Leviticus 1

seventh day, the glory of the Lord broke through it, and appeared like devouring fire, in the sight of all the people, (ver. 17.) X HE Greeks and Latins give itthisname of Leviticus, not because it treats of the ministry of the Levites, properly so called (of which the book of Numbers gives a fuller account than this book doth), but because it contains the laws about the religion of the Jews, consisting principally in various sacrifices; the charge of which was committed to Aaron the Levite, (as he is called Exod. iv. 14.) and to his sons, who alone had the office of priesthood in the tribe of Levi: which the apostle therefore calls a Leviticnl priesthood, Heb. vii. 11. scribed what sort of creatures should be offered, he first directs them about their holocausts, as the Greeks call them, which were wholly burnt upon the altar; and were the most ancient sacrifices that had been in the world. They are often mentioned by the Greeks, particularly by Xenophon in his Cyropaedia, lib. vjii. where he saith, wXoKavTbjaav robg raipovg, &c. they sacrificed whole burntofferings of oxen to Jupiter, and afterward of horses to the sun. (See Bochart. lib. ii. Hierozoic. cap. 33. par, i.) Sometimes, indeed, the heathen burnt only a part, and reserved the rest to feast upon, as he there observes: but among the Jews *vo man ever paTtook of these offerings. For there being four sorts of sacrifices prescribed by the la\v,(Abarbinel observes in his preface to this book, cap. 2.) the whole burnt-offerings, the sin-offerings, the trespass-offerings, and the peace-offerings; there was this difference made between them; that, of the first of these, whether it was a public or a private whole burnt-offering, nobody partook, no, not the priests themselves; but it was entirely consumed except the skin. Of the second, some part was burnt; the rest the priests had, and were to eat it in the court of the tabernacle (though there was one sort of sinoffering which was wholly consumed, as the burnt-offerings were). The third sort, which w r ere trespass-offerings, were only offered for private persons; some parts of which, as in the former, were burnt upon the altar, and the rest eaten by the priests. As for the last (the peace-offering), some parts of such sacrifices were burnt on the altar, the priest had the breast and the right shoulder; and the remainder, he that brought the sacrifice ate with his friends. I shall add no more, but that these whole burnt-offerings seem to have been simple acknowledgments of God, the Creator of the world, and testifications that they owned him to be their Lord, and continued in covenant with him, and implored his blessing upon them. And therefore, with respect to the first and last of these considerations, the gentiles were permitted to bring these sacrifices (as the Jews tell us), but no other whatsoever, to be offered unto God. Of the herd.’] As burnt-offerings were the principal sacrifices, and therefore mentioned in the first place, so those of beeves were the chief of all burnt-offerings, both among the Jews and among the gentiles. Whence fiovSrurdv, to sacrifice oxen, became a proverb for a magnificent entertainment. Let him offer a mate.’] These were accounted the best, and therefore principally appointed. And so they were among the heathen; insomuch, that the Egyptians offered only ipawag twv j3owv, (as Herodotus tells us, lib. ii. cap. 41.) and thought it unlawful to offer females. Which shews that Moses did not conform his laws to their customs, for he admitted the sacrifice of females, (iii. 1.) Nay, it was particularly prescribed in some cases, (Numb. xix. 2.) Without blemish.] Or perfect, as the Hebrew word tamim signifies. Which word Homer expressly uses, when Achilles speaks about the sacrifice to Apollo, • apvvv Kvi<7<7t\v alywv te reXefwv. For to the gods (as Eustathius there observes) who are most perfect, irpQaayziv xprj rlkua, the most perfect things ought to be offered. The like passage a very learned friend of mine, now with God (Dr. Outram), observes out of the scholiast upon Aristophanes’s Acharnenses, (lib. i. de Sacrificiis, cap. 9. sect. 3.) where more may be seen to the same purpose. Now that is perfect in which there is no defect in any part, and is pot decayed by age. For which reason, Abarbinel observes, great care is taken in the law, that this; sort of creatures were to be offered before they were three years old; and the other sorts before they w r ere two. He shall offer it of his own voluntary will.] In this translation we follow the opinion of the Jews, who refer this to the persons that brought this offering; which they might do when they pleased. The like expressions we read xixi 5. xxii. 19. But the LXX. thought it hath respect to God; and so the phrase maybe interpreted, he shall bring it for his acceptation, i. e. that he may find a favourable acceptance with God. At the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.] Where the altar of burnt-offering was placed, (Exod. xl. G. 29.).And this was so necessary, that it is required upon pain of death to be brought hither, and offered in no other place, (xvii. 3,4, &c.) For which cause, it is likely, tlie door of the tabernacle is here mentioned rather than the altar; that it might be understood to be unlawful to offer at any other altar, but that which stood at the door of the tabernacle. Before the Lord.] With their faces, to wards that holy place where the Divine Majesty dwelt: unto whom the sacrifice was brought, and at the door of the tabernacle received by the priest, from the hand of the offerer. here observed, that laying on of hands was always accompanied with prayer, as appears by Jacob’s laying them on the head of Manasseh and Ephraim, (Gen. xlviii. 14. 16. 20.)and the high-priest’s laying them on the scape-goat, (xvi. 21. of this book.) Insomuch, that laying on of hands signifies sometimes in the New Testament to pray, (Matth. xix. 15. Mark v. 23.) and other places. But if a man had committed any sin, there are other sacrifices peculiarly appointed by the law for their expiation; which he was bound to offer with confession of sin, and prayer to God for pardon.

Leviticus 1:1

And the Lord called unto Moses. That is, bade him draw near, and not be afraid, because of the glory of that light which was in the tabernacle, (Exod. xl. 35.) For this is a word oflove, as the Hebrew doctors speak: who observe, that God is not said to call the prophets of the gentiles; but we only read that God jikar, met Balaam; not jikra, called to him, as he did here to Moses. Who, as Procopius Gazscus hath well observed upon this word, appointed no service of God, in his house which he had lately erected, without his order: whereas the worship performed in the honour of demons, was without any authority from him. Nay, there were magical operations in it, and invocation of demons; and certain tacit obligations w r hich their priests contracted with them. For which he produces Porphyry as a witness.’ And spake unto him out of the tabernacle.] Hitherto he had spoken to him out of heaven, or out of a cloud; but now out of his own house. Into which, it is not here said he bade him come (as he did afterwards when the glory of the Lord dwelt only in the inner part of the house, over the ark), but he stood, it is likely, without the door of the tabernacle, till the sacrifices were appointed (as it here follows), and the’ high-priest entered into it with the blood of expiation. I can find no time in which this can so probably be supposed to have been done, as immediately after the consecration of the tabernacle, as soon as the glory of the Lord entered into it. And so I find Hesyehius understood it, who, observing this book to begin with the word And, which is a conjunction used to join what follows with that which goes before, thence concludes, that the beginning of this book is knit to the conclusion of the last; and consequently what is here related was spoken to Moses oh the same day he had set up the tabernacle, and the glory of the Lord filled it. When Moses might well think (as the Jerusalem Targum explains it), that if Mount Sinai was so exalted by the Divine presence there for a short space, that it was not safe for him to approach it, much less come

Leviticus 1:4

And he shall pat his hand upon the head of the burnt-offering. Both his hands; as some gather from xvi! 21. and (as Maimonides saith) he was to do it with all his might. This was a right belonging to peace-offerings, as well as to burnt-offerings, (iii. 2.) and to sin-offerings also,, (iv. 4.) The meaning of which, in this sort of offerings, seems to have been, that he who brought the sacrifice renounced all his interest in it, and transferred it wholly to God, unto whose service he entirely devoted it. It being like to the old ceremony among the Romans, who laid their hands upon their servants when they gave them their liberty, and abdicated their own right in them, saying, " Hunc hominem liberum esse volo," I will that this man be free: which is called manumission. In other offerings it had another meaning, as I shall observe in due place: and it was imitated by the gentiles, though not without the addition of impious superstitions. For they writhed back the head of the beast upward, when they sacrificed to the gods above; and thrust down its head towards the ground, when they sacrificed to their infernal deities; as J. Brentius hath observed in his preface to this book. And it shall be accepted for him to make an atonement for him.] It shall be so acceptable, as to recommend him to the favour of the Divine Majesty. For so the Hebrew word caphar seems here to signify, not properly to make an atonement (which was the business of a sin-offering), but to own him to be in a state of reconciliation with God: unto whom he was supposed to give up himself wholly, as he did this beast. The Jews, indeed, who stick to the literal signification of the word, fancy that these burntofferings expiated evil thoughts and desires: but there is no ground for this in Scripture; and the most that can be made of it is, that God accepted his prayers which he made in general, for the forgiveness of all his sins, when he. laid his hand upon the head of this sacrifice. For it must be

Leviticus 1:5

And he shall kill the bullock. That is, the man himself who brought it, as Rasi interprets it; or one of the Levites, as others understand it: for they killed the paschal Iamb at that great Passover mentioned 2 Chron. xxx. 17. as Bochart observes. But he should have added the reason of it, which Rasi there gives; that a great many of the congregation having not sanctified themselves (as we read in that place), therefore the Levites had the charge of the killing of the passover, for every one’ that was not clean, to sanctify them unto the Lord. Otherwise every man might kill his own passover, (Exod, xii.‘G.) as they might do all their other sacrifices. For certain it is, this was none of the work of priests, as Maimonides shews in a passage mentioned by Dr. Cudworth (in his book concerning the Lord’s Supper, p. 27.) out of Biath Ammikdath: where he quotes this very place to prove, that " the killing of the holy things might lawfully be done by a stranger; yea, of the most holy things: whether they were the holy things of private persons, or of the whole congregation." The common objection to this is, that none might come into the court where the altar was but the priests. To which the answer is plain, that upon this occasion other persons might come so far within the court, because it was indispensably necessary that the man who brought the sacrifice should lay his hand upon the head of it; which was to be done at the altar when it was to be slain. Before the Lord.] See ver. 3, And the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall bring the blood.] Now begins the work of the priests: the receiving of the blood and that which immediately followed, belonging to their Office. They received it in a bason, (Exod. xxiv. 6.) as the manner also was among the heathen; which our learned Sheringham observes upon Codex Joma (p. 85.) out of Homer’s Odyss. lib. iii. where Thrasymedes is represented as cutting the ox asunder with a cleaver; and Perseus as receiving the blood in a bason, which he calls a/tvtov. A word used in Crete, as Eustathius notes, for such kind of vessels; which some think was originally alpviov, from the receiving of the blood. And sprinkle the blood round about upon the altar, &c] That this might be done readily, one priest received the blood, and another took it from him, and sprinkled it about the altar; or, as the Jews understand it, on every side of the altar; which they performed by two sprinklings, at the opposite corners of it. Which was a rite also used in peace-offerings and trespass-offerings: but in sin-offerings the blood was poured out at the foot of the altar: (see vii. 2.) Thus the heathen also themselves took care the blood of their sacrifices should not run upon the ground, but be received, as I said, in vessels prepared for that and consecrated to their gods. So Lucian, in his book of sacrifices, represents the priest; rb atjaa tm fiw/t<$ wspty4m>, as pouring the blood upon the altar. (See DilhciTusDisput. Philolog. torn. ii. p. 253.)

Leviticus 1:6

And he shall slay the burnt-offering. Next followed the taking off the skin; which God ordered to be given to the priests, (vii. 8.) Though the heathen burnt skin and all, in some places, as Bochart observes out of Plutarch and Lucian in the forenamed place, (Jlieroz. par. ii. lib. i. p. 324.) But whose work it was to slay the beast, is not here expressed. The Jews say it belonged not to the priests to do this, but to the man himself, who brought the beast to be offered. For (to shew in brief what belonged to the otvners of the sacrifice, and what to the priests) it may be fit to note out of Abarbinel,that each of them had five things to do. The owner of the sacrifice laid his hand upon it, killed, slayed, cut it up, and washed the inwards: and then the priest received the blood ih a vessel; sprinkled the blood; put fire on the altar; ordered the wood on the fire; and ordered the pieces of the sacrifice upon the wood. And that the beast might more easily be slayed, there were eight stone pillars (as the Jews tell us in Middoth, cap. 3.) and beams laid over them; in each of which there were three iron hooks fixed; that the greatest beasts might hang upon the highest, the lesser upon the middlemost, and the least of all on the lowest: and so be more commodiously stripped of their skins.‘Concerning this excoriation both Homer and Virgil speak, as the aforenamed Dilherrus hath observed in the same book, p. 255. And ait it into pieces.] This followed the excoriation among the gentiles also," as the same author shews. And it was done with such accuracy, that Homer saith they dissected the sacrifice hnarafxivwq and irtpuppaSi wg: from whence some great men have thought St. Paul borrowed the word opSorofitlv, to express the care the ministers of the gospel should have, in dividing rightly the word of truth, (2 Tim. ii. 15.) These pieces were not the very same in bullocks and goats, that they were in sheep, as will appear afterward’; and therefore the greater care wa sto be used in the cutting of them; especially when, besides those parts which were offered to God, the priests and the people were to have their share also.

Leviticus 1:7

And the sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire upon the altar. This, as I said before, was one of the works of the priests: who did not put fire daily upon the altar, (for being once kindled, they were to keep it always burning, vi. 13.) but stirred it up, and blowed the coals. Which is meant by giving fire, as the phrase is in the Hebrew; that is, disposing itsothat it might burn quick. Yet, if the fire were taken off from the altar, as when they removed the camp, (Numb. iv. 14.) none might lay it on again but the priest. Or, if it were extinct, as it was in the days of Ahaz, who shut up the door of the house of God, wliich was not opened till Hezekiah reigned, (2 Chron. xxviii. 24. xxix. 34.) none but they might kindle it again. And lay the tvood in order upon the fire.] This the priests did every morning and every night, that the fire might be preserved from* going out. And when the time of the morning and evening sacrifice came, they brought new wood, and laid it in such order upon the fire, that it might the better purpose; and then poured upon their altars, aud so offered j consume the parts of the sacrifice that were laid thereon,

Leviticus 1:8

And the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall lay the parts, the head and the fat. The Hebrew word peder doth not simply signify the fat (for which they have another word, cheleb), but that fat which is separated from the rest of the flesh. So it is to be understood here, and in iii. 9. iv. 3d. Which being gathered together, and thrown into the fire, fed the flame, andmade it burn more fiercely: by which means the other parts, into which the sacrifice was divided/ were the more easily and the sooner consumed. Particularly, St. Jerome takes it for that fat which adhered to the liver: and both Solomon Jarchi and David Kimchi observe, that this peder was thrown upon the head of the sacrifice (when it was cast into the fire), just in the place where the head was cut off from the body; because, otherwise, the gore which issued from it might have extinguished the flame, (See Exod. xxix. 17.) In order upon the wood, &c] That they might lie upon the wood, so as to have the same situation in the altar that they had in the beast when it was alive. So Maimonidcs in Maase Korban, cap. G.

Leviticus 1:9

But his inivards and his legs shall he wash in water. These parts were not to be burnt upon the altar till they were well cleansed by washing them in water. For which end there was a private room afterward, in the court of the temple (as now, it is likely, there was in the tabernacle), called the washing-room, (as we find in Codex Middoth, cap. 5. sect. 2.) There they having washed them pri-’ vately, and freed the inwards from their filth, they brought them into the court, where there were two marble tables, between the pillars beforementioned, (ver. G.) and there they were washed more exactly, as wc read in the same book, (cap. 3. sect. 5.) Where Const. L’Empereur observes, out of Il.Hobadia, the reason why they used to lay the flesh upon such tables, was, because marble made it cold and stiff, and preserved it from stinking in very hot weather. And the priest shall burn all on the altar.] From whence this sacrifice is called ischeh, an offering made by fire (from isch, which signifies fire), because it was altogether consumed in the fire; and no part of it left, so much as for the priest to eat of it. Of a sweet savour unto the Lord.] i. e. Most acceptable. For it is a form of speech taken from men, who arc delighted with the good scent and taste of meat and drink. But none can reasonably imagine jt was the mere sacrifice that was pleasing unto God, but, as Conrad. Pellieanus well notes, the devotion, faith, obedience, and sincerity of their minds who made the oblation.

Leviticus 1:10

And ifhisoffering be of the flocks, namely, of the sheep or of the goats, &c. If a man were not able to bring a bullock for a burnt-sacrifice (which could not be so well spared, being of great use in agriculture), he might bring one of these creatures, which were of less value; only perfect in their kind, as it here follows. He shall bring it a male without blemish] See Exod. xii. 5. What the blemishes were, that made any animal unfit to be offered on the altar, Moses tells us in this book, xxii. 22 — 24. where he mentions twelve, which shall bo there considered.

Leviticus 1:11

And he shall kill it on the side of the altar north ivard.* The greater sacrifices, which the Jews call the most holy things, had this peculiar place assigned them, where they were to be killed, viz. all the burnt-offerings (whether of bullocks, sheep, or goats), and all offerings for sin, (vi. 25.) and all trespass-offerings, (vii, 2.) But all the other sacrifices, which they call the lesser holy things (such as" the peace-offerings of particular men,, the ])aschal lamb, the first-born, and that which was tithed), might be killed in any part Of the court, where the altar stood; there being no peculiar place appointed by the law for that purpose,- but’ only at the entrance of the tabernacle. Yet a peace-offering for the whole congregation, was looked upon as belong-’ ing to the things most holy; and so was slain (as Maimonides tells us) at the north side of the altar: where there were certain rings fixed, to which the head, or, as some say, the feet of the beast, was tied, in order to its being killed. But they were not perfect rings, as L’Empereur observes, being rather half-segments of rings, one part of which was fastened to the pavement, and by the other the neck of the beast was tied to it. (See Codex Middoth, cap* 3.. sect. 5.) The reason of this difference seems to be, only to make a distinction between these and other sacrifices. And all this is to be understood of the four-footed beasts beforementioned, not of birds; which were sacrificed after another manner, as appears from ver. 15. And the priests shall sprinkle his blood round about upon the altar.] See ver. 5." and vii. 2.

Leviticus 1:12

And he shall cut it into his pieces, vnth his head and his fat, &c. This verse hath been sufficiently explained, ver. 5, 6. 8.

Leviticus 1:13

And he shall wash the inwards and the tegs, &c. Sec ver. 9. where this also is explained. It is a burnt-sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a siveet savour unto the Lord.] As much as to say, this is as acceptable to the Lord as the sacrifice of a bullock, when offered with a pious mind.

Leviticus 1:14

And if the burnt-sacrifice for his offering to the Lord be offotvls. It is well observed by Maimonides, in his More Ncvochim, par. iii. cap. 46. that when a man was* not able to go to the charge of a sheep or a goat (much lessf" of a bullock), God was so merciful as to accept of a bird; only he prescribes of what sort they shoiild be. Nay; hethat was not able to be at this expense, was accepted if ha offered bread, however prepared, whether in an oven or a pan, according to the custom of those times. And he to whom this was too great a burden, might worship God, by bringing only fine flour, as will appear in the next chapter. Then he shall bring his offering of turtle-doves, or of young pigeons.] The same author observes, that there was a vast plenty of these birds in the land of Canaan; and* consequently they were so cheap, that it would put the poorer sort to no great charge to bring this oblation. Thesd were also very anciently sacrificed, (Gen. xv. 9.) and of a gentle nature, (as Procopius and others observe.) And pigeons being best when they are young, and turtles when full grown, accordingly they are appointed to bring them, when they were most esteemed. These are but seldom, mentioned in the sacrifices among the gentiles, who offered cocks to iEsculapius, and geese to Isis, as we read in several of their authors. Ver. 15 And the priest shall bring it into the altar, and wring off his head.] Pinch it off with his nail (as the Jews say) at one of the corners or horns of the altar:, viz. the xvhole burnt-offering at the south-east corner, and the sinoffering at the north-west, as Maimonidcs saith in his trca- 2Y uigiazea oy ivncroson <& 34G [chap. II, tisc called Korbanolh, cap. 5. But their heads were so to be wrung or pinched as not to be separated quite from the body, but to be left still hanging to it. For so it is ordered in that sacrifice mentioned v. 8. and therefore they suppose it was so in all. And the blood thereof shall be wrung out, at the sides of the altar.] This is the reason that the priest alone might kill the bird, (though others might kill the beast, see ver.5.) because the sprinkling of the blood, which none might do buttho priest, was immediately conjunct with the wringing off its head. Ver. Ifi. And he shall pluck away his crop.] Or the stomach; that the sacrifice might be clean, and free from all filth. With his feathers.] Which were no more to be offered, than the skin of the beasts, (ver. C.) And cast it beside the altar on the east part.] As far as might be from the most holy place, which was in the west. By the place of the ashes.] See iv. 12.

Leviticus 1:17

And he shall cleave it with the wings hereof, but shall not divide it asunder. The wings were to be so cloven, as not to be quite separated from the body, but still to remain hanging to it: and so salt being sprinkled upon the whole body, it was thrown into the fire. So Maimonides observes in the forcnamed treatise: where he takes notice, also, that it was otherwise m fowls offered for sin; of which nothing but the blood belonged to the altar; the flesh of them being eaten by the priests and their sons. Whence it was, that no sin-offering of birds was accepted, unless it were accompanied with, a whole burnt-offering; that the altar might not be without a feast, when they that ministered there were entertained. Thus it is required in several cases, mentioned v.7. xii. C. 8. xiv. 22. xv. 15. 30. and Numb. vi. 11. The same Maimonides likewise observes, that this sacrifice of birds was one of the most difficult works in the sanctuary; whereby the mind of the priest was kept as intent upon the poorest sacrifice, as upon the most splendid. And the priest shall burn it upon the altar, upon the wood that is upon the fire.] This was in part said before, but here repeated more distinctly, to shew there was no differenco to be made between the sacrifices of the meanest and of the greatest. It is a burnt-sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord.] The same is said of this, as of all other holocausts, (ver. 9. 15.) to shew that whether the oblation was of the greater animals or of the less, or only of birds, it made no difference in its acceptance with God: who graciously ordered these various sorts of offerings, that the poor as well as the rich might be capable to express their devotion to him, and be confident to find favour with him.

And when the cloud was taken tip from over the tabernacle, the children of Israel went onward in their journeys. That is, the Lord (whose glorious presence was in this’cloud) led and conducted them in all their removals. And therefore they are said to have journeyed at the commandment of the Lord: because when the cloud (wherein the Lord was) was taken up, then they journeyed, (Numb. ix. 17, 18. 20. 23.)

But ij the cloud were not taken up, then they journeyed not till the day that it was taken up. They were wholly governed by its motions, and followed its directions.

For the cloud of the Lord. So it is called also in Numb. x. 34. because the glory of the Lord was in it. Was upon the tabernacle by day.] And so it was by night, but then had another appearance, as it here follows. And fire was on it by night] The fire and the cloud (as I said ver. 35.) w r ere not different things; but the same pillar which was dark by day, when there was no need of light, shone like fire by night, when the dark part of it could not be seen, to lead and conduct them. It appeared, therefore, like a cloud by day, and turned the light side to them (which was as bright as fire) by night, that they might march, if there were occasion, by its direction, both day and night. And thus it is described, xiii. 21, 22. Numb. ix. 15, 16, &e. And so this verse may be translated, the cloud’ of the Lord was upon the tabernacle by day, and the fire was [bo] in it (L e. in the cloud) by night. For so they are elsewhere described, as one within the other: (Deut. v. 22.) " The Lord spake unto all your assembly out of the midst of the fire of the cloud, and of the thick darkness." f In the sight of all the children of Israel, throughout all their journeys.] The whole congregation had constantly this comfortable token of God’s presence among them, by the cloud in the day-time, and fire in the night: which never left them all the time they were in the wilderness, but brought them to Canaan. THE THIRD BOOK OF MOSES, CALLED LEVITICUS.