Leviticus 3:1

Peace Offering Regulations: Animal from the Herd

3:1 “‘Now if his offering is a peace offering sacrifice, ¹  if he presents an offering from the herd, he must present before the Lord a flawless male or a female. ² 

Leviticus 7:11-18

The Peace Offering

7:11 “‘This is the law of the peace offering sacrifice which he ³  is to present to the Lord. 7:12 If he presents it on account of thanksgiving, ⁴  along with the thank offering sacrifice he must present unleavened loaves mixed with olive oil, unleavened wafers smeared with olive oil, ⁵  and well soaked ⁶  ring-shaped loaves made of choice wheat flour ⁷  mixed with olive oil. 7:13 He must present this grain offering ⁸  in addition to ring-shaped loaves of leavened bread which regularly accompany ⁹  the sacrifice of his thanksgiving peace offering. 7:14 He must present one of each kind of grain offering ¹⁰  as a contribution offering ¹¹  to the Lord; it belongs to the priest who splashes the blood of the peace offering. 7:15 The meat of his ¹²  thanksgiving peace offering must be eaten on the day of his offering; he must not set any of it aside until morning.

7:16 “‘If his offering is a votive or freewill sacrifice, ¹³  it may be eaten on the day he presents his sacrifice, and also the leftovers from it may be eaten on the next day, ¹⁴  7:17 but the leftovers from the meat of the sacrifice must be burned up in the fire ¹⁵  on the third day. 7:18 If some of the meat of his peace offering sacrifice is ever eaten on the third day it will not be accepted; it will not be accounted to the one who presented it, since it is spoiled, ¹⁶  and the person who eats from it will bear his punishment for iniquity. ¹⁷ 

¹ sn The peace offering sacrifice primarily enacted and practiced communion between God and man (and between the people of God). This was illustrated by the fact that the fat parts of the animal were consumed on the altar of the Lord but the meat was consumed by the worshipers in a meal before God. This is the only kind of offering in which common worshipers partook of the meat of the animal. When there was a series of offerings that included a peace offering (see, e.g., Lev 9:8-21, sin offerings, burnt offerings, and afterward the peace offerings in vv. 18-21), the peace offering was always offered last because it expressed the fact that all was well between God and his worshiper(s). There were various kinds of peace offerings, depending on the worship intended on the specific occasion. The “thank offering” expressed thanksgiving (e.g., Lev 7:11-15; 22:29-30), the “votive offering” fulfilled a vow (e.g., Lev 7:16-18; 22:21-25), and the “freewill offering” was offered as an expression of devotion and praise to God (e.g., Lev 7:16-18; 22:21-25). The so-called “ordination offering” was also a kind of peace offering that was used to consecrate the priests at their ordination (e.g., Exod 29:19-34; Lev 7:37; 8:22-32). See R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 1:1066-73 and 4:135-43.

² tn Heb “if a male if a female, perfect he shall present it before the Lord.” The “or” in the present translation (and most other English versions) is not present in the Hebrew text here, but see v. 6 below.

³ tn This “he” pronoun refers to the offerer. Smr and LXX have plural “they.”

⁴ tn Or “for a thank offering.”

⁵ tn See the notes on Lev 2:4.

⁶ tn See the note on Lev 6:21 [6:14 HT].

⁷ tn Heb “choice wheat flour well soaked ring-shaped loaves.” See the note on Lev 2:1.

⁸ tn The rendering “this [grain] offering” is more literally “his offering,” but it refers to the series of grain offerings listed just previously in v. 12.

⁹ tn The words “which regularly accompany” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied for clarity.

¹⁰ tn Here the Hebrew text reads “offering” (קָרְבָּן, qorbban), not “grain offering” (מִנְחָה, minkhah), but in this context the term refers once again to the list in 7:12.

¹¹ tn The term rendered “contribution offering” is תְּרוּמָה (tÿrumah), which generally refers to that which is set aside from the offerings to the Lord as prebends for the officiating priests (cf. esp. Lev 7:28-34 and R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 4:335-37). Cf. TEV “as a special contribution.”

¹² tn In the verse “his” refers to the offerer.

¹³ tn For the distinction between votive and freewill offerings see the note on Lev 22:23 and the literature cited there.

¹⁴ tn Heb “and on the next day and the left over from it shall be eaten.”

¹⁵ tn Heb “burned with fire,” an expression which is sometimes redundant in English, but here means “burned up,” “burned up entirely” (likewise in v. 19).

¹⁶ tn Or “desecrated,” or “defiled,” or “forbidden.” For this difficult term see J. Milgrom, Leviticus (AB), 1:422. Cf. NIV “it is impure”; NCV “it will become unclean”; NLT “will be contaminated.”

¹⁷ tn Heb “his iniquity he shall bear” (cf. Lev 5:1); NIV “will be held responsible”; NRSV “shall incur guilt”; TEV “will suffer the consequences.”