Leviticus 24

The chapter opens with two daily and weekly signs of worship in the tabernacle: the lamps that never go out and the twelve loaves set before the LORD. It then tells of a man who cursed God’s Name in a fight. His case becomes the occasion for laws about blasphemy, killing and injury, applied equally to native and foreigner.

Leviticus 24:1-2

God speaks to Moses about the lamps in the tabernacle. The people are to supply the oil, and it must be the purest kind. Worship is God’s provision, but the people share in it by bringing their own offering.

BSA: pure (“clean, undefiled”): Only the best, unmixed oil is fit for the light that burns in God’s presence. continually (“constantly, without interruption”): The light was never meant to go out; God’s house was always lit.

See also: Exodus 27:20-21.

Leviticus 24:3-4

Aaron tends the lamps each evening until morning, outside the veil that hides the Most Holy Place. The lampstand is pure gold, and this duty is to last through all generations. The light shines through the night, and someone faithfully watches over it.

BSA: tend (“arrange, keep in order”): The priest does more than light the lamps; he trims and orders them with care.

Hebrew: תָּמִיד (tamid, H8548) — “continual, regular.” This word runs through the chapter for the lamps and the bread. It describes worship that is steady and never switched off.

See also: Exodus 25:31-37.

Leviticus 24:5-6

Twelve loaves of fine flour are baked, one for each tribe of Israel. They are set in two rows of six on the pure gold table before the LORD. All the tribes are kept in God’s presence together.

BSA: fine flour (“the best meal, pure wheat”): The loaves are made from the finest grain, the best of the people’s food.

See also: Exodus 25:23-30.

Leviticus 24:7

Pure frankincense is placed beside each row. It is burned as a memorial portion, a token that stands for the whole bread and is given to the LORD. The fragrant smoke rises while the bread itself remains for the priests.

BSA: memorial portion (“a reminder, a symbol of remembrance”): The incense stands for the whole offering and calls it to God’s remembrance.

Leviticus 24:8

Fresh bread is set out every Sabbath. It is offered on behalf of Israel as a lasting covenant. Week after week, the whole people are shown to be in fellowship with God and fed in his presence.

BSA: permanent (“lasting, eternal”): This weekly sign is part of a covenant that God means to endure.

See also: Exodus 31:16.

Leviticus 24:9

When the bread is replaced, Aaron and his sons eat the old loaves in a holy place. It is a most holy portion, their share from the offerings. God feeds those who serve him, and what is given to him is used in his service.

BSA: portion (“share, inheritance”): The priests have no land of their own, so God gives them this share as their provision.

See also: 1 Samuel 21:6; Matthew 12:4.

Leviticus 24:10

A man with an Israelite mother and an Egyptian father gets into a fight in the camp. He was part of the community, and he lived under its laws. The story shows that sin can break out even in the camp that has just been given the tabernacle’s order.

BSA: fight (“struggle, strife”): A quarrel between two men sets off the whole incident.

Leviticus 24:11

In the fight, the man curses the Name, meaning the holy name of the LORD. The people bring him to Moses. His mother’s name and tribe are recorded, so the account is plainly historical.

BSA: blasphemed (“execrated, cursed”): He did not just insult a man; he spoke abusively against God himself. Name (“divine identity, holy reputation”): God’s Name stands for who he is, so to curse it is to attack God himself.

See also: Exodus 20:7.

Leviticus 24:12

No one acts in haste. The man is held in custody until the LORD makes his will known. The people do not decide the punishment for themselves; they wait for God’s word.

BSA: custody (“ward, or guard”): He is guarded in safekeeping while the matter awaits God’s ruling.

Leviticus 24:13-14

God’s answer is that the man is to be taken outside the camp. Those who heard the curse lay their hands on his head, and then the whole assembly stones him. The hearers hand the guilt back to the offender, and the whole community takes part in the judgment, so the weight of the sin is plain.

BSA: lay their hands (“place their hands in a gesture of identification”): The witnesses publicly declare that the guilt rests on him alone. outside the camp (“beyond the boundaries of the community”): Sin that defiles is removed from the place where God dwells among his people.

See also: Leviticus 4:15.

Leviticus 24:15-16

God makes a general rule from this case. Anyone who curses God bears his sin, and anyone who blasphemes the LORD’s Name must die. This applies to the foreigner as well as the native. God’s Name is not to be treated as common.

BSA: bear (“lift, carry, endure”): The guilt is something he must carry himself; it does not simply vanish. foreign resident (“sojourner, temporary inhabitant”): Even a visitor living among Israel is bound by this law.

Hebrew: נָקַב (naqab, H5344) — “to pierce, to specify, to curse.” The word is used for the blasphemy in verse 16. It carries the picture of pronouncing the Name in a piercing, deliberate way, not by accident.

Leviticus 24:17

Taking a human life is punished by death. Human life is sacred because people are made in God’s image. This is the plain statement of a principle already given to Noah.

BSA: takes the life (“soul, living being”): The word points to the whole living person, who belongs to God.

See also: Genesis 9:6.

Leviticus 24:18

Killing another person’s animal is not a capital crime, but it must be put right. The owner must be repaid with a living animal of equal worth. Life for life here means a fair replacement, so no one loses by another’s act.

BSA: restitution (“give back, restore”): The wrong is fixed by actually repairing the loss.

Leviticus 24:19-20

When one person injures another, the penalty must match the harm. This principle of fair measure limits revenge, so punishment cannot go beyond the injury. It also treats rich and poor alike. Later in Israel it was carried out through the courts, not by private revenge.

BSA: injures (“causes a blemish, damages”): The word means to mar a person, leaving a lasting defect.

See also: Exodus 21:23-25; Matthew 5:38-39.

Leviticus 24:21

The verse repeats the distinction between killing an animal and killing a man. An animal can be replaced, but a human life cannot. This shows how highly God values people above the rest of creation.

BSA: man (“Adam, humanity”): The word is the one for humankind, pointing to the dignity of every human being.

Leviticus 24:22

One law applies to the foreigner and the native alike. The ground is that the LORD is God of them all. Justice in God’s people does not play favorites, and the stranger is protected as well as bound.

BSA: standard of law (“justice”): The same fair judgment is to apply to everyone, with no second set of rules.

See also: Numbers 15:15-16.

Leviticus 24:23

Moses tells the people, and they carry out the sentence outside the camp. The chapter closes with Israel doing exactly as the LORD commanded. The Name is honored, and the community obeys.

BSA: commanded (“given orders, instructed”): The execution is done on God’s order, not by the people’s own anger.