Leviticus7
New King James Version
1‘Likewise this is the law of the trespass offering (it is most holy):
2In the place where they kill the burnt offering they shall kill the trespass offering. And its blood he shall sprinkle all around on the altar.
3And he shall offer from it all its fat. The fat tail and the fat that covers the entrails,
4the two kidneys and the fat that is on them by the flanks, and the fatty lobe attached to the liver above the kidneys, he shall remove;
5and the priest shall burn them on the altar as an offering made by fire to the Lord. It is a trespass offering.
6Every male among the priests may eat it. It shall be eaten in a holy place. It is most holy.
7The trespass offering is like the sin offering; there is one law for them both: the priest who makes atonement with it shall have it.
8And the priest who offers anyone’s burnt offering, that priest shall have for himself the skin of the burnt offering which he has offered.
9Also every grain offering that is baked in the oven and all that is prepared in the covered pan, or in a pan, shall be the priest’s who offers it.
10Every grain offering, whether mixed with oil or dry, shall belong to all the sons of Aaron, to one as much as the other.
11‘This is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings which he shall offer to the Lord:
12If he offers it for a thanksgiving, then he shall offer, with the sacrifice of thanksgiving, unleavened cakes mixed with oil, unleavened wafers anointed with oil, or cakes of blended flour mixed with oil.
13Besides the cakes, as his offering he shall offer leavened bread with the sacrifice of thanksgiving of his peace offering.
14And from it he shall offer one cake from each offering as a heave offering to the Lord. It shall belong to the priest who sprinkles the blood of the peace offering.
15‘The flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offering for thanksgiving shall be eaten the same day it is offered. He shall not leave any of it until morning.
16But if the sacrifice of his offering is a vow or a voluntary offering, it shall be eaten the same day that he offers his sacrifice; but on the next day the remainder of it also may be eaten;
17the remainder of the flesh of the sacrifice on the third day must be burned with fire.
18And if any of the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offering is eaten at all on the third day, it shall not be accepted, nor shall it be imputed to him; it shall be an abomination to him who offers it, and the person who eats of it shall bear guilt.
19‘The flesh that touches any unclean thing shall not be eaten. It shall be burned with fire. And as for the clean flesh, all who are clean may eat of it.
20But the person who eats the flesh of the sacrifice of the peace offering that belongs to the Lord, while he is unclean, that person shall be cut off from his people.
21Moreover the person who touches any unclean thing, such as human uncleanness, an unclean animal, or any abominable unclean thing, and who eats the flesh of the sacrifice of the peace offering that belongs to the Lord, that person shall be cut off from his people.’ ”
22And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
23“Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘You shall not eat any fat, of ox or sheep or goat.
24And the fat of an animal that dies naturally, and the fat of what is torn by wild beasts, may be used in any other way; but you shall by no means eat it.
25For whoever eats the fat of the animal of which men offer an offering made by fire to the Lord, the person who eats it shall be cut off from his people.
26Moreover you shall not eat any blood in any of your dwellings, whether of bird or beast.
27Whoever eats any blood, that person shall be cut off from his people.’ ”
28Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
29“Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘He who offers the sacrifice of his peace offering to the Lord shall bring his offering to the Lord from the sacrifice of his peace offering.
30His own hands shall bring the offerings made by fire to the Lord. The fat with the breast he shall bring, that the breast may be waved as a wave offering before the Lord.
31And the priest shall burn the fat on the altar, but the breast shall be Aaron’s and his sons’.
32Also the right thigh you shall give to the priest as a heave offering from the sacrifices of your peace offerings.
33He among the sons of Aaron, who offers the blood of the peace offering and the fat, shall have the right thigh for his part.
34For the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the heave offering I have taken from the children of Israel, from the sacrifices of their peace offerings, and I have given them to Aaron the priest and to his sons from the children of Israel by a statute forever.’ ”
35This is the consecrated portion for Aaron and his sons, from the offerings made by fire to the Lord, on the day when Moses presented them to minister to the Lord as priests.
36The Lord commanded this to be given to them by the children of Israel, on the day that He anointed them, by a statute forever throughout their generations.
37This is the law of the burnt offering, the grain offering, the sin offering, the trespass offering, the consecrations, and the sacrifice of the peace offering,
38which the Lord commanded Moses on Mount Sinai, on the day when He commanded the children of Israel to offer their offerings to the Lord in the Wilderness of Sinai.
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Leviticus 7.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: Concerning the trespass-offering. (1–10). Concerning the peace-offering. (11–27). The wave and heave offerings. (28–34). The conclusion of these institutions. (35–38).
vv1-10
In the sin-offering and the trespass-offering, the sacrifice was divided between the altar and the priest; the offerer had no share, as he had in the peace-offerings. The former expressed repentance and sorrow for sin, therefore it was more proper to fast than feast; the peace-offerings denoted communion with a reconciled God in Christ, the joy and gratitude of a pardoned sinner, and the privileges of a true believer.
vv11-27
As to the peace-offerings, in the expression of their sense of mercy, God left them more at liberty, than in the expression of their sense of sin; that their sacrifices, being free-will offerings, might be the more acceptable, while, by obliging them to bring the sacrifices of atonement, God shows the necessity of the great Propitiation. The main reason why blood was forbidden of old, was because the Lord had appointed blood for an atonement. This use, being figurative, had its end in Christ, who by his death and blood-shedding caused the sacrifices to cease. Therefore this law is not now in force on believers.
vv28-34
The priest who offered, was to have the breast and the right shoulder. When the sacrifice was killed, the offerer himself must present God's part of it; that he might signify his cheerfully giving it up to God. He was with his own hands to lift it up, in token of his regard to God as the God of heaven; and then to wave it to and fro, in token of his regard to God as the Lord of the whole earth. Be persuaded and encouraged to feed and feast upon Christ, our Peace-offering. This blessed Peace-offering is not for the priests only, for saints of the highest rank and greatest eminence, but for the common people also. Take heed of delay. Many think to repent and return to God when they are dying and dropping into hell; but they should eat the peace-offering, and eat it now. Stay not till the day of the Lord's patience be run out, for eating the third day will not be accepted, nor will catching at Christ when thou art gone to hell! (Le 7:35-38)
Key Words
תּוֹרָה: a precept or statute, especially the Decalogue or Pentateuch
אָשָׁם: guilt; by implication, a fault; also a sin-offering
קֹדֶשׁ: a sacred place or thing; rarely abstract, sanctity
מָקוֹם: properly, a standing, i.e. a spot; but used widely of a locality (general or specific); also (figuratively) of a condition (of body or mind)
שָׁחַט: to slaughter (in sacrifice or massacre)
עֹלָה: a step or (collectively, stairs, as ascending); usually a holocaust (as going up in smoke)
דָּם: blood (as that which when shed causes death) of man or an animal; by analogy, the juice of the grape; figuratively (especially in the plural) bloodshed (i.e. drops of blood)
זָרַק: to sprinkle (fluid or solid particles)
סָבִיב: (as noun) a circle, neighbour, or environs; but chiefly (as adverb, with or without preposition) around
מִזְבֵּחַ: an altar
Cross References
Leviticus 7Direct parallel establishing the law of eating the sacrifice of thanksgiving on the same day.
Supported by Matthew Poole, John Calvin
Establishes the foundational perpetual prohibition against eating fat and blood.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
Identifies the priest who makes atonement as the one entitled to eat the sin/trespass offering.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Traditional patriarchal link for the priest receiving the animal skin, tracing back to Adam's garments.
Supported by JFB
Another distinct offering where leavened bread is explicitly permitted, showing leaven is not inherently evil.
Supported by Matthew Poole
The original Noahic covenant prohibition of eating flesh with its lifeblood.
Supported by Matthew Henry
States the severe penalty of cutting off anyone who consumes blood.
Supported by Matthew Henry
The exact ritual instructions for removing and burning the fat, kidneys, and liver caul.
Supported by Matthew Poole, John Calvin
Specifies that the holy portion must be eaten by the male priests in a holy place.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Direct law parallel for eating vow and voluntary peace offerings over two days, burning remaining flesh.
Supported by John Calvin
Warns of being cut off for approaching holy things while having ceremonial uncleanness.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Parallels prohibition of eating beasts that die of themselves or are torn.
Supported by JFB
Prescribes the wave breast and heave shoulder ritual during priestly consecration.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
Confirms the priest's right to eat the sin offering in holy place.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Aligns the waved breast and right shoulder with the priests' inheritance.
Supported by JFB
Establishes that the law of the trespass offering matches the law of the sin offering.
Supported by John Calvin
Sacerdotally outlines the reserved most holy offerings given to Aaron and his sons as their portion.
Supported by JFB
Details the preparation of meat offerings (oven, pan, fryingpan) that belong to the priest.
Supported by Matthew Poole
The perpetual statute assigning the heave and wave peace offerings as the priests' portion.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
Reiterates the key sacrificial principle: 'all the fat is the Lord's.'
Supported by Matthew Henry
Confirms the priest's portions as a perpetual due by reason of anointing.
Supported by JFB
Describes the historical anointing and presentation of Aaron and his sons.
Supported by JFB
New Testament parallel: those who minister at the altar feed from the altar's sacrifices.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Exhorts believers to offer up a continual sacrifice of praise, fulfillment of the peace/thanksgiving offering.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Spiritual parallel regarding examining oneself before partaking, avoiding eating the holy feast unworthily.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Contrasts godly observance with Eli's sons' sinful demands for raw fat.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Commands that flesh torn of beasts in the field be cast to dogs.
Supported by JFB
Reinforces the command to pour blood out upon the earth like water.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Reiterates the prohibition against eating anything with the blood.
Supported by John Calvin
Defines what constitutes touching an unclean thing and incurring guilt.
Supported by Matthew Poole