Leviticus 3:12
in Leviticus 3If one’s offering is a goat, he is to present it before the LORD.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And if his oblation be a goat, then he shall offer it before Jehovah:
KJV
And if his offering be a goat, then he shall offer it before the Lord.
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This verse in Leviticus 3
Commentary
6 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
See Lev 1:10 note. Birds were not accepted as peace-offerings, most probably because they were, by themselves, insufficient to make up a sacrificial meal.
This site's exposition
his offering be a goat
on Leviticus 3:12-13
A goat is the third animal named and the cheapest of the three. Birds are received for the burnt offering at 1:14 and from the poor for the sin offering at 5:7, and no bird appears anywhere in this chapter. Commentators tie the omission to the meal that follows, since a bird furnishes no feast for a household, and the chapter itself gives no reason.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
It fed the holy fire; it was acceptable to God as our food is to us; and since in the tabernacle God did, as it were, keep house among them, by the offerings on the altar he kept a good table, as Solomon in his court, 1 Kings iv. Here is a general rule laid down, that all the fat is the Lord's (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
And if his offering be a goat,.... As it might be, and which also was of the flock: then he shall offer it before the Lord; in the same place and manner as the bullock and the lamb, Lev 3:1.
Christ is our peace, our peace-offering; for through him alone it is that we can expect to obtain mercy, and an answer of peace to our prayers; and in him an upright prayer shall be acceptable and successful, though we bring not a peace-offering. The less costly our devotions are the more lively and serious they should be.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A goat - Implying the whole species, he-goat, she-goat, and kid, as we have already seen.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
He mentions here the species, thus meaning, “if of the species of goats is his offering,” [and thus includes male and female]. This is like the opinion of Onkelos who translated: “and if of the ‘ bnei ’ (species of) the goats is his offering.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
6 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְאִ֥ם | veim | and if | H518 → | 1069 times |
| עֵ֖ז | ʾez | [is] a goat | H5795 → | 74 times |
| קָרְבָּנ֑וֹ | karebano | present his | H7133 → | 82 times |
| וְהִקְרִיב֖וֹ | vehikrivo | and he will present it | H7126 → | 280 times |
| לִפְנֵ֥י | lifnei | <to> before | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| יְהוָֽה׃ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
וְאִ֥םand if
veimH518 →1069 times
עֵ֖ז[is] a goat
ʾezH5795 →74 times
קָרְבָּנ֑וֹpresent his
karebanoH7133 →82 times
וְהִקְרִיב֖וֹand he will present it
vehikrivoH7126 →280 times
לִפְנֵ֥י<to> before
lifneiH6440 →2123 times
יְהוָֽה׃Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Isaiah 53:6We all like sheep have gone astray, each one has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid upon Him the iniquity of us all.
it leads to
- 1 Peter 2:25
For “you were like sheep going astray,” but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
- 1 Peter 3:18
For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit,
- Psalms 119:176
I have strayed like a lost sheep; seek Your servant, for I have not forgotten Your commandments.
- Isaiah 55:7
Let the wicked man forsake his own way and the unrighteous man his own thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that He may have compassion, and to our God, for He will freely…
- Romans 4:25
He was delivered over to death for our trespasses and was raised to life for our justification.
- 1 Peter 2:25
Through
Isaiah 53:2He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no stately form or majesty to attract us, no beauty that we should desire Him.
it leads to
- Philippians 2:6–7
Who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
- Philippians 2:6–7
Through
Romans 8:3For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful man, as an offering for sin.…
it leads to
- Acts 13:39
Through Him everyone who believes is justified from everything you could not be justified from by the law of Moses.
- Galatians 4:4–5
But when the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law,
- Acts 13:39
About Leviticus
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.