Exodus 29:18

29:18 and burn ¹  the whole ram on the altar. It is a burnt offering ²  to the Lord, a soothing aroma; it is an offering made by fire ³  to the Lord. ⁴ 

Exodus 29:25

29:25 Then you are to take them from their hands and burn ⁵  them ⁶  on the altar for a burnt offering, for a soothing aroma before the Lord. It is an offering made by fire to the Lord.

Leviticus 1:9

1:9 Finally, the one presenting the offering ⁷  must wash its entrails and its legs in water and the priest must offer all of it up in smoke on the altar ⁸  – it is ⁹  a burnt offering, a gift ¹⁰  of a soothing aroma to the Lord.

Leviticus 1:15

1:15 The priest must present it at the altar, pinch off ¹¹  its head and offer the head ¹²  up in smoke on the altar, and its blood must be drained out against the side of the altar.

Leviticus 16:25

16:25 “Then he is to offer up the fat of the sin offering ¹³  in smoke on the altar,

Leviticus 17:6

17:6 The priest is to splash ¹⁴  the blood on the altar ¹⁵  of the Lord at the entrance of the Meeting Tent, and offer the fat up in smoke for a soothing aroma to the Lord.

Numbers 18:17

18:17 But you must not redeem the firstborn of a cow or a sheep or a goat; they are holy. You must splash ¹⁶  their blood on the altar and burn their fat for an offering made by fire for a pleasing aroma to the Lord.

Numbers 18:1

Responsibilities of the Priests

18:1 ¹⁷ The Lord said to Aaron, “You and your sons and your tribe ¹⁸  with you must bear the iniquity of the sanctuary, ¹⁹  and you and your sons with you must bear the iniquity of your priesthood.

Numbers 2:16

2:16 All those numbered of the camp of Reuben, according to their divisions, are 151,450. They will travel second.

[29:18]  ¹ tn Heb “turn to sweet smoke.”

[29:18]  ² sn According to Lev 1 the burnt offering (often called whole burnt offering, except that the skins were usually given to the priests for income) was an atoning sacrifice. By consuming the entire animal, God was indicating that he had completely accepted the worshiper, and as it was a sweet smelling fire sacrifice, he was indicating that he was pleased to accept it. By offering the entire animal, the worshiper was indicating on his part a complete surrender to God.

[29:18]  ³ tn The word אִשֶּׁה (’isheh) has traditionally been translated “an offering made with fire” or the like, because it appears so obviously connected with fire. But further evidence from Ugaritic suggests that it might only mean “a gift” (see Milgrom, Leviticus 1-16, 161).

[29:18]  ⁴ sn These sections show that the priest had to be purified or cleansed from defilement of sin and also be atoned for and accepted by the Lord through the blood of the sacrifice. The principles from these two sacrifices should be basic to anyone seeking to serve God.

[29:25]  ⁵ tn “turn to sweet smoke.”

[29:25]  ⁶ tn “them” has been supplied.

[1:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “Finally, he”; the referent (the offerer) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Once again, the MT assigns the preparation of the offering (here the entrails and legs) to the offerer because it did not bring him into direct contact with the altar, but reserves the actual placing of the sacrifice on the altar for the officiating priest (cf. the notes on vv. 5a and 6a).

[1:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “toward the altar,” but the so-called locative ה (hey) attached to the word for “altar” can indicate the place where something is or happens (GKC 250 §90.d and GKC 373-74 §118.g; cf. also J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:161). This is a standard way of expressing “on/at the altar” with the verb “to offer up in smoke” (Hiphil of קָטַר [qatar]; cf. also Exod 29:13, 18, 25; Lev 1:9, 13, 15, 17; 2:2, etc.).

[1:9]  ⁹ tc A few Hebrew mss and possibly the Leningrad B19a ms itself (the basis of the BHS Hebrew text of the MT), under an apparent erasure, plus Smr, LXX, Syriac, and Tg. Ps.-J. suggest that Hebrew הוּא (hu’, translated as “it is”) should be added here as in vv. 13 and 17. Whether or not the text should be changed, the meaning is the same as in vv. 13 and 17, so it has been included in the translation here.

[1:9]  ¹⁰ sn The standard English translation of “gift” (אִשֶּׁה, ’isheh) is “an offering [made] by fire” (cf. KJV, ASV). It is based on a supposed etymological relationship to the Hebrew word for “fire” (אֵשׁ, ’esh) and is still maintained in many versions (e.g., NIV, RSV, NRSV, NLT; B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 7-8). For various reasons, including the fact that some offerings referred to by this term are not burned on the altar (see, e.g., Lev 24:9), it is probably better to understand the term to mean “gift” (J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 22) or “food gift” (“food offering” in NEB and TEV; J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:161-62). See R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 1:540-49 for a complete discussion.

[1:15]  ¹¹ tn The action here seems to involve both a twisting action, breaking the neck of the bird and severing its vertebrae, as well as pinching or nipping the skin to sever the head from the main body. Cf. NASB, NRSV “wring off its head”; NAB “snap its head loose”; NLT “twist off its head.”

[1:15]  ¹² tn Many English versions have “it” here, referring to the head of the bird, which the priest immediately tossed on the altar fire. However, “it” could be misunderstood to refer to the bird’s body, so “head” is repeated in the present translation for clarity. As the following lines show, certain things needed to be done to the body of the bird before it could be placed on the altar.

[16:25]  ¹³ tn Heb “And the fat of the sin offering he is to offer up.”

[17:6]  ¹⁴ tn For the translation “splash” see the note on Lev 1:5.

[17:6]  ¹⁵ tn The LXX adds “all around” (i.e., Hebrew סָבִיב [saviv, “all around”]), which is normal for this overall construction (see, e.g., Lev 1:5; 3:8, etc.).

[18:17]  ¹⁶ tn Or “throw, toss.”

[18:1]  ¹⁷ sn This chapter and the next may have been inserted here to explain how the priests are to function because in the preceding chapter Aaron’s position was affirmed. The chapter seems to fall into four units: responsibilities of priests (vv. 1-7), their portions (vv. 8-19), responsibilities of Levites (vv. 20-24), and instructions for Levites (vv. 25-32).

[18:1]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “your father’s house.”

[18:1]  ¹⁹ sn The responsibility for the sanctuary included obligations relating to any violation of the sanctuary. This was stated to forestall any further violations of the sanctuary. The priests were to pay for any ritual errors, primarily if any came too near. Since the priests and Levites come near all the time, they risk violating ritual laws more than any. So, with the great privileges come great responsibilities. The bottom line is that they were responsible for the sanctuary.