Leviticuschapter 7
38 verses · Moses, by tradition · 15th to 13th century BC · The Law
Key verse
This is the portion of the offerings made by fire to the LORD for Aaron and his sons since the day they were presented to serve the LORD as priests.
It stands in The wave breast and the heave thigh, verses 28 to 38.
The chapter
Chapter summary
The law of the trespass and peace offerings. Both most holy; both with their priestly portions. The right shoulder (heave offering) and the breast (wave offering) for Aaron and his sons. The peace offering must be eaten the day it is offered (if thanksgiving) or by the second day (if vow or freewill); after that, unclean. No fat eaten; no blood eaten: ‘whosoever eateth it shall be cut off from his people’. The chapter closes the five-offering opening of the book with a summary of the whole: ‘the law of the burnt offering, of the meat offering, of the sin offering, of the trespass offering, of the consecrations, of the sacrifice of the peace offerings’.
Context
Law · Moses · Leviticus overview
The world of this chapter
- Who
- Aaron and his sons on the portions they receive, and the nation on how long an offering may be kept
- Where
- The tabernacle at Sinai, the holy place where the priests ate, and the tables of the households who took meat home
- When
- Israel encamped at Sinai, the close of the offerings given to the priesthood. c. 1445 BC on the traditional dating, in the first month of the second year after the Exodus. This site's published dossier carries a second position, that the priestly material was compiled later, with its holders named
Historical context
Two further speeches open at verses 22 and 28, and the section that began at 1:1 closes at verses 37 and 38.
Verse 7 puts the sin offering and the guilt offering under one law, after chapters 4 and 5 had treated them apart. The Hebrew name of the guilt offering is asham, the word Isaiah 53:10 uses of the Servant.
A first hearer would have known the bread of verse 13 as a problem. Leavened loaves are required alongside the unleavened cakes of a thanksgiving offering, and leaven is the thing put out of every house at Passover and kept off the altar at 2:11.
The keeping rules were practical in a hot climate with no way to store meat. A thanksgiving offering is eaten the same day, a vow or a freewill offering may be eaten on a second day, and on the third the remainder is burned.
The portions are named one by one. The hide goes to the officiating priest, the breast is waved and goes to all Aaron's sons, and the right thigh goes to the priest who presented the blood and the fat. Verse 34 says the LORD took those parts from Israel and gave them to the priests.
Verse 38 places the giving of these laws on Mount Sinai and in the Wilderness of Sinai, where 1:1 has the LORD calling out of the Tent of Meeting. Commentators account for the two settings in different ways and the text settles nothing.
Significance
The chapter told the priesthood where its food came from. Verse 34 makes the portions a gift handed over by God rather than a fee collected from the worshipper.
It told the nation that an offering already made could still be spoiled. Meat eaten on the third day made the sacrifice something that would not be credited to the man who brought it.
Where the chapter sits
Leviticus 7 falls in The five offerings (chapters 1–7). Burnt, grain, peace, sin, trespass, the sacrificial vocabulary of Israel's worship.
After it: Consecration of the priesthood, chapters 8–10.
The whole shape of Leviticus→The structure of this chapter
The heads below are this chapter's scenes. The numbered points under each are its verses.
The law of the trespass offering
Chapters 4 and 5 kept the sin offering and the trespass offering apart, and verse 7 puts them under one law. The blood is sprinkled round about the altar, the fat is burnt, and every male among the priests eats the rest inside the holy place, so the offering brought for a wrong done to a neighbour is handled as most holy. The Hebrew name of this offering is asham, and Isaiah 53:10 uses that word of the Servant when it says thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin.
Leviticus 7:1
“See Lev 5:14 note. In Lev 7:2 “sprinkle” should rather be cast Lev 1:5. All the details regarding the parts put on the altar are repeated for each kind of sacrifice, because the matter was one of paramount importance.”
Leviticus 7:2
“In the place where they kill the burnt offering shall they kill the trespass offering,.... See Lev 1:11, and the blood thereof shall he sprinkle round about upon the altar; on the upper part of it. There was a scarlet thread that was drawn around the altar in the middle, the blood of some of the sacrifices was sprinkled below it; and some above it, as was the blood of the trespass offering.”
Leviticus 7:3
“And he shall offer of it all the fat thereof,.... To the Lord, that being claimed by him, as in the peace offerings of the herd, and of the flock, whether a bullock or cow, a lamb or a goat, Lev 3:3, &c. and in the sin offering of the bullock, Lev 1:8, and the rump, or tail, which of sheep and rams, for the trespass offering, was very large and fat in those countries; See Gill on Exo 29:22, Lev 3:9, and the fat that covereth the inwards; called the "omentum".”
Leviticus 7:4
“The fat that is on them - Chiefly the fat that was found in a detached state, not mixed with the muscles; such as the omentum or caul, the fat of the mesentery, the fat about the kidneys, etc. See Clarke’s note on Lev 3:9, etc.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Leviticus 7:6
“When the blood and fat were offered to God to make atonement, the priests were to eat the flesh, as that of the sin-offering, in the holy place.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Leviticus 7:7
“As the sin offering is, so is the trespass offering, there is one law for them,.... The same as in Lev 6:27, the priest that maketh atonement therewith shall have it; who by offering it made atonement for the trespass of the person that brings it, as typical of the atonement by the sacrifice of Christ; he was to have all but what was burnt, for himself and his sons; though no doubt but other priests then on duty in the court ate with him.”
2 more voices on this verse
Leviticus 7:7
“So is - In the matter following, for in other things they differed. The priests shall have it - That part of it, which was by God allowed to the priest.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Leviticus 7:7
“He that did the work must have the wages. This was an encouragement to the priests to give diligent attendance on the altar; the more ready and busy they were the more they got. Note, The more diligent we are in the services of religion the more we shall reap of the advantages of it.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Verse 8 gives the officiating priest the skin of the burnt offering, which is the one part of a whole burnt offering that does not go up from the altar in smoke. The meat offering is then divided two ways without a reason given. What was baked in the oven or dressed in a pan belongs to the priest who offered it, and what came mingled with oil or dry is shared among all the sons of Aaron, one as much as another. Adam Clarke passes on an older suggestion that the priest's right to the skin began with the coats of skins of Genesis 3:21, and he gives it as a supposition rather than as something the text states.
Leviticus 7:8
“And the priest that offereth any man's burnt offering,.... In which the flesh was wholly burnt, and nothing of it remained to requite the priest for his trouble, as in other offerings: even the priest shall have to himself the skin of the burnt offering, which he hath offered; in some cases the skin itself was burnt, and then he could have nothing, see Lev 4:11 but in others the skin was reserved for the priest.”
Leviticus 7:9
“All the meal-offering - Except the part reserved by God, chap. ii, 2, 9. Because these were ready drest and hot, and to be presently eaten; shall be the priests - The priest, who offered it, was in reason to expect, something more than his brethren who laboured not about it; and that he had only in this offering; for the others were equally distributed.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Leviticus 7:10
“Dry - Without oil, or drink-offering, as those chap. v, 11, Num. v, 15. All the sons of Aaron - These were to be equally divided among all the priests. And there was manifest reason for this difference, because these were in greater quantity than the former; and being raw, might more easily be reserved for the several priests to dress it in that way which each of them liked.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Thanksgiving, vow, and freewill meals
The peace offering stood third in the worshipper's list at chapter 3 and stands last in the priest's list here, so the section that opened with the burnt offering closes with the one sacrifice the offerer eats from. A thanksgiving peace offering carries bread with it, and verse 13 requires leavened bread alongside the unleavened cakes, when leaven is the thing put out of every house at passover. The flesh of a thanksgiving offering is eaten the same day and none of it is left until the morning.
Leviticus 7:12
“If he offer it for a thanksgiving, then he shall offer with the sacrifice of thanksgiving unleavened cakes mingled with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil, and cakes mingled with oil, of fine flour, fried.”
John Calvin· Commentaries (1554)reformed
2 more voices on this verse
Leviticus 7:12
“If he offer it for a thanksgiving - See the notes at the end of this chapter at Lev 7:38 (note).”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Leviticus 7:12
“For a thanksgiving - i. e., a thank-offering for mercies received.”
Leviticus 7:13
“Leavened bread - Because this was a sacrifice of another kind than those in which leaven was forbidden, this being a sacrifice of thanksgiving for God's blessings, among which leavened bread was one.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Leviticus 7:14
“Out of the whole oblation - Rather, out of each offering. That is, one loaf or cake out of each kind of meat-offering was to be a heave-offering Lev 7:32 for the officiating priest. According to Jewish tradition, there were to be ten cakes of each kind of bread in every thank-offering. The other cakes were returned to the sacrificer.”
Leviticus 7:15
“He shall not leave any of it until the morning - Because in such a hot country it was apt to putrefy, and as it was considered to be holy, it would have been very improper to expose that to putrefaction which had been consecrated to the Divine Being. Mr. Harmer supposes that the law here refers rather to the custom of drying flesh which had been devoted to religious purposes, which is practiced among the Mohammedans to the present time.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Leviticus 7:16-22
A vow or a voluntary peace offering may be eaten on a second day and a thanksgiving offering may not, and the text draws that line without saying why. On the third day the remainder is burnt, and eating it makes the sacrifice an abomination that shall not be accepted nor imputed to the man who brought it, so an offering already made can be spoiled by what is done with the meat afterwards. A man who eats the flesh while his uncleanness is upon him is cut off from his people, and the chapter says it twice in two verses.
Leviticus 7:16
“The vow-offering appears to have been a peace-offering vowed upon a certain condition; the voluntary-offering, one offered as the simple tribute of a devout heart rejoicing in peace with God and man offered on no external occasion (compare Lev 22:17-25).”
Leviticus 7:17
“But the remainder of the flesh of the sacrifice on the third day,.... What remained of it uneaten on the second day, and was kept till the third: shall be burnt with fire; that it might neither corrupt, nor be put to superstitious uses, nor be of any profit in any respect; that so niggardliness and distrust of the care of Providence might be discouraged: perhaps some respect may be had in the type to the resurrection of Christ on the third day, having seen no corruption.”
Leviticus 7:18
“It was proper that the sacrificial meat should not be polluted by any approach to putrefaction. But the exclusion of a mean-spirited economy may further have furnished the ground for the distinction between the thank-offerings and the others. The most liberal distribution of the meat of the offering, particularly among the poor who were invited to partake, would plainly be becoming when the sacrifice was intended especially to express gratitude for mercies received.”
Leviticus 7:19
“It is a case adjudged ( Hag. ii. 12 ) that the holy flesh could not by its touch communicate holiness to what was common; but by this law it is determined that by the touch of that which was unclean it received pollution from it, which intimates that the infection of sin is more easily and more frequently communicated than the savour of grace.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Leviticus 7:20
“That eateth - Knowingly; for if it were done ignorantly, a sacrifice was accepted for it. Not being cleansed from his uncleanness according to the appointment, chap. xi, 24, &c. This verse speaks of uncleanness from an internal cause, as by an issue, &c. for what was from an external cause is spoken of in the next verse.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Leviticus 7:21
“Unclean beast - that is, carrion of any kind. See Lev. 11. Shall be cut off - See the Exo 31:14 note.”
1 more voice on this verse
Leviticus 7:21
“The uncleanness of man - Any ulcer, sore, or leprosy; or any sort of cutaneous disorder, either loathsome or infectious.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Fat and blood are never eaten
Leviticus 7:22
“And the Lord spake unto Moses,.... Continued speaking to him: saying; as follows.”
Fat and blood are forbidden together and both carry the same penalty of being cut off from the people. The fat of a beast that died of itself or was torn may be put to any other use, and only the eating of it is barred, so the rule guards what belongs on the altar rather than the carcase. Leviticus 17:11 gives the one reason the book ever gives for the blood, that the life of the flesh is in it, and Acts 15:20 and 15:29 carry the same prohibition into the first council of the church.
Leviticus 7:23
“The general prohibition of eating fat, chap. iii, 17, is here explained of those kind of creatures which were sacrificed. The fat of others they might eat.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Leviticus 7:24
“And if this seems a superfluous prohibition, since the lean as well as the fat of such beasts were forbidden, chap. xxii, 8, it must be noted, that prohibition reached only to the priests, ver. 4.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Leviticus 7:26
“Moreover ye shall eat no manner of blood,.... Of any of the above creatures, or any other, even of any clean creature, and much less of an unclean one: whether it be of fowl or of beast; of all sorts and kinds.”
Leviticus 7:27
“Whatsoever soul - that eateth any manner of blood - See Clarke’s note on Gen 9:4. Shall be cut off - excommunicated from the people of God, and so deprived of any part in their inheritance, and in their blessings. See Clarke’s note on Gen 17:14.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
The wave breast and the heave thigh
The man who brings a peace offering carries the fat and the breast to the altar in his own hands, so the part of the ritual a worshipper performs himself is the handing over. The breast is waved and goes to Aaron and to all his sons, the right shoulder is heaved and goes to the priest who offered the blood and the fat, and the man who did the work takes the larger single portion. Verse 34 says the LORD took those parts from Israel and gave them to the priests, which makes the priest's food a gift out of the altar rather than a fee collected from the offerer.
Leviticus 7:28
“And the Lord spake unto Moses,.... At the same time the above laws were delivered; for what follows relates to the sacrifice of the peace offerings: saying; as follows.”
Leviticus 7:29
“He that offereth the sacrifice of his peace offerings unto the Lord--In order to show that the sacrifice was voluntary, the offerer was required to bring it with his own hands to the priest.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Leviticus 7:30
“His own hands - After the beast was killed, and the parts of it divided, the priest was to put the parts mentioned into the hands of the offerer. Offerings made by fire - So called, not strictly, as burnt-offerings are, because some parts of these were left for the priest, but more largely, because even these peace-offerings were in part, tho' not wholly, burnt.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Leviticus 7:32
“The right shoulder - See Clarke on Exo 29:27 (note).”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Leviticus 7:34
“For the wave breast and the heave shoulder have I taken of the children of Israel,.... These two parts were particularly pitched upon and selected: from off the sacrifices of their peace offering; the rest being allowed the owners, besides what were burnt: and have given them unto Aaron the priest and unto his sons, by a statute for ever from among the children of Israel; as long as the priesthood lasted, even to the coming of the Messiah, in whom all these sacrifices would have their accomplishment and their end.”
1 more voice on this verse
Leviticus 7:34
“The wave-breast and heave-shoulder - The breast or heart is the seat of wisdom, and the shoulder of strength for action; and these two may denote that wisdom, and power, which were in Christ our high-priest, and which ought to be in every priest.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Verse 37 names all five offerings in one line and adds the consecrations, closing the run that began at chapter 1. The order ends on the peace offerings, where the worshipper's list in chapters 1 to 5 put them third and ended on the trespass offering. Verse 38 places the giving of these laws in mount Sinai and in the wilderness of Sinai, while Leviticus 1:1 has the LORD calling to Moses out of the tabernacle of the congregation. Commentators account for the two settings in different ways and the text itself settles nothing.
Leviticus 7:35
“Of the anointing of Aaron - That is, of the priesthood; the sign put for the thing signified; and the anointing by a like figure is put for the part of the sacrifices belonging to the priest by virtue of his anointing. This was their portion appointed them by God in that day, and therefore to be given to them in after ages.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Leviticus 7:36
“In the day that he anointed them - See Clarke’s note on Exo 40:15.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Leviticus 7:37
“Of the consecrations - That is, of the sacrifices which were to be offered in the consecration of the priests. See the marginal references.”
Leviticus 7:38
“In the wilderness of Sinai - These laws were probably given to Moses while he was on the mount with God; the time was quite sufficient, as he was there with God not less than fourscore days in all; forty days at the giving, and forty days at the renewing of the law.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Keep studying
On this page
Sources for this chapter
The summary
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.
The exposition
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Alfred Edersheim, The Temple: Its Ministry and Services; Andrew Bonar, A Commentary on Leviticus; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.