Leviticus 2:12
in Leviticus 2You may bring them to the LORD as an offering of firstfruits, but they are not to be offered on the altar as a pleasing aroma.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
As an oblation of first-fruits ye shall offer them unto Jehovah: but they shall not come up for a sweet savor on the altar.
KJV
As for the oblation of the firstfruits, ye shall offer them unto the Lord: but they shall not be burnt on the altar for a sweet savour.
⋯
This verse in Leviticus 2
Commentary
5 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
As for the oblation of the firstfruits - Rather, As an oblation of firstfruits. The words refer to the leaven and honey mentioned in Lev 2:11 which might be offered among the firstfruits and tithes (Deu 26:2, Deu 26:12; compare 2Ch 31:5). Honey, being used to produce fermentation, and leaven (or, a small piece of fermented dough) were excluded because fermentation was an apt symbol of the working of corruption in the human heart.
This site's exposition
may be made with leaven
on Leviticus 2:11-12
Leaven and honey are barred from the fire, and the chapter gives no reason for either. Both may come as an offering of firstfruits, never on the altar, and Leviticus 23:17 has the wave loaves baked with leaven.
This site's exposition
You may bring them to the LORD as an offering of firstfruits
Albert Barnes points to the firstfruits and tithes of Deuteronomy 26 and 2 Chronicles 31:5 as the occasions when leaven and honey could be brought. Matthew Henry explains the division, that such gifts were fit for the priests to eat though barred from the altar fire.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And you shall offer them (that is, leaven and honey) in the oblation of the first-fruits, though they were forbidden in other meat-offerings; for they were proper enough to be eaten by the priests, though not to be burnt upon the altar. The loaves of the first-fruits are particularly ordered to be baked with leaven, Lev. xxiii.
As for the oblation of the firstfruits, ye shall offer them unto the Lord,....
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
NO MEAL-OFFERING, WHICH YE SHALL BRING UNTO THE ETERNAL, SHALL BE MADE WITH LEAVEN. Here He prohibited the bringing of a meal-offering in leaven form.
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
11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| קָרְבַּ֥ן | kareban | a present of | H7133 → | 82 times |
| רֵאשִׁ֛ית | reshit | first [fruit] | H7225 → | |
| תַּקְרִ֥יבוּ | takrivu | you will present | H7126 → | 280 times |
| אֹתָ֖ם | ʾotam | <obj.> them | H853 → | 10935 times |
| לַיהוָ֑ה | layahweh | to Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| וְאֶל־ | veel- | and to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| הַמִּזְבֵּ֥חַ | hamizbeach | the altar | H4196 → | 401 times |
| לֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יַעֲל֖וּ | yaalu | they will go up | H5927 → | 890 times |
| לְרֵ֥יחַ | lereiach | to an odor of | H7381 → | 58 times |
| נִיחֹֽחַ׃ | nichoach | soothing | H5207 → | 43 times |
קָרְבַּ֥ןa present of
karebanH7133 →82 times
רֵאשִׁ֛יתfirst [fruit]
reshitH7225 →
תַּקְרִ֥יבוּyou will present
takrivuH7126 →280 times
אֹתָ֖ם<obj.> them
ʾotamH853 →10935 times
לַיהוָ֑הto Yahweh
layahwehH3068 →6520 times
וְאֶל־and to
veel-H413 →5510 times
הַמִּזְבֵּ֥חַthe altar
hamizbeachH4196 →401 times
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
יַעֲל֖וּthey will go up
yaaluH5927 →890 times
לְרֵ֥יחַto an odor of
lereiachH7381 →58 times
נִיחֹֽחַ׃soothing
nichoachH5207 →43 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
Revelation 14:4These are the ones who have not been defiled with women, for they are virgins. They follow the Lamb wherever He goes. They have been redeemed from among men as firstfruits to God and…
it leads to
- James 1:18
He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we would be a kind of firstfruits of His creation.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 2 Corinthians 11:2
I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. For I promised you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.
- Revelation 3:4
But you do have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments, and because they are worthy, they will walk with Me in white.
- Revelation 5:9
And they sang a new song: “Worthy are You to take the scroll and open its seals, because You were slain, and by Your blood You purchased for God those from every tribe and…
- John 10:27
My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me.
- James 1:18
Through
Exodus 23:19Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the LORD your God. You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.
it leads to
- Exodus 34:26
Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the LORD your God. You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.”
- Deuteronomy 14:21
You are not to eat any carcass; you may give it to the foreigner residing within your gates, and he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner. For you are…
- Deuteronomy 26:10
And now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land that You, O LORD, have given me.” Then you are to place the basket before the LORD your God and bow down before…
- Exodus 34:26
Where this verse is studied
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); Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments; John Calvin, Commentary on the Four Last Books of Moses Arranged in the Form of a Harmony; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.