Leviticus 7:31

to the LORD, having his uncleanness upon him, even that soul shall be cut off from his people. 21 Moreover the soul that shall touch any unclean thing, as the uncleanness of man, or any unclean beast, or any abominable unclean thing, and eat of the flesh of the sacrifice of peace offerings, which pertain unto the LORD, even that soul shall be cut off from his people. 22 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 23 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, Ye shall eat no manner of fat, of ox, or of sheep, or of goat. 24 And the fat of the beast that dieth of itself, and the fat of that which is torn with beasts, may be used in any other use: but ye shall in no wise eat of it. 25 For whosoever eateth the fat of the beast, of which men offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD, even the soul that eateth it shall be cut off from his people. 26 Moreover ye shall eat no manner of blood, whether it be of fowl or of beast, in any of your dwellings. 27 Whatsoever soul it be that eateth any manner of blood, even that soul shall be cut off from his people. 28 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 29 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, He that offereth the sacrifice of his peace offerings unto the LORD shall bring his oblation unto the LORD of the sacrifice of his peace offerings. 30 His own hands shall bring the offerings of the LORD made by fire, the fat with the breast, it shall he bring, that the breast may be waved for a wave offering before the LORD. 31 And the priest sha

7:28-34 The priest who offered, was to have the breast and the right shoulder. When the sacrifice was killed, the offerer himself must present God's part of it; that he might signify his cheerfully giving it up to God. He was with his own hands to lift it up, in token of his regard to God as the God of heaven; and then to wave it to and fro, in token of his regard to God as the Lord of the whole earth. Be persuaded and encouraged to feed and feast upon Christ, our Peace-offering. This blessed Peace-offering is not for the priests only, for saints of the highest rank and greatest eminence, but for the common people also. Take heed of delay. Many think to repent and return to God when they are dying and dropping into hell; but they should eat the peace-offering, and eat it now. Stay not till the day of the Lord's patience be run out, for eating the third day will not be accepted, nor will catching at Christ when thou art gone to hell!

And the priest shall burn the fat upon the altar,.... Of burnt offering, even the fat upon the inwards, the two kidneys, the flanks, the caul, and liver: but the breast shall be Aaron's and his sons; which being waved before the Lord for a wave offering, was the Lord's, and so was given to his priests to eat of, for the service done by them, it being but reasonable that they that serve at the altar should live of it; and thus, with other things, a maintenance was provided for the priests and their families, as ought also to be for Gospel ministers under the present dispensation.

Wave-offering ... heave-offering - The latter appears to be used (like קרבן qorbân, Leviticus 1:2 ) for offerings in general. Waving (a moving to and fro, repeated several times) or heaving (a lifting up once) the offering was a solemn form of dedicating a thing to the use of the sanctuary.

29-34. He that offereth the sacrifice of his peace offerings unto the Lord—In order to show that the sacrifice was voluntary, the offerer was required to bring it with his own hands to the priest. The breast having been waved to and fro in a solemn manner as devoted to God, was given to the priests; it was assigned to the use of their order generally, but the right shoulder was the perquisite of the officiating priest.

His hands were to bring the firings of Jehovah, i.e., the portions to be burned upon the altar ( Leviticus 1:9 ), viz., "the fat (the fat portions, Leviticus 3:3-4 ) with the breast," - the former to be burned upon the altar, the latter "to wave as a wave-offering before Jehovah." חזה, τὸ στηθύνιον (lxx), i.e., according to Pollux, τῶν στηθῶν τὸ μέσον, pectusculum or pectus (Vulg. cf. Leviticus 9:20-21 ; Leviticus 10:15 ), signifies the breast, the breast-piece of the sacrificial animals, (Note: The etymology of the word is obscure. According to Winer, Gesenius, and others, it signifies adspectui patens; whilst Meier and Knobel regard it as meaning literally the division, or middle-piece; and Dietrich attributes to it the fundamental signification, "to be moved," viz., the breast, as being the part moved by the heart.) the brisket, which consists for the most part of cartilaginous fat in the case of oxen, sheep, and goats, and is one of the most savoury parts; so that at the family festivities of the ancients, according to Athen. Deipnos. ii. 70, ix. 10, στηθύνια παχέων ἀρνίων were dainty bits.

The breast-piece was presented to the Lord as a wave-offering (tenuphah), and transferred by Him to Aaron and his sons (the priests). תּנוּפה, from נוּף, הניף, to swing, to move to and fro (see Exodus 35:22), is the name applied to a ceremony peculiar to the peace-offerings and the consecration-offerings: the priest laid the object to be waved upon the hands of the offerer, and then placed his own hands underneath, and moved the hands of the offerer backwards and forwards in a horizontal direction, to indicate by the movement forwards, i.e., in the direction towards the altar, the presentation of the sacrifice, or the symbolical transference of it to God, and by the movement backwards, the reception of it back again, as a present which God handed over to His servants the priests. (Note: In the Talmud (cf. Gemar. Kiddush 36, 2, Gem. Succa 37, 2, and Tosaphta Menach. 7, 17), which Maimonides and Rashi follow, tenuphah is correctly interpreted ducebat et reducebat; but some of the later Rabbins (vid., Outram ut sup.) make it out to have been a movement in the direction of the four quarters of the heavens, and Witsius and others find an allusion in this to the omnipresence of God-an allusion which is quite out of character with the occasion.) In the peace-offerings the waving was performed with the breast-piece, which was called the "wave-breast" in consequence (Leviticus 7:34; Leviticus 10:14-15; Numbers 6:20; Numbers 18:18; Exodus 29:27).

6. The two Loaves, Leviticus 23:17. 7. The Shew-Bread, Leviticus 24:9. 8. The Log of oil offered by the leper, Leviticus 14:10, etc. Five of those gifts they ate only in Jerusalem: - 1. The breast and shoulder of the Peace-Offerings, Leviticus 7:31, Leviticus 7:34. 2. The Heave-Offering of the sacrifice of confession, Leviticus 7:12-14.