a flat plate. 3. Flour baked in a frying pan. 4. Flour baked in an oven. 5. Flour made into a thin cake like a wafer. As to the leading moral design of the meat-offering, it is perhaps to be re- garded as mainlj' a grateful acknow- ledgment of the bounty and beneficence of God, as m-.inifested in those gifts of his providence to which we owe our daily bread, and the various ministra- tions to our physical comfort. At the same time, it is not, that we are aware, at all inconsistent with this to suppose, I hat it might also have had a typical purport kindred to that of most of the sacrificial offerings, which evident]}' pointed to Christ, and subordinately to his Church. From several passages it would seem natural to infer, that a propitiatory as well as a eucharistic meaning was couched under this cere- mony ; and if so, we cannot well avoid the inference that it pointed to tlie offering of the body of Christ as its grand realizing substance. Thus 1 Sam. 3. 14, ' Therefore I have sworn unto the house of Eli, that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be purged witli sacrifice nor offering (flTO/O 7nin'hah) forever.' 1 Sam. 26. 19, « If the Lord have stirred thee up against me, let him accept (Heb. smell) an offering come, he caused this Meat-offering as well as the slain sacrifices to cease ; Dan. 9. 27, ' He shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation (nriD?:) to cease.' And of the poor man's meat offering, it is exj.ressly said. Lev. 5. 11-13, that it should ' make atonement for sins.' J'Vom this it appears that the Scriptures join the Meat-offering with the burnt- ofiering as an expiation for sin ; and consequently that both have a typical allusion to the atoning sacrifice of Christ. But in this the import of the Min'liah does not seem to be exhausted. It represents also the persons and ser- vices of believers made acceptable in Christ, for there is no doubt that both Christ and his Church are frequently shadowed out by the same symbolical ordinances. In accordance with this we find it said. Is. QQ. 20, ' They shall bring all your brethren for an. offering (nnD?2) out of all nations, &c., as the children of Israel bring an offering (nrij^) in a clean vessel into the house of the Lord.' The accomplishment of this, the apostle intimates, is to be re- cognized in the results of his own min- istration of the gospel to the Gentiles, Rom. 15. 16, ' That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering up (7Tpoa al hammahabath. ' Dr. Boothroyd, availing himself of our now improved knowledge of the East, translates ' on a fire-plate,' instead of < in a pan.' He is doubtless correct. In the preceding note we have mentioned a mode of baking bread on an iron plate laid oa the top of the oven ; but a more simple and primitive use of a baking plate is exemplified among the nomade tribes of Asia. We first witnessed the process at a small encampment of Eelauts ia the north of Persia. There was a con- vex plate of iron (copper is often in use) placed horizontally about nine inches from the ground, the edges being sup- ported by stones. There was a slow fire underneath, and the large thin cakes were laid upon the upper or convex sur- iiice, and baked vv ith the same effect as when stuck to the sides of an oven ; but rather move siov.ly. The thin wafer 26 LEVITICUS. [B. C. 1490. 6 Thou shah part it in pieces, and pour oil thereon : it is a meat- offering. 7 H And if thy oblation be a bread of soft paste can be baked by the same process, which is recommended to the wandering tribes by the simplicity and portability of the apparatus. We believe that a flat plate is sometimes employed in this way, though we do not recollect to have witnessed its use. Chardin thinks that this process was in use long before ovens of any kind were known ; and he is probably right. Un- leavened oatmeal cakes, baked on an iron plate called a ' girdle,' are still very general in Scotland, and also in the north of England.'— Picf. Bib. 6. Thou Shalt part it in pieces, and pour oil thereon. * We here see bread, after being bakei, broken up again and mingled with oil. Was this an extraor- dinary and peculiar preparation for the altar, or was it a preparation in com- mon use among the Hebrews? W^e in- cline to the latter opinion, as it seems to diflfer very little from a common and standard dish among the Bedouin Arabs. This is made oi unleavened paste, baked in thin cakes, which are afterwards broken up, and tlioroughly kn< aded wiih butter, adding sometimes honey, and sometimes milk, but generally employ- ing butter alone for the purpose. This second kneading bringsit into the state in which it is eaten with great satisfac- tion by llie Arabs. Tiie only dilference between this and the jireparaiion in the text, is the use of butter instead of oil ; and in its not being said here that the bread was kneaded anew, but only that it was broken up and mingled with oil. These ])oints of dillerence are not very essential. The Bedouins, as a pastoral people, have no oil ; but are very fond of it when it can be obtained : butter, therefore, as used by litem, may be re- garded as a subsiilule for the 'oil' of the text. And as to the want of a second kneading in the text, it is by no meat-offering hahen in the frying- pan, it shall be made of fine flour with oil. 8 And thou shalt bring the meat- means certain that such kneading did not take place, even though it is not mentioned. Besides the Bedouins do not always knead the broken bread again with butter, but are content to soak or dip the broken morsels in melt- ed butter. It is probable that the pre- sent text explains the mingling with oil mentioned in vv. 4 and 7, better than by supposing that the paste was tempered with oil before being baked. Using oil with bread continues to be a very com- mon practice in the East ; and the Bedouin Arabs, and generally other Orientals, are fond of dishes composed of broken bread, stee])ed not only in oil, butter, and milk, but also in prepara- tions of honey, syrups, and vegetable juices. Oil only is allowed in the ' meat offerings,' honey being expressly interdicted in v. 11, and this shows that the use of honey with bread was even thus early common among the Israel- ites.'— Pi'cf. Bib. 7. Baken in the frying-pan. 'There is in use among the Bedouins and others a shallow earthen vessel, somewhat re- sembling a frying-pan, and which is used both for frying, and for baking one sort of bread. Something of this sort is thought to be intended here. There is also used in Western Asia a modili- calion of this pan, resembling the East- ern oven, which Jerome describes as a round vessel of copper, blackened on the outside by the surrounding fire, which heats it within. This might be either the ' oven ' or the ' pan ' of the present chapter. This pan-baking is common enough in England, where the villagers bake large loaves under inverted round iron pots, with embers and slow-burning fuel heaped upon them. But it is pro- bable that the fire-j)late, which wc- have noticed under v. 5, is really intended here, and that the 'pan' there, is the B. C. 1490.] CHAPTER II. 27 offering that is made of these things unto the Lord : and when it is presented unto the priest, he shall bring it unto the altar. 9 And the priest shall take from tiie meat-olTcring % memorial thereof, and shall burn it upon the altar: it is an goffering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LOKD. 10 And iithat which is left of the meat-offering shall be Aaron's and his sons'; jt is a thing most holj% of the offerings of the Lord made by fire. f ver. 2. e Exod. 29. IS. ^ ver. 3. ' frying-pan ' of the present text. This seems to us very probtible, as the name given by the Bedouins to this utensil is tnjen, which is nearly identical with the name (rrjyavov) which the Septuagint gives to the ' pan ' in v. 5. It is useful to obtain this etymological identifica- tion of the Arabian tajen with one of the ' pans ' of tliis chapter, but it is of little importance to determine wliich ' pan' it is. Upon the whole, the oven, the pan, and the frying-pan of vv. 4, 5, and 7, may, as it appears to us, be referred with much confidence to the clay oven, the metal plate, and the earthen vessel which we have noticed.' — Pict. Bib. 11. No leaven nor any honey. That is, as it should seem, neither sour nor sued ; notliing of the fermenting kind, which would have an unkindly effect, when eaten, upon the animal economy. Bui here also, we trace a moral mean- ing. Leaven is a well-known emblem of pride and hypocrisy. These swell the heart, and puff" it up with self-im- portance and self-deceit. This was especially the leaven of the Pharisees, who made their prayers, and gave their alms, and did all, to be seen of men. Leaven is also used as an emblem of malice and wickedness, as we learn from ihe words of the Apostle, 1 Cor. 5. 8, ' Therefore let us keep the feast, 11 No meat-offering which ye shall bring unto the Lord shall be made willi Ueaven : for ye shall burn no leaven, nor any honey, hi any offering of the Lord made by fire. 12 ^ i^As for the oblation of the first-fruits, ye shall offer them unto the Lord: but they shall not be burnt on the altar for a sweet sa- vour. 13 And every oblation of thy meat-offering ishalt thou season i cli. 6. 17. See Matt. 16. 12. Mark 8. 15. Luke 12. 1. 1 Cor. 5. 8. Gal. 5. 9. k Exod. 22. 29. ch. 2.3. 10, 11. i Mark 9. 49. Col. 4. 6. not with the old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincer- ity and truth.' Honey, in like man- ner, may well be considered as the em- blem of the unwholesome sweetness of sensual indulgence and worldly plea- sure. And these we are well assured are perfectly inconsistent with the ac- ceptance of any offering which we may profess to bring to God. The honey of sensual gratification will make polluted and abominable any religious oblation with which it may be mixed. 12. ^5 for the oblation of the first- fruits, ye shall offer them, ^-c. Ains- worlh very plausibly suggests that this is but a continuation of the ordinance respecting the use of leaven and honey, of which, and not of first-fruits, he un- derstands the word ' them' in this con- nexion. The verse contains a single exception to the rule given above. There was one case in which leaven and honey might be used, to wit, with the first-fruits. With them they might be offered, but not burnt upon the altar. This also is the interpretation of Ro- senmuller. 13. Every oblation of thy meat-offer- ing shalt thou season uith salt. Salt is the opposite to leaven, as it preserves from putrefaction and corruption, and LEVITICUS. [B. C. 1490. was therefore used to sisfnify the purity and persevering fidelity necessary in the worbhippcrs of God. It was called the ' salt of the covenant,' because as salt was incorruptible, so was the cove- nant and pronriise of Jehovah, which on this account is called 2 Chron. 13. 5, ' a covenant of salt ;' i. e. an everlasting covenant. But in order to obtain an adequate idea of the reasons which prompted the use of this article, and made it so indispensable in the services of the Jewish altar, we are to remem- ber that the sacrilices were a kind of feast, in which those who partook of them were for the time being the gitests of God, and eating and drinking at his table. But it was by eating and drink- ing together, that all important cove- nants were anciently ratified and con- firmed, and as salt was of course never wanting at such entertainments, it came at length to be regarded as a symbol of friendship, and the phrase ' covenant of sail' was but another name for the most firm, enduring, and inviolable compact. In like manner, salt among the anci'nts was the emblem of friend- ship and fidelity, and therefore was used in all their sacrifices and covenants. No part of their religious ceremonies is more prominent than that which con- sists in the use of salt. Thus in Vir- gil, iEn. Lib. II, 1. 133: 'Mihi sacra parari Et salsie fruges, et circum tempora vlltae.' ' For me the sacred rites were prepared, and the salted cake, and fillets to bind about my tem})les.' Servius' explana- tion is, ' Salt and barley, called salted meal, with which they used to sprinkle the forehead of the victim, the sacrifi- cial fire, and the knives.' From the * mola salsa,' salted cake, of the Latins, were derived the words immolo, immo- latio, to immolate, immolation, and this by synecdoche came to be applied to the whole ]irocess of sacrificing. So after the salted meal it wsi^ customary I to pour wine on the head of the victim, | which by that ceremony was said to he viacta, i. magis aucta, augmented or i7i' creased, whence the term mactatio in the heathen sacrifices to express the killing of the victim immediately after the affusion of the wine. But as to the sacred use of salt Homer affords several distinct allusions to it in the religious rites mentioned in the Iliad. Thus: — ' Then near the altar of the darting king, Disposed in rank, their hecatomb they bring ; With water purify their hands and take The sacred offering of the salted cake.' li. I. 1. 584 And again : — 'Above tlie coals the smoking fragiricnt burns. And sprinkles sacred salt from lifted urns.' Il- IX. 1. 281. Nearly every traveler who has visited the modern nations of the East, has fur- nished us with striking anecdotes illus- trative of the sacredness with which salt was regarded as an emblem of fidelity in all their compacts. Thus Baron Da Tott, speaking of one who was desirous of his acquaintance, says, upon his departure, ' He promised in a short time to return. I had already attended him half way down the stair- case, when stopping, and turning briskly to one of my domestics, Bring me direct- ly, said he, some bread and salt. What he requested was brought j when, taking a little salt between his fingers, and put- ting it with a mysterious air on a bit of bread, he eat it with a devout gravitj', assuring me that I might now rely on him.' And D'Herbelot remarks, that ' among other exploits which are re- corded of Jacoub ben Laith, he is said to have broken into a palace, and having collected a very large booty, which he was on the point of carrying away, he found his'foot kicked something which made him stumble ; putting it to Ids mouth, the better to distinguish it, his tongue soon informed him it wasaliunp of salt ; u|)on this, according to the morality, or raihi r supcrstiiieu, c^ il.o country, where the people considered B. C. 1490.] CHAPTER II. 29 with salt; neither shalt thou suffer '"the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meat- oil e ring : "with all thine offeriags thou shalt offer salt. 14 And if thou offer a meat-offer- ing of thy first-fruits unto the Lord, orhou shalt offer for the meat-offering of thy first-fruits, green ears of corn dried by the «i Numb. 13. 19. » Ezek. 43. 24. o ch. 23 10, 14. salt as a symbol and pledge of hospi- lalily, he was so touched that he left all his booty, retiring without taking away any thing with him.' ^ Neither shalt thou suffer, fyc. That is, ye are not to imagine, that because the Lord's share of the offering is to be consumed by fire, and not really eaten, ye may therefore dispense with seasoning it. Every thing that is offered to him must be tlie best and most savory of its kind. 14. Green ears of corn dried by the fire. They dried them in the fire, in the green ear, because that otherwise from their moisture they would not admit of being ground in a mill. TT Corn beaten out of full ears. Heb. ^>3"l3 TL"^^ geres karmel, small broken corn of the green ear. The original Heb. "Jl^ gereSyhas the import of some- thing crushed, broken, pounded, for which the Chal. has ' broken-grains,' or as we should term it, ' grits.' The Gr. renders the whole clause vea -irsippvyixeva ;;^(Jf)a epiKra young parched grains broken in the mill. These first fruits had a typical reference to Christ, who is thus denominated, 1 Cor. 15. 20, and by whom all the rest of the harvest is sanctified. To the preparatory parch- ing, breaking, and grinding, we see per- haps an allusion in the words of the pro- phet. Is. 53. 5, ' He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for ou' iniquities.' P EM\RKs. — (3.) ' The remnant of the ^^♦■^t-offering shall be Aaron's.' In ^(r>vy dispensation God has evinced a fire, even corn beaten out of pfull ears. 15 And qthou shalt put oil upon it, and lay frankincense thereon : it is a meat-offering. 16 And the priest shall burn rthe memorial of it, part of the beaten corn thereof, and part of the oil thereof, with all the frankincense thereof: i( is an offering made by fire unto the Lord. P 2 Kings 4. 42. q ver. 1, r ver. 2. kind concern for the maintenance of those who were devoted to ministry in sacred things. Those who labor in the word are to be competently supported. ' Do ye not know that they which min- ister about holy things live of the things of the temple ? And they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar. Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the Gospel should live of the Gospel.' 1 Cor. 9. 13, 14. (S.) ' When it is presented unto the priest.' As none of the ancient sacred offerings were to be presented i?nme- diately to God, but were first put into the hand of the priest, and through him offered upon the altar, so spiritual sacrifices under the Gospel are not available in the sight of God, unless tendered to him through Jesus Christ, the great High Priest of the New Tes- tament, (11.) Especial care is to be taken not only that our religious services be cleansed from the leaven of hypocrisy, but that they be thoroughly pervaded by the 'salt' of grace. Col. 4. 6, 'Let your speech be always with salt, sea- soned with grace.' Mark 9, 49, ' Every sacrifice shall be seasoned with salt.' (14.) If the 'first-fruits' of the har- vest field were of old so peculiarly ac- ceptable to God, how much more must he be pleased now with the first-fruits of the Spirit, and the expressions of an early piety in the young. The ' green ears ' of youthful devotion will naturally be followed by the ripened sheaves of a 30 LEVITICUS. LB. C. 1490. godly ol'-l age, and in Uiis forni gathered iulo the garners offternal life. CHAPTER III. THE PEACE-OFFERING. Pursuing the scriptural order of the specified oflerings under the law, we come in the present chapter to that which is denominated the Peace-offer- ing. The Heb. term thus rendered is f ?2V^ sheUmim, from the root D^"i3 shalam, to make vp, viake good, restore, repay ; and thence to make up a differ- ence, to effect a reconciliation, to be at peace- The leading ideas, therefore, conve\ ed by the term, are those either o[ retribution or o[ peace ; and the term peace in the Scripture generally denotes either the mutual concord of friends, or a state of prosperity. These different senses assigned to the root have led to different exjiositions of the appellation derived from it. On the one hand, it is ]i' Id, that the idea of retribtitioii, or 7 ti./mpence, is prominent in the name given 10 tliis class of sacrifices, and that it indicates the division or distribution made of them into three parts, one for God, one for liie offerers, and one for the priests. This ojjinioi) is maintained by the author of a Jewish treatise en- tilled H"lS:Ci Siphra, who says, ' they were so called because a prescribed portion of them fell to the share of each party.' On the other hand, it is held by some, that the other sense of the rcot, namely, that of concord is domi- nant in the derivative, and that the name of these oblations denotes their being sy7nbols of friendship between God, the priests, and the ofierers, to each of whom was allotted a certain portion of them. The opinion, how- ever, is more simjile and natural and therefore more probable, vvliich regards the combined ideas of prosperity and retribution or requital as prominent in the term, and that this class of offerings is so called because they were always presented in reference to a prosperous state of affairs, either obtained and gratefully acknowledged, or suppliiit- ed. A ' sacriliet; of peace-offerings' therefore is properly a ' sacrifice nl" pay- offerings, of requitals, of retribuliuns, or pacifications,' and was oflcred (1.) Upon the recovery of peace with Ood in consequence of an expiation for some sin committed ; llos. 14. 2. (2.) As an expression of thanksgiving for mer- cies received J Lev. 7. 12. Judg. 20.26. i Chron,21.26. (3.) On the 7;e?-/o?m- ance of a voiv, as Ps. 56. 13, ' Thy vows are upon me, O God; I will render praises (Heb. * will repay confessions ') unto thee.' Prov. 7. 14, * I have peace- offerings with me (Heb. ' peace-offer- ings are (were) u])on me/ i. e. the obli- gation of peace-offerings) ; this day have I paid my voics ;' this kind of peace-offering being vowed on condition that a particular mercy were bestowed, was performed after the condition was granted. By the Gr. the original word is rendered here and elsewhere Qvaia (roTrjpiov sacrifice of salvation, (or safe- ty) ; though sometimes by einrjvnKr) a pacifying or peace-offering ^ and by the dial, a ' a sacnlice of sanctities (or sanctirications),' probably because none but clean and sanctified persons were permitted to eat of it ; Lev. 7. 19, 20. Sol. Jarchij a Jewish Commentator, says they are called peace-offerings, ' because they bring peace into the world, and because by them there is peace to the altar, to the priests, and to the owners.' This, however, is ra- ther the ell'ect of the expiatory than of the eucharislic offerings. Yet it is re- markable that as these sacrifices re- ceived their original appellation from their being offered in tlianksgiving or supplication for prosperity, so because they were employed by the offerers themselves in sacred feasts, tliey were also very frequently designated by ano- ther name ti'TCT zeba''him, which is the approjjriate term lor victims slaugh- tered for sacrifices and for banquets. B. C. 1490.] CHAPTER III. 31 Yet this is plainly a metaphorical sense of the term, by which we are in no dan- ger of beiii^ misled. From their being priiicipully consumed by llie offerers at tlie feast that ibllowed the oblation, IMichaelis, Boothroyd, and others, pre- fer to translate the term * feast-sacri- fice' rather than ' peace-offering -,' while others again choose to render the ori- ginal ' thank-offering.' But we deem it best to give the most literal render- ing and sii])ply all deficiencies by the requisite explanations. As intimated above, the Peace-offer- ings were of a threefold character, vol- itntai-y, votive, and evcharistic. The last of these was offered in view of spe- ci ii favors and blessings enjoyed ; the two former for mercies desired and im- plored. In Lev. 7. 11, 12, the Peace- offering is evidently regarded as an act of thanksgiving for mercies received, and as such is referred to by David, Ps. 107. 22, ' Let them sacrifice the sacri- fices of thanksgiving (min ^PI^T "In^T'i yizbe'hu zih'hc tod'ch), and declare his works with rejoicing.' So also Ps. 116. 16, 17, ' O Lord, truly I am thy ser- vant, I am thy servant, and the son of tliine handmaid ; thou hast loosed my bonds, I will offer to thee the sacri- fice of thanksgiving (miri h^T zcba'h tod'ch), and will call upon the name of the Lord.' Hence it was that Heze- kiah, 2 Cliron. 29. 20, after having abol- islied all idolatrous rites, and restored the ancient worship, directed eucha- ristic sacrifices to be offered. Such too, it is evident, were offered by Manasseh, 2 Chron. 33. 16, after his restoration to his country and kingdom. The general doctrine held by the Jews in respect to this kind of oblations is thus expressed by Aben Ezra ; ' The design of an eu- charislic sacrifice is, that any person delivered from trouble may give praise to God on account of it.' Equivalent to this is the language of Sol. Jarchi ; ' An eucharistic sacrifice ought to be offered to God by every one who has ex- perienced any thing like a miracle j who has sailed over the ocean, or traveled throngh deserts ; who has been deliver- ed from prison, or recovered from dis- ease ; for they are under the greatest obligations to praise God.' Allusions also to the Peace-offering as a votive or voluntary oblation occur in the follow, ing passages, from which it will appear that such offerings were generally vowed in times of danger and distress. Jon. 2. 9, M will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving, I will pay that I have vowed ; salvation is of the Lord.' 2 Sam. 15. 8, ' For thy servant vowed a vow while I abode at Geshur, in Syria, saying, if the Lord shall bring me again indeed to Jerusalem, then I will serve the Lord ;' i. e. will serve him with a peace or thank-offering. One of the most striking instances of this kind occurs in the case of the eleven tribes, Judg. 20. 26, who from a zeal of God's house 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 twenty thousand men. But being still desirous to know and do the will of God in this matter, as it was his quarrel only that they were aveng- ing, ' the}!- went up to the house of God and wept and fasted until even, and offered burnt-offerings and peace-offer- i7igs unto the Lord ;' and thus God de- livered the Benjamites into their hands, so that with the exception of six hun- dred only, who fled, the whole tribe of Benjamin, male and females, was ex- tirpated. So Jacob, Gen. 2S. 20-22, and Jephthah, Judg. 30. 31 ; and so David, Ps. 66. 13, 14, ' I will pay thee my vows, which my lips have uttered, and my mouth hath spoken when I was in trouble.' From this it appears that this kind of sacrifices was very ancient, and was grafted upon that innate desire to testify a mind grateful for divine bene. fits, the traces of which are discoverable in all ages and all nations. The material of the Peace-offering 3S LEVITICUS. [B. C. 1490. was to be either of the herd or the flock, the greater or lesser animals, but never of the fowl, probably because their diminutive size did not admit of the three-fold division between God, the priest, and the people. Like the holo- caustic offerings, it must be without blemish; but unlike to them, it might be either male or female. Of the rites and ceremonies pertaining to the obla- tion, some were in common with the other sacrifices, and some peculiar to itself. It must be brought to the door of the tabernacle ; the owner must lay his hand on it ; it must be killed, and the blood shed and sprinkled on the altar round about; and finally it must be burnt upon the altar, except the reserved parts. lu these respects the details of the oblation are very similar to those of the burnt-offering. But peculiar to itself was the division of the offering into three parts — the limitation of the time for eating it — the addition of leaven —and the prohibition of fat and blood ; each of which particulars will be duly considered in its proper place. The victim of the Peace-offering was to be divided between God, and the priest, and the people ; to each a por- tion. The part to be burnt ' before the Lord upon the altar, upon the burnt- offering,' consisted of all the suet per- taining to the inwards, the two kidneys, the caul upon the liver, and ail the fat. This was the Lord's portion. Another •was assigned to the priest. This con- sisted of the breast and the right shoulder. The breast was to be waved to and fro, and the shoulder was to be heaved upwards before the Lord, in token of their being aj)propriated to his house and service. The breast was then given to the priests in general, while the shoulder remained the per- quisite of liim who olhciated. A por- tion also of the leavened bread was to be given to the priest. All the remain- der of the oblation, which was by far the greatest part, belonged to the offer- er himself, and was to be eaten by him- self and his family and friends, if cere- monially clean, as a social and hospita- ble meal. If the Peace-offering were of the eucharistic class, it was to be eaten the same day it was offered, and none of it was to be left until the morn- ing. Bat if the sacrifice of the offering were a vow or a voluntary offering, part of it might be eaten on the day on which it was offered, and part of it on « the next day ; but if any of it remained unto the third day, that part must not be eaten, but must be burnt with fire. The reason of the difference in the two cases is perhaps this : the tribute of love and gratitude was far more pleas- ing to God, as arguing a more heavenly frame of mind. In consequence of its superior excellence the sacrifice that was offered as a thanksgiving must be eaten on the same day ; whereas the sacrifice offered as a vow or voluntary offering might, being less holy and ac- ceptable, be eaten also on the second day. As to the occasions on which the Peace-offerings were presented, some of them were fixed by divine appoint- ment, and some were altogether op- tional. The fixed occasions were at the consecration of the priests, Ex. 29. 28 ; at the expiration of the Nazarite's vow, Num. 6. 14 ; at the dedication of the tabernacle and temple, Num. 7. 17; and at the feast of first-fruits. Lev. 23. 19. In addition to these, the people were at liberty to offer them whenever a sense of gratitude or of need inclined them to it. It is to occasions of this kind that the directions in the present chapter mainly have respect. Having thus explained the nature of the Peace-ofleriiig, and the various rites and ceremonies connected with it, it remains to advert briefly to the moral lessons which it was calculated to im- part. And in the outset we may re- mark, that the rendering of the original adopted in our version suggests the idea of a pacifying effect as wrought by this species of sacrifice, which is to be atlrib- B. C. 1490.] CHAPTER III. 33 CHAPTER in. AND if his oblation Z^e a a sacri- fice of peace-offering, if he ■1 ch. 7. 11, 29. and 22. 21. uted rather to the other class of offer- ings, whose scopo was more distinctly expiatory. Th'! word peace has a dif- ferent shade of meaning in the Hebrew from what it has in our language. With us it suggests most naturally and legiti- mately the idea of reconciliation, the bringing into concord contending par- ties, — an idea which is more properly to be associated with the effects of the slated burnt-offering, or the occasional sin and trespass-offering. In the He- brew the import of prosperity, of wel- fare, is predominant to the enjoyment or the petition of which this offering was especially appointed. The idea of grateful acknotdedgmtnt therefore is the leading idea which it is calculated lo suggest. But with what espressive ceremonies was this service marked ! How strongly would it tend to infuse the spirit of a son and of a friend into the heart of the worshipper. How em- phatically would he be reminded of the blessed privileges which he enjoyed llirough his sacrifice. Partaking of the same viands was ever considered as the bond and proof of friendship and peace ; and here the Lord, his priests, and the offerer himself, all partook of the same offerings. They sat down together as it were at the same table. In this rite accordingly the Jew would read a happy assurance of the divine favor towards him. As he feasted with his family and friends on the portion assigned him from the altar, he would enjoy a peace in his own soul from this instituted token of reconciliation and friendship. The whole ceremony was eminently calculated to ))roduce all the emotions appropriate to his condition. As he brought his offering to the altar, he would think of the great mercy and condescension of God in thus providing a way of acceptance for him, and ad- offer it of the herd, whether it he a male or female; he shall offer it bwithout blemish before the Lord. ^ ch. 1. 3 mitting liim to his own friendship and love. He would feel deep abasement for the alienation and disaffection which appeared in his own heart. As he laid his hand on the animal's head, and as he saw its blood streaming at his feet, he v.'ould think of his own utter unwor- tliiness to appear before God, and he would be affected to think that he owed all his permission to approach liim to the sufferings of another in his stead. As he saw the smoke of the fat ascend to heaven, he would rejoice in this ac- ceptance of his offering. When he looked upon the waved breast and the uplifted shoulder, he would be thankful for the ministry of the appointed serv- ants of the Most High, and when he retired from the ceremony he would go on his way rejoicing that the Lord had accepted him in his work, and would eat his food with all the warmest emo- tions of gratitude, affiance, and love. Such would be the legitimate influence of a ceremony of this nature upon the heart of every pious Jew. It would be one of his most privileged feasts, though but a private one, and would throw a peaceful and happy frame over the whole soul. Thus the evangelical doc- trines were presented to him, and all those right feelings towards God, which are so powerfully called forth by the gospel, were in a measure according with his light experienced by a Jew. The Peace-offering of the Herd. 1 If his oblation. Heb. I^D^p A-or6a- nO) his korban or gift, as usual in this connection wherever * offering ' or 'oblation' occurs in our version. Gr. TO Siopov avTov TO) K.vpioi, his gift to the Lord. In like manner we find ' korban ' explained as a gift by the Evangelist, Mark 7. 11. IT Male or female. In this respect the peace-offering differed J4 LEVITICUS. [B. C. 1490. 2 And che shall lay his hand upon the head of his oiVering, and kill il ot ihe door of the tabernacle of the congregation : and Aaron's sons the priests shall sprinkle the blood upon the altar round about. 3 And he shall offer of the sacri- fice of the peace-offering, an offer- ing made by fire unto the Lord ; «ithe fat tliat covereih the inwards, c ch. 1. 4, 5. Exod. 29. 10. ^ Exod. 29. 13, 22. ch. 4. 8, 9. from the holocaust, or whole burnt- offering, in which a male only was allowed. 2. Shall lay his hand. The imposi- tion of hands in this case differed from the same ceremony in the sacrifice of the holocaust in this, that over the head of the peace-ofi'ering there was no con- fession of sinsj but. merely the uttering of praise and supplication to God. IT And kill it at the door, 8fC. That is the priest or some other Levite shall kill it. So also v, S. See note on Lev. 1.5. As tliis offering belonged to what were termed the lesser or lighter holy tilings, it was not required to be offered, like tlie burnt-offering or the sin-offer- ing, on the north side of the altar, but in any place of the court. Lev. ]. ]]. IT And Aaron^s sons shall S2)rinkle. This was to be done according to the manner prescribed. Lev. 1. 5. ' For the burnt-offering,' says Maimonides, ' the trespass-offering, and the peace-offering, the sprinkling of the blood of these three upon the altar was ever alike.' It was obviously a type of the sprink- ling of Christ's blood, where})y we, our words and works are sanctified before God. 1 Pet. 1.2, Ileb. 12. 14. 3. Shall offer of the sacrifice. Heb. nnt72 rnizzeba'h. That is, part of the peace-offering; for of tliis sacrifice one part, viz. the fat pieces, the kidneys, the caul, &c., was to he burnt ; a second, consisting of the breast and tlie right shouklir, was reserved for tlie ]jriesi ; while all the remainder was appropriat- and all the fat that is upon the in- wards, 4 And the two kidneys, and the fat that IS on them, wJiich is hy ihe flanks, and the caul above the liv- er, Avith the kidneys, it shall he take away. 5 And Aaron's sons esball burn it on the altar, upon the burnt-sacri- fice, which is upon the wood, that « ch. 6. 12. Exod. 29. 13. cd to the offerer, to be eaten by him, his family and friends, in a sacrificial feast, IT The fat that covereth the inuards. Frequently termed with us ' the suet.' This was always burned upon the allar; and would naturally serve to feed tlje fire. See a fuller explanalicn in the Note on Ex. 29. 13. The design of this part of the ceremony may be understood in either of the ways following. (1.) As the 'fat' of any thing is sometimes but another name for its best or choicest part (see Note on Gen. 4. 4), and as the ' fat ' was deemed the most valuable part of the animal, it was offered in preference to all other parts, implying that the best of every thing was to be offered to God. (2.) As, however, the term is used in other cases to denote the dullness, hardness, and unbelief of the heart, Ps. 1 19. 70. Acts 28. 27, it may here signify the consuming of our cor- ruptions by the fire of the Holy Spirit. The ' kidneys ' also, the supposed seat of some of the strongest of the sensual propensities, were burnt })rt)bably to teach the duty of the morliftcation oi' our members which are upon earlh, for- nication, unclcanness, inordinate affec- tion, &c. Cul. 3. 5 4. The caul above the liver. See note on Ex. 29. 13. M Which is by the flanks. Heb. f ^CS kesi'lim, loins. Gr. and Clial. ' Which i.s on the thighs.' Comp. Job 15. 27, ' He covereih his lace with his fitness, and makelh collops uf fat on his flanks. ('^CIj kesel.y b. Upon the burnt-sacrifice. That is, B. a 1490.] CHAPTER III. 35 is on the fire : it is an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Loud. 6 H And if liis offering for a sa- crifice of peace-offering unto the Lord be of the flock, male or fe- male ; fhe shall offer it Avilhout blemish. 7 If he offer a lamb for his offer- ing, then shall he offer it before the Lord. 8 And he shall lay his hand upon f ver. 1, &c. in addition to the burnt-offering, laying it on the altar after the daily offering of the lamb, which always had the pre- cedency. The Peace-offering of the Flock.— 1. A Lamb, 6. If his offering he of the flock. That is, of sheep or goats, which are both included under the term flock. ' Peace-offerings,' says Maimonides, sumptuous- ly ; yet still it is sin, and as such needs an atonement. Without the shedding of blood there was no remission. At the same time we are not to lose sight of the consolation which flows through rae], saying, ajf a soul shall sin throuirh ignorance against any of ^ cli. 5. 15, 11 14. :27. Ps 19. 15; 2-2. &c. 1 Sam. this typical ordinance to the bosom of the penitent believer. The language of the Apostle, Heb. 13. 11-13, makes it evident that the Sin-offering pointed directly to Christ, through whose effi- cacious atonement all his sins, whether of greater or less aggravation, are oan» celled and abolished. It is those daily infirmities, those sins unconsented to, and yet committed ; those faults too covert for detection} or too late detect- ed ; it is they that constitute his daily struggles, and wage within him an un- ceasing warfare. And when he has seen the sins of his wilful alienation borne away by the atoning sacrifice, these cleaving vestiges of a corrupt nature will often vex him with painflil fears, lest there should still be a demand of wrath against him. How appropri* ate then is this exhibition of a continual offering for our continual need ! ' He that knew no sin was made sin (a sin- offering) for Us.' Here we have par* don ; not once, to cancel the past debt and begin on a new score ; but pardon daily, hourly renewed, as often as the Sin-offering is pleaded before the Fa* ther, is brought in faith, and laid upon the altar before the Lord. We do no* thing well. If we pray, it is Avith cold and wandering thoughts; if we hear, it is with distracted and forgetful minds j we are continually surprised, continually overtaken, continually turned aside by the current of temptation, that runs, so strong against us, when perhaps we cannot convict oursehesof one indulged, deliberate sin. Therefore did the God of mercies ordain this peculiar institu* tion, prefiguring to them of old the divine oblation to be once off^'cred, but forever efficacious, for the jiardon of this and every kind of guilt. B. C. 1490.] CHAPTER IV. 41 the commandments of the Lord concerning things which ought not to be done, and sliall do against any of them; 1. The Sin-offering for the Anointed Priest. 2. Shall sin through ignorance against any of the commandments. Ileb. TT^D rii::?2 ^-?2 n:)3rn m2nr\ '•■i nephesh ki tehetd bishg'igiVi mikkol mitzvoth a soul when it shall sin through inad- vertently erring from, any of the com- mandments. The true construction is, not ' sinning again';t,' but ' erring from,' as the phraseology in the original is in effect the same with that in Ps. 119. 10. ' Lot me not wander from (^^TJjiTi pi* al tashg'eni) thy comniandments.' IT Through ignorance ■ i.e. unadvisedly, unwittingly, unawares. The Heb. ri333 sheg;lgdh, here used, comes from nniT shfigVi, to go astray, to err, to trans- gress through mistake, ignorance, or inadvertency. In the Greek il is some- times rendered by ayi'oia ignorance, but here, and frequently elsewhere, by uKovcjccji unwillingly, the exact oppo- site to EKouo-iwj willingly or wilfully, occurring Heb. 10. 2Q, and opposite also to what the law, Num. 15. 57, 30, terms sinning with a high hand, or presump- tuously. The import of the term is fully disclosed, Num. 3.5. II, where mention is made of ' killing a person at unawares;^ Heb. n33'I3 shegdgdh, by error, unwittingly, which, in the parallel passage, Deut. 19. 14, is ex- pressed by ignorantly, or literally, with- out knowledge ; both which terms, for greater explicilne.ss, are joined together in Josh. 20. 3, ' The slayer that killeth any person unawares (u^^I'D bishgd- gdh, by error), and unwittingly (i.e. without knowledge),' which is also opposed to a ' lying in wait,' i. e. with a set purpose and intention to kill ; Deut. 19. II. Ex. 21. 13. The Apos- tle, Heb. 9. 7, denominates such sins ayvoriuara ignorances, or ignorant tres- 3 bif the priest that is anointed do sin according to the sin of the 1:.'. passes, more fully explained, Heb. 5. 3 by two distinct words, where he speaks olthe duty of priests ' to have comj)as- sion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of the way.' These ignorances or errors iherefure occurred wIk n any one, tlirough not knou ing, or forgelling, or iKtt duly heeding the law, and im- pelled r.ither by a casual inllnuity, than by a settled intention, comiiiilted some foul act which God had forbidden. In such cases, as soon as the transgression came to the knowledge of the offender, he was required to offer the sacrifice here prescribed ; and not to think that ignorance or inadvertency was an ex- cuse for his sin. But he, on the other hand, who sinned presumptuously, and with an avowed contempt oi llie law and the law-maker, was to be cut off, and there remained no more sacrifice for the sin, Heb. 10. 26, 27. IT And shall do against any of them. Ileb. HIL'^'I nrr!?3 rini\?3 vedsdh mtaliath mchinnah, shall do of (any) one of them. Gr. TDincrri h -I ut' avTuv, shall do any one thing of them. The phrase * do against' does not jjcrhaps materially vary from a correct rendering, but the obvious idea of the original is the doing of something which ought not to be done. The Jewish writers insist on the fol- lowing circumstances relative to the sin mentioned in the text. (1.) Its being conmiitted through ignorance, or mistake, or involuntarily. (2.) Its being against some vegatice command. (3.) Its including /flc/s, not words or thoughts, as appears from the expres- sion, 'and shall Jo against anyofliiem.' (4.) Its consisting of such facts as, if perpetrated willingly, would subjV'rt ih** offender to a fil'D kereth. ^x cipital cutting off. 3. The priest thai .s anointed. That is, the High Priest, a.«- rendered Loth in 42 LEVITICUS. [B. C. 1490. people ; then let him bring for his sin which he hatli sinned, ca young' bullock Aviiliout blemish uuio the Lord for a sin-otiering. 4 And he shall bring the bullock dunto the door of the tabernacle of c ch. 9. 2. 'I cli. 1. 3, 4. the Gr. and Chal. ; for the High Priest only was, in after times, thus honored. Lev.21.10. IC. 32. Ex. 29. 29. Thus, as the apostle says, ' The law made those high priests who had infirmity, and who needed daily to offer up sacri- fices, first, for their own sins, and then for the people's ;' hut our High Priest, Christ Jesus, was holy, harmless, unde- filed, and separate from sinners, and made higlier than the heavens. ■ IT Sin according to the sin of the people. Heb. t^n Til^'^'i^ii leashinath hddm, to the guilt of the people, i. e. so as to cause the people to transgress and bring guilt upon themselves, by emboldening them in iniquity by his pernicious ex- ample, or involving them, in virtue of the intimate relation subsisting between priest and people, in the consequences of his guilt. Thus 1 Chron.21. 3, ' Why then doth my Lord require this thing ? Why will he bring a cause of trespass (nfZ'Xi^'^ leashjnah) to Israel ?' where the word rendered ' cause of trespass,' is the same with that occurring here, and rendered ' sin.' Gr. rov rov \aov auapreiv so that the people si7i. Vulg. ' delinqucre faciens populum,' so as to make the people to offend. Chazkuni, a Jewish commentator, explains it thus : ' To make the people guilty, in that he liatli taught and permitted them to do a thing forbidden.' 17 A young bullock. Heb. "IpS "p "^5 par ben bdknr, a young bullock, by wliich is meant one little larger than a calf. It would almost seem that there was ground for the re- mark made by some, that in great offences the sacrifices were compara- tively small, lest it should be imagined that pardon was obtained by the value the congregation before the Lord; and shall lay his hand upon the bulluciv's head, and kill the bullock before the Lord, 5 And the priest that is anointed eshall lake of the bullock's blood, <^ ch. Ifi. 14. Numb. 19. 4. of the offering. Here the word em- ployed is "n-: par, properly a calf, while the victim in the ])eace-offering was "ITJ skor, an ox, though rendered less strictly in our version a bullock. IT Let him bring for his si7i for a sin-offering. The same original word rii^Ljn hattah, sin, is used in both cases. This, as we already remarked, is the name both for sin and the sin-offering j as the word piaculum was among the heathen, which signified both a great crime and the expiatory sacrifice for it. See Rom. 8. 3. 2 Cor. 5. 21, where the word ajianria sin, is used in the same manner. 4. Shall lay his hands, S,c. In the trespass-offering and other sacrifices of this nature, confession was joined with the imposition of hands ; but in the sin- offering it is nf>l mentioned, though some commentators have supposed it was implied. But we prefer to adhere to the simple letter of the record. But that the offering was, or ought to have been made in a penitent, believing, and imploring frame of spirit, there can be no doubt. 'Neither reconciliation-day (Lev. 16.), nor sin-offering, nor tres- pass-offering do make atonement, sav- ing for theii! that repent and believe in tlicir atonement.' — Mnimonidcs. An- other of the Jewish writers (Nitzaclion, p. 11) observes, ' When a man sacrificed a beast he was to think, ' I am more a beast than this present ; for I have sin- ned, and for the sins which I have com- mitted, I offer this animal ; though it were more just that lie who sinned should suffer death than this beast.' Wherefore by this sacrifice a man was led to begin his repentance.' B. C. 1490.] CHAPTER rV. 43 and bring it to the tabernacle of the congregation : 6 And lliu priest shall dip his fin- ger in the blood, and sprinkle of the blood seven times before the Loud, before the vail of the sanc- tuary. 7 And the priest shall fput some of the blood upon the horns of the altar of sweet incense before the Lord, which is in the tabernacle of the congregation ; and shall pour gall the blood of the bullock at the bottom of the altar of the burnt-offering, which is at the door of the tabernacle of the congrega- tion. 8 And he shall take off from it f ch. 8, 15, and 9. 9, and 16. 13. £ ch. 5. 9. 5. And bj-ing it to the tabernacle of the congregation. By which is meant that it should be brought into the very sanctuary, as appears from what fol- lows. Tlie preposition ^i^ el, might indeed properly have been rendered into, as in the cases mentioned in the Note on Ex. 28. 30. Gr. eig rnv cKy]vr]v into the tabernacle. 6. Sprinkle of the blood seven times. A mystical number, signifying the full nuA perfect cleansing of sin, and carry- ing with it also an implication of tl)e aggravated heinousness of the offence as committed by a priest ; for this, it ap- pears, was peculiar to this sacrifice for sin, and to that for the whole congrega- tion. We do not read of its being adopted in any other case. It was to be sprinkled towards the vail of the sanctuary, where the Lord, who was to be propitiated, dwelt, and from' this ceremony being practised in no other instance save in that of the congrega- tional offering, it would seem to imply that in respect to offences of this nature, there was peculiar need of the offerer's having recourse to that ' blood of sprink- ling,' which could alone speak peace to his conscience. The restoration of the divine favor was not so easily obtained. all the fat of the bullock for the sin-offering; the fat that covereth tiie inwards, and all the fat that is upon the inwards, !) And the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, which is by the flanks, and the caul above the liver, witli the kidneys, it shall he take away, 10 iiAs it was taken off from the bullock of the sacrifice of peace- ofierings : and the priest shall burn them upon the altar of the burnt- offering. 11 lAnd the skin of the bullock, and all his flesh, with his head, and with his legs, and his inwards, and his dung : h ch. 3. 3, 4, 5. i Exod. 29. 14. Numb. 19. 5. He must struggle for it. He must urge the plea of atoning blood again and again. IT Before the vail of the so??c- tuary. Heb, IDIpn Tu'^i} '^ZS T.J^ eth pen'c paroketh hakkodesh, and be- fore the vail of holines's. Gr. Kara to KnTaTTCTatTixa ru ayiov before the holy tail. The clause is plainly exegelical of the preceding 'before tlie Lord,' which is equivalent to ' before the Shekinah,' and this we know had its residence in the holy of holies, just behind the separat- ing vail between the two apartments, called in Heb. 9. 3, ' the second vail.' 7. And the priest shall put, S/C. This also was peculiar to this sacrifice, and to that for the whole congregation, v. 17. The blood was thus applied to each horn or spire of the incense-altar, pro- bably to intimate tliat no intercessions or prayers would be accepted from the sinner till he was absolved from his guilt by virtue of the atoning blood. IT Shall pour all the blood ; i. e. all that is left after the sprinkling. It could not be absolutely all, but the quantity of blood sprinkled in the sanctuary was so small, that the remainder might, without impropriety, be termed the whole. During the Israelites' residence in the wilderness, it is probable they 44 LEVITICUS. [B. C. 1490 12 Even the whole hullock sliall i him on the wood with fire: where he carry fonh wi.hoiii ihe camp the ashes are puuitd tut shall he U)iio a clean piace, J^v/iieie ilic be bum I. iT hcs uie puurcd out. ar.d 'burn I "lad receptacles under ground with con- veyances lo carry off the blood. Afler the building oi' the Temple, there were two lioks, one on the west side of the al'ar, the other on the south, by which the blood was conveyed into a subter- ranean channel, comniiinicaling with the brook Kedrnn. 1.2, Shall he carry forth ivithout the camp. Heb. ti'^jliri hotzi, he or one shall carry forth ; midoubtediy an in- stance of that indefinite or impersonal form of expression, so common in He- brew, where the singular, like the French ' on dit,' they nay, lias the im- port of the jdural. And thus it is ren- dered both here and in v. 21, by the Gr. E^oicovfTii', they shall carry forth. So in V. 24, our version renders ' in the place where they kill the burnt-offering,' when the original is t:)!!!^"^ yislChat, he or one kills. This is an idiom of very extensive use and of the utmost import- ance in the sacred writings. See it more fully illustrated in the Note on Lev. 1. 5. This precept has a primary reference to the state of the Israelites during their wandering in the wilder- ness. Afler their settlement in Canaan and the erection of the Temple at Jeru- salem, they carried them out of the city. The sacrifice, now considered as liaving the sin of the priest transferred from himself to it, by his imj^o^ition of hands, was become unclean and abomi- nable, and was carried as it were out of God's sight. The ceremony, there- fore, was strikingly significant of tlie sinfulness of this sin'. The fit portions only of the victim, with the kidneys and caul, after being detached from the rest were to be burnt U))on the aliar. No other part was to come near the altar, nor was the least share of it per- mitled to either priest or peoj.le, but it •^ cii. G. 11. • Hel>. 13. 11. was to be carried out of the camp skin and all entire, and burnt in a fire on the ground. By this was denoted the of- ferer's being in a state of guilt, wholly unwortliy to communicate with God, and like the offering itself, deserved lo be excluded the society of his people, till reconciled by the sacrifice now made in his stead. Thus Ciirist, who was made sin or a sin-offering for us, ' suf- fered without the gate.'' Even this slight accordance of the type and the antitype serves to show how completely all the grand observances ol the law had their realization in him. IT Burn him on the wood with fire. Not upon an altar, but on a fire made with wood upon the ground, lo show the odious- ness of the sin. As the whole binnt sacrifices were burnt on the altar I.;-. cause they were an ' offering of sweet- smelling savor to God,' so this was burnt without tlie camp upon the ground 1 1 show that the odor ol it was ungratefiT and abominable. 17 IVhere the ash(e are poured out. There were two ])lace6 where the ashes were poured, one hy the side of the altar where ihcy were first \sk\, of which mention is ma(fc Lev. 1. 16 ; tlie other, without the prs cincts of the cainp, to which, as lo a general receptacle, the ashes and other refuse mailer of the camp was conveyed. The publicity here given lo the buiaing of the sin-oftering of the priest, might be intended lo convey a deeper imprf s- sion of the enormity of his sin compared 1 with that of the common people, al- ! though the same thing was commanded I in case the whole congregation had sinned. There was, therelure, a pecu- liar ri])roach attached to this sacrifice, intimated by the rejietition of ihe pre- sent order — from iheoflence upon whicb it was founded. B. C. 1490.] CHAPTER IV. 45 13 ^ And "'if the whole congre- gaiiun of Israel sin ihrougli igno- rance, "and ihe liiini? be hid Irom the eyes of the assembly, and they have done somewhat against any of the commandments of the Lord concerning things which should n(.'! \rc done, and are guilty ; 14 When tlie sin which ihey have sinned against it is icnovvn, tiien the congregation shall olfer a young bullock for the sin, and bring him bef .'re ihe tabernacle of the con- grL'L'"ation. 15 And the elders of the congre- gation "shall lay their hands upon the head of the bullock before the Lo!iD : and the bullock shall be killed before the Lokd. ■ ' Numb. 15. -24. Josh. 7. 11. " ch. 5. 2, 3, 4, 17. -^ ch. 1. 4. 2.— The Sin-offering for the Whole Congregation. 13, J/ the whole congregation sin. This probably refers to some oversight in acts oT religious worship, or to some trans^gression of the letter of the law coiiiiiuited, not presumptuously, but lieedlessly, as in the case mentioned 1 Sam. 14. 32; where, after smiting the Philistines, the Israelites ' flew upon tlie spoil, and took sheep, and oxen, and calves, and slew them on the ground: and the people did eat them with the blood.' This was a congregational sin. Tile sacrifices and rites in this case were the same as in the preceding ; only here the elders laid their hands on the head of the victim, in the name of all the congregation. IT And the thing he hid from the eyes of the assembly. Heb. "^r^pft hakkuhal, the word properly answering to our English word church, as it is well rendered by Ainsworth. Accordingly Stej)hen says of Moses, Acts 7. 38, ' This is he that was in the church in the wilderness witli the angel ihat spake to him.' By ' the thirigs oeing hidden from their eyes,' is meant 16 pAnd the priest that is anoint- ed shall bring of the bullock's blood to the tabernacle oi' the congrega- tion : J7 And the priest shall dip his finger in some of the blood, and sprnikle il seven times before the LoKD, even before the vail. IS And he shall put some of the blood ui)on the horns of the altar which IS bt'l'ore the Lord, that is in the tabernacle of the congrega- tion, and shall pour out all the blood at the bottom of the altar of the burnt-oflering, which is at the door of the tabernacle of the con- gregation. 19 And he shall take all his fat from liim, and burn it upon the altar. P ver. 5. Heb. 9. 12, 1-3, 14. that they were not for the present sensi- ble of their error or transgression. The reference is to a case where they had ignorantly or inadvertently committed some act which they presumed at the time to be lawful, but which subsequent reflection or instruction convinced them was sinful. In this case, as soon as they came to a sense of their wrong-do- ing, the elders, or heads of the tribes, as the representatives of the whole body, were to bring a young bullock to the tabernacle and present it to the high- priest, who was to ofler it by way of atonement for them, in the same man- ner and with the same circumstances, that he did the other for himself. 1.5. The elders shall lay their hands. Not the priests in this case, but the heads and magistrates of the nation, who were seventy in number. As all the people could not lay their hands upon the bullock, it was sufficient that it were done by the elders, or a part of them, in the name of the congregation. Maiinonides says, that the number of elders that ofTiciatcd on this occasion was three. This act denoted the faith of the people in a coming Messiah, ' up. 46 LEVITICUS. [B. C. 1490. 20 And he shall do with the bul- lock as he did qwith the bullock for a sin-offering, so shall he do witn this : rand the priest shall make an atonement for them, and it shall be Ibrgiven them. 21 And he shall carry forth the bullock without the camp, and burn him as he burned the tirst bullock • h is a sin-offering .for the congre- gation. 22 TI When a ruler hath sinned, and sdone soiyieivhat through igno- rance against any of the command- ments of the Lord his God con- cerning things which should not be done, and is guilty ; 23 Or tif his sin, wherein he hath sinned, come to his knowledge; he ^ver. 3. f Num. 15, 25. Dan. 9. 24. Rom. 6. 11. Heb. 2. 17. and 10. 10, 11, 12. 1 John 1. 7. and 2. 2. s ygr. 2. 1-3. ' ver. 14. on whom the Lord would lay the ini- quity of us all.' Is. 53. 6. 3. — The Sin-offering for the Ruler. 22. When a ruler hath sinned. Heb. 5ti'i"2 nasi, prince, i. e. one preferred, elevated, advanced above others j froin i^'kUD ndsd, to lift up. It is a common appellation both of supreme and subor- dinate rulers, and is very frequently used to signify the head of a tribe. The Jews understand it peculiarly of the head or prince of the great Sanhe- drim, who was the king liimself, wliile ihey were under kingly government ; but it seems more reasonable to under- stand it of all llie great officers or ma- gistrates ; any one who held any kind of j)olitical dignity among the people. ir And is guilty, or if his sin come to his knowledge ; i.e. if he is ))resently reminded of it by the checks of his own con-science, or if after a lime it be sug- gested to him by others. The ceremo- nies in this case dilfered from those in the case ol the oifering of the anointtd prie&i, inasuuich as tlie blood of the ruler's sin-offering, which was a kid of shall bring his offering, a kid of the goats, a male without blemish : 24 And uhe shall lay his hand upon the head of the goat, and kill it in the place where they kill the burnt-offering before the Loud : it is a siu-olfering. 25 "And the ])riest shall take of the blood of the sin-offering with his linger, and put it upon the horns of the altar of burnt-offering, and shall pour out his blood at the bottom of the altar of burnt-of- fering. 26 And he shall burn all his fat upon the altar, as yihe fat of the sacrifice of peace-offerings : ^and the priest shall make an atonement for him as concerning his sin, and it shall be forgiven him. 'J ver. 4, &c- ^ vcr. 30. 20- Num 15. 28. y ch. 3. 5. the goats in^tead of a bullock, was not to be brought into the tabernacle, but was all to be bestowed upon the brazen altar, nor was the flesh of it to be burnt without the camp ; which intimated that the sin of a ruler, though worse than that of a common person^ was not so heinous as of that of the liigh priest, or of the whole congregation. 25. Put it upon the horns of the altar. In every sacritice for sin the horns of one or other of the altars were required to be touched with the blood, but with this dilierence, that in the sacrifice ior the sins of the high priest and the people; when the blood of the victim was brought into the sanctuary, the horns of the altar of incense were sprinkled, in others, those of the altar of holocaust. 26. He shall burn all his (i. c. its)/a; upon the altar. Nothing is here said, as in the case of two of llie previous offerings, v. 12, 21, which were to be burnt witliout the camp, of the disposal tliat sliould be made ol tiic lit•.■^il of the the viciim. Bai ui Lev. G. 2ti, 2.v, and Num. 18. 9, 10, the prescribed law of B. C. 1490.] CHAPTER IV. 47 27 IF And aif any one of the com- mon people sin through ignorance, while he doeth someu-hat against any of the commandments of tlie Lord concerning things which ought not to be done, and be guilty ; 2S Or i^if his sin which he liath sinned come to his knowledge ; then he shall bring his offering, a kid of the goats, a female without blemish, for his sin which he hath sinned. 29 cAnd he shall lay his hand Upon the head of the sin-offering, and slay the sin-offering in the place of the burnt-offering. 30 And the priest shall take of the blood thereof Avith his finger, and put it upon the horns of the altar of burnt- offering, and shall pour out all the blood thereof at the bottom of the altar. 31 And tihe shall take away all the fat thereof, eas the fat is taken =1 ver. 2. Num. 15. 27. b ver. 23. c ygr. 4. 24. '1 ch. 3. 14. «=ch. 3. 3. the Sin-offering is, that the priest and his sons should eat it in the sanctuary, and no where else ; provided that they were free from uncleanness. 4. — The Sin-offering for one of the covimon people. 27. If any one of the common people. Heb. yn&in G2>?3 nni4 trSD tD5< im ne- phesh ahath mi'arn hadretz, if one soul of the people of the land ; i. e. as rightly rendered, any of the common people, whether ])rivate Israelite, priest, or Levite, with the exception of the high priest and ruler mentioned above. 28. A kid of the goals. This was the ordinary sacrifice prescribed on such occasions : but when the poverty of the offerer prevented such an oblation, one of less value was appointed ; Lev. 5. 11, 12. The ceremonies were nearly the same as in the preceding cases. 31, For a sweet savor unto the Lord. Although this phrase is used concerning away from off the sacrifice of peace-oflerings ; and the priest shall burn it upon the altar for a he shall bring it a female wiihout blemish. 33 And he shall lay his hand up- on the head of the sin-offering, and slay it for a sin-offering in the place where they kill the burnt- offering. 34 And the priest shall take of the blood of the sin-offering with his finger, and put it upon the horns of the altar of burnt-offering, and shall pour out all the blood thereof at the bottom of the altar: 35 And he shall take away all the fat thereof, as the fat of the lamb is taken away from the sacri- fExod. 29. 18. ch. 1. 9. ever 20. '»ver. the burnt-offering and the peace-offer- ing, yet it is nowhere said of the fore- going sin-offerings ; ' the reason of which,' says Bp. Patrick, ' I am not able to give^ unless it were to comfort the lowest sort of people with the hope of God's mercy, though their offerings were mean compared with those of others.' 33. And slay it for a sin-offering in the place where they kill the burnt- offering. Here again the Gr. gives correctly the plural form aipa^uvatv they shall slay, just as our translation in the same clause renders tiHlD'^ yish^hatf though singular, they kill, they are accustomed to kill, 'So. According to the offerings made by fire unto the Lord. Heb. ^''^n"' "^'L^i^ ^^ al ishc Yehovah ; which may be render- ed, upon, with, or beside the offerings made by fire ; i. e. in addition to the burnt-offerings which were daily con- sumed upon the altar. As for the flesh 48 LEVITICUS. [B. C. 1490. fice of the peace-offerings ; and the priest shall burn them upon the altar, Jaccording to the offerings made by fire unto the Lord : ^and or bodies of ibis and the foregoing Sin- ofieiing of the rulers, they were not, like those of the high priest and the con- gregation, burnt uiihout the camp, but were eaten by the priests, as directed, Lev. 6. 26-30. Remarks. — (2.) Sins of ignorance, though of less guilt than sins of pre- sumption, do as really need the blood of atonement, and as truly form the matter of repentance, as any others. (2.) From the fact that greater sacri- fices and more burdensome riles were ai)poinled for the priest and the prince than for private persons, it is evident that the sins of some men are of a more heinous character, more scandalous and pernicious, than those of others. Per- sons occupying a public station, which makes them conspicuous, cannot sin with impunity, however it may be with others. (13.) As there might be among the people of Israel a sin of the whole con- gregation, so at the present time there may be a sin of the whole nation, which needs, as it were, a national atonement. (28.) 'If his sin come to his know- ledge.' Whenever conscience charges upon us former sins committed, whether against God or man, we are bound to make restitution, though years may have elapsed since the event occurred. CHAPTER V. THE TRESPASS-OFFERING. The original word for Trespass-offer- ing is arx (hkdm, from a root of the same letters tri^ asham, to fail in duty, to transgress, to be guilty, or, as it is for the most rendered in our ver- sioii to trespass. The leading idea is plainly that of guilt, and it is exten- sively admitted by lexicographers that the priest shall make an atonement for his sin that he hath committed, and it shall be forgiven him. ' ch. 3. 5. k ver 2G, 31. the degree of guilt denoted hy the term is greater than that denoted by the word aCuT] 'hcitd, to sin, from which comes the appropriate term for sin-offerings. The Trespass- offerings, as we have already remarked, so greatly resembled the Sin-offerings, that it is by no means easy to distinguish between them. The occasions on which they were offered were much the same, and the ceremo- nies much t.he same also. Indeed, we sometimes have the same oblations called interchangeably Sin-offerings and Trespass-offerings, as particularly Lev. 5. 6-8 : 'And he shall bring his tres- pass-offering ("l?21-!^ ash'wio) unto the Lord for his sin which he hath sinned, (^uH "l'i;i^ iriKt:n ^>' al 'hattdtho asher 'hdtd) a female from the flock, a lamb or a kid of the goals, for a sin-offering. And if he be not able to bring a lamb, then lie shall bring for his trespass which he hath committed (tit:n "1^5:^ l^^i^ ashamo asher 'hiit(7) two turtle-doves, or two young pigeons, unto the Lord ; one for a sin-offering (riJ^t^n^ lehat- tdth) and the other for a burnt-offering.' Here it is observable that the offence committed is called indifferently a sin and a trespass, and the sacrifice offered, a trespass-offering and a sin-offering. Notwithstanding this there were marked points of difference between the two. Sin-offerings were sometimes offered for the whole congregation ; Trespass-offer- ings never but for particular persons. Bullocks were sometimes used for Sin- offerings, never for Trespass-offerings. The blood of the Sin-offering was put on the horns of the altar ; that of the Trespass-offering was only sprinkled round about the bottom of the altar. Still we are left in ignorance of the pre- cise nature of the distinction, or for what reasoi}s the law in one case pre- B. C. 1490.] CHAPTER V. 49 scribed one, and in another the other. Lightfoot, guided by rabbinical author- ity, makes the difference to consist in this, that both indeed were offered for the same sort of transgressions, but the tD^l'i^ fishdm, or trespass-offering was to be offered when it was doubtful whe- ther a person had transgressed or not ; as for instance, suppose that he had eaten fat, and was afterwards in doubt whether it was the fat belonging to the muscular flesh, which was lawful to be eaten, or the fat of the inwards, which was unlawful ; then he was to offer an C^5< ashdtn. But if it were certain, ^nd he knew that he had trespassed, he must offer the ni^tsn 'hattddh, or sin-of- fering. Maimonides is of opinion that the offences for which the 'DTI^i^ dshdm was offered were inferior to those for which the {li^tDn 'hattddh was offered. Bochart, on the other hand, and we think with much better reason, holds that the offences expiated by filDi^ dshdm were more grievous than those expiated by nJiLSn 'hattddh. Aben Ezra make's n&^t2n 'hattddh to signify a sacrifice offered for purging offences committed through ignorance of the law ; dJi^ dshdm for such as were committed through forgetfulness of it. Others again make the difference to be, that the nj!