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Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
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Matthew Henry |
L E V I T C U S
CHAP. VII.
Here is,
I. The law of the trespass-offering
(ver. 1-7),
with some further directions concerning the burnt-offering and the
meat-offering,
II. The law of the peace-offering. The eating of it
(ver. 11-21),
on which occasion the prohibition of eating fat or blood is repeated
(ver. 22-27),
and the priests’ share of it,
III. The conclusion of those institutions,
&c.
| Law of the Trespass-Offering. | B. C. 1490. |
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1 Likewise this is the law of the trespass offering: it is
most holy.
2 In the place where they kill the burnt offering shall they
kill the trespass offering: and the blood thereof shall he
sprinkle round about upon the altar.
3 And he shall offer of it all the fat thereof; the rump, and
the fat that covereth the inwards,
4 And the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which
is by the flanks, and the caul that is above the liver, with
the kidneys, it shall he take away:
5 And the priest shall burn them upon the altar for an
offering made by fire unto the LORD: it is a trespass offering.
6 Every male among the priests shall eat thereof: it shall be
eaten in the holy place: it is most holy.
7 As the sin offering is, so is the trespass offering:
there is one law for them: the priest that maketh atonement
therewith shall have it.
8 And the priest that offereth any man’s burnt offering, even
the priest shall have to himself the skin of the burnt offering
which he hath offered.
9 And all the meat offering that is baken in the oven, and all
that is dressed in the fryingpan, and in the pan, shall be the
priest’s that offereth it.
10 And every meat offering, mingled with oil, and dry, shall
all the sons of Aaron have, one as much as another.
Observe here,
1. Concerning the trespass-offering, that, being much of the same
nature with the sin-offering, it was to be governed by the same rules,
v. 6.
When the blood and fat were offered to God to make atonement, the
priests were to eat the flesh, as that of the sin-offering, in the holy
place. The Jews have a tradition (as we have it from the learned bishop
Patrick) concerning the sprinkling of the blood of the
trespass-offering round about upon the altar, “That there was a
scarlet line which went round about the altar exactly in the middle,
and the blood of the burnt-offerings was sprinkled round about above
the line, but that of the trespass-offerings and peace-offerings round
about below the line.” As to the flesh of the trespass-offering, the
right to it belonged to the priest that offered it,
v. 7.
He that did the work must have the wages. This was an encouragement to
the priests to give diligent attendance on the altar; the more ready
and busy they were the more they got. Note, The more diligent we are in
the services of religion the more we shall reap of the advantages of
it. But any of the priests, and the males of their families, might be
invited by him to whom it belonged to partake with him: Every male
among the priests shall eat thereof, that is, may eat thereof,
in the holy place,
v. 6.
And, no doubt, it was the usage to treat one another with those
perquisites of their office, by which friendship and fellowship were
kept up among the priests. Freely they had received, and must freely
give. It seems the offerer was not himself to have any share of his
trespass-offering, as he was to have of his peace-offering; but it was
all divided between the altar and the priest. They offered
peace-offerings in thankfulness for mercy, and then it was proper to
feast; but they offered trespass-offerings in sorrow for sin, and then
fasting was more proper, in token of holy mourning, and a resolution to
abstain from sin.
2. Concerning the burnt-offering it is here appointed that the priest
that offered it should have the skin
(v. 8),
which no doubt he might make money of. “This” (the Jews say) “is meant
only for the burnt-offerings which were offered by particular persons;
for the profit of the skins of the daily burnt-offerings for the
congregation went to the repair of the sanctuary.” Some suggest that
this appointment will help us to understand God’s clothing our first
parents with coats of skins,
Gen. iii. 21.
It is probable that the beasts whose skins they were were offered in
sacrifice as whole burnt-offerings, and that Adam was the priest that
offered them; and then God gave him the skins, as his fee, to make
clothes of for himself and his wife, in remembrance of which the skins
ever after pertained to the priest; and see
3. Concerning the meat-offering, if it was dressed, it was fit to be
eaten immediately; and therefore the priest that offered it was to have
it,
v. 9.
If it was dry, there was not so much occasion for being in haste to use
it; and therefore an equal dividend of it must be made among all the
priests that were then in waiting,
| Law of the Peace-Offering. | B. C. 1490. |
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11 And this is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings,
which he shall offer unto the LORD.
12 If he offer it for a thanksgiving, then he shall offer with
the sacrifice of thanksgiving unleavened cakes mingled with oil,
and unleavened wafers anointed with oil, and cakes mingled with
oil, of fine flour, fried.
13 Besides the cakes, he shall offer for his offering
leavened bread with the sacrifice of thanksgiving of his peace
offerings.
14 And of it he shall offer one out of the whole oblation for
an heave offering unto the LORD, and it shall be the priest’s
that sprinkleth the blood of the peace offerings.
15 And the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offerings for
thanksgiving shall be eaten the same day that it is offered; he
shall not leave any of it until the morning.
16 But if the sacrifice of his offering be a vow, or a
voluntary offering, it shall be eaten the same day that he
offereth his sacrifice: and on the morrow also the remainder of
it shall be eaten:
17 But the remainder of the flesh of the sacrifice on the third
day shall be burnt with fire.
18 And if any of the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace
offerings be eaten at all on the third day, it shall not be
accepted, neither shall it be imputed unto him that offereth it:
it shall be an abomination, and the soul that eateth of it shall
bear his iniquity.
19 And the flesh that toucheth any unclean thing shall not be
eaten; it shall be burnt with fire: and as for the flesh, all
that be clean shall eat thereof.
20 But the soul that eateth of the flesh of the sacrifice of
peace offerings, that pertain unto the LORD, having his
uncleanness upon him, even that soul shall be cut off from his
people.
21 Moreover the soul that shall touch any unclean thing, as
the uncleanness of man, or any unclean beast, or any abominable
unclean thing, and eat of the flesh of the sacrifice of peace
offerings, which pertain unto the LORD, even that soul shall be
cut off from his people.
22 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
23 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, Ye shall eat no
manner of fat, of ox, or of sheep, or of goat.
24 And the fat of the beast that dieth of itself, and the fat
of that which is torn with beasts, may be used in any other use:
but ye shall in no wise eat of it.
25 For whosoever eateth the fat of the beast, of which men
offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD, even the soul that
eateth it shall be cut off from his people.
26 Moreover ye shall eat no manner of blood, whether it be of
fowl or of beast, in any of your dwellings.
27 Whatsoever soul it be that eateth any manner of blood,
even that soul shall be cut off from his people.
28 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
29 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, He that offereth
the sacrifice of his peace offerings unto the LORD shall bring
his oblation unto the LORD of the sacrifice of his peace
offerings.
30 His own hands shall bring the offerings of the LORD made by
fire, the fat with the breast, it shall he bring, that the breast
may be waved for a wave offering before the LORD.
31 And the priest shall burn the fat upon the altar: but the
breast shall be Aaron’s and his sons’.
32 And the right shoulder shall ye give unto the priest for
an heave offering of the sacrifices of your peace offerings.
33 He among the sons of Aaron, that offereth the blood of the
peace offerings, and the fat, shall have the right shoulder for
his part.
34 For the wave breast and the heave shoulder have I taken of
the children of Israel from off the sacrifices of their peace
offerings, and have given them unto Aaron the priest and unto his
sons by a statute for ever from among the children of Israel.
All this relates to the peace-offerings: it is the repetition and
explication of what we had before, with various additions.
I. The nature and intention of the peace-offerings are here more
distinctly opened. They were offered either,
1. In thankfulness for some special mercy received, such as recovery
from sickness, preservation in a journey, deliverance at sea,
redemption out of captivity, all which are specified in
Ps. cvii.,
and for them men are called upon to offer the sacrifice of
thanksgiving,
Or,
2. In performance of some vow which a man made when he was in distress
(v. 16),
and this was less honourable than the former, though the omission of it
would have been more culpable. Or,
3. In supplication for some special mercy which a man was in the
pursuit and expectation of, here called a voluntary offering.
This accompanied a man’s prayers, as the former did his praises. We do
not find that men were bound by the law, unless they had bound
themselves by vow, to offer these peace-offerings upon such occasions,
as they were to bring their sacrifices of atonement in case of sin
committed. Not but that prayer and praise are as much our duty as
repentance is; but here, in the expressions of their sense of mercy,
God left them more to their liberty than in the expressions of their
sense of sin–to try the generosity of their devotion, and that their
sacrifices, being free-will offerings, might be the more laudable and
acceptable; and, by obliging them to bring the sacrifices of atonement,
God would show the necessity of the great propitiation.
II. The rites and ceremonies about the peace-offerings are enlarged
upon.
1. If the peace-offering was offered for a thanksgiving, a
meat-offering must be offered with it, cakes of several sorts, and
wafers
(v. 12),
and (which was peculiar to the peace-offerings) leavened bread must be
offered, not to be burnt upon the altar, that was forbidden
(ch. ii. 11),
but to be eaten with the flesh of the sacrifice, that nothing might be
wanting to make it a complete and pleasant feast; for unleavened bread
was less grateful to the taste, and therefore, though enjoined in the
passover for a particular reason, yet in other festivals leavened
bread, which was lighter and more pleasant, was appointed, that men
might feast at God’s table as well as at their own. And some think
that a meat-offering is required to be brought with every
peace-offering, as well as with that of thanksgiving, by that law
(v. 29)
which requires an oblation with it, that the table might be as well
furnished as the altar.
2. The flesh of the peace-offerings, both that which was the priest’s
share and that which was the offerer’s must be eaten quickly, and not
kept long, either raw, or dressed, cold. If it was a peace-offering for
thanksgiving, it must be all eaten the same day
(v. 16);
if a vow, or voluntary offering, it must be eaten either the same day
or the day after,
If any was left beyond the time limited, it was to be burnt
(v. 17);
and, if any person ate of what was so left their conduct should be
animadverted upon as a very high misdemeanour,
Though they were not obliged to eat it in the holy place, as those
offerings that are called most holy, but might take it to their own
tents and feast upon it there, yet God would by this law make them to
know a difference between that and other meat, and religiously to
observe it, that whereas they might keep other meat cold in the house
as long as they thought fit, and warm it again if they pleased, and eat
it three or four days after, they might not do so with the flesh of
their peace-offerings, but it must be eaten immediately.
(1.) Because God would not have that holy flesh to be in danger of
putrefying, or being fly-blown, to prevent which it must be salted with
fire (as the expression is,
if it were kept; as, if it was used, it must be salted with salt.
(2.) Because God would not have his people to be niggardly and sparing,
and distrustful of providence, but cheerfully to enjoy what God gives
them
and to do good with it, and not to be anxiously solicitous for the
morrow.
(3.) The flesh of the peace-offerings was God’s treat, and therefore
God would have the disposal of it; and he orders it to be used
generously for the entertainment of their friends, and charitably for
the relief of the poor, to show that he is a bountiful benefactor,
giving us all things richly to enjoy, the bread of the day in
its day. If the sacrifice was thanksgiving, they were especially
obliged thus to testify their holy joy in God’s goodness by their holy
feasting. This law is made very strict
(v. 18),
that if the offerer did not take care to have all his offering eaten by
himself or his family, his friends or the poor, within the time limited
by the law, or, in the event of any part being left, to burn it (which
was the most decent way of disposing of it, the sacrifices upon the
altar being consumed by fire), then his offering should not be
accepted, nor imputed to him. Note, All the benefit of our religious
services is lost if we do not improve them, and conduct ourselves
aright afterwards. They are not acceptable to God if they have not a
due influence upon ourselves. If a man seemed generous in bringing a
peace-offering, and yet afterwards proved sneaking and paltry in the
using of it, it was as if he had never brought it; nay, it shall be
an abomination. Note, There is no mean between God’s acceptance and
his abhorrence. If our persons and performances are sincere and
upright, they are accepted; if not, they are an abomination,
He that eats it after the time appointed shall bear his
iniquity, that is, he shall be cut off from his people, as
it is explained
(ch. xix. 8),
where this law is repeated. This law of eating the peace-offerings
before the third day, that they might not putrefy, is applicable tot
the resurrection of Christ after two days, that, being God’s holy
one, he might not see corruption,
And some think that it instructs us speedily, and without delay, to
partake of Christ and his grace, feeding and feasting thereon by faith
to-day, while it is called to-day
for it will be too late shortly.
3. But the flesh, and those that eat it, must be pure.
(1.) The flesh must touch no unclean thing; if it did, it must
not be eaten, but burnt,
If, in carrying it from the altar to the place where it was eaten, a
dog touched it, or it touched a dead body or any other unclean thing,
it was then unfit to be used in a religious feast. Every thing we
honour the holy God with must be pure and carefully kept from all
pollution. It is a case adjudged
that the holy flesh could not by its touch communicate holiness to what
was common; but by this law it is determined that by the touch of that
which was unclean it received pollution from it, which intimates that
the infection of sin is more easily and more frequently communicated
than the savour of grace.
(2.) It must not be eaten by any unclean person. When a person was upon
any account ceremonially unclean it was at his peril if he presumed to
eat of the flesh of the peace-offerings,
Holy things are only for holy persons; the holiness of the food being
ceremonial, those were incapacitated to partake of it who lay under any
ceremonial uncleanness; but we are hereby taught to preserve ourselves
pure from all the pollutions of sin, that we may have the benefit and
comfort of Christ’s sacrifice,
Our consciences must be purged from dead works, that we may be fit to
serve the living God,
Heb. ix. 14.
But if any dare to partake of the table of the Lord under the pollution
of sin unrepented of, and so profane sacred things, they eat and drink
judgment to themselves, as those did that ate of the
peace-offerings
(v. 20)
and again
(v. 21),
that they pertain unto the Lord: whatever pertains to the Lord
is sacred, and must be used with great reverence and not with
unhallowed hands. “Be you holy, for God is holy, and you pertain
to him.”
4. The eating of blood and the fat of the inwards is here again
prohibited; and the prohibition is annexed as before to the law of the
peace-offerings,
(1.) The prohibition of the fat seems to be confined to those beasts
which were used for sacrifice, the bullocks, sheep, and goats: but of
the roe-buck, the hart, and other clean beasts, they might eat the fat;
for those only of which offerings were brought are mentioned here,
This was to preserve in their minds a reverence for God’s altar, on
which the fat of the inwards was burnt. The Jews say, “If a man eat so
much as an olive of forbidden fat–if he do it presumptuously, he is in
danger of being cut off by the hand of God–if ignorantly, he is to
bring a sin-offering, and so to pay dearly for his carelessness.” To
eat of the flesh of that which died of itself, or was torn of beasts,
was unlawful; but to eat of the fat of such was doubly unlawful,
(2.) The prohibition of blood is more general
(v. 26, 27),
because the fat was offered to God only by way of acknowledgment, but
the blood made atonement for the soul, and so typified Christ’s
sacrifice much more than the burning of the fat did; to this therefore
a greater reverence must be paid, till these types had their
accomplishment in the offering up of the body of Christ once for all.
The Jews rightly expound this law as forbidding only the blood of
the life, as they express it, not that which we call the
gravy, for of that they supposed it was lawful to eat.
5. The priest’s share of the peace-offerings is here prescribed. Out of
every beast that was offered for a peace-offering the priest that
offered it was to have to himself the breast and the right shoulder,
Observe here,
(1.) That when the sacrifice was killed the offerer himself must, with
his own hands, present God’s part of it, that he might signify thereby
his cheerfully giving it up to God, and his desire that it might be
accepted. He was with his own hands to lift it up, in token of
his regard to God as the God of heaven, and then to wave it to and
fro, in token of his regard to God as the Lord of the whole earth,
to whom thus, as far as he could reach, he offered it, showing his
readiness and wish to do him honour. Now that which was thus heaved and
waved was the fat, and the breast, and the right shoulder, it was all
offered to God; and then he ordered the fat to his altar, and the
breast and shoulder to his priest, both being his receivers.
(2.) That when the fat was burnt the priest took his part, on which he
and his family were to feast, as well as the offerer and his family. In
holy joy and thanksgiving, it is good to have our ministers to go
before us, and to be our mouth to God. The melody is sweet when he that
sows and those that reap rejoice together. Some observe a significancy
in the parts assigned to the priests: the breast and the shoulder
intimate the affections and the actions, which must be devoted to the
honour of God by all his people and to the service also of the church
by all his priests. Christ, our great peace-offering, feasts all his
spiritual priests with the breast and shoulder, with the dearest love
and the sweetest and strongest supports; for his is the wisdom of God
and the power of God. When Saul was designed for a king Samuel ordered
the shoulder of the peace-offering to be set before him
which gave him a hint of something great and sacred intended for him.
Jesus Christ is our great peace-offering; for he made himself a
sacrifice, not only to atone for sin, and so to save us from the curse,
but to purchase a blessing for us, and all good. By our joyfully
partaking of the benefits of redemption we feast upon the
sacrifice, to signify which the Lord’s supper was instituted.
35 This is the portion of the anointing of Aaron, and of the
anointing of his sons, out of the offerings of the LORD made by
fire, in the day when he presented them to minister unto the
LORD in the priest’s office;
36 Which the LORD commanded to be given them of the children of
Israel, in the day that he anointed them, by a statute for ever
throughout their generations.
37 This is the law of the burnt offering, of the meat
offering, and of the sin offering, and of the trespass offering,
and of the consecrations, and of the sacrifice of the peace
offerings;
38 Which the LORD commanded Moses in mount Sinai, in the day
that he commanded the children of Israel to offer their oblations
unto the LORD, in the wilderness of Sinai.
Here is the conclusion of these laws concerning the sacrifices, though
some of them are afterwards repeated and explained. The are to be
considered,
1. As a grant to the priests,
In the day they were ordained to that work and office this provision
was made for their comfortable maintenance. Note, God will take care
that those who are employed for him be well paid and well provided for.
Those that receive the anointing of the Spirit to minister unto the
Lord shall have their portion, and it shall be a worthy portion, out of
the offerings of the Lord; for God’s work is its own wages, and there
is a present reward of obedience in obedience.
2. As a statute for ever to the people, that they should bring these
offerings according to the rules prescribed, and cheerfully give the
priests their share out of them. God commanded the children of
Israel to offer their oblations,
v. 38.
Note, The solemn acts religious worship are commanded. They are not
things that we are left to our liberty in, and which we may do or not
do at our pleasure; but we are under indispensable obligations to
perform them in their season, and it is at our peril if we omit them.
The observance of the laws of Christ cannot be less necessary than the
observance of the laws of Moses was.
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