Leviticus 6:14

And this is the law of the meat offering: the sons of Aaron shall offer it before the LORD, before the altar.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(14) And this is the law of the meat offering.—In Leviticus 2:1-3, where this meat offering is spoken of, the people are told of what the mincha is to consist, and what portion of it was the perquisite of the officiating priest. In the section before us (Leviticus 6:14-18) additional directions are given to the priests about the eating of the portions which belong to them and about the treatment of the residue.

The sons of Aaron shall offer it.—Though in the chapter before us it literally means Aaron’s own sons, the phrase is intended to comprise his lineal descendants who succeeded to the priestly office. They, and they only, shall offer the sacrifices, but not a layman.

Before the altar.—Or, in or at the fore part of the altar. That is, at the south-easterly corner of the altar. (See Leviticus 2:8.)

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

6:14-23 The law of the burnt-offerings put upon the priests a great deal of care and work; the flesh was wholly burnt, and the priests had nothing but the skin. But most of the meat-offering was their own. It is God's will that his ministers should be provided with what is needful.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

See Leviticus 2:1-10; Exodus 29:40-41.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

Le 6:14-18. The Law of the Meat Offering.

14-18. this is the law of the meat offering—Though this was a provision for the priests and their families, it was to be regarded as "most holy"; and the way in which it was prepared was: on any meat offerings being presented, the priest carried them to the altar, and taking a handful from each of them as an oblation, he salted and burnt it on the altar; the residue became the property of the priests, and was the food of those whose duty it was to attend on the service. They themselves as well as the vessels from which they ate were typically holy, and they were not at liberty to partake of the meat offering while they labored under any ceremonial defilement.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

The law of the meat-offering, to wit, of that which was offered alone, and that by any of the people, not by the priest, for then it must have been all burnt. This law, delivered Le 2, is here repeated for the sake of some additions here made to it; as it is a common practice of law-makers, when they make additional laws, to recite such laws to which such additions belong.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And this is the law of the meat offering,.... Or the rules to be observed concerning that, for which, though directions are given, Leviticus 2:1, &c. yet is here repeated with some additions to it:

the sons of Aaron shall offer it before the Lord; being brought unto them by the children of Israel:

before the altar; or at the face of it, for what was properly offered was burnt upon it, as in the following verse Leviticus 6:15, for it should be rather rendered "in", or "on the altar" (n); the face of it is the top of it, on which every sacrifice was offered, and not before it.

(n) "in altari", Noldius, p. 82. No. 391.

Geneva Study Bible

And this is the law of the meat offering: the sons of Aaron shall offer it before the LORD, before the altar.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

(2) The Meal-Offering (14–18)

The injunctions of Leviticus 2:2-3 are repeated, almost in the same words in Leviticus 6:15-16 (as far as ‘his sons eat’): in what follows, the place of eating is fixed—the court of the tent of meeting. In Leviticus 6:17 note the use of the first person, and the reference to the Sin-Offering and Guilt-Offering.

The Meal-Offering was ‘most holy,’ and could be eaten only by the male descendants of Aaron.

Pulpit Commentary

Verses 14-18. - The further ritual of the meat offering (see note on chapter Leviticus 2:1). The greater part of it is to be given to the priests, and they and the males of their families are to eat it without adding leaven to it. With unleavened bread shall it be eaten (verse 16) should rather be rendered, Unleavened shall it be eaten. Not only is it most holy itself, but every one (or rather everything) that toucheth the offerings shall be holy. The touch of the offering conveys the character of holiness to the thing touched, which must, therefore, itself be treated as holy. Leviticus 6:14

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The Law of the Meat-Offering. - The regulations in Leviticus 6:14, Leviticus 6:15, are merely a repetition of Leviticus 2:2 and Leviticus 2:3; but in Leviticus 6:16-18 the new instructions are introduced with regard to what was left and had not been burned upon the altar. The priests were to eat this as unleavened, i.e., to bake it without leaven, and to eat it in a holy place, viz., in the court of the tabernacle. תּאכל מצות in Leviticus 6:16 is explained by "it shall not be baken with leaven" in Leviticus 6:17. It was the priests' share of the firings of Jehovah (see Leviticus 1:9), and as such it was most holy (see Leviticus 2:3), like the sin-offering and trespass-offering (Leviticus 6:25, Leviticus 6:26; Leviticus 7:6), and only to be eaten by the male members of the families of the priests. This was to be maintained as a statute for ever (see at Leviticus 3:17). Every one that touches them (the most holy offerings) becomes holy." יקדּשׁ does not mean he shall be holy, or shall sanctify himself (lxx, Vulg., Luth., a Lap., etc.), nor he is consecrated to the sanctuary and is to perform service there (Theodor., Knobel, and others). In this provision, which was equally applicable to the sin-offering (Leviticus 6:27), to the altar of the burnt-offering (Exodus 29:37), and to the most holy vessels of the tabernacle (Exodus 30:29), the word is not to be interpreted by Numbers 17:2-3, or Deuteronomy 22:9, or by the expression "shall be holy" in Leviticus 27:10, Leviticus 27:21, and Numbers 18:10, but by Isaiah 65:5, "touch me not, for I am holy." The idea is this, every layman who touched these most holy things became holy through the contact, so that henceforth he had to guard against defilement in the same manner as the sanctified priests (Leviticus 21:1-8), though without sharing the priestly rights and prerogatives. This necessarily placed him in a position which would involve many inconveniences in connection with ordinary life.