Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary

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Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible (1706)

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L E V I T C U S

CHAP. III.

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In this chapter we have the law concerning the peace-offerings, whether

they were,

I. Of the heard, a bullock or a heifer,

ver. 1-5.

Or,

II. Of the flock, either a lamb

(ver. 6-11)

or a goat,

ver. 12-17.

The ordinances concerning each of these are much the same, yet they are

repeated, to show the care we ought to take that all our services be

done according to the appointment and the pleasure God takes in the

services that are so performed. It is likewise to intimate what need we

have of precept upon precept, and line upon line.

Law of the Peace-Offering.	B. C. 1490.

     

1 And if his oblation be a sacrifice of peace offering, if he

offer it of the herd; whether it be a male or female, he

shall offer it without blemish before the LORD.

  2 And he shall lay his hand upon the head of his offering, and

kill it at the 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 sacrifice of the peace offering an

offering made by fire unto the LORD; the fat that covereth the

inwards, and all the fat that is upon the inwards,

  4 And the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which

is by the flanks, and the caul above the liver, with the

kidneys, it shall he take away.

  5 And Aaron’s sons shall burn it on the altar upon the burnt

sacrifice, which is upon the wood that is on the fire: it

is an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD.

     

The burnt-offerings had regard to God as in himself the best of beings,

most perfect and excellent; they were purely expressive of adoration,

and therefore were wholly burnt. But the peace-offerings had regard to

God as a benefactor to his creatures, and the giver of all good things

to us; and therefore these were divided between the altar, the priest,

and the owner. Peace signifies,

1. Reconciliation, concord, and communion. And so these were called

peace-offerings, because in them God and his people did, as it

were, feast together, in token of friendship. The priest, who was

ordained for men in things pertaining to God, gave part of this

peace-offering to God (that part which he required, and it was fit he

should be first served), burning it upon God’s altar; part he gave to

the offerer, to be eaten by him with his family and friends; and part

he took to himself, as the days-man that laid his hand upon them both.

They could not thus eat together unless they were agreed; so that it

was a symbol of friendship and fellowship between God and man, and a

confirmation of the covenant of peace.

2. It signifies prosperity and all happiness: Peace be to you

was as much as, All good be to you; and so the peace-offerings

were offered either,

(1.) By way of supplication or request for some good that was wanted

and desired. If a man was in the pursuit or expectation of any mercy,

he would back his prayer for it with a peace-offering, and probably put

up the prayer when he laid his hand upon the head of his offering.

Christ is our peace, our peace-offering; for through him alone it is

that we can expect to obtain mercy, and an answer of peace to our

prayers; and in him an upright prayer shall be acceptable and

successful, though we bring not a peace-offering. The less costly our

devotions are the more lively and serious they should be. Or,

(2.) By way of thanksgiving for some particular mercy received. It is

called a peace-offering of thanksgiving, for so it was

sometimes; as in other cases a vow,
ch. vii. 15, 16.

And some make the original word to signify retribution. When

they had received any special mercy, and were enquiring what they

should render, this they were directed to render to the God of their

mercies as a grateful acknowledgment for the benefit done to them,

Ps. cxvi. 12.

And we must offer to God the sacrifice of praise continually, by Christ

our peace; and then this shall please the Lord better than an ox or

bullock. Observe,

     

I. As to the matter of the peace-offering, suppose it was of the herd,

it must be without blemish; and, if it was so, it was

indifferent whether it was male or female,

v. 1.

In our spiritual offerings, it is not the sex, but the heart, that God

looks at,

Gal. iii. 28.

     

II. As to the management of it.

1. The offerer was, by a solemn manumission, to transfer his interest

in it to God

(v. 2),

and, with his hand on the head of the sacrifice, to acknowledge

the particular mercies for which he designed this a thank-offering, or,

if it was a vow, to make his prayer.

2. It must be killed; and, although this might be done in any part of

the court, yet it is said to be at the door of the tabernacle,

because the mercies received or expected were acknowledged to come from

God, and the prayers or praises were directed to him, and both, as it

were, through that door. Our Lord Jesus has said, I am the door,

for he is indeed the door of the tabernacle.

3. The priest must sprinkle the blood upon the altar, for it was

the blood that made atonement for the soul; and, though this was not a

sin-offering, yet we must be taught that in all our offerings we must

have an eye to Christ as the propitiation for sin, as those who know

that the best of their services cannot be accepted unless through him

their sins be pardoned. Penitent confessions must always go along with

our thankful acknowledgments; and, whatever mercy we pray for, in order

to it we must pray for the removal of guilt, as that which keeps good

things from us. First take away all iniquity, and then

receive us graciously, or give good,
Hos. xiv. 2.

4. All the fat of the inwards, that which we call the tallow and suet,

with the caul that encloses it and the kidneys in the midst of it, were

to be taken away, and burnt upon the altar, as an offering made by

fire,
v. 3-5.

And this was all that was sacrificed to the Lord out of the

peace-offering; how the rest was to be disposed of we shall find,

ch. vii. 11,

&c. It is ordered to be burnt upon the burnt-sacrifice, that is, the

daily burnt-offering, the lamb which was offered every morning before

any other sacrifice was offered; so that the fat of the peace-offerings

was an addition to that, and a continuation of it. The great sacrifice

of peace, that of the Lamb of God which takes away the sins of the

world, prepares the altar for our sacrifices of praise, which are not

accepted till we are reconciled. Now the burning of this fat is

supposed to signify,

(1.) The offering up of our good affections to God in all our prayers

and praises. God must have the inwards; for we must pour out our souls,

and lift up our hearts, in prayer, and must bless his name with all

that is within us. It is required that we be inward with God in every

thing wherein we have to do with him. The fat denotes the best and

choicest, which must always be devoted to God, who has made for us a

feast of fat things.

(2.) The mortifying of our corrupt affections and lusts, and the

burning up of them by the fire of divine grace,

Col. iii. 5.

Then we are truly thankful for former mercies, and prepared to receive

further mercy, when we part with our sins, and have our minds cleared

from all sensuality by the spirit of judgment and the spirit

of burning,
Isa. iv. 4.

     

  6 And if his offering for a sacrifice of peace offering unto

the LORD be of the flock; male or female, he shall offer it

without blemish.

  7 If he offer a lamb for his offering, then shall he offer it

before the LORD.

  8 And he shall lay his hand upon the head of his offering, and

kill it before the tabernacle of the congregation: and Aaron’s

sons shall sprinkle the blood thereof round about upon the altar.

  9 And he shall offer of the sacrifice of the peace offering an

offering made by fire unto the LORD; the fat thereof, and the

whole rump, it shall he take off hard by the backbone; and the

fat that covereth the inwards, and all the fat that is upon the

inwards,

  10 And the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, which

is by the flanks, and the caul above the liver, with the

kidneys, it shall he take away.

  11 And the priest shall burn it upon the altar: it is the

food of the offering made by fire unto the LORD.

  12 And if his offering be a goat, then he shall offer it

before the LORD.

  13 And he shall lay his hand upon the head of it, and kill it

before the tabernacle of the congregation: and the sons of Aaron

shall sprinkle the blood thereof upon the altar round about.

  14 And he shall offer thereof his offering, even an offering

made by fire unto the LORD; the fat that covereth the inwards,

and all the fat that is upon the inwards,

  15 And the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, which

is by the flanks, and the caul above the liver, with the

kidneys, it shall he take away.

  16 And the priest shall burn them upon the altar: it is the

food of the offering made by fire for a sweet savour: all the fat

is the LORD‘s.

  17 It shall be a perpetual statute for your generations

throughout all your dwellings, that ye eat neither fat nor blood.

     

Directions are here given concerning the peace-offering, if it was a

sheep or a goat. Turtle-doves or young pigeons, which might be brought

for whole burnt offerings, were not allowed for peace-offerings,

because they have no fat considerable enough to be burnt upon the

altar; and they would be next to nothing if they were to be divided

according to the law of the peace-offerings. The laws concerning a lamb

or goat offered for a peace offering are much the same with those

concerning a bullock, and little now occurs here; but,

1. The rump of the mutton was to be burnt with the fat of the inwards

upon the altar, the whole rump

(v. 9),

because in those countries it was very fat and large. Some observe from

this that, be a thing ever so contemptible, God can make it honourable,

by applying it to his service. Thus God is said to give more

abundant honour to that part which lacked,
1 Cor. xii. 23, 24.

2. That which was burnt upon the altar is called the food of the

offering,
v. 11, 16.

It fed the holy fire; it was acceptable to God as our food is to us;

and since in the tabernacle God did, as it were, keep house among them,

by the offerings on the altar he kept a good table, as Solomon in his

court,

1 Kings iv. 22, &c.

3. Here is a general rule laid down, that all the fat is the

Lord’s

(v. 16),

and a law made thereupon, that they should eat neither fat nor

blood, no, not in their private houses,

v. 17.

(1.) As for the fat, it is not meant of that which is

interlarded with the meat (that they might eat,

Neh. viii. 10),

but the fat of the inwards, the suet, which was always God’s part out

of the sacrificed beasts; and therefore they must not eat of it, no,

not out of the beasts that they killed for their common use. Thus would

God preserve the honour of that which was sacred to himself. They must

not only not feed upon that fat which was to be the food of the altar,

but not upon any like it, lest the table of the Lord (as the

altar is called), if something were not reserved peculiar to it, should

become contemptible, and the fruit thereof, even its meat,

contemptible,
Mal. i. 7, 12.

(2.) The blood was universally forbidden likewise, for the same reason

that the fat was, because it was God’s part of every sacrifice. The

heathen drank the blood of their sacrifices; hence we read of their

drink-offerings of blood,
Ps. xvi. 4.

But God would not permit the blood, that made atonement, to be used as

a common thing

(Heb. x. 29),

nor will he allow us, though we have the comfort of the atonement made,

to assume to ourselves any share in the honour of making it. He that

glories, let him glory in the Lord, and to his praise let all the blood

be poured out.

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Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible (1706)

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