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LEVITICUS 6:8-30
(MT 5:1-26)

PARAGRAPH DIVISIONS OF MODERN TRANSLATIONS

 NASB  NKJV  NRSV  TEV  NJB
(MT versing)
Repayment Offerings (5:14-6:7)
The Priest's Part in the Offerings The Law of Burnt Offerings Instructions to Priests Concerning Sacrifices (6:8-7:38) Sacrifice Burnt Whole Priesthood and Sacrifice (6:1-7:6)
a. the burnt offering
6:8-13 6:8-13 6:8-13 6:8-13 6:1
6:2
6:3-4
6:5-6
b. the cereal offering
6:7-11
6:12
The Law of Grain Offerings Grain Offerings 6:13-15a
6:14-18 6:14-18 6:14-18 6:14-18
6:15b-16
c. the sacrifice for sin
6:17-18a
6:18b
6:19-23 6:19-23 6:19-23 6:19-23 6:19-23
The Law of the Sin Offering Sin Offering
6:24-30 6:24-30 6:24-30 6:24-30 d. the Sacrifice of reparation
7:1-6

READING CYCLE THREE (see "Bible Interpretation Seminar")
FOLLOWING THE ORIGINAL AUTHOR'S INTENT AT THE PARAGRAPH LEVEL

This is a study guide commentary, which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.

Read the chapter in one sitting. Identify the subjects. Compare your subject divisions with the five translations above. Paragraphing is not inspired, but it is the key to following the original author's intent, which is the heart of interpretation. Every paragraph has one and only one subject.
  1. First paragraph
  2. Second paragraph
  3. Etc.

WORD AND PHRASE STUDY

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 6:8-13
  8Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 9"Command Aaron and his sons, saying, 'This is the law for the burnt offering: the burnt offering itself shall remain on the hearth on the altar all night until the morning, and the fire on the altar is to be kept burning on it. 10The priest is to put on his linen robe, and he shall put on undergarments next to his flesh; and he shall take up the ashes to which the fire reduces the burnt offering on the altar and place them beside the altar. 11Then he shall take off his garments and put on other garments, and carry the ashes outside the camp to a clean place. 12The fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it. It shall not go out, but the priest shall burn wood on it every morning; and he shall lay out the burnt offering on it, and offer up in smoke the fat portions of the peace offerings on it. 13Fire shall be kept burning continually on the altar; it is not to go out.'"

6:8 "Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying" In the MT this is Lev. 6:1. There are three Special Topics related to this recurrent phrase.

  1. SPECIAL TOPIC: NAMES FOR DEITY, D.
  2. SPECIAL TOPIC: MOSES' AUTHORSHIP OF THE PENTATEUCH
  3. SPECIAL TOPIC: INSPIRATION

6:9 "Command Aaron and his sons" This is an IMPERATIVE (BDB 845, KB 1010, Piel), which denotes the perpetual procedures related to how to handle the "burnt offerings."
Leviticus 6-7 contain guidelines for the priests related to the sacrifices of Leviticus 1-5.

  1. the voluntary offerings ‒ Leviticus 1-3
  2. the mandatory offerings ‒ Leviticus 4-5

▣ "the law" There are several words used to describe YHWH's revelation. See SPECIAL TOPIC: TERMS FOR GOD'S REVELATION.

▣ "the burnt offerings" This section (Lev. 6:8-13) is not primarily dealing with the "continual" (burnt offering every morning and evening, cf. Exod. 29:38-42; Num. 28:3-8), but with the voluntary, individual offerings of Leviticus 1.

▣ "on the hearth" This Hebrew word (BDB 429) occurs only here in the OT. BDB suggests it refers to the metal plate or grill on the top of the altar of sacrifice where the burnt offerings were placed.
In Ezek. 43:15,16, this same place is called "altar hearth" (BDB 72), but this is a different word. However, this may refer to the same place.

6:10-11 "linen robe" See SPECIAL TOPIC: LINEN and SPECIAL TOPIC: GARMENTS OF HIGH PRIEST.

6:10 "ashes" This term (BDB 206, cf. Lev. 1:16; 4:12; 1 Kgs. 13:3,5; Jer. 31:40) refers to the "greasy ashes" (TEV) which were ashes of

  1. the wood
  2. the meat and bone
  3. internal fatty parts
  4. small amounts of grain/cereal offerings

6:13 This is a recurrent command (i.e., Lev. 6:9,12,13). Although lighting fires was prohibited on the Sabbath, there were two exceptions.

  1. the altar of sacrifice
  2. the lamp in the holy place (see SPECIAL TOPIC: LAMPSTAND)

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 6:14-18
  14"'Now this is the law of the grain offering: the sons of Aaron shall present it before the Lord in front of the altar. 15Then one of them shall lift up from it a handful of the fine flour of the grain offering, with its oil and all the incense that is on the grain offering, and he shall offer it up in smoke on the altar, a soothing aroma, as its memorial offering to the Lord. 16What is left of it Aaron and his sons are to eat. It shall be eaten as unleavened cakes in a holy place; they are to eat it in the court of the tent of meeting. 17It shall not be baked with leaven. I have given it as their share from My offerings by fire; it is most holy, like the sin offering and the guilt offering. 18Every male among the sons of Aaron may eat it; it is a permanent ordinance throughout your generations, from the offerings by fire to the Lord. Whoever touches them will become consecrated.'"

6:15 "shall lift up" This VERB (BDB 926, KB 1202, Hiphil PERFECT with waw) denotes a sacred ritual. The portion lifted up was a "memorial offering" to YHWH. Lifting it up symbolized YHWH as being in heaven.
Related Special Topics.

  1. SPECIAL TOPIC: FRANKINCENSE
  2. SPECIAL TOPIC: A SOOTHING AROMA
  3. SPECIAL TOPIC: THE HEAVENS AND THE THIRD HEAVEN
For "memorial portion," see full note at Lev. 2:2.

▣ "memorial offering" See full note at Lev. 2:4 and NIDOTTE, vol. 1, p. 1105, #18.

6:16 "Aaron and his sons are to eat" The priests received their sustenance from the sacrifices of the people (none from the burnt offerings).

▣ "holy place" See SPECIAL TOPIC: TABERNACLE (chart).

6:17 "not be baked with leaven" See SPECIAL TOPIC: BAKING BREAD and SPECIAL TOPIC: LEAVEN.

▣ "most holy" The offerings called "most holy" are

  1. grain offerings ‒ Lev. 2:3,10
  2. sin offerings ‒ Lev. 6:25,29
  3. guilt offerings ‒ Lev. 6:17; 7:1
They must be eaten only by priests in the court of the Tabernacle.

6:18 "Every male among the sons of Aaron may eat it" This particular sacrifice was for the priests themselves. There are other places where other families could also eat of the sacrifice (cf. Lev. 10:14; 22:12-13). One wonders if Lev. 7:30-34 is also implied.

▣ "a permanent ordinance" This is literally "throughout our generations" (cf. Lev. 3:17; 6:18; 7:34,36; 10:9,15; 16:29,31,34). The Israelite concept of time‒eternity is expressed well in the connotations of the word 'olam (see Lev. 6:22). See SPECIAL TOPIC: FOREVER ('olam).

▣ "Whoever touches them shall become consecrated" Ceremonial purity was very important in Israelite society. Remember that touching the dead body of an unclean animal or human being made one unclean (cf. Lev. 9:2-6), but here if one touches what has been dedicated to YHWH, then that person becomes "holy." This made it/them be consecrated for YHWH's use (cf. Lev. 6:27). This meant it could no longer be used in normal life (cf. Lev. 6:27-28). Remember, "holiness" has to do with ceremonial purity, not morality. See SPECIAL TOPIC: HOLY.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 6:19-23
  19Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 20"This is the offering which Aaron and his sons are to present to the Lord on the day when he is anointed; the tenth of an ephah of fine flour as a regular grain offering, half of it in the morning and half of it in the evening. 21It shall be prepared with oil on a griddle. When it is well stirred, you shall bring it. You shall present the grain offering in baked pieces as a soothing aroma to the Lord. 22The anointed priest who will be in his place among his sons shall offer it. By a permanent ordinance it shall be entirely offered up in smoke to the Lord. 23So every grain offering of the priest shall be burned entirely. It shall not be eaten."

6:19-23 These are special instructions for the initial anointing day of every priest. It was an ordination ritual.
Notice

  1. it was prepared and offered by the priest himself
  2. it was a grain offering, split between the morning sacrifice and the evening sacrifice (cf. Num. 28:3-8, called "the continual")
  3. it was offered up by the new priest himself on the altar
  4. none of it was eaten, all was totally burned on the altar

6:20 "anointed" See SPECIAL TOPIC: "ANOINTING" IN THE BIBLE.

▣ "ephah" See SPECIAL TOPIC: ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN WEIGHTS AND VOLUMES.

6:21
NASB, NKJV, Peshitta  "in baked pieces"
NRSV  "well soaked"
TEV, REB  "crumbled"
NJB (6:14)  "in several pieces"
JPSOA  "baked slices"
LXX  "of pieces"
The Hebrew term (MT form, BDB 1074; possible root, KB 991) means to break up or smash (KB), therefore, possibly "crumble into small pieces" (Lev. 2:6; 6:21).
There are two Hebrew terms, BDB 1074 and BDB 837 in this verse (MT 6:14) that are uncertain in meaning, relating to grain offerings (see AB, pp. 399-400; NIDOTTE, vol. 3, p. 1042).

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 6:24-30
  24Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 25"Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, 'This is the law of the sin offering: in the place where the burnt offering is slain the sin offering shall be slain before the Lord; it is most holy. 26The priest who offers it for sin shall eat it. It shall be eaten in a holy place, in the court of the tent of meeting. 27Anyone who touches its flesh will become consecrated; and when any of its blood splashes on a garment, in a holy place you shall wash what was splashed on. 28Also the earthenware vessel in which it was boiled shall be broken; and if it was boiled in a bronze vessel, then it shall be scoured and rinsed in water. 29Every male among the priests may eat of it; it is most holy. 30But no sin offering of which any of the blood is brought into the tent of meeting to make atonement in the holy place shall be eaten; it shall be burned with fire.'"

6:27 "you shall wash" This may refer to the person (MT) or to the garment (LXX, Peshitta, Targum, Vulgate).
It was crucial that Israel's worship be pure and distinct from Canaanite worship.

  1. the sacrifice
  2. the place
  3. the person
  4. his clothing
  5. his food
The key thought in Leviticus is "holiness" or "purity." YHWH is holy and pure, so must His worship and His people be!

6:30 This is a summary statement.

  1. no sin offering where the blood is brought into the tent of meeting may be eaten; see SPECIAL TOPIC: BLOOD
  2. the sin offering where the blood is brought into the holy place can be eaten; see SPECIAL TOPIC: TABERNACLE (chart)
  3. the blood is to make atonement (see SPECIAL TOPIC: ATONEMENT)
  4. this special offering must be completely burned
Most "sin offerings" were allowed to be eaten by priests (cf. Lev. 6:29).

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

This is a study guide commentary which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.

These discussion questions are provided to help you think through the major issues of this section of the book. They are meant to be thought-provoking, not definitive.

  1. Why was the fire on the altar of sacrifice never allowed to go out? What did they do about this as they traveled?
  2. List the types of sacrifices that
    1. all Israel could eat
    2. only priests in the Tabernacle area could eat
    3. the families of the priests could eat
  3. How can these sacrifices be called "a permanent ordinance" yet the temple will be destroyed?
  4. How is "the continual" different from the offerings in Leviticus 1-7?
  5. How is "most holy" different from "holy"?

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