Leviticus 6

 

וַיְדַבֵּר יְהוָה אֶל־מֹשֶׁה לֵּאמֹר   6:1

Levi. 6:1    And the Lord spoke to Moses saying,

צַו אֶת־אַהֲרֹן וְאֶת־בָּנָיו לֵאמֹר זֹאת תֹּורַת הָעֹלָה הִוא הָעֹלָה עַל מֹוקְדָה עַל־הַמִּזְבֵּחַ כָּל־הַלַּיְלָה   6:2

עַד־הַבֹּקֶר וְאֵשׁ הַמִּזְבֵּחַ תּוּקַד בֹּו

Levi. 6:2    “Command Aaron and his sons saying, ‘This is the law of the burnt offering:  It is what goes up over fuel on the altar the whole night until the morning, and you shall keep the fire of the altar burning with it.’”

וְלָבַשׁ הַכֹּהֵן מִדֹּו בַד וּמִכְנְסֵי־בַד יִלְבַּשׁ עַל־בְּשָׂרֹו וְהֵרִים אֶת־הַדֶּשֶׁן אֲשֶׁר תֹּאכַל הָאֵשׁ אֶת־הָעֹלָה    6:3

עַל־הַמִּזְבֵּחַ וְשָׂמֹו אֵצֶל הַמִּזְבֵּחַ

Levi. 6:3    “And the priest shall put on his garment of linen, and he shall put breeches of linen on his flesh, and he shall take up the ashes when the fire will have consumed the burnt offering on the altar, and put it beside the altar.”

It appears that the Lord is now instructing Moses directly, instead of telling Moses what to command.

וּפָשַׁט אֶת־בְּגָדָיו וְלָבַשׁ בְּגָדִים אֲחֵרִים וְהֹוצִיא אֶת־הַדֶּשֶׁן אֶל־מִחוּץ לַמַּחֲנֶה אֶל־מָקֹום טָהֹור   6:4

Levi. 6:4    “And he shall remove his garments and put on other garments, and carry the ashes to the outskirts of the camp to a clean place.”

וְהָאֵשׁ עַל־הַמִּזְבֵּחַ תּוּקַד־בֹּו לֹא תִכְבֶּה וּבִעֵר עָלֶיהָ הַכֹּהֵן עֵצִים בַּבֹּקֶר בַּבֹּקֶר וְעָרַךְ עָלֶיהָ הָעֹלָה   6:5

וְהִקְטִיר עָלֶיהָ חֶלְבֵי הַשְּׁלָמִים

Levi. 6:5    “And the fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it.  It shall not be extinguished, so the priest shall kindle wood on it morning after morning, and he shall arrange the burnt offering on it, and make the fat of the peace offerings smoke on it.”

אֵשׁ תָּמִיד תּוּקַד עַל־הַמִּזְבֵּחַ לֹא תִכְבֶה   6:6

Levi. 6:6    “Fire shall be kept burning on the altar continually; it shall not be extinguished.”

וְזֹאת תֹּורַת הַמִּנְחָה הַקְרֵב אֹתָהּ בְּנֵי־אַהֲרֹן לִפְנֵי יְהוָה אֶל־פְּנֵי הַמִּזְבֵּחַ   6:7

Levi. 6:7    “And this is the law of the meal offering, of presenting it:  The sons of Aaron shall be before the Lord in front of the altar.”

וְהֵרִים מִמֶּנּוּ בְּקֻמְצֹו מִסֹּלֶת הַמִּנְחָה וּמִשַּׁמְנָהּ וְאֵת כָּל־הַלְּבֹנָה אֲשֶׁר עַל־הַמִּנְחָה וְהִקְטִיר   6:8

הַמִּזְבֵּחַ רֵיחַ נִיחֹחַ אַזְכָּרָתָהּ לַיהוָה

Levi. 6:8    “And he shall pick up some of it with his hand, of the fine flour of the meal offering and of its oil and all the frankincense that is on the meal offering, and shall make the memorial part smoke on the altar, a sweet scent to the Lord.”

I imagine the pronoun “he” at the start if this verse refers ot Aaron, not to any of his sons.

וְהַנֹּותֶרֶת מִמֶּנָּה יֹאכְלוּ אַהֲרֹן וּבָנָיו מַצֹּות תֵּאָכֵל בְּמָקֹום קָדֹשׁ בַּחֲצַר אֹהֶל־מֹועֵד יֹאכְלוּהָ   6:9

Levi. 6:9    “And Aaron and his sons shall eat the remainder of it.  It shall be eaten without leaven in a holy place.  They shall eat it in the court of the tent of meeting.’

לֹא תֵאָפֶה חָמֵץ חֶלְקָם נָתַתִּי אֹתָהּ מֵאִשָּׁי קֹדֶשׁ קָדָשִׁים הִוא כַּחַטָּאת וְכָאָשָׁם   6:10

Levi. 6:10  ‘You shall not bake it with leaven.  I have given it, their portion, from My fire offerings.  It is holiest of holy things, like the sin offering and the guilt offering.”

כָּל־זָכָר בִּבְנֵי אַהֲרֹן יֹאכֲלֶנָּה חָק־עֹולָם לְדֹרֹתֵיכֶם מֵאִשֵּׁי יְהוָה כֹּל אֲשֶׁר־יִגַּע בָּהֶם יִקְדָּשׁ   6:11

Levi. 6:11  “Every male among the children of Aaron shall eat it from the fire offerings of the Lord, an everlasting statute for your generations.  Everyone who would come in contact with them must be holy.”

I presume holy, the last word in the verse, means free of sin (having offered a sin offering), free of guilt (having offered a guilt offering), anointed, washed, and in priestly attire.  I suppose it could also mean having had no sexual contact for three days, as in Exod. 19:15.  But this is hardly possible, because it would mean that in order to eat, the priests could never have sexual contact.  And we know that they married and had children

וַיְדַבֵּר יְהוָה אֶל־מֹשֶׁה לֵּאמֹר   6:12

Levi. 6:12  And the Lord spoke to Moses saying,

זֶה קָרְבַּן אַהֲרֹן וּבָנָיו אֲשֶׁר־יַקְרִיבוּ לַיהוָה בְּיֹום הִמָּשַׁח אֹתֹו עֲשִׂירִת הָאֵפָה סֹלֶת מִנְחָה תָּמִיד   6:13

מַחֲצִיתָהּ בַּבֹּקֶר וּמַחֲצִיתָהּ בָּעָרֶב

Levi. 6:13  “This is the offering of Aaron and his sons that they shall present to the Lord on the day of  anointing him:  A tenth of an ephah of fine flour, a daily meal offering, half of it in the morning and half of it in the evening.”

This verse provides some additional support, although much weaker than the other supporting verses, for my contention that the day doesn’t start in the evening (see the discussion on Gene. 1:5, Exod. 12:6, and Exod. 12:18).  Why would the Lord say half of the meal offering should be presented in the morning and half in the evening of the day of anointing?  If the day started in the evening, He would have said half of the meal offering should be presented in the evening before and half in the morning of the day of anointing.

                                      [Return to Levi. 23:32]         [Return to Numb. 9:15]         [Return to Numb. 33:3]

עַל־מַחֲבַת בַּשֶּׁמֶן תֵּעָשֶׂה מֻרְבֶּכֶת תְּבִיאֶנָּה תֻּפִינֵי מִנְחַת פִּתִּים תַּקְרִיב רֵיחַ־נִיחֹחַ לַיהוָה   6:14

Levi. 6:14  “It shall be made thick with oil on a baking pan.  Pieces of cakes of the meal offering shall be brought; you shall offer a sweet scent to the Lord.”

This verse contains some Hebrew that is difficult to translate.  The seventh word, תֻּפִינֵי, apparently meaning something like cakes, appears no where else in the bible.  The word for shall be brought can be translated as second-person masculine singular (with a feminine singular pronoun suffix) or as third-person feminine plural (which is how I’ve translated it).  As the subject noun for pieces is in plural form, interpreting its verb as second-person with a singular pronoun makes the resulting translation awkward.  The first part of the second sentence would then read something like “Pieces of cakes of the meal offering you shall bring it; ...” or You shall bring it, pieces of cakes of the meal offering; ....”

וְהַכֹּהֵן הַמָּשִׁיחַ תַּחְתָּיו מִבָּנָיו יַעֲשֶׂה אֹתָהּ חָק־עֹולָם לַיהוָה כָּלִיל תָּקְטָר   6:15

Levi. 6:15  “And the priest anointed in his stead out of his sons shall do it, an everlasting due to the Lord.  It shall be made to wholly smoke.”

וְכָל־מִנְחַת כֹּהֵן כָּלִיל תִּהְיֶה לֹא תֵאָכֵל   6:16

Levi. 6:16  “And every meal offering of the priest shall be entirely burned.  It shall not be eaten.”

וַיְדַבֵּר יְהוָה אֶל־מֹשֶׁה לֵּאמֹר   6:17

Levi. 6:17  And the Lord spoke to Moses saying,

דַּבֵּר אֶל־אַהֲרֹן וְאֶל־בָּנָיו לֵאמֹר זֹאת תֹּורַת הַחַטָּאת בִּמְקֹום אֲשֶׁר תִּשָּׁחֵט הָעֹלָה תִּשָּׁחֵט   6:18

הַחַטָּאת לִפְנֵי יְהוָה קֹדֶשׁ קָדָשִׁים הִוא

Levi. 6:18  “Speak to Aaron and to his sons saying, ‘This is the law of the sin offering:  In the place where you will slaughter the burnt offering, you shall slaughter the sin offering before the Lord.  It is holiest of holy things.’

הַכֹּהֵן הַמְחַטֵּא אֹתָהּ יֹאכֲלֶנָּה בְּמָקֹום קָדֹשׁ תֵּאָכֵל בַּחֲצַר אֹהֶל מֹועֵד   6:19

Levi. 6:19  ‘The priest offering it for sin shall eat it in a holy place; it shall be eaten in the court of the tent of meeting.’

כֹּל אֲשֶׁר־יִגַּע בִּבְשָׂרָהּ יִקְדָּשׁ וַאֲשֶׁר יִזֶּה מִדָּמָהּ עַל־הַבֶּגֶד אֲשֶׁר יִזֶּה עָלֶיהָ תְּכַבֵּס בְּמָקֹום קָדֹשׁ   6:20

Levi. 6:20  ‘Everything that would come in contact with its flesh must be holy, so when some of its blood will splatter on any garment, you shall wash what will have been splattered on in a holy place.’

וּכְלִי־חֶרֶשׂ אֲשֶׁר תְּבֻשַּׁל־בֹּו יִשָּׁבֵר וְאִם־בִּכְלִי נְחֹשֶׁת בֻּשָּׁלָה וּמֹרַק וְשֻׁטַּף בַּמָּיִם   6:21

Levi. 6:21  ‘And the earthen vessel in which you shall boil it shall be destroyed.  But if it is boiled in a vessel of brass, then it shall be scoured and rinsed in water.’

כָּל־זָכָר בַּכֹּהֲנִים יֹאכַל אֹתָהּ קֹדֶשׁ קָדָשִׁים הִוא   6:22

Levi. 6:22  ‘Every male among the priests may eat it.  It is holiest of holy things.’

“Every male among the priests…. “  Were there females among the priests?  Perhaps their wives and children, but not in the holy place!  What does the phrase signify?  Maybe its intent is to exclude young male priest apprentices, male meaning “of age.”  However -- and this is pure conjecture on my part -- maybe, since Moses had been instructed to talk to the priests in perpetuity, there’s the possibility that one day females might function like priests, able to perform some of the priestly tasks.                                                  [Return to Levi. 7:6]

וְכָל־חַטָּאת אֲשֶׁר יוּבָא מִדָּמָהּ אֶל־אֹהֶל מֹועֵד לְכַפֵּר בַּקֹּדֶשׁ לֹא תֵאָכֵל בָּאֵשׁ תִּשָּׂרֵף   6:23

Levi. 6:23  ‘And any sin offering, that would be brought in with its blood to the tent of meeting to make atonement in the holy place, you shall not eat.  It shall be burned with fire.’”

Torah Commandments in this Chapter

135. The law of the burnt offering shall be followed.    V. 6:2-6:6

136. The law of the meal offering shall be followed.   V. 6:7-6:11

137. The procedure for  the meal offering on the day of

        anointing the high priest shall be followed.    V. 6:13-6:16

138. The law of the sin offering shall be followed.    V. 6:18-6:23

 

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