to be a burnt-sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a msweet savour unto the Lord. 10 ¶ And if his offering be of the flocks, namely, of the sheep, or of the goats, for a burnt-sacrifice; he shall bring it a male without blemish. 11 And he shall kill it on the side of the altar northward before the LORD: and the priests, Aaron's sons, shall sprinkle his blood round about upon the altar: 12 And he shall cut it into his pieces, with his head and his fat: m Gen. 8. 21. Ezek. 20, 28, 41. 2 Cor. 2. 15. Eph. 5. 2. Phil. 4. 18. " ver. 3. ver. 5. and broiling of the beasts could yield no sweet savor; but thereto was added wine, oil, and incense, by God's appointment, and then there was a savor of rest in it. Our prayers, as from us, would never please; but as indited by the Spirit, and presented by Christ, they are highly accepted in heaven.'-Trapp. -¶ An offering made by fire, of a sweet savor unto the Lord. Heb. אשה ניחוח ריח and the priest shall lay them in order on the wood that is on the fire which is upon the altar: 13 But he shall wash the inwards and the legs with water: and the priest shall bring it all, and burn it upon the altar: it is a burnt-sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD. 14 T And if the burnt-sacrifice for his offering to the LORD be of fowls, then he shall bring his of fering of pturtle-doves, or of young pigeons. P ch. 5. 7. and 12. 8. Luke 2. 24. less wealthy, who could not so well afford to offer a bullock, would bring a sheep or a goat; and those who were not able to do that were expected to bring a turtle-dove or a young pigeon. Thus it appears that the parents of our Lord, from their humble circumstances. in life, brought this latter kind of offering upon the purification of Mary, Luke 2. 23-25. Indeed it will be observed ĦAMEN olah ishëh rëha nihovah, throughout, that the directions respecta fire-offering, an odor of rest; or asing the poor man's offering are as mithe Gr. renders it, 'a sacrifice of a sweet-nute and particular as any; intimating smelling savor,' which words the apos- that God is no respecter of persons, and tle plainly had in view in writing Eph. that his ministers are to be as anxious 5.2, Christ hath loved us, and hath for the welfare, and as attentive to the given himself for us an offering and a interests, of the poorest of their flock, sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling | as of the most opulent. savor. See note on Gen. 8. 21. Hence we learn that the holocaust, or whole burnt-offering, which, with the exception of the skin, was entirely consumed, no part of it being left even for the food of the priests, typified the sacrifice and death of Christ for the sins of the world. Chal. Which shall be received with favorable acceptation before the Lord.' The Burnt-offering of the Flock. 10. If his offering be of the flocks. In the divine requirement of the various oblations, the circumstances of the offerers were kindly consulted. The 11. On the side of the altar northward. If the victim had been slain on the east of the altar, where the ashes were cast, it might have obstructed the entrance to the court; on the south was the ascent to the altar, and on the west, the tabernacle; so that the north was on all accounts the most convenient quarter for this purpose, not only for the slaughter of the sheep, but also of all the other animals offered. The Burnt-offering of Fouls. 14. Turtle doves or of young pigeons. From the Heb. tur (toor) comes the 15 And the priest shall bring it | 17 And 17 And he shall cleave it with unto the altar, and wring off his the wings thereof, but rshall not head, and burn it on the altar: divide it asunder: and the priest and the blood thereof shall be shall burn it upon the altar, upon wrung out at the side of the altar: the wood that is upon the fire: 16 And he shall pluck away his sit is a burnt-sacrifice, an offering crop with his feathers, and cast it made by fire, of a sweet savour qbeside the altar on the east part, unto the LORD. by the place of the ashes: q ch. 6. 10. Latin' turtur,' and the English' turtle,' generally rendered ' turtle-dove.' By a beautiful metaphor this bird is made by the Psalmist to denote the church: Ps. 74. 19, O deliver not the soul of thy turtle-dove unto the multitude of the enemies.' And Solomon. Cant. 2. 12, mentions the return of this bird as one of the indications of spring: The voice of the turtle is heard in our land.' Young pigeons (Heb. 'sons of the dove') were thought preferable for food to the old, whereas the full grown turtle-dove was accounted more deli- | cious than the young. The sacrifice was ordered accordingly. 15. Wring off the head. Heb. mâlak. The original term occurs only here and Lev. 5. 8, so that we are chiefly dependent upon the ancient versions for its genuine sense. The Sept. renders it by añoкvičw, to cut with the nail. It probably means to make a section or cut in the head by pinching it with the fingers and nails, so that the blood might distil from the wound. In this case the head was not actually separated from the body, an idea which would seem to be confirmed by Lev. 5. 8, where it is said that the priest should wring off his head (Heb' cut with the nail') but should not divide it asunder;' i. e. should not entirely separate any one part from another. Though translated 'wring,' it is to be observed that it is wholly a different word in the original from that rendered 'wrung' in the close of the verse. S Gen. 15. 10. s ver, 9. 13. the true rendering, as in the Heb. the pronominal suffix for 'his' is in the feminine gender, necessarily referring to 'crop,' and not to 'bird.' The drift of the precept is to order that the crop or maw with its contents should be cast away. This was done in order to render the sacrifice clean, and it was to be cast as far as possible from the most holy place, to intimate that all moral uncleanness was to be removed from the worship of God. 17. Shall cleave it with the wings thereof. That is, with the wings still remaining, though partially severed from the body. The sacrifice of birds, Maimonides observes, was one of the most difficult services of the sanctuary; and as on this account the attention of the priest was not less engrossed by the poorest sacrifice than by the most splendid, the necessity of attending to minute details in the duties of religion was strikingly inculcated. REMARKS.-(1.) God, in his wisdom, has seen fit, for the most part to address his creatures through the intervention of mediators; and though the moral law was spoken in thunder and light. ning from Sinai, the ceremonial law, pointing to the great gospel sacrifice, was given in a milder voice from the mercy seat. (2) Those sacrifices and offerings are peculiarly acceptable to God, which are prompted rather by voluntary impulse than by legal precept. (2.) Although the light of nature 16. With his feathers; or, with the alone may suggest to man the duty of filth thereof. The latter is undoubtedly | worshipping the Creator, yet the proper mode of rendering him homage is not left to human invention, but is matter of divine revelation. (3.) It is fit that the offerings which are designed for the greatest and best of Beings, the infinitely perfect Jehovah, should be the best, and most perfect of their kind. 'A male without blemish.' (4.) In all our religious services and sacrifices our faith should aim to lay its hand upon the head of the one great Atoning Victim for sin. Failing of this our offerings are of little worth. (5.) Were it not for the solution afforded in the gospel, what an inexplicable mystery would be the whole Jewish ritual! How strange the fact that the temple of God should so much resemble a slaughter-house! (9.) How precious in the estimation of the Most High must be the merit of Christ's sacrifice, that it should avail to convert the nauseous odor of burning flesh to a perfumed and refreshing incense ! CHAPTER II. THE MEAT-OFFERING. The second in the enumeration of the legal offerings, and that which occupies the present chapter is the Meatoffering. The original term is min'hah, from the obsolete root mâna'h, to give, to bestow, and is equivalent to gift, present, oblation. It is not exclusively, though it is predominantly, applied to religious offerings of the bloodless species made to God. In some cases, it is spoken of gifts prescnted to men, as Gen. 32. 13,' And he (Jacob) took of that which he had with him a present (2) for Esau his brother.' Gen. 43. 11,And their father Israel said unto them, Take of the best fruits of the land in your vessels, and carry down the man a present (). But the present made by Jacob to Esau was of living things, viz. cattle, where as that carried to Joseph was of things ' that had not life. In like manner both the offering of Cain, which was of the fruits of the earth, and that of Abel, which was of the firstlings of the flock, are each of them called 'Min'hah,' Gen. 4. 3-5. So that the word in its general import, does imply things slain as well as things not slain, although some commentators have maintained the contrary. But in ordinary usage, its meaning was restricted to an offering made of fine flour, whether of wheat or barley. The common rendering of the term in the English Bible by meat-offering' is incorrect according to the modern acceptation of the word meat,' which is now applied exclusively to flesh, although at the time when our translation was made it appears to have denoted very nearly the same as the word 'food.' A more suitable rendering therefore at the present day would be meal-offering,' 'flour-offering,' or even 'breadoffering,' as the flour, before it was of fered, was generally, though not in every case, made into thin cakes or wafers, or something very nearly resembling bread. The materials of the Meat-offering were fine flour, with oil poured on it, and frankincense and salt added to it. The flour was either that of wheat or barley, and might be presented in the form of flour, or it might be presented after undergoing the process of baking, or frying, in the form of cakes or wafers. Sometimes the Meat-offering, instead of being made of fine flour, consisted of the first fruits of the corn. In this case the ears were to be taken when full, but yet green; to be parched or dried before the fire; the corn to be beaten out; and the offering then to be made with oil, frankincense, and salt, as before. The Meat-offerings were either presented by themselves, or as an accom. paniment to the stated burnt-offerings, In the latter case they, together with their attendant drink-offerings, were wholly consumed on the altar; but in the former, they were burnt only in part, the remainder being given to the priests for their support. It is of these that the present chapter treats. The part of the offering which was burnt, together with the frankincense, was called 'the memorial' of it, for reasons which are assigned in the note on v. 2. The meat-offerings which were not commanded by the divine law, but were the votive or voluntary oblations of individuals, were of five kinds, consisting of some preparation of flour; as 1. Fine flour unbaked. come, he caused this Meat-offering as well as the slain sacrifices to cease; Dan. 9. 27, 'He shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation (n) to cease.' And of the poor man's meat offering, it is expressly said, Lev. 5. 11-13, that it should 'make atonement for sins.' From this it appears that the Scriptures join the Meat-offering with the burntoffering as an expiation for sin; and consequently that both have a typical allusion to the atoning sacrifice of Christ. But in this the import of the Min'hah does not seem to be exhausted. 2. Flour baked in a pan or on a flat It represents also the persons and ser plate. 3. Flour baked in a frying pan. 4. Flour baked in an oven. vices of believers made acceptable in Christ, for there is no doubt that both Christ and his Church are frequently 5. Flour made into a thin cake like a shadowed out by the same symbolical wafer. ordinances. In accordance with this we find it said, Is. 66. 20, 'They shall bring all your brethren for an offering (2) out of all nations, &c., as the children of Israel bring an offering (a) in a clean vessel into the house of the Lord.' The accomplishment of this, the apostle intimates, is to be recognized in the results of his own ministration of the gospel to the Gentiles, Rom. 15. 16, 'That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering up (пρoσpoρa, oblation—) of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost.' But it is not the persons only of believers that we behold typically set forth by this offering. Their good works, their devoted services, the fruits of their graces, are also indicated by this feature of the ancient economy. Ps. 141. As to the leading moral design of the meat-offering, it is perhaps to be regarded as mainly a grateful acknow ledgment of the bounty and beneficence of God, as manifested in those gifts of his providence to which we owe our daily bread, and the various ministrations to our physical comfort. At the same time, it is not, that we are aware, at all inconsistent with this to suppose, that it might also have had a typical purport kindred to that of most of the sacrificial offerings, which evidently pointed to Christ, and subordinately to his Church. From several passages it would seem natural to infer, that a propitiatory as well as a eucharistic meaning was couched under this ceremony; and if so, we cannot well avoid the inference that it pointed to the offering of the body of Christ as its grand realizing substance. Thus 12, 'Let my prayer be set forth before Sam. 3. 14, 'Therefore I have sworn thee, and the lifting up of my hands as unto the house of Eli, that the iniquity the evening sacrifice (M2).' of Eli's house shall not be purged with when the Most High assured his people, sacrifice nor offering (7 min’hah) Mal. 1. 10, that he would not accept forever. 1 Sam. 26. 19,' If the Lord an offering at their hands,' he adds, v. have stirred thee up against me, let him 11, for from the rising of the sun even accept (Heb. smell) an offering unto the going down of the same, my (a).' Therefore when Christ had name shall be great among the Gen | So CHAPTER II. nd when any will offer aa meat offering unto the LORD, his a ch. 6. 14. and 9. 17. Num. 15. 4. tiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering (1112) ;' and this is fulfilled when 'men pray every where, lifting up holy hands. The remaining details will be given in the notes that follow. ונפש כי תקריב Heb. offering shall be of fine flour; and he shall pour oil upon it, and put frankincense thereon: 2 And he shall bring it to Aaron's ciple of holiness, which the Spirit of the Lord pours out upon the true be liever's heart, is indispensable to the acceptance of our spiritual sacrifices. The unction of love, gratitude, rever ence, holy joy, and of every gracious disposition, the fruit of the Spirit of grace, must be present to impart its virtues to our oblations, or they avail us nothing.-T And put frankincense thereon. In order to cause a sweet smell in the court of the tabernacle, which would otherwise have been of fensive in consequence of the vast quantities of flesh burnt there. But this was not all. The frankincense, like the oil, had a symbolical allusion. It 1. And when any will offer. Heb. apo ta o venephesh ki takrib, and a soul when it shall offer; i. e. a person or man. See note on Gen. 2. 7. as to the scriptural import of the word 'soul.' The English idiom is precisely similar. Thus we say that such a place contains so many thousand souls; and in such a battle, so many souls perished. Shakspeare also speaks of a ship swallowed in the sea, and the 'freighting souls' within her.—¶ A meat-represented that divine mediation and offering. korban intercession of Christ, by which he min'hah, a gift-offering, a donative, for perfumes and renders of a sweet smell it is to be borne in mind that the offer- all the prayers, praises, good works, ing prescribed in this chapter was also and holy affections, of his servants. of the votive or voluntary kind, like the He is, in the language of the Song of animal oblations of the foregoing chap songs, ch. 3. 6, 'like pillars of smoke, ter, and therefore equally with them perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, denominated p korbûn.-¶ Shall and all powders of the merchant.' That pour oil upon it. To give it a grateful the frankincense is applicable primarelish, making it more palatable to the rily and mainly to Christ is evident priests, who were to eat part of it, v. 3. from its being wholly consumed by fire. Oil was to the food of the Israelites No part of his work is borne by any but what butter is to ours. We see from himself; nothing renders our services this how kindly the Most High consults acceptable but his atoning, justifying, the gratification of his servants while interceding grace. But when this fact ordering the provisions of his own ta- is cordially admitted by us, and all the ble. But the genius of the Levitical favor with which we meet attributed to institute requires us to look beyond this the merit and mediation of Christ, then for the adequate reason for the use of our services for his honor and glory, oil in these rites. This substance also our oblations to his priests or his poor, has a mystical or symbolical scope, as our works of beneficence and kindness we have shown in the note on Ex. 29. 7. wrought for his sake, 'come up as an Its unquestionable import is, that any odor of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acoffering which we offer should have ceptable, well-pleasing to God.' As that anointing of the Holy One of which the sacrifice of Christ himself was most John speaks so largely in his first epis-pleasing unto God, so are the services tle. That oil of divine grace, that prin- of all his people for Christ's sake. |