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Leviticus 1:1. And the Lord called unto Moses— The particle ו vau, here rendered and, might with as much propriety be rendered then. See Exodus 40:34. It serves, however, to shew how closely this book is connected with the former; as well as to signify to us, that God, having now taken possession of the house made for him, delivered from thence his instructions to his servant Moses. The Jews divide their laws into sections, of which this, according to them, is the 24th: and this method for a code of law, is, I think, greatly preferable to that of a division into books, chapters, and verses. The reader is desired to take notice, that, as many things occur in this and the following books of the Pentateuch, which have been fully explained in our notes on the preceding, we shall not take up room by referring to them; but shall in general leave them for the future to the reader's own recollection.

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Leviticus 1:2. If any man of you bring an offering unto the Lord— Some have supposed, that this if implies a permission, and not a command; whereas the particle כי ki should either be rendered who or when: "the man who shall bring an "offering;" or, "when any man shall bring an offering." (See Noldius on the word, 19 and 22.) The Chaldee and Vulgate render it by who; the Samaritan and Syriac by when. The word קרבן karban, here rendered an offering, comes from a verb signifying to draw near or bring; and therefore imports, without distinction, any gift brought to the house, altar, or priests of the Lord. Animals universally accounted clean were those only permitted to be offered to JEHOVAH; no ravenous beasts, or birds of prey, were ever admitted: upon which Bishop Kidder very pleasingly observes, "What more useful than a bullock? More profitable than a sheep or goat? More simple and harmless than a dove? And, if the observation of Philo be true, that the offerer was to be like his oblation; then are innocence and industry, usefulness and simplicity, recommended by this institution to the worshippers of the true God."

REFLECTIONS.—God having taught the first man, after his fall, the necessity of atonement for sin by sacrifice, we find it faithfully transmitted to his posterity; and when the true religion was lost in idolatry, the sacrifices still remained. When God therefore took a people to himself, he both taught them the use of sacrifices, and directed them in the choice of such as were most significant of the one great sacrifice, which in the fulness of time was to be offered. The thunders of Sinai ushered in that law which only gave the knowledge of sin: but now, when sacrifices for sin are enjoined, God speaks in milder accents from the mercy-seat. The law is a voice of terror; the gospel, of grace and love.

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Leviticus 1:3. If his offering be a burnt-sacrifice of the herd— The burnt sacrifice, as being the principal, is mentioned first: it was wholly consumed upon the altar, and therefore usually called an holocaust by the Greeks. There were four other sorts of sacrifices, meat-offerings, peace-offerings, sin-offerings, and trespass-offerings, mentioned in the subsequent chapters. The burnt-offering was the most important: it was made unto God every day by the children of Israel; Num 28:3 and typified Christ's offering up his whole self to make atonement: wherefore it is said to make atonement, and procure reconciliation, Lev 1:4 not upon its own account, but by faith in the blood of Christ. It represented, morally, the entire and unreserved devotion of the offerer. See Romans 12:1. For a full view of the doctrine of sacrifices, we refer to Dr. Outram's treatise De Sacrificiis; and for the qualifications of this sacrifice, a male without blemish, see note on Exodus 12:5. It is evident from the two foregoing books, that sacrifices were not now first instituted. What we render, he shall offer it of his own voluntary will, Houbigant renders, ut faciat sibi eum placabilem, that he may render the Lord placable to him, which is agreeable to the LXX, and other ancient versions.

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Leviticus 1:4. He shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt-offering— See note on Exo 29:10 and Leviticus 16:21. The same custom in sacrificing was common in Egypt. The offerer, [in this holy sacrifice,] says one, hereby testified, that he acknowledged himself worthy of death; that he laid his sins upon his sacrifice; that he trusted in Christ for the expiation of them; and that he devoted himself to God. And the phrase following plainly proves, that it was to be understood in this sense: it shall be accepted, for, or, instead of him; to make an atonement or expiation (not through its own merit, but as typical of the great sacrifice) for him. Burnt-offerings were for atonement or remission of sins in general; Job 1:5; Job 42:8. For sins of ignorance there was a special sacrifice and sin-offering; see the 4th chapter of this book.

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Leviticus 1:5. And the priests—shall bring the blood— This blood, as Le Clerc observes, was to be offered by the priest alone, and served to remind the person who brought the victim, that he was in a sinful state, and so not worthy to have access to God, but through a mediator; and a mediator, be it noted, offering the blood of the sacrifice. The heathens had the same custom: they received the blood of the sacrifices in vessels prepared for that purpose, and then offered it to their deities by pouring it upon the altar. The reader will find, in Homer's Iliad, a very accurate account of their manner of sacrifice; which was evidently borrowed from the ceremonials of the true religion before, the coming of the great Antitype.

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Leviticus 1:6. And he shall flay the burnt-offering— He, that is, the offerer, as it is generally thought. Abrabenel asserts, that the owner of the sacrifice laid his hands upon it, killed, flayed, cut it up, and washed the entrails; and then the priest received the blood in a vessel, sprinkled it, put fire on the altar, laid the wood upon the fire, and placed the pieces of the sacrifices upon the wood.

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Leviticus 1:9. His inwards and his legs— By the inwards, Le Clerc and others understand the whole carcase; all that was under the skin, as viscera sometimes signifies in the Latin. The washing of these parts is allowed to denote that universal purity which was in Christ, the great Antitype of all the sacrifices, and which is required in all true worshippers; see Hebrews 10:22.

REFLECTIONS.—The sacrifice, if of the herd, must be a male without blemish. God requires and deserves that we should offer him our best. The blind and lame offerings are not a sacrifice, but an abomination. The oblation must be voluntary. That alone is acceptable obedience which flows from love as its principle. He must come with it to the door of the tabernacle as one unworthy to enter, yet desiring to draw near to God. He must lay his hand on the head of the beast, intimating his acknowledgment of his deserving that death by reason of sin, to which this bullock was devoted, and also his faith in the acceptance of the sacrifice in his stead. The beast was then to be slain, and his blood sprinkled by the priests upon the altar, as typical of the death of the great sacrifice who bore our sins, and of his atoning blood which is sprinkled on the guilty conscience. The whole then, properly divided and cleansed, must be burnt with fire, as a sweet savour to the Lord. And thus Jesus on the cross offered up himself to be consumed by the fierce wrath of God, a sacrifice of a sweet-smelling savour by which peace and reconciliation are obtained for the sinner, and his person and services become acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

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