Leviticus 6:23

For every meat offering for the priest shall be wholly burnt,.... Wherefore the priest that offered this for the high priest got nothing by it: he served him gratis: it shall not be eaten; neither by

In a pan it shall be made with oil; and when it is baken, thou shalt bring it in: and the baken pieces of the meat offering shalt thou offer for a sweet savour unto the LORD. No JFB commentary on these verses.

No part of it shall be eaten by the priest, as it was when the offering was for the people. The reason of the difference is, partly, because when he offered it for the people, he was to have some recompence for his pains, which he could not expect when he offered it for himself; partly, to signify the imperfection of the Levitical priests, who could not bear their own iniquity; for the priest’ s eating part of the people’ s sacrifices did signify his typical bearing of the people’ s iniquity, as appears from ; and partly, to teach the priests and ministers of God, that it is their duty to serve God with singleness of heart, and to be content with God’ s honour, though they have no present advantage by it.

Leviticus 6:23 For every meat offering for the priest shall be wholly burnt: it shall not be eaten.Ver. 23. It shall not be eaten.] To teach the high priest to look for salvation out of himself.

(23) For every meat offering for the priest.—Better, and every meat offering of a priest This rule applies to every meat offering brought by the priests themselves for the same reason.

Verse 23. For every meat-offering for the priest shall be wholly burnt] Whatever the priest offered was wholly the Lord's, and therefore must be entirely consumed: the sacrifices of the common people were offered to the Lord, but the priests partook of them; and thus they who ministered at the altar were fed by the altar. Had the priests been permitted to live on their own offerings as they did on those of the people, it would have been as if they had offered nothing, as they would have taken again to themselves what they appeared to give unto the Lord. Theodoret says that this marked "the high perfection which God required in the ministers of his sanctuary," as his not eating of his own sin-offering supposes him to stand free from all sin; but a better reason is given by Mr. Ainsworth: "The people's meat-offering was eaten by the priests that made atonement for them, Leviticus 6:15-16, Leviticus 7:7; but because no priest, being a sinner, could make atonement for himself, therefore his meat-offering might not be eaten, but all burnt on the altar, to teach him to expect salvation, not by his legal service or works, but by Christ; for the eating of the sin-offering figured the bearing of the sinner's iniquity;" Leviticus 10:17.

(3) The Meal-Offering of the high priest (19–23) 1[48] [48] This section is omitted by the Alexandrine MS. of the LXX. The omission is probably accidental, and caused by the fact that sections 19–23 and 24–30 begin with the same words.These verses differ from the other precepts with reference to sacrifice in Leviticus 6:7 to Leviticus 7:21. They are not introduced by the words ‘This is the law of …,’ and addressed through Moses to Aaron and his sons, but are spoken directly to Moses (note the verbs in the 2nd person in Leviticus 6:21). The command to present the Meal-Offering implies that Moses was officiating as priest, and he is represented as discharging this function during the seven days in which Aaron and his sons were consecrated; after that period all sacrificial acts were performed by Aaron and his sons (cp. chs. 8 and 9). The words ‘in the day when he [Aaron] is anointed’ (19) also connect the offering with the ceremony of consecration, and with the first of the seven days, or, if the words ‘in the day when’ be taken as ‘at the time when’ (cp. Genesis 2:4), with the period of seven days. Neither in the detailed account of this consecration given in ch. 8 nor in the directions contained in Exodus 29 is there any reference to the offering enjoined in Leviticus 6:21. Note on Leviticus 6:19-23 According to Jewish practice in the second temple, the high priest offered a minḥ ?ah every day during his tenure of office (Sir 45:14) at his own expense (Jos. Ant. iii. 10. 7). He brought the whole tenth part in the morning and divided it into two portions for the morning and evening. If the high priest after offering the morning portion were to die the remaining evening portion was not to be offered, but a fresh whole tenth part was to be brought, from which the half for the evening was taken, and the two unused halves were to be destroyed (Tal. Bab. Menaḥ ?oth 50 b). This offering of the high priest was regarded as made, not on his behalf alone, but for himself and the priesthood. It was called minḥ ?ath ḥ ?ǎ ?bittîm, ‘the minchah of baked pieces.’ The word ḥ ?ǎ ?bittîm occurs once in 1 Chronicles 9:31, and is from the same root as maḥ ?ǎ ?bath, the ‘baking pan’ of Leviticus 2:5, Leviticus 6:21 [Heb. 14], and Leviticus 7:9, used for the Meal-Offering. Beside this daily offering of the high priest, every priest, at the commencement of his ministry, used to offer a Meal-Offering like that of the high priest, but instead of dividing it into two parts, to be offered in the morning and in the evening, it was offered all at one time. This oblation was called minḥ ?ath ḥ ?innûḳ ?, ‘meal offering of initiation.’ In the present state of the text, reference is made to two offerings: (1) An offering to be brought by Moses (cp. Leviticus 6:19; Leviticus 6:21).

Not be eaten - Compare Leviticus 6:30; Leviticus 4:12 note.

23. Wholly burnt… not be eaten — Since it was a thank offering to Jehovah it would be improper for the priest to eat it.