Leviticus 6
ECFLeviticus 6:3
Augustine of Hippo: For if Christ took away from us that very heavy yoke of many observances, so that we are not circumcised according to the flesh, we do not immolate victims of the cattle, we do not rest even from necessary works on the Sabbath, retaining the seventh in the revolution of the days, and other things of this kind; but keep them as spiritually understood, and, the symbolizing shadows being removed, are watchful in the light of those things which are signified by them; shall we therefore say, that when it is written that whoever finds another man’s property of any kind that has been lost, should return it to him who has lost it, it does not pertain to us? and many other like things whereby people learn to live piously and uprightly? and especially the Decalogue itself, which is contained in those two tables of stone, apart from the carnal observance of the Sabbath, which signifies spiritual sanctification and rest? For who can say that Christians ought not to be observant to serve the one God with religious obedience, not to worship an idol, not to take the name of the Lord in vain, to honour one’s parents, not to commit adulteries, murders, thefts, false witness, not to covet another man’s wife, or anything at all that belongs to another man? Who is so impious as to say that he does not keep those precepts of the law because he is a Christian, and is established not under the law, but under grace? — AGAINST TWO LETTERS OF THE PELAGIANS 3.10
Leviticus 6:5
Gregory the Dialogist: Some think that the precepts of the Old Testament are stricter than those of the New; but these are certainly deceived by careless consideration. For in the Old Testament, not avarice but robbery is punished. There, property unjustly taken is punished by fourfold restitution. But here this rich man is not blamed for taking what belonged to others, but for not giving what was his own. — 40 Homilies on the Gospels, Homily 40
Leviticus 6:6
Augustine of Hippo: He will offer a ram of the flock, without defect, according to his price, for which he sinned. Do not separate the phrase like this: according to the price in which he sinned, as if it meant: “in the price he sinned”, but: “if he offers a ram, he will offer it for a price”, that is, it will be bought. It seems that the Lord also wanted this to have some mysterious meaning, because he did not define the price. If he had established it, it might seem that he ordered that an animal of little value be offered in sacrifice, so that, even if the one who offered it did not buy it, he would offer something that would have value. But, adding, not only the price, so that a purchased ram was offered, but also mentioning the shekels, the holy shekel - for the text says: According to the price of silver shekels, of the holy shekel (Leviticus 5,15), the Lord He wanted the ram to be bought for a few shekels, not for just one. With regard to what “the holy shekel” means, I have already explained it in the place where it seemed appropriate. The text says: And because of his offense he will offer to the Lord a ram of the flock, without blemish, for a price. And then he adds: Because of what he committed. This means that “he will offer it for what he committed,” because of that thing, because of that thing. And he will remove the holocarpoma to which the fire has reduced that holocaust of next to the altar (Leviticus 6,10). What will be withdrawn, if it has been consumed? The Lord orders the priest to remove the holocarpoma, the holocaust that the fire consumed, after burning all night. And what does that word mean: the holocaust, if holocarpoma means the same as a holocaust? Perhaps it is true what is found in a Greek text, in which it is not said: it will remove the holocarposis (the holocaust), but: it will remove the catacarposis (the ashes of the holocaust), that is, the remains of the holocaust that consumed the fire . To these remains, such as ashes and coal, the text calls them holocaustus (holocaust), using the name of the thing that has been consumed, calling it the remains of said consumption. — QUESTIONS ON LEVITICUS, Q. 9 (tr. J. Litteral, draft)
Leviticus 6:9
Bede: A holocaust is burned on the altar when a good work is performed with the burning fire of charity in the heart of any elect person who is devoted to God completely (that is, with both body and soul). This is done all night until the morning when one does not cease to persevere in good works throughout all the time of his life, until one is taken from the body and merits seeing the morning of the world to come. The fire will be on the same altar, because we ought to be burning with that charity alone which the Lord gives to his church through the Holy Spirit. — On the Tabernacle 2.11
Pacian of Barcelona: That fire is perpetual that is never extinguished on the altar. The altar of God is our heart. Fire must always burn in it, for the flame of charity must always burn on it for God. Day by day, the priest puts wood on the fire, lest it go out. Everyone who has faith in Christ has been made a member of the high priest. The apostle Peter says to all the faithful, “You are an elect people, a royal priesthood.” The apostle John says, “You have made us a kingdom and a priesthood for our God.” The priest who feeds the fire on the altar and puts wood on it each day is each one of the faithful. To keep the flame of charity from going out in himself, he does not cease to gather both the examples of the elders and the testimonies of Holy Scripture. To call to mind the examples of the fathers or the precepts of the Lord in the practice of charity is to put fuel on the fire. Since this inner newness of ours grows old in the daily living of life, wood must be used to feed that fire. While the fire grows dim as we age, it grows bright again through the testimonies and examples of the fathers. And the command is good, to gather wood each day in the morning. This cannot be done except when the night of darkness is banished. Since morning is the first part of the day and comes when we have put off thoughts of this present life, each of the faithful should think of this task first so that the practice of charity can inflame whatever is just about to die out in him, by the efforts he can make. For that fire on the altar of God— that is, in our hearts—is soon extinguished unless it is carefully maintained by the examples of the fathers and the testimonies of the Lord. Exposition of the Old and New Testament, Leviticus
Paterius: That fire is perpetual that is never extinguished on the altar. The altar of God is our heart. Fire must always burn in it, for the flame of charity must always burn on it for God. Day by day, the priest puts wood on the fire, lest it go out. Everyone who has faith in Christ has been made a member of the high priest. The apostle Peter says to all the faithful, “You are an elect people, a royal priesthood.” The apostle John says, “You have made us a kingdom and a priesthood for our God.” The priest who feeds the fire on the altar and puts wood on it each day is each one of the faithful. To keep the flame of charity from going out in himself, he does not cease to gather both the examples of the elders and the testimonies of Holy Scripture. To call to mind the examples of the fathers or the precepts of the Lord in the practice of charity is to put fuel on the fire. Since this inner newness of ours grows old in the daily living of life, wood must be used to feed that fire. While the fire grows dim as we age, it grows bright again through the testimonies and examples of the fathers. And the command is good, to gather wood each day in the morning. This cannot be done except when the night of darkness is banished. Since morning is the first part of the day and comes when we have put off thoughts of this present life, each of the faithful should think of this task first so that the practice of charity can inflame whatever is just about to die out in him, by the efforts he can make. For that fire on the altar of God—that is, in our hearts—is soon extinguished unless it is carefully maintained by the examples of the fathers and the testimonies of the Lord. — EXPOSITION OF THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT, Leviticus 5
Augustine of Hippo: The text says a little before: This is the law of the holocaust. And then, explaining what this law consists of, he adds: This is the burnt offering that will be on the burning fire, on the altar, all night until the morning, and the fire of the altar will burn on it; It will not go out. This passage would be clearer, according to our way of speaking, if it did not have the “and”, because, removing this conjunction, the meaning would be: This is the holocaust that will be on the lit fire, on the altar; all night until the morning the fire of the altar will burn on him, on the altar. Then, to complete the meaning of the phrase, he adds: It will not go out. Although this had already been said with the words: all night. — QUESTIONS ON LEVITICUS, Q. 10 (tr. J. Litteral, draft)
Leviticus 6:10
Bede: The priest who offers the holocaust is the Lord who is himself accustomed to kindle in us the fire of his charity and through it to make the sacrifices of our good actions acceptable to himself. And he is clothed in linen garments when he does these things because, in order that he may excite us to works of virtue, he sets before us the examples of his own incarnation, passion and death, which can be signified by linen, as we have frequently said. — On the Tabernacle 2.11
Leviticus 6:11
Augustine of Hippo: And he will put on another garment and take the holocarpoma (the ashes) out of the camp to a pure place. It calls holocarpoma to what is consumed by fire. The Greek text says katakárposis. Some Latin texts add: what is consumed by fire, and thus translate the passage: It will take the holocarpoma, which is consumed by fire, outside the camp, to a pure place. — QUESTIONS ON LEVITICUS, Q. 11 (tr. J. Litteral, draft)
Leviticus 6:12
Augustine of Hippo: And the fire will burn on the altar from it and will not go out. This means that it will burn from that fire in which the holocaust was burned until morning. The Lord does not want the fire to go out in any case. The fire should not be extinguished even after burning the holocaust until the morning, once the remnants of the cremation were removed. It had to be renewed again from those ashes so that the other things that were put on top burned. — QUESTIONS ON LEVITICUS, Q. 12 (tr. J. Litteral, draft)
Augustine of Hippo: And then the text continues: The priest shall burn on it morning wood and lay the burnt offering on it, and put on it the fat of the saving sacrifice; and the fire will always burn on the altar, without extinguishing. It is necessary to investigate whether tomorrow means daily, so that no day could pass without the holocaust and the saving fat being present, or tomorrow means that on any day when the fire was set it should only be put on the morning. If we understood it as meaning “daily”, what would happen if no one contributed with what? But if the priests sought the daily burnt offerings, bringing them either from the public goods or from their own goods, they placed on them the things that the Lord commanded to be put on the burnt offerings offered by the people for their sins, and there was no need to that he who offered sacrifices for sin would also offer the burnt offering on which it would be placed, except when offered a pair of turtledoves or two pigeon pigeons. Because there it is said in an absolutely clear way that it is necessary to offer a sacrifice for sin and another as a burnt offering, and first we must offer the sacrifice for sin and then the sacrifice as a burnt offering (Cf Leviticus 5,7). We can also ask if the holocaust that was ordered to be offered in the morning should also burn all night until the next morning, or if the burnt offering that is said to burn throughout the night is the evening holocaust and from there He begins to speak of the law of the holocaust, so that it starts from the evening holocaust, which would be striking if it were omitted and it was not said that those holocausts had to be offered in the afternoon. — QUESTIONS ON LEVITICUS, Q. 13 (tr. J. Litteral, draft)
Leviticus 6:19
Augustine of Hippo: And the Lord spoke to Moses saying: “This is the offering you will offer to the Lord Aaron and his sons on the day you anoint him.” One thing is the sacrifices mentioned in the Exodus, by means of which the priests are consecrated for seven days so that they begin to perform their priestly functions, and another thing is what is now remembered about what sumo has to offer. priest when he is ordained, that is, when he is anointed (Cf Exodus 29,1). That’s why the text says: On the day you anoint it. It does not say: when you anoint them, since it also commands anoint priests of the second rank. Then the text recalls the sacrifice they must offer: The tenth part of a measure of fine flour as an everlasting sacrifice. We can ask how a sacrifice that is offered on the day that the high priest is anointed and offered by the same one who is anointed can be eternal. The explanation is that the day on which the high priest is anointed, that is, during the successions of the priests, must always be offered. Although it could also be understood forever in that way, not this, but what it means. — QUESTIONS ON LEVITICUS, Q. 14 (tr. J. Litteral, draft)
Leviticus 6:20
Augustine of Hippo: The text continues saying: Half of it in the morning and the other half in the afternoon. The Greek has deilinón. And continue: It will be prepared with oil in the pan. He will offer it in pieces, cut into pieces, the flour. The text says strawberry (made pieces), if this word is well translated from the Greek term eriktà, which is plural and gender neutral. Well, the Latin translator does not say that this flour flower is ground, as he said before that it was cut into pieces. The term strawberry refers to a sacrifice made of bits. But it is not clear if the author calls the pieces themselves, the pieces, or the grains of the flour. — QUESTIONS ON LEVITICUS, Q. 15 (tr. J. Litteral, draft)
Leviticus 6:21
Augustine of Hippo: Then he continues: As a sacrifice of pleasing smell to the Lord. The anointed priest who succeeds him among his children will do it. Perhaps this is why it was said before that the sacrifice would be eternal, that is, that every high priest should do it when it happened to the one who died on the day he was anointed. The text adds: It is eternal law. Being able to understand, in turn, eternal according to what this word means. — QUESTIONS ON LEVITICUS, Q. 16 (tr. J. Litteral, draft)
Leviticus 6:23
Augustine of Hippo: And then it continues: It will be totally burned. The Greek has epiteleszésetai. Some translators have translated: everything will be set. The translator means that it is about the holocaust, because nothing will be left of it. Finally he adds: And every sacrifice of a priest will be a burnt offering and will not be eaten (Leviticus 6,23). It had been said before: It will be totally burned. — QUESTIONS ON LEVITICUS, Q. 17 (tr. J. Litteral, draft)
Leviticus 6:26
Augustine of Hippo: About the sacrifice for sin the text says: The priest who offers it, will eat it. He will not eat what he offers -because this will be consumed by fire-, but what remains, because it is not a holocaust, which should burn everything on the altar. Then he says: None of the victims offered for sin, whose blood has been taken to the tabernacle of the testimony for prayer in the saint, will be eaten, but will be consumed by fire. So, how do the things that can be eaten belong to the priests, what remains of the sacrifices for sins? This must be understood in the sense that the victims whose blood is touched by the altar of incense, located in the tabernacle of the testimony, are excluded. For the Scripture previously ordered that this be done with the bull that the priest would offer for his sin, and the bull that would be offered for the sin of the whole assembly, so that the excess flesh should be burned on the outside, outside the camp (Cf Leviticus 4,12.21). This is also remembered briefly now. 19 (Leviticus 7.1). This is the law of the ram that is offered for the crime: they are very holy things, therefore, it is the priests who can eat them. — QUESTIONS ON LEVITICUS, Q. 18 (tr. J. Litteral, draft)