THE BOOK OF LEVITICUS
Project Gutenberg EPUB3 edition
2:12. You shall offer only the firstfruits of them and gifts: but they shall not be put upon the altar, for a savour of sweetness.
2:13. Whatsoever sacrifice thou offerest, thou shalt season it with salt: neither shalt thou take away the salt of the covenant of thy God from thy sacrifice. In all thy oblations thou shalt offer salt.
Salt... In every sacrifice salt was to be used, which is an emblem of wisdom and discretion, without which none of our performances are agreeable to God.
2:14. But if thou offer a gift of the firstfruits of thy corn to the Lord, of the ears yet green, thou shalt dry it at the fire, and break it small like meal; and so shalt thou offer thy firstfruits to the Lord:
2:15. Pouring oil upon it and putting on frankincense, because it is the oblation of the Lord.
2:16. Whereof the priest shall burn for a memorial of the gift, part of the corn broken small and of the oil, and all the frankincense.
Leviticus Chapter 3
Of peace offerings.
3:1. And if his oblation be a sacrifice of peace offerings, and he will offer of the herd, whether male or female: he shall offer them without blemish before the Lord.
Peace offerings... Peace, in the scripture language, signifies happiness, welfare or prosperity; in a word, all kind of blessings.-Such sacrifices, therefore, as were offered either on occasion of blessings received, or to obtain new favours, were called pacific or peace offerings. In these, some part of the victim was consumed with fire on the altar of God; other parts were eaten by the priests and by the persons for whom the sacrifice was offered.
3:2. And he shall lay his hand upon the head of his victim, which shall be slain in the entry of the tabernacle of the testimony: and the sons of Aaron the priests shall pour the blood round about upon the altar.
3:3. And they shall offer of the sacrifice of peace offerings, for an oblation to the Lord: the fat that covereth the entrails, and all the fat that is within,
3:4. The two kidneys with the fat wherewith the flanks are covered, and the caul of the liver with the two little kidneys.
3:5. And they shall burn them upon the altar, for a holocaust, putting fire under the wood: for an oblation of most sweet savour to the Lord.
3:6. But if his oblation and the sacrifice of peace offering be of the flock, whether he offer male or female, they shall be without blemish.
3:7. If he offer a lamb before the Lord:
3:8. He shall put his hand upon the head of the victim. And it shall be slain in the entry of the tabernacle of the testimony: and the sons of Aaron shall pour the blood thereof round about upon the altar.
3:9. And they shall offer of the victim of peace offerings, a sacrifice to the Lord: the fat and the whole rump,
3:10. With the kidneys, and the fat that covereth the belly and all the vitals and both the little kidneys, with the fat that is about the flanks, and the caul of the liver with the little kidneys.
3:11. And the priest shall burn them upon the altar, for the food of the fire, and of the oblation of the Lord.
3:12. If his offering be a goat, and he offer it to the Lord:
3:13. He shall put his hand upon the head thereof: and shall immolate it in the entry of the tabernacle of the testimony. And the sons of Aaron shall pour the blood thereof round about upon the altar.
3:14. And they shall take of it for the food of the Lord's fire, the fat that covereth the belly, and that covereth all the vital parts:
3:15. The two little kidneys with the caul that is upon them which is by the flanks, and the fat of the liver with the little kidneys.
3:16. And the priest shall burn them upon the altar, for the food of the fire, and of a most sweet savour. All the fat shall be the Lord's.
3:17. By a perpetual law for your generations, and in all your habitations: neither blood nor fat shall you eat at all.
Fat... It is meant of the fat, which by the prescription of the law was to be offered on God's altar; not of the fat of meat, such as we commonly eat.
Leviticus Chapter 4
Of offerings for sins of ignorance.
4:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
4:2. Say to the children of Israel: The soul that sinneth through ignorance, and doth any thing concerning any of the commandments of the Lord, which he commanded not to be done:
Ignorance... To be ignorant of what we are bound to know is sinful; and for such culpable ignorance, these sacrifices, prescribed in this and the following chapter, were appointed.
4:3. If the priest that is anointed shall sin, making the people to offend, he shall offer to the Lord for his sin a calf without blemish.
4:4. And he shall bring it to the door of the testimony before the Lord: and shall put his hand upon the head thereof, and shall sacrifice it to the Lord.
4:5. He shall take also of the blood of the calf: and carry it into the tabernacle of the testimony.
The blood... As the figure of the blood of Christ shed for the remission of our sins, and carried by him into the sanctuary of heaven.
4:6. And having dipped his finger in the blood, he shall sprinkle with it seven times before the Lord, before the veil of the sanctuary.
4:7. And he shall put some of the same blood upon the horns of the altar of the sweet incense most acceptable to the Lord, which is in the tabernacle of the testimony. And he shall pour all the rest of the blood at the foot of the altar of holocaust in the entry of the tabernacle.
4:8. And he shall take off the fat of the calf for the sin offering, as well that which covereth the entrails, as all the inwards:
4:9. The two little kidneys, and the caul that is upon them, which is by the flanks, and the fat of the liver with the little kidneys: