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 3:2

3:2 He must lay his hand on the head of his offering and slaughter it at the entrance of the Meeting Tent, and the sons of Aaron, the priests, must splash the blood against the altar’s sides. ⁴ 

Leviticus 14:23

14:23 “On the eighth day he must bring them for his purification to the priest at the entrance ⁵  of the Meeting Tent before the Lord,

Leviticus 15:29

15:29 Then on the eighth day she must take for herself two turtledoves or two young pigeons ⁶  and she must bring them to the priest at the entrance of the Meeting Tent,

Leviticus 17:6

17:6 The priest is to splash ⁷  the blood on the altar ⁸  of the Lord at the entrance of the Meeting Tent, and offer the fat up in smoke for a soothing aroma to the Lord.

Leviticus 17:9

17:9 but does not bring it to the entrance of the Meeting Tent to offer it ⁹  to the Lord – that person will be cut off from his people. ¹⁰ 

[1:3]  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.

[1:3]  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.

[1:3]  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”).

[3:2]  ⁴ tn See the remarks on Lev 1:3-5 above for some of the details of translation here.

[14:23]  ⁷ tn Heb “to the doorway of”; KJV, ASV “unto the door of.”

[15:29]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “from the sons of the pigeon,” referring either to “young pigeons” or “various species of pigeon” (contrast J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:168 with J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 14; cf. Lev 1:14 and esp. 5:7-10).

[17:6]  ¹³ tn For the translation “splash” see the note on Lev 1:5.

[17:6]  ¹⁴ 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.).

[17:9]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “to make it,” meaning “to make the sacrifice.”

[17:9]  ¹⁷ tn For remarks on the “cut off” penalty see the note on v. 4 above.