Leviticus 3:4 Comentariu

In this chapter we have the law concerning the peace-offerings, whether they were, I. Of the heard, a bullock or a heifer (Lev 3:1-5). Or, II. Of the flock, either a lamb (Lev 3:6-11) or a goat (Lev 3:12-17). The ordinances concerning each of these are much the same, yet they are repeated, to show the care we ought to take that all our services be done according to the appointment and the pleasure God takes in the services that are so performed. It is likewise to intimate what need we have of precept upon precept, and line upon line.

INTRODUCTION TO LEVITICUS 3 This chapter contains the law of the peace offerings, and gives an account what they consisted of, and of the various rites and ceremonies used at them, as of the bullock and the rites appertaining to that, Lev 3:1 and of the lamb, and of the rites peculiar to it, Lev 3:6 and of the goat, and of the rites belonging to it, Lev 3:12 and the chapter is concluded with a law forbidding the eating of fat and blood throughout their dwellings for ever, Lev 3:17.

And the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which is by the flanks,.... Meaning either the two kidneys which were next the flanks, or the fat upon them, which was next to them; these, and the burning of them, may signify the burning zeal and flaming love and affections of Christ for his people, which instructed him, and put him upon offering himself a sacrifice of peace offering for them, see Psa 16:7. and the caul above the liver, with the kidneys, it shall he take away; or the caul, which is a thin membrane or skin, in which the liver is enclosed, with the liver, together with the kidneys, he separated from the rest in order to burn, at least with a part of the liver; so Jarchi and Gersom interpret it, that he should take a little of the liver with the caul; and indeed some think the word rendered "caul" signifies a part of the liver, that which the Greeks call the "table", the broader part of it, like a table; and which word the Talmudists (g) retain, who speak of , "the table of the liver"; and by which Jarchi on Exo 29:13 interprets the caul above the liver, the same as here. (g) T. Bab. Cholin, fol. 46. 1.

The law of the peace-offering in general, Lev 3:1-5. That of the peace-offering taken from the flock, Lev 3:6-11; and the same when the offering is a goat, Lev 3:12-17.

THE PEACE OFFERING OF THE HERD. (Lev. 3:1-17) if his oblation be a sacrifice of peace offering--"Peace" being used in Scripture to denote prosperity and happiness generally, a peace offering was a voluntary tribute of gratitude for health or other benefits. In this view it was eucharistic, being a token of thanksgiving for benefits already received, or it was sometimes votive, presented in prayer for benefits wished for in the future. of the herd--This kind of offering being of a festive character, either male or female, if without blemish, might be used, as both of them were equally good for food, and, if the circumstances of the offerer allowed it, it might be a calf.

the two kidneys . . . of the flock . . . the whole rump--There is, in Eastern countries, a species of sheep the tails of which are not less than four feet and a half in length. These tails are of a substance between fat and marrow. A sheep of this kind weighs sixty or seventy English pounds weight, of which the tail usually weighs fifteen pounds and upwards. This species is by far the most numerous in Arabia, Syria, and Palestine, and, forming probably a large portion in the flocks of the Israelites, it seems to have been the kind that usually bled on the Jewish altars. The extraordinary size and deliciousness of their tails give additional importance to this law. To command by an express law the tail of a certain sheep to be offered in sacrifice to God, might well surprise us; but the wonder ceases, when we are told of those broad-tailed Eastern sheep, and of the extreme delicacy of that part which was so particularly specified in the statute [PAXTON].