Bible Commentaries
Leviticus 2

Verses 1-11

The Various Kinds of Meat-offerings.

v. 1. And when any will offer a meat-offering unto the Lord, his offering shall be of fine flour. This also was an oblation, or gift, brought near to the Lord with the purpose of establishing true fellowship, and could be made by any member of the congregation, no matter whether man or woman. Only the finest wheat flour was to be used in these oblations. And he shall pour oil upon it, and put frankincense thereon. The incense was not mixed with the flour and the olive-oil, but added in such a manner as to permit its entire removal from the vessel in which it was offered.

v. 2. And he shall bring it to Aaron's sons, the priests; and he (the officiating priest) shall take thereout his handful of the flour thereof and of the oil thereof with all the frankincense thereof, as much as the hand would hold of flour and oil; and the priest shall burn the memorial of it upon the altar, to cause Jehovah to remember the worshiper in His mercy, to be an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor unto the Lord, well-pleasing and acceptable to the Lord, as the burnt offering had been, Exodus 1:9-13.

v. 3. And the remnant of the meat-offering shall be Aaron's and his sons; all of it was offered to the Lord, who, in turn, bestowed the bulk of it upon the priests as a part of the emoluments due them; it is a thing moat holy of the offerings of the Lord made by fire. This is said of all sacrificial gifts which were wholly devoted to God, but of which portions were hallowed to Him by being given to the priests. These gifts the priests used for food in a place in the court of the Tabernacle of the Congregation, near the altar of burnt offering, Exodus 6:26; Exodus 10:12.

v. 4. And if thou bring an oblation of a meat-offering baken in the oven, a small portable earthen oven in the form of a pot or jar, it shall be unleavened cakes of fine flour, mingled with oil, or unleavened wafers, anointed with oil. The unleavened dough used in making these cakes was mixed with olive-oil, and the thick, biscuitlike cakes were pierced with holes.

v. 5. And if thy oblation be a meat-offering baken in a pan, it shall be of fine flour unleavened, mingled with oil, the only difference between this sacrifice and the preceding one being this, that it was fried in an open pan.

v. 6. Thou shalt part it in pieces and pour oil thereon; it is a meat-offering. The finished cakes were to be broken into small fragments and then saturated with olive-oil.

v. 7. And if thy oblation be a meat-offering baken in the frying-pan, boiled in a pot, it shall be made of fine flour with oil, apparently cooked in the oil. The olive-oil, which figures so prominently in these sacrifices, is a symbol of the Holy Ghost. The good works of the believers are done in the power of the Holy Ghost. If these sacrifices are accompanied with the incense of prayer, they will be wellpleasing in the sight of the Lord.

v. 8. And thou shalt bring the meat-offering that is made of these things unto the Lord; and when it is presented unto the priest, as the representative of God, he shall bring it unto the altar.

v. 9. And the priest shall take from the meat-offering a memorial thereof, to bring the worshiper in remembrance before God, and shall burn it upon the altar; it is an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor unto the Lord.

v. 10. And that which is left of the meat-offering shall be Aaron's and his sons'; it is a thing most holy of the offerings of the Lord made by fire. The men that served in the Sanctuary were to receive their sustenance from these gifts, just as today they that preach the Gospel should live of the Gospel.

v. 11. No meat-offering which ye shall bring unto the Lord shall be made with leaven, leaven being considered an impure addition in this case on account of its fermenting property; for ye shall burn no leaven nor any honey, against which the same objection was made as against the leaven, in any offering of the Lord made by fire. There were certain offerings in which leavened bread was included, Leviticus 7:13-14; Leviticus 23:17-20, and also honey, 2 Chronicles 31:5; but in the meat-offering they were strictly forbidden. Thus the believers will avoid all impurity and hypocrisy in word and deed.

Verses 12-16

The Meat-offering of the First-Fruits.

v. 12. As for the oblation of the first-fruits, ye shall offer them unto the Lord, bring them as gifts in order to establish or to confirm the fellowship with the Lord; but they shall not be burned on the altar for a sweet savor. In such offerings, therefore, even leaven and honey might be included.

v. 13. And every oblation of thy meat-offering shalt thou season with salt, this being both a purifier and a preservative; neither shalt thou suffer the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meat-offering; with all thine offerings thou shalt offer salt. Cf Mark 9:49; Colossians 4:6. This rule applied not only to meat-offerings, but to all offerings commanded by God.

v. 14. And if thou offer a meat-offering of thy first-fruits unto the Lord, of the first grain that was ready to harvested in the early summer, thou shalt offer for the meat-offering of thy first-fruits green ears of corn dried by the fire, even corn beaten out of full ears. The stalks of the grain were cut with the maturing ears, and the grain roasted at the fire while in the ear, such dried or roasted kernels, in the form of groats, being a favorite dish in the Orient to this day.

v. 15. And thou shalt put oil upon it, and lay fankincense thereon, as in the case of the fine flour; it is a meat-offering.

v. 16. And the priest shall burn the memorial of it, part of the beaten corn thereof and part of the oil thereof, with all the frankincense thereof; it is an offering made by fire unto the Lord. It is undoubtedly well-pleasing to the Lord if we, in addition to the regular sacrifices in good works, are found willing to offer to Him in extraordinary quantities, if He has blessed us in unusual measure.