Leviticus 1:3

Burnt Offering Regulations: Animal from the Herd

1:3 “‘If his offering is a burnt offering ¹  from the herd he must present it as a flawless male; he must present it at the entrance ²  of the Meeting Tent for its ³  acceptance before the Lord.

Leviticus 1:5

1:5 Then the one presenting the offering ⁴  must slaughter the bull ⁵  before the Lord, and the sons of Aaron, the priests, must present the blood and splash ⁶  the blood against the sides of the altar which is at the entrance of the Meeting Tent.

Leviticus 1:11

1:11 and must slaughter it on the north side of the altar before the Lord, and the sons of Aaron, the priests, will splash its blood against the altar’s sides.

Leviticus 4:24

4:24 He must lay his hand on the head of the male goat and slaughter ⁷  it in the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered before the Lord – it is a sin offering.

Leviticus 4:29

4:29 He must lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and slaughter ⁸  the sin offering in the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered.

Leviticus 4:33

4:33 He must lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and slaughter it for a sin offering in the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered.

Leviticus 6:25

6:25 “Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is the law of the sin offering. In the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered the sin offering must be slaughtered before the Lord. It is most holy. ⁹ 

Numbers 6:12

6:12 He must rededicate ¹⁰  to the Lord the days of his separation and bring a male lamb in its first year as a reparation offering, ¹¹  but the former days will not be counted ¹²  because his separation ¹³  was defiled.

Ezekiel 40:39

40:39 In the porch of the gate were two tables on either side on which to slaughter the burnt offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering.

¹ sn The burnt offering (עֹלָה, ’olah) was basically a “a gift of a soothing aroma to the Lord” (vv. 9, 13, 17). It could serve as a votive or freewill offering (e.g., Lev 22:18-20), an accompaniment of prayer and supplication (e.g., 1 Sam 7:9-10), part of the regular daily, weekly, monthly, and festival cultic pattern (e.g., Num 28-29), or to make atonement either alone (e.g., Lev 1:4; 16:24) or in combination with the grain offering (e.g., Lev 14:20) or sin offering (e.g., Lev 5:7; 9:7). See R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 4:996-1022.

² tn Heb “door” (so KJV, ASV); NASB “doorway” (likewise throughout the book of Leviticus). The translation “door” or “doorway” may suggest a framed door in a casing to the modern reader, but here the term refers to the entrance to a tent.

³ tn The NIV correctly has “it” in the text, referring to the acceptance of the animal (cf., e.g., RSV, NEB, NLT), but “he” in the margin, referring to the acceptance of the offerer (cf. ASV, NASB, JB). The reference to a “flawless male” in the first half of this verse suggests that the issue here is the acceptability of the animal to make atonement on behalf of the offerer (Lev 1:4; cf. NRSV “for acceptance in your behalf”).

⁴ tn Heb “Then he”; the referent (the offerer) has been specified in the translation for clarity. The LXX has “they” rather than “he,” suggesting that the priests, not the offerer, were to slaughter the bull (cf. the notes on vv. 6a and 9a).

⁵ tn Heb “the son of the herd”; cf. KJV “bullock”; NASB, NIV “young bull.”

⁶ tn “Splash” (cf. NAB) or “dash” (cf. NRSV) is better than “sprinkle,” which is the common English translation of this verb (זָרַק, zaraq; see, e.g., KJV, NASB, NIV, NLT). “Sprinkle” is not strong enough (contrast נָזָה [nazah], which does indeed mean “to sprinkle” or “to splatter”; cf. Lev 4:6).

⁷ tn The LXX has a plural form here and also for the same verb later in the verse. See the note on Lev 1:5a.

⁸ tc The LXX has a plural form here (see v. 24 above and the note on Lev 1:5a).

⁹ tn Heb “holiness of holinesses [or holy of holies] it is.” Cf. NAB “most sacred”; CEV “very sacred”; TEV “very holy.”

¹⁰ tn The same idea is to be found now in the use of the word נָזַר (nazar), which refers to a recommitment after the vow was interrupted.

¹¹ tn The necessity of bringing the reparation offering was due to the reinstatement into the vow that had been interrupted.

¹² tn Heb “will fall”; KJV “shall be lost”; ASV, NASB, NRSV “shall be void.”

¹³ tc The similar expression in v. 9 includes the word “head” (i.e., “his consecrated head”). The LXX includes this word in v. 12 as well.