Burnt offering
1 Yahweh called Moses, and from the Tent of Meeting addressed him, saying,
2 “Speak to the people of Israel; say to them: When anyone brings an offering of an animal to Yahweh it can be from either his cattle or sheep and goats.
3 If the offering is a burnt offering of one of his cattle, he is to offer a bull without any defect. He shall offer it at the entrance to the Tent of Meet ing, so that his offering may be accepted before Yahweh.
4 He is to lay his hand on the bull’s head, and it shall be accepted as a sacrifice to take away his sins.
5 Then he shall kill the bull before Yahweh, and the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall offer the blood. They will pour it out on the sides of the altar which stands at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.
6 Then he shall skin the victim and quarter it.
7 The sons of Aaron, the priests, must put fire on the altar and arrange wood on this fire.
8 Then the sons of Aaron, the priests, are to put the pieces, the head and the fat on the wood on the altar fire.
9 The man shall wash the internal organs and legs in water, and the priest is to burn all of it on the altar. This will be a burnt offering and its sweet-smelling odor will please Yah weh.
10 If his offering is an animal out of the flock, a lamb or a goat offered as a burnt offering, he is to offer a male without any defect.
11 He shall kill it on the north side of the altar before Yah weh, and the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall pour out the blood on the sides of the altar.
12 Then he is to quarter it, and the priest is to arrange the quarters, as well as the head and the fat on the wood on the altar fire.
13 The man shall wash the internal organs and legs in water, and the priest shall burn all of it on the altar. This will be a burnt offering and its sweet-smelling odor will please Yahweh.
14 If the man is offering a bird as a burnt offering, he is to offer a turtledove or a young pigeon.
15 The priest shall offer it at the altar and wring off its head, which he is to burn on the altar; then its blood is to be drained out on the side of the altar.
16 Then he shall remove the crop and the feathers: these he is to throw on the eastern side of the altar, where the ashes from the fat are placed.
17 He is to divide it in two halves with a wing on each side, but without separating the two parts. Then the priest shall burn it on the altar, on the wood that is on the fire. This will be a burnt offering and its sweet-smelling odor will please Yahweh.
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Comments Leviticus, Chapter 1
• 1.1 Yahweh spoke to Moses. Each law is introduced by this expression, giving the impression that Moses had dictated these laws which were actually introduced centuries later. Although the law was written long after Moses’ time, the authors of Leviticus used this literary form to convey that the law embodies the spirit of all that God taught Moses on Sinai.
The Hebrews practiced the rituals and cus-toms of their ancestors. Since they were shep-herds, they used to offer their animals in sacri-fice. Later on, in Canaan, the Israelites found other sacrifices and customs among the pagan Canaanites and they adopted some of them. Yet, the revelation granted to Moses on Sinai provided them with criteria to judge new or old forms of worship:
– God is the only God, the Invisible One who needs nothing but asks that his followers serve him.
– Yahweh is the Holy God, totally different from every creature, and Israel, consecrated to God, must remain “holy” and apart from other nations.
– Yahweh demands justice; therefore, ritual “purity” must reflect interior sanctity.
At the time this book was written, the Jewish people had only one sanctuary, the Temple of Jerusalem, and people came from every where to offer sacrifices there. The Temple, built by King Solomon (see 1 K 6), was not a very large building (some 25 meters in length by 15 in width) and only the priests went inside. The people used to gather in the paved patios. In the main patio was a large altar made of solid stones, the altar of holocausts, or of totally burned victims. On some occasions, part of the blood was poured on another, in a much smaller altar inside the Temple.
There were various types of sacrifices and for most of them, the priests used to receive part of the victim in payment; the other part would be eaten by the donors at a communion banquet. But, in the holocaust nothing was eaten because everything was offered to God as a sign of per fect submission.
Like other ancient people, the Israelites believed that the life of every being was in the blood (see Gen 9:5). Thus, the blood belonged to God and no one could eat or drink it. The life and the blood of the sacrificed animal represented the one who offered it: he was delivered from all in him that might be displeasing to God and lead to his death (Lev 17:11). Not without reason did Jesus wish to die by shedding his blood to express that he was giving his life to cleanse his people of their sins. From the Jewish sacrifices, the letter to the Hebrews draws the following lesson which was fulfilled in Jesus’ passion: “there is no forgiveness of sins with out the shedding of blood” (Heb 9:22).
We should note the frequent use of the expres sion “without blemish.” The prophets would scold the people who did not observe this command (Mal 1:8-13). We oftentimes give God out of our surplus, and not the best of what we have.