Leviticus 3:6

Animal from the Flock

3:6 “‘If his offering for a peace offering sacrifice to the Lord is from the flock, he must present a flawless male or female. ¹ 

Leviticus 1:3

Burnt Offering Regulations: Animal from the Herd

1:3 “‘If his offering is a burnt offering ²  from the herd he must present it as a flawless male; he must present it at the entrance ³  of the Meeting Tent for its ⁴  acceptance before the Lord.

Leviticus 1:10

Animal from the Flock

1:10 “‘If his offering is from the flock for a burnt offering ⁵  – from the sheep or the goats – he must present a flawless male,

Leviticus 3:1

Peace Offering Regulations: Animal from the Herd

3:1 “‘Now if his offering is a peace offering sacrifice, ⁶  if he presents an offering from the herd, he must present before the Lord a flawless male or a female. ⁷ 

Leviticus 7:12

7:12 If he presents it on account of thanksgiving, ⁸  along with the thank offering sacrifice he must present unleavened loaves mixed with olive oil, unleavened wafers smeared with olive oil, ⁹  and well soaked ¹⁰  ring-shaped loaves made of choice wheat flour ¹¹  mixed with olive oil.

¹ tn Heb “a male or female without defect he shall present it”; cf. NLT “must have no physical defects.”

² 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.

³ 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.

⁴ 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”).

³ tn Heb “And if from the flock is his offering, from the sheep or from the goats, for a burnt offering.” Here “flock” specifies the broad category, with “sheep or goats” giving specific examples.

⁴ 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.

⁵ 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.

⁵ tn Or “for a thank offering.”

⁶ tn See the notes on Lev 2:4.

⁷ tn See the note on Lev 6:21 [6:14 HT].

⁸ tn Heb “choice wheat flour well soaked ring-shaped loaves.” See the note on Lev 2:1.