Leviticuschapter 7
38 verses · Moses, by tradition · 15th to 13th century BC · The Law
This is the portion of the anointing of Aaron, and of the anointing of his sons, out of the offerings of the Lord made by fire, in the day when he presented them to minister unto the Lord in the priest’s office;
Introduction
Moses, by tradition, The Law, Leviticus Overview.
This chapter closes the first section of Leviticus, the laws of the offerings that began in chapter 1. It speaks to the priests about their portions. It tells the whole nation how long a sacrificial meal may be kept. It was written for a camp in a hot country with no means of storing meat, where an offering could be spoiled after it was made. Listen for the parts named one by one as the priests' share, for the warnings about fat and blood, and for the summary that ties all the offerings to the place where they were given.
Context
- Who
- Aaron and his sons on the portions they receive, and the nation on how long an offering may be kept
- What
- The priests' laws of the guilt and peace offerings, their portions, the ban on fat and blood, and the close of the laws of the offerings.
- Where
- The tabernacle at Sinai, the holy place where the priests ate, and the tables of the households who took meat home.
- When
- About 1445 BC on the traditional dating, at Sinai in the first month of the second year after the Exodus, while other scholars date the writing of the priestly laws later.
- Why
- To fix the priests' share as a gift from God, and to guard the sacrificial meal from being spoiled.
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.
Show the rest of the historical context, 5 more paragraphs
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.
Show the rest of the significance, 1 more paragraph
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.
This chapter in Jewish lifeWhat this chapter is in Jewish life and reading.
What is done
This chapter settles who eats what, and the tradition follows the food to the table. The guilt offering was killed on the north side of the altar, where the burnt offering was killed (Rashi on Leviticus 7:2:1). Rashi is quoted from the Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary translated by M. Rosenbaum and A. M. Silbermann, 1929 to 1934, which the corpus marks public domain. The skin of a burnt offering went to the priest who performed the rite, and priests who were unfit to serve that day had no share in the skins (Rashi on Leviticus 7:8:1). The grain offering went to the priestly family on duty on the day it was brought (Rashi on Leviticus 7:9:1). A thanksgiving offering came with four kinds of bread. One loaf of each kind was lifted out for the officiating priest, and the giver ate the rest with the meat, apart from the breast and the shoulder (Rashi on Leviticus 7:14:1). The meat of that offering had to be eaten within the day and the night following (Rashi on Leviticus 7:15:1). The meat of a vow or a gift offering had two days and the night between (Rashi on Leviticus 7:16:1). The ban on eating blood is read as a duty that follows the person rather than the land, so it held in every place Israel lived (Rashi on Leviticus 7:26:1). The offerings themselves have not been brought since the Temple fell in AD 70, a break this site records on its feasts layer (src/lib/hebraic/feasts.ts).
How it is read
The reading of the thanksgiving offering is the part of this chapter a reader will remember. Rashi names the four cases that oblige a man to give thanks. He is one who has crossed the sea, or travelled the wilderness, or been held in prison, or been ill and recovered, and he proves the list from Psalm 107 (Rashi on Leviticus 7:12:1). Such a man brought bread with his offering and ate it inside one day and one night. Sforno is quoted here from the translation of Eliyahu Munk, which the corpus marks CC-BY. He asks why this one offering carries leavened loaves among the unleavened. He reads the leaven as what the sages call "the element of ego in the 'dough,'" which the unleavened loaves beside it hold down (Sforno on Leviticus 7:11:1).
The chapter is also read as a law of intention. The flesh eaten on the third day is a case about the mind of the priest at the hour of the offering, rather than about the man who eats it later. If the priest intends while he works that the meat will be eaten on the third day, the offering is spoiled from that moment (Rashi on Leviticus 7:18:1). Rashi separates that case from the flesh made unfit by touching something unclean (Rashi on Leviticus 7:19:1). He then distinguishes two punishments. An unclean person who eats holy flesh is cut off, and a clean person who eats unclean flesh is given lashes (Rashi on Leviticus 7:20:1).
Ramban is quoted here from the Commentary on the Torah translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel, New York, 1971 to 1976, which the corpus marks CC-BY. He holds that the list of unclean things in the chapter is a sample rather than a boundary, and that touching the carcass of a clean animal carries the same liability (Ramban on Leviticus 7:21:1). On the fat he argues against reading the ban as covering only animals fit for the altar. The earlier chapter forbade all fat without condition, and the phrase "in all your dwellings" is never used of offerings (Ramban on Leviticus 7:25:1).
The technical notes round the chapter out. The guilt offering keeps its name until the name is taken from it, which governs the case of an animal whose owner has died (Rashi on Leviticus 7:5:1). An animal exchanged for a guilt offering cannot be offered in its place (Rashi on Leviticus 7:1:1). The fat portions of the guilt offering are listed here because the earlier chapter left them out (Rashi on Leviticus 7:3:1). The fat of an animal that died of itself stays clean even where its flesh is unclean (Rashi on Leviticus 7:24:1).
Ibn Ezra stands on the seventeenth verse, and the corpus keeps no text of him because the licence Sefaria reports does not permit it (Ibn Ezra on Leviticus 7:17:1). Malbim stands on the twenty third, and Sefaria holds no English version of it (Malbim on Leviticus, Tzav 135:1).
What the rabbis say
The corpus carries forty Midrash and Talmud locators on this chapter and the text of none of them. Each is cited here rather than quoted, and what each teaches is reported as the teaching of the rabbis.
Twenty seven of them are Talmudic. Chullin carries eight. Two stand on the fat, at 75a:11 and 103a:16, one on the priest's loaf, at 134b:20, and two on the eating, at 81b:2 and 120a:18. The last three stand at 71a:8 on uncleanness, 117a:8 on the fat and 74b:9 on the blood. Bekhorot carries four, at 39a:18, 27b:7, 15a:16 and 30b:5. The Jerusalem Talmud carries eight, at Yoma 2:1:7, Sotah 3:7:5, Horayot 2:7:2, Avodah Zarah 2:7:1, Challah 1:4:1 and 1:1:15, Chagigah 3:2:7 and Yevamot 4:2:2. Kiddushin stands twice, at 53a:3 and 36a:17. Three more stand singly, at Menachot 4a:17, Berakhot 2a:5 and Chagigah 24a:6. Two entries of the Introductions to Tanaitic Literature stand on the second verse, at the remains of the midrash of Rabbi Ishmael's school to Leviticus 10 and at Sifra Torat Kohanim 384.
Thirteen midrashic locators run beside them. Bamidbar Rabbah carries seven, at 20:18, 13:2, 9:22, 18:3, 10:23, 14:13 and 14:19. Ein Yaakov carries two, at Menachot 13:1 in the Glick Edition and at Menakhot 13:5. Midrash Lekach Tov carries two, at Leviticus 7:22:1 and 7:36:1. The last two are Sifra, Tzav, Chapter 16 1 on the priests' portion, and Yalkut Shimoni on Torah 917:7.
Sources: Rashi, Rashi on Leviticus 7:1:1 to 7:26:1, the Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary translated by M. Rosenbaum and A. M. Silbermann, 1929 to 1934, public domain; Ramban, Ramban on Leviticus 7:21:1 and 7:25:1, the Commentary on the Torah translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel, New York, 1971 to 1976, CC-BY; Sforno, Sforno on Leviticus 7:11:1, HaChut Hameshulash translated by Eliyahu Munk, CC-BY; Ibn Ezra, Ibn Ezra on Leviticus 7:17:1, cited by ref because the licence Sefaria reports does not permit the text; Malbim, Malbim on Leviticus, Tzav 135:1, cited by ref because Sefaria holds no English version; MannaFest, the feasts layer, src/lib/hebraic/feasts.ts, on the Temple's fall in AD 70; The Sefaria corpus, scripts/data/sources/sefaria/leviticus/7.json, the 40 Midrash and Talmud locators 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
Leviticus 7:1-7
Chapters 4 and 5 treated the sin and guilt offerings apart, and verse 7 puts them under one law: the same law applies to both. The fat is burned, and every male among the priests eats the rest in a holy place. The Hebrew name is asham, and Isaiah 53:10 uses the word of the Servant, when His soul is made a guilt offering.
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.”
The guilt offering is killed on the north side of the altar, the place Leviticus 1:11 gives for the burnt offering. John Gill notes that a scarlet thread ran round the middle of the altar and that the blood of the guilt offering went above it. Albert Barnes, on verse 1, prefers cast to sprinkle for the action with the blood.
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.”
All the fat is given to the LORD, beginning with the fat tail and the fat over the entrails. John Gill notes that the tail of sheep and rams in those countries was very large and fat, and he names the fat over the entrails as the omentum. The list matches the fat taken from the peace offering of the flock in Leviticus 3:9-10.
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".”
The list goes on to the two kidneys with their fat and the lobe of the liver, removed with the kidneys. Adam Clarke explains that the fat meant is chiefly the fat lying separate from the muscle, such as the caul, the fat of the mesentery and the fat about the kidneys. The same parts are named for the peace offering at Leviticus 3:4 and 3:10.
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
The priest burns the fat parts on the altar as an offering made by fire, and the verse closes by naming the offering once more as a guilt offering. Matthew Henry, on verse 6, sets out the order: once the blood and fat were offered to God to make atonement, the priests ate the flesh. The altar receives its share before any priest eats.
The eating rule for the guilt offering repeats the rule given for the sin offering at Leviticus 6:29, down to its closing words, it is most holy. Matthew Henry makes the same comparison, saying the priests ate the flesh as they ate that of the sin offering, in the holy place. The flesh stays within the holy place and within the priesthood.
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
John Wesley limits the likeness to the matter that follows, the priest's share, since in other points the two offerings differed. The flesh belongs to the priest who makes atonement with it, and Matthew Henry reads that as wages for the work, an encouragement to diligent service at the altar. John Gill adds that other priests on duty in the court no doubt ate with him.
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
Leviticus 7:8-10
Verse 8 gives the officiating priest the hide of the burnt offering, the one part that does not go up in smoke. A grain offering baked or cooked belongs to the priest who presents it, and the rest belongs equally to all the sons of Aaron. Adam Clarke passes on an older supposition that the right to the hide began with the garments of skin of Genesis 3:21.
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.”
Grain offerings that came already cooked, whether from the oven, the pan or the griddle, go to the priest who presents them. John Wesley gives the reason that these were dressed and hot and had to be eaten at once. He adds that the officiating priest could fairly expect more than his brothers who did no work on it, and that this was the one offering where he received it.
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
Uncooked grain offerings, dry or mixed with oil, are shared equally among all the sons of Aaron. John Wesley identifies the dry offering with those brought without oil, as at Leviticus 5:11 and Numbers 5:15. He explains the equal division by their quantity and their raw state, which let each priest keep his share and prepare it as he liked.
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
Leviticus 7:11-15
The peace offering stood third in the worshipper's list at chapter 3 and stands last in the priest's list, closing with the one sacrifice the offerer eats from. Verse 13 requires cakes of leavened bread beside the unleavened, though leaven is put out of every house at Passover. The meat must be eaten on the day he offers it; none of it may be left until morning.
A peace offering brought in thanksgiving comes with three kinds of unleavened bread: cakes mixed with oil, wafers coated with oil, and cakes of fine flour well kneaded with oil. Albert Barnes defines the thanksgiving as a thank offering for mercies received. John Calvin's translation renders the third kind as cakes of fine flour mingled with oil and fried.
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.”
The leavened loaves come with the offering and stay off the altar, since Leviticus 2:11 bars leaven from anything burned to the LORD. John Wesley gives a reason for the leaven here. This sacrifice gave thanks for the blessings of God, he says, and leavened bread was one of those blessings.
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
From each kind of bread one cake is set apart as a contribution to the LORD and given to the priest who sprinkles the blood. Albert Barnes reads the phrase as one loaf out of each kind, and he reports a Jewish tradition of ten cakes of each kind in every thank offering, with the rest returned to the man who brought it.
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.”
Adam Clarke gives the heat of the country as one reason, since the holy meat would soon spoil and it was improper to let what was consecrated to God go to corruption. He also reports the view of a writer named Harmer that the law was aimed at the custom of drying flesh devoted to religious use. The same limit returns for the thanksgiving sacrifice at Leviticus 22:30.
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 freewill offering may be eaten on a second day and a thanksgiving offering may not. Meat eaten on the third day will not be accepted and will not be credited to the one who presented it, so an offering already made can be spoiled afterward. One who eats it while unclean must be cut off from his people, said 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).”
John Gill gives several reasons for burning what is left: the meat would not spoil, could not be put to superstitious uses and could bring no profit. He adds that the law discouraged stinginess and distrust of Providence, and he suggests, as a possibility, a type of Christ rising on the third day without seeing corruption.
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.”
The penalty falls on the one who eats the meat on the third day, who shall bear his iniquity. Albert Barnes gives two reasons for the limits: the sacrificial meat was kept from any approach to decay, and a mean economy was excluded. On his reading, the short limit for the thank offering encouraged a liberal sharing of the meat with the poor who were invited to the meal.
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.”
Holy meat that touches anything unclean is burned, and the rest may be eaten by anyone who is clean. Matthew Henry sets this beside Haggai 2:12, where holy flesh could not make common things holy by its touch. He draws the lesson that the infection of sin passes more easily than the savour of grace.
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
John Wesley reads the eating as done knowingly, since a sin done in ignorance could be covered by a sacrifice. He takes this verse to concern uncleanness from within the body, such as a discharge, and the next verse to concern uncleanness caught from outside. The verse calls the peace offering the LORD's, and the penalty is being cut off from his people.
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
The second case is uncleanness picked up by touching something unclean before eating. Adam Clarke reads human uncleanness as an ulcer, a sore, leprosy or a skin disorder, and Albert Barnes takes the unclean animal to mean carrion of any kind, pointing ahead to Leviticus 11. Barnes sends the reader to Exodus 31:14 for the meaning of cut off.
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
A new speech begins, and it turns from the handling of the peace offering to two things Israel may never eat, the fat and the blood. John Gill reads the formula as the LORD continuing to speak to Moses. This time the words go to all the Israelites in verse 23, where the laws since Leviticus 6:9 were addressed to Aaron and his sons.
Leviticus 7:22
“And the Lord spake unto Moses,.... Continued speaking to him: saying; as follows.”
Leviticus 7:23-27
Fat and blood are forbidden together under one penalty, to be cut off from his people. The fat of an animal found dead or mauled may be used for any other purpose, so the rule guards what belongs on the altar. Leviticus 17:11 gives the one reason for the blood, the life of the flesh is in the blood, and Acts 15:20 and 15:29 carry the ban into 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
The fat of an animal found dead or torn by beasts may serve any other use, and eating it is still forbidden. John Wesley answers the objection that the whole of such a carcass was already forbidden. The ban at Leviticus 22:8, he says, applied only to the priests, so a separate word on the fat was needed for the people.
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
The verse defines the forbidden fat by the animal it comes from, any animal from which an offering made by fire may be presented to the LORD. That definition matches the ox, sheep and goat named in verse 23. John Wesley, on verse 23, reads the ban as limited to the creatures used in sacrifice, which leaves the fat of other animals outside it.
The ban on blood covers birds as well as animals and holds in every dwelling, away from the altar as well as near it. John Gill extends it to every creature, clean or unclean, bird or beast. The rule first appears at Genesis 9:4 and is set at Leviticus 3:17 as a permanent statute.
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.”
Eating blood carries the sentence of being cut off, stated here for any person who does it. Adam Clarke explains the phrase as excommunication from the people of God, with the loss of any part in their inheritance and their blessings. He refers the ban itself back to Genesis 9:4 and the sentence to Genesis 17:14.
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
Leviticus 7:28-34
With his own hands the worshipper brings the fat and the breast, so the part he performs himself is the handing over. The breast goes to Aaron and his sons, and the right thigh to the priest who presents the blood and fat. Verse 34 says the LORD took those parts from the sons of Israel and gave them to the priests, so their food is His gift.
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.”
The instruction goes to all the Israelites, since the offerer himself has a part to play in the peace offering. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown explain why the offerer had to bring the sacrifice himself: it showed that the sacrifice was voluntary. The next verse says how, with his own hands.
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
John Wesley describes the sequence: after the animal was killed and cut up, the priest put the fat and the breast into the offerer's hands. He notes that these are called offerings made by fire in a wider sense, since a peace offering was only partly burned and part went to the priest. The breast is waved before the LORD while the fat goes to the altar.
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
The fat goes up on the altar, following Leviticus 3:16, where all the fat is the LORD's. The breast that was waved is then given to Aaron and his sons. John Wesley, on verse 30, notes that a peace offering was burned only in part, and this verse names the part that was burned.
The right thigh is a contribution given from the worshipper's own peace offering, so the gift passes from the Israelite to the priest. Adam Clarke refers the reader to his note on Exodus 29:27, where the thigh of the ordination ram is set apart. Leviticus 9:21 shows Aaron waving the breasts and the right thigh at the first offerings.
Leviticus 7:32
“The right shoulder - See Clarke on Exo 29:27 (note).”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
The officiating priest's claim to the thigh follows the pattern of Leviticus 7:7-9, where the guilt offering, the hide and the cooked grain go to the priest who performs the rite. John Gill, on verse 34, notes that these two parts were chosen out of the peace offering and the rest was left to the owners, apart from what was burned.
The breast and the thigh are made a permanent portion for Aaron and his sons. John Gill reads the permanence as lasting while the priesthood lasted, until the Messiah came, in whom all these sacrifices would be fulfilled. John Wesley reads the breast as the seat of wisdom and the shoulder as the seat of strength, and applies both to Christ as high priest.
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
Leviticus 7:35-38
Verse 37 names the offerings in one line with the ordination offering, closing the run that began at chapter 1, and it ends on the peace offering. Verse 38 places these laws on Mount Sinai, while Leviticus 1:1 has the LORD speaking from the Tent of Meeting. Commentators account for the two settings in different ways, and the text 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
The priests' share dates from the day of their anointing, and the LORD commanded Israel to give it as a permanent portion. John Wesley, on verse 35, reads anointing as a figure for the priesthood and holds that a portion appointed on that day was owed in every later age. Adam Clarke refers the reader to Exodus 40:15, where the anointing gives the sons a permanent priesthood.
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
This is the law of the burnt offering: Albert Barnes explains the ordination offering as the sacrifices offered at the consecration of the priests. Its full rite is set out at Exodus 29, and Leviticus 8 records Moses carrying it out for Aaron and his sons. The grain offering of Leviticus 6:20 belongs to the same day of anointing.
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.”
Adam Clarke thinks it probable that these laws were given to Moses while he was on the mountain with God. He reckons the time as ample, forty days at the giving of the law and forty more at its renewing. The verse also fixes the purpose of the laws, for the day Israel was commanded to present its offerings in the Wilderness of Sinai.
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
How this psalm is built
The form: Ritual instruction addressed to the priesthood, closing with a summary line that names the five offerings together, as law classes it.
The patterns in this chapter
| Device | What it does | Where to see it |
|---|---|---|
| The summary line that closes the run | Verse 37 names the burnt offering, the grain offering, the sin offering, the guilt offering, the ordination offering and the peace offering in one sentence. It closes the section that opened at 1:1, and it ends on the peace offerings where the worshipper's list of chapters 1 to 5 put them third.Counted for this lane over the store's Berean Standard Bible rows for Leviticus, 19 September 2026, Berean Standard Bible, Leviticus, read from the store. | Leviticus 1:1, Leviticus 7:37, Leviticus 7:38 |
| The heading carried over from chapter 6 | This is the law of the guilt offering at verse 1 and the law of the sacrifice of the peace offering at verse 11. The heading began at 6:9 and runs to the end of this chapter.Counted for this lane over the store's Berean Standard Bible rows for Leviticus, 19 September 2026, Berean Standard Bible, Leviticus, read from the store. | Leviticus 7:1, Leviticus 7:11 |
| The portions named one by one | The hide goes to the officiating priest at verse 8 and the baked grain offering to the priest who presents it at verse 9. The dry or oil mixed offering is shared among all Aaron's sons at verse 10. The breast is waved at verse 30 and the right thigh is set apart at verse 32.Counted for this lane over the store's Berean Standard Bible rows for Leviticus, 19 September 2026, Berean Standard Bible, Leviticus, read from the store. | Leviticus 7:8, Leviticus 7:9, Leviticus 7:10, Leviticus 7:30, Leviticus 7:32 |
| The penalty said twice in two verses | A person who eats the flesh while his uncleanness is on him is cut off from his people, and verses 20 and 21 each say it. The repetition falls inside the passage that governs how long the meat may be kept.Counted for this lane over the store's Berean Standard Bible rows for Leviticus, 19 September 2026, Berean Standard Bible, Leviticus, read from the store. | Leviticus 7:20, Leviticus 7:21 |
The word the Servant song uses
9 more paragraphs on the patterns
The Hebrew name of the guilt offering is asham. Isaiah 53:10 uses that word of the Servant when it says that the LORD makes his life an offering for sin. The link is a matter of vocabulary shared between the two passages, and this study states it at that level.
The priest's food as a gift out of the altar
The man who brings a peace offering carries the fat and the breast to the altar in his own hands at verse 30. The part of the ritual a worshipper performs himself is the handing over. The breast is waved and goes to Aaron and all his sons. The right thigh goes to the priest who presented the blood and the fat, so 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.
The two settings the chapter leaves standing
Verse 38 places the giving of these laws on Mount Sinai and in the Wilderness of Sinai. Leviticus 1:1 has the LORD calling to Moses out of the Tent of Meeting. Commentators account for the two settings in different ways and the text itself settles nothing, so this study carries the difference as it stands.
The New Testament's use
Leviticus 17:11 gives the one reason the book ever gives for the blood, that the life of the flesh is in it. Acts 15:20 and 15:29 carry the blood prohibition of verses 26 and 27 into the decision of the first council of the church. The fat prohibition of verses 23 to 25 is not among the four things that council named.
A suggestion given as a suggestion
Adam Clarke passes on an older proposal that the priest's right to the hide at verse 8 began with the garments of skin at Genesis 3:21. He gives it as a supposition rather than as something the text states, and the store's exposition of this chapter records it on those terms.
Keep studying
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 form and classifications
Gordon Wenham, cited in this site's published structure for Leviticus, src/components/book/dossier-content/leviticus.ts, this site's published book dossier for Leviticus, the chiasm entry The book's own concentric shape, centered on the Day of Atonement, carried at status proposed; The store's published exposition note on Leviticus 6:9 to 13, MannaFest exposition of Leviticus 6, citing Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and This site's published filing of Leviticus among the books of the law, src/lib/bible/book-sections.ts, the entry Leviticus: law.
The exposition
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments; Alfred Edersheim, The Temple: Its Ministry and Services; Andrew Bonar, A Commentary on Leviticus; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.