Imamat 6:8-23

Sacrificial Instructions for the Priests: The Burnt Offering

6:8 (6:1) ¹  Then the Lord spoke to Moses: ²  6:9 “Command Aaron and his sons, ‘This is the law of the burnt offering. The burnt offering is to remain on the hearth ³  on the altar all night until morning, and the fire of the altar must be kept burning on it. ⁴  6:10 Then the priest must put on his linen robe and must put linen leggings ⁵  over his bare flesh, and he must take up the fatty ashes of the burnt offering that the fire consumed on the altar, ⁶  and he must place them ⁷  beside the altar. 6:11 Then he must take off his clothes and put on other clothes, and he must bring the fatty ashes outside the camp to a ceremonially ⁸  clean place, 6:12 but the fire which is on the altar must be kept burning on it. ⁹  It must not be extinguished. So the priest must kindle wood on it morning by morning, and he must arrange the burnt offering on it and offer the fat of the peace offering up in smoke on it. 6:13 A continual fire must be kept burning on the altar. It must not be extinguished.

The Grain Offering of the Common Person

6:14 “‘This is the law of the grain offering. The sons of Aaron are to present it ¹⁰  before the Lord in front of the altar, 6:15 and the priest ¹¹  must take up with his hand some of the choice wheat flour of the grain offering ¹²  and some of its olive oil, and all of the frankincense that is on the grain offering, and he must offer its memorial portion ¹³  up in smoke on the altar ¹⁴  as a soothing aroma to the Lord. ¹⁵  6:16 Aaron and his sons are to eat what is left over from it. It must be eaten unleavened in a holy place; they are to eat it in the courtyard of the Meeting Tent. 6:17 It must not be baked with yeast. ¹⁶  I have given it as their portion from my gifts. It is most holy, ¹⁷  like the sin offering and the guilt offering. 6:18 Every male among the sons of Aaron may eat it. It is a perpetual allotted portion ¹⁸  throughout your generations ¹⁹  from the gifts of the Lord. Anyone who touches these gifts ²⁰  must be holy.’” ²¹ 

The Grain Offering of the Priests

6:19 Then the Lord spoke to Moses: ²²  6:20 “This is the offering of Aaron and his sons which they must present to the Lord on the day when he is anointed: a tenth of an ephah ²³  of choice wheat flour ²⁴  as a continual grain offering, half of it in the morning and half of it in the evening. 6:21 It must be made with olive oil on a griddle and you must bring it well soaked, ²⁵  so you must present a grain offering of broken pieces ²⁶  as a soothing aroma to the Lord. 6:22 The high priest who succeeds him ²⁷  from among his sons must do it. It is a perpetual statute; it must be offered up in smoke as a whole offering to the Lord. 6:23 Every grain offering of a priest must be a whole offering; it must not be eaten.”

[6:8]  ¹ sn Lev 6:8 in the English Bible = 6:1 in the Hebrew text. See also the note on 6:1.

[6:8]  ² sn The following paragraphs are Lev 6:8-30 in the English Bible but 6:1-23 in the Hebrew text. This initial verse makes the special priestly regulations for the people’s burnt and grain offerings into a single unit (i.e., Lev 6:8-18 [6:1-11 HT]; cf. Lev 1-2 above). Note also the separate introductions for various priestly regulations in Lev 6:19 [12 HT], 24 [17 HT], and for the common people in Lev 7:22, 28 below.

[6:9]  ³ tn Heb “It is the burnt offering on the hearth.”

[6:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “in it.” In this context “in it” apparently refers to the “hearth” which was on top of the altar.

[6:10]  ⁵ tn The exact nature of this article of the priest’s clothing is difficult to determine. Cf. KJV, ASV “breeches”; NAB “drawers”; NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT “undergarments”; NCV “underclothes”; CEV “underwear”; TEV “shorts.”

[6:10]  ⁶ tn Heb “he shall lift up the fatty ashes which the fire shall consume the burnt offering on the altar.”

[6:10]  ⁷ tn Heb “it,” referring the “fatty ashes” as a single unit.

[6:11]  ⁸ tn The word “ceremonially” has been supplied in the translation to clarify that the uncleanness of the place involved is ritual or ceremonial in nature.

[6:12]  ⁹ tn Heb “in it,” apparently referring to the “hearth” which was on top of the altar (cf. the note on v. 9).

[6:14]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “offering it, the sons of Aaron.” The verb is a Hiphil infinitive absolute, which is used here in place of the finite verb as either a jussive (GKC 346 §113.cc, “let the sons of Aaron offer”) or more likely an injunctive in light of the verbs that follow (Joüon 2:430 §123.v, “the sons of Aaron shall/must offer”).

[6:15]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and he”; the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity. The “he” refers to the officiating priest. A similar shift between singular and plural occurs in Lev 1:7-9, but see the note on Lev 1:7 and J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 89 for the possibility of textual corruption.

[6:15]  ¹² tn Heb “shall take up from it with his hand some of the choice wheat flour of the grain offering.”

[6:15]  ¹³ sn See the note on Lev 2:2.

[6:15]  ¹⁴ tc Smr reading, which includes the locative ה (hey, translated “on” the altar), is preferred here. This is the normal construction with the verb “offer up in smoke” in Lev 1-7 (see the note on Lev 1:9).

[6:15]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and he shall offer up in smoke [on] the altar a soothing aroma, its memorial portion, to the Lord.”

[6:17]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “It must not be baked leavened” (cf. Lev 2:11). The noun “leaven” is traditional in English versions (cf. KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV), but “yeast” is more commonly used today.

[6:17]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “holiness of holinesses [or holy of holies] it is”; cf. NAB “most sacred.”

[6:18]  ¹⁸ tn Or “a perpetual regulation”; cf. NASB “a permanent ordinance”; NRSV “as their perpetual due.”

[6:18]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “for your generations”; cf. NIV “for the generations to come.”

[6:18]  ²⁰ tn Heb “touches them”; the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity. In this context “them” must refer to the “gifts” of the Lord.

[6:18]  ²¹ tn Or “anyone/anything that touches them shall become holy” (J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:443-56). The question is whether this refers to the contagious nature of holy objects (cf. NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT) or whether it simply sets forth a demand that anyone who touches the holy gifts of the Lord must be a holy person (cf. CEV). See R. E. Averbeck, NIDOTTE 2:900-902.

[6:19]  ²² sn See the note on Lev 6:8 [6:1 HT] above.

[6:20]  ²³ sn A tenth of an ephah is about 2.3 liters, one day’s ration for a single person (J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:306).

[6:20]  ²⁴ tn For the rendering “choice wheat flour” see the note on Lev 2:1.

[6:21]  ²⁵ tn The term rendered here “well soaked” (see, e.g., NRSV; the Hebrew term is מֻרְבֶּכֶת, murbbekhet) occurs only three times (here; 7:12, and 1 Chr 23:29), and is sometimes translated “well-mixed” (e.g., NIV, NCV, NLT; NASB “well stirred”; NAB “well kneaded”). The meaning is uncertain (J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:399-400), but in Lev 7:12 it stands parallel to already prepared grain offerings either “mixed” (the Hebrew term is בְּלוּלֹת (bÿlulot), not מֻרְבֶּכֶת as in Lev 6:21 [6:14 HT]) or anointed with oil.

[6:21]  ²⁶ tn Heb “broken bits [?] of a grain offering of pieces,” but the meaning of the Hebrew term rendered here “broken bits” (תֻּפִינֵי, tufiney) is quite uncertain. Some take it from the Hebrew verb “to break up, to crumble” (פַּת [pat]; e.g., the Syriac, NAB, NIV, NLT “broken” pieces) and others from “to bake” (אָפַה, ’afah; e.g., NRSV “baked pieces”). For a good summary of other proposed options, see J. E. Hartley, Leviticus (WBC), 90. Compare Lev 2:5-6 for the general regulations regarding this manner of grain offering. Similar but less problematic terminology is used there.

[6:22]  ²⁷ tn Heb “And the anointed priest under him.”