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This book begins with the laws concerning sacrifices, of which the most ancient were the burnt-offerings, about which God gives Moses instructions in this chapter. Orders are here given how that sort of sacrifice must be managed. I. If it was a bullock out of the herd, Le 1:3-9. II. If it was a sheep or goat, a lamb or kid, out of the flock, Le 1:10-13. III. If it was a turtle-dove or a young pigeon, Le 1:14-17. And whether the offering was more or less valuable in itself, if it was offered with an upright heart, according to these laws, it was accepted of God.

Introduction to Leviticus

1. Leviticus, that is, the Levitical Book, is the name by which this portion of the Law of Moses has always been called by the Hellenistic Jews and the Christian Church.

Leviticus is closely connected with Exodus at its commencement, and with the Book of Numbers at its conclusion; but differs from those books in its general exclusion of historical narrative. The only historical portions are the accounts of the Consecration of the priests, with the deaths of Nadab and Abihu Leviticus 8-10, and of the punishment of the blasphemer Leviticus 24:10-23. A large portion of it is occupied with instructions for the service of the Sanctuary.

2. The authorship of Leviticus is ascribed in the main to Moses.

The book has no pretension to systematic arrangement as a whole, nor does it appear to have been originally written all at one time. There are pre-Mosaic fragments, together with passages probably written by Moses on previous occasions and inserted in the places they now occupy when the Pentateuch was put together; insertions also occur of a later date which were written, or sanctioned, by the prophets and holy men who, after the captivity, arranged and edited the Scriptures of the Old Testament.

3. The instructions respecting the offerings for the altar contained in Leviticus were recorded with a view to the guidance of those who were practically conversant with the service of the tabernacle. They do not furnish a methodical statement for the information of those who are strangers to the subject. A short sketch of the ritual of the altar, may therefore well form part of an introduction to the study of this book.

The whole sacrificial system of the Hebrew law was intended for a people already brought into covenant with the living God, and every sacrifice was assumed to have a vital connection with the spirit of the worshipper. A Hebrew sacrifice, like a Christian sacrament, possessed the inward and spiritual grace, as well as the outward and visible sign; and may have borne to each man a very different amount of meaning, according to the religious conditions of the mind. One may have come in devout obedience to the voice of the Law, with little more than a vague sense that his offering in some way expressed his own spiritual wants, and that the fact that he was permitted to offer it, was a sacramental pledge of God's good will and favor toward him. But to another, with clearer spiritual insight, the lessons conveyed in the symbols of the altar must have all converged with more or less distinctness toward the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, Who was to come in the fullness of times that He might fullfil all righteousness, and realize in the eyes of men the true sin-offering, burnt-offering, and peace-offering. The general name for what was formally given up to the service of God was קרבן qorbân, which exactly answers to the English words, offering and oblation. Whatever offerings were brought to be sacrificed on the altar, may be thus classed:

Offerings for the Altar Animal Vegetable 1.-Burnt-offerings 1. Meat and drink-offerings for the Altar in the Court 2.-Peace-offerings 2. Incense and meat-offerings for the Holy Place within the Tabernacle. 3.-Sin-offerings

The offerings for the altar were:

(1) public

(2) private sacrifices; the mode of conducting which was nearly the same. The first three chapters of Leviticus relate entirely to private voluntary offerings.

The external distinction between the three classes of animal sacrifices may be thus broadly stated: The burnt-offering was wholly burned upon the altar; the sin-offering was in part burned on the altar, and in part, either given to the priests or burned outside the camp; and the peace-offering was shared between the altar, the priests, and the sacrificer. This formal difference is immediately connected with the distinctive meaning of each kind of sacrifice.

Five animals are named in the Law as suitable for sacrifice, the ox, the sheep, the goat, the dove and the pigeon. It is worthy of notice that these were all offered by Abraham in the great sacrifice of the covenant.

Three conditions met in the sacrificial quadrupeds; (1) they were clean according to the Law; (2) they were commonly used as food; and, being domesticated, (3) they formed a part of the home wealth of the sacrificers.

Every animal offered in sacrifice was to be perfect, without spot or blemish; and might vary in age between not less than a week and three years.

The man who offered a private sacrifice led with his own hands the victim into the court of the sanctuary, and formally presented it to the priest in front of the tabernacle. The sacrificer then laid, or rather pressed, his hand upon its head, and according to Jewish traditions, always uttered a prayer or confession of some sort while his hand rested on the head of the victim, except in the case of peace-offerings.

The regular place for slaughtering the animals for burnt-offerings, sin-offerings and trespass-offerings, was the north side of the altar. Tradition tells us that before the sacrificer laid his hand upon the head of the victim, it was bound by a cord to one of the rings fixed for the purpose on the north side of the altar, and that at the very instant when the words of the prayer, or confession, were ended, the fatal stroke was given. The peace-offerings and the paschal lambs, might, it would seem, be slain in any part of the court.

The mode of killing appears not to have differed from that of slaughtering animals for food. The throat was cut while a priest or assistant held a bowl under the neck to receive the blood. The sacrificer, or his assistant, then flayed the victim and cut it into pieces, probably while the priest was engaged in disposing of the blood.

In sacrificing the burnt-offerings, the peace-offerings and the trespass-offerings, the priests "sprinkled" or rather cast the blood about, so that the blood should be diffused over the sides of the altar. In the sin-offerings, the priest had to take some of the blood with his finger and put it upon the horns of the altar of burnt-offering, and to pour out what remained at the bottom of the altar, if the sin-offering was for one of the common people, or for a ruler: if the sin-offering was for the congregation or for the high priest, in addition to these two processes, the high priest himself had to bring a portion of the blood into the sanctuary, to sprinkle it with his finger seven times before the vail, and to put some of it upon the horns of the altar of Incense.

The great altar of the temple was furnished with two holes at its southwest corner through which the blood ran into a drain which conveyed it to the Cedron. There was probably some arrangement of this kind for taking the blood away from the altar in the wilderness.

When the blood was disposed of, the skin removed, and the animal cut into pieces, the sacrificer, or his assistant, washed the entrails and feet. In the case of a burnt-offering, all the pieces were then taken to the altar and salted. Next, the priest piled the pieces on the altar, the hind limbs being probably put at the base of the pile, then the entrails and other viscera with the fat, then the fore limbs, with the head at the top.

The parts burned upon the altar of the peace-offering, the sin-offering and the trespass-offering, were the same in each case; and consisted of the fat, and the kidneys, and the caul above the liver.

The parts of the victims which regularly fell to the priests were:

Of the burnt-offerings, only the hide, the whole of the flesh being consigned to the altar: of the peace-offerings, the breast and the right shoulder (or leg), which might be eaten by the priests and their families in any unpolluted place. The hide appears to have been retained by the sacrificer: of the sin-offerings and the trespass-offerings, the whole of the flesh (except the fat portions burned on the altar), and probably the hide. The flesh could only be eaten within the precinct of the Tabernacle. It was distinguished from the "holy" flesh of the peace-offerings as being "most holy."

Connected with the priests' breast and shoulder is the inquiry as to the two ceremonies called waving and heaving. The shoulder, which belonged to the officiating priest, was heaved, and the breast, which was for the common stock of the priests in general, was waved before the Lord. Each process appears to have been a solemn form of dedicating a thing to the use of the sanctuary. The term strictly rendered heave-offering appears to be used in as wide a sense as קרבן qorbân, for offerings in general. That rendered wave-offering is not so broadly applied. The rabbis say that heaving was a moving up and down, waving a moving to and fro. But, as waving appears to have been the more solemn process of the two, it was probably, in accordance with its derivation, a movement several times repeated, while heaving was simply a lifting up once.

Every burnt-offering and peace-offering was accompanied by a meat-offering (rather vegetable-offering, see Leviticus 2 with the notes) and a drink-offering Exodus 29:43. There is no mention of this in Leviticus. The quantities of flour, oil and wine were proportioned to the importance of the victims.

The whole of the meat-offerings and drink-offerings, with the exception of what was burned, or poured, on the altar, fell to the lot of the priests. See Leviticus 2:3,

The sin-offering and the trespass-offering were sacrificed without either meat-offering or drink-offering.

4. In the earliest record of sacrifice Genesis 4:3-5 the name given in common to the animal and vegetable offerings is מנחה mı̂nchāh (i. e. a gift), which the Law afterwards restricted to the vegetable-offerings (Leviticus 2:1 note).

The sacrifices of Noah after the flood consisted of burnt-offerings of clean beasts and birds offered upon an altar.

The covenant sacrifice of Abraham consisted of one of each of the five animals which the Law afterward recognized as fit for sacrifice. But the cutting in twain of the four-footed victims appears to mark it as a peculiar rite belonging to a personal covenant, and to distinguish it from the classes of sacrifices ordained by the Law.

Among the different aspects under which the offering up of Isaac Genesis 22 may be viewed, there is perhaps one which most directly connects it with the history of sacrifice. - Abraham had still one great lesson to learn. He did not clearly perceive that Jehovah did not require his gifts. The Law had not yet been given which would have suggested this truth to him by the single victim appointed for the burnt-offering and for the sin-offering, and by the sparing handful of the meat-offering. To correct and enlighten him, the Lord "tempted" him to offer up, as a burnt-offering, his most cherished possession, the center of his hopes. The offering, had it been completed, would have been an actual gift to Jehovah, not a ceremonial act of worship: it would have been not an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace, but a stern reality in itself. Isaac was not, as regards his father's purpose, in any proper sense a symbol or representative. Nor is there any hint that would justify us in making the voluntary submission of Isaac a significant part of the transaction. The act of the patriarch in giving up his own flesh and blood was an analogue rather than a type of the sacrifice of the Great High Priest who gave up Himself as a victim. In order to instruct Abraham that the service of the altar fulfilled its purpose in being the expression of the spiritual condition of the worshipper, the Lord Himself provided a ram which was accepted instead of the beloved son. Abraham had already made the offering of himself in his ready faith and obedience; the acceptable means for expressing this fact was appointed in the "ram caught in a thicket by his horns."

Isaac and Jacob built altars: and the sacrifices offered by Jacob at Mizpah appear to have been strictly peace-offerings.

Sacrificial worship was familiarly known to the Israelites in Egypt: and the history of Jethro seems to show that it was common to the two great branches of the Semitic stock.

We thus see that if we take the narrative of Scripture for our guide, the most ancient sacrifices were burnt-offerings: and that the radical idea of sacrifice is to be sought in the burnt-offering rather than in the peace-offering, or in the sin-offering. Assuming that the animal brought to the altar represented the person of him who offered it, and noting that the flesh was spoken of not as destroyed by burning, but as sent up in the fire like incense toward heaven; the act of sacrifice intimated that the believer confessed the obligation of surrendering himself, body, soul, and spirit, to the Lord of heaven and earth who had been revealed to him. The truth expressed then in the whole burnt-offering is the unqualified self-sacrifice of the person.

In the peace-offerings of the patriarchal age, before the institution of a national priesthood, there is no reason to doubt that, as in the peace-offerings of the Law, certain portions of the victim were burned upon the altar, and that the remainder of the flesh was eaten by the offerer and those who were associated with him by participation in the spirit of the sacrifice.

In the scriptural records there is no trace either of the sin-offering, or of any special treatment of the blood of victims, before the time of Moses. Not that we need imagine a single act of sacrifice to have been performed since the first transgression, without a consciousness of sin in the mind of the worshipper. Earnest devotion to a Holy God in a fallen creature must necessarily include a sense of sin and unworthiness. But the feeling which most prominently found its expression in the burnt-offerings of Noah (for example), must have been rather, the sense of present deliverance, of thankfulness deeper than words, of complete self-surrender to the solemn bond now laid upon him in the Covenant.

The first instance of the blood of a sacrifice being noticed in any way occurs in the account of the institution of the Passover; the next is in connection with the burnt-offerings and peace-offerings of the covenant of Sinai.

We are left in no doubt as to the sacrificial meaning of the blood. As the material vehicle of the life of the victim, it was the symbol of the life of the offerer. In contrast with the flesh and bones it expressed in a distinct manner the immaterial principle which survives death. This is distinctly assigned as the reason for its appointed use in the rites of atonement.

The sin-offering is to be regarded as a creation of the Law. It was the voice of the Law that awakened the distinct consciousness of sin in the individual mind.

In the perfected sacrificial system, the three classes of offerings are to be regarded as representing distinct aspects of divine truth connected with man's relation to Jehovah. But it is important to observe that in no sacrifice was the idea of the burnt-offering left out.

The natural order of victims in the sacrificial service of the Law was, first the sin-offering, then the burnt-offering, and last the peace-offering. This answers to the spiritual process through which the worshipper had to pass. He had transgressed the Law, and he needed the atonement signified by the sin-offering: if his offering had been made in truth and sincerity, he could then offer himself to the Lord as an accepted person, as a sweet savor, in the burnt-offering, and in virtue of this acceptance, he could enjoy communion with the Lord and with his brethren in the peace-offering.

The main additions made to the ritual of sacrifice by the Levitical law consisted in the establishment of one national altar, the institution of the national Priesthood, and all those particulars that were peculiar to the sin-offerings and the trespass-offerings. In these particulars, which in spite of prophetic teaching must have been difficult and obscure to the Israelite, we can now clearly trace the forecast shadows of the spotless Saviour who was to come, to stand for the sinful race as its head, to make the offering of Himself as both priest and victim, to perfect the work of redemption by Himself, and so to enter into the presence of God for us as a sweet savor.

Preface to the Book of Leviticus

The Greek version of the Septuagint, and the Vulgate Latin, have given the title of Leviticus to the third book of the Pentateuch, and the name has been retained in almost all the modern versions. The book was thus called because it treats principally of the laws and regulations of the Levites and priests in general. In Hebrew it is termed ויקרא Vaiyikra, "And he called," which is the first word in the book, and which, as in preceding cases, became the running title to the whole. It contains an account of the ceremonies to be observed in the offering of burnt-sacrifices; meat, peace, and sin-offerings; the consecration of priests, together with the institution of the three grand national festivals of the Jews, the Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles, with a great variety of other ecclesiastical matters. It seems to contain little more than the history of what passed during the eight days of the consecration of Aaron and his sons, though Archbishop Usher supposes that it comprises the history of the transactions of a whole month, viz., from April 21 to May 21, of the year of the world 2514, which answers to the first month of the second year after the departure from Egypt. As there are no data by which any chronological arrangement of the facts mentioned in it can be made, it would be useless to encumber the page with conjectures which, because uncertain, can answer no end to the serious reader for doctrine, reproof, or edification in righteousness. As the law was our schoolmaster unto Christ, the whole sacrificial system was intended to point out that Lamb of God, Christ Jesus, who takes away the sin of the world.

In reading over this book, this point should be kept particularly in view, as without this spiritual reference no interest can be excited by a perusal of the work. The principal events recorded in this book may be thus deduced in the order of the chapters: Moses having set up the tabernacle, as has been related in the conclusion of the preceding book; and the cloud of the Divine glory, the symbol of the presence of God, having rested upon it; God called to him out of this tabernacle, and delivered the laws and precepts contained in the first seven chapters.

In Leviticus 1 he prescribes every thing relative to the nature and quality of burnt offerings, and the ceremonies which should be observed, as well by the person who brought the sacrifice as by the priest who offered it.

In Leviticus 2. he treats of meat-offerings of fine flour with oil and frankincense; of cakes, and the oblations of first-fruits.

Leviticus 3. treats of peace-offerings, prescribes the ceremonies to be used in such offerings, and the parts which should be consumed by fire.

Leviticus 4. treats of the offerings made for sins of ignorance; for the sins of the priests, rulers, and of the common people.

Leviticus 5. treats of the sin of him who, being adjured as a witness, conceals his knowledge of a fact; the case of him who touches an unclean thing; of him who binds himself by a vow or an oath; and of trespass-offerings in cases of sacrilege, and in sins of ignorance.

Leviticus 6. treats of the trespass-offerings for sins knowingly committed; and of the offerings for the priests, the parts which should be consumed, and the parts which should be considered as the priests' portion.

And in Leviticus 7. the same subject is continued.

Leviticus 8. treats of the consecration of Aaron and his sons; their sin-offering; burnt-offering; ram of consecration; and the time during which these solemn rites should continue.

Leviticus 9. After Aaron and his sons were consecrated, on the eighth day they were commanded to offer sin-offerings and burnt-offerings for themselves and for the people, which they accordingly did, and Aaron and Moses having blessed the people, a fire came forth from before the Lord, and consumed the offering that was laid upon the altar.

Leviticus 10. Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, having offered strange fire before the Lord, are consumed; and the priests are forbidden the use of wine and all inebriating liquors.

Leviticus 11. treats of clean and unclean beasts, fishes, birds, and reptiles.

Leviticus 12. treats of the purification of women after child-birth, and the offerings they should present before the Lord.

Leviticus 13. prescribes the manner of discerning the infection of the leprosy in persons, garments, and houses.

Leviticus 14. prescribes the sacrifices and ceremonies which should be offered by those who were cleansed from the leprosy.

Leviticus 15. treats of certain uncleannesses in man and woman; and of their purifications.

Leviticus 16. treats of the solemn yearly expiation to be made for the sins of the priest and of the people, of the goat and bullock for a sacrifice, and of the scapegoat; all which should be offered annually on the tenth day of the seventh month.

Leviticus 17. The Israelites are commanded to offer all their sacrifices at the tabernacle; the eating of blood is prohibited, as also the flesh of those animals which die of themselves, and of those that are torn by dogs.

Leviticus 18. shows the different degrees within which marriages were not to be contracted, and prohibits various acts of impurity.

Leviticus 19. recapitulates a variety of laws which had been mentioned in the preceding book, (Exodus), and adds several new ones.

Leviticus 20. prohibits the consecration of their children to Molech, forbids their consulting wizards and those which had familiar spirits, and also a variety of incestuous and unnatural mixtures.

Leviticus 21. gives different ordinances concerning the mourning and marriages of priests, and prohibits those from the sacerdotal office who have certain personal defects.

Leviticus 22. treats of those infirmities and uncleannesses which rendered the priests unfit to officiate in sacred things, and lays down directions for the perfection of the sacrifices which should be offered to the Lord.

Leviticus 23. treats of the Sabbath and the great annual festivals - the passover, pentecost, feast of trumpets, day of atonement, and feast of tabernacles.

Leviticus 24. treats of the oil for the lamps, and the shew-bread; the law concerning which had already been given, see Exodus 25, etc.; mentions the case of the person who blasphemed God, and his punishment; lays down the law in cases of blasphemy and murder; and recapitulates the lex talionis, or law of like for like, prescribed Exodus 21.

Leviticus 25. recapitulates the law, given Exodus 23, relative to the Sabbatical year; prescribes the year of jubilee; and lays down a variety of statutes relative to mercy, kindness, benevolence, charity, etc.

Leviticus 26. prohibits idolatry, promises a great variety of blessings to the obedient, and threatens the disobedient with many and grievous curses.

Leviticus 27. treats of vows, of things devoted, and of the tithes which should be given for the service of the tabernacle.

No Chronological Table can be affixed to this book, as the transactions of it seem to have been included within the space of eight days, or of a month at the utmost, as we have already seen. And even some of the facts related here seem to have taken place previously to the erection of the tabernacle; nor is the order in which the others occurred so distinguished as to enable us to lay down the precise days in which they took place.

The Lord calls to Moses out of the tabernacle, and gives him directions concerning burnt-offerings of the beeve kind, Leviticus 1:1, Leviticus 1:2. The burnt-offering to be a male without blemish, Leviticus 1:3. The person bringing it to lay his hands upon its head, that it might be accepted for him, Leviticus 1:4. He is to kill, flay, and cut it in pieces, and bring the blood to the priests, that they might sprinkle it round about the altar, Leviticus 1:5, Leviticus 1:6. All the pieces to be laid upon the altar and burnt, Leviticus 1:7-9. Directions concerning offerings of the Smaller Cattle, such as sheep and goats, Leviticus 1:10-13. Directions concerning offerings of Fowls, such as doves and pigeons, Leviticus 1:14-17.

INTRODUCTION TO LEVITICUS

This book is commonly called by the Jews Vajikra, from the first word with which it begins, and sometimes , "the law of the priests" (a); and this is its name in the Syriac and Arabic versions: by the Septuagint interpreters it is called and by the Latins, Leviticus, or the Levitical book, because it gives an account of the Levitical priesthood, as the apostle calls it, Hebrews 7:11. It treats of the sacrifices under the Levitical dispensation, and of the priests concerned in them, and of the times and seasons in which they were offered, and of many other rites and ceremonies. That it was wrote by Moses is not only generally believed by the Jews, but is affirmed in the New Testament; see Matthew 8:4 compared with Leviticus 14:2 from whence, as well as from other citations out of it in other places, the authority of it may be concluded. The matter of it was delivered to Moses, and very likely by him then written upon the erection of the tabernacle, which was in the second year of the Israelites coming out of Egypt, in the first month, and the first day of the month, Exodus 40:17 and it was on the same day that the Lord spake to Moses out of it, and delivered to him the laws concerning sacrifices, recorded in the first seven chapters; see Numbers 1:1 compared with Leviticus 1:1 and on the eighth day of the same month, and some following days, the remainder of it was given to him, and written by him, see Leviticus 8:1 to which agrees the Targum of Jonathan on Leviticus 1:1.

"when Moses had made an end of erecting the tabernacle, Moses thought and reasoned in his heart, and said, Mount Sinai, its excellency was the excellency of an hour, and its holiness the holiness of three days, it was not possible for me to ascend unto it, until the time that the Word was speaking with me; but this tabernacle of the congregation, its excellency is an excellency for ever, and its holiness an holiness for ever, it is fit that I should not enter into it, until the time that be speaks with me from before the Lord; and therefore the Word of the Lord called to Moses, and the Word of the Lord spake with him out of the tabernacle of the congregation, saying;''

and to the same purpose the Jerusalem Targum. It was written in the year from the creation of the world 2514, and about 1490 years before the coming of Christ. The various sacrifices, rites, and ceremonies made mention of in it, were typical of Christ, and shadows of good things to come by him: there are many things in it, which give great light to several passages in the New Testament, and it is worthy of diligent reading and consideration.

(a) T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 103. 2.

INTRODUCTION TO Leviticus 1 This chapter contains certain laws and rules concerning sacrifices, particularly burnt offerings, which were delivered by the Lord to Moses, Leviticus 1:1 what those offerings should be of, Leviticus 1:3 what rules should be observed, what actions should be done, first by the persons that brought them, Leviticus 1:3 and then by the priest that offered them, with respect to the burnt offering of the herd, Leviticus 1:5 and to the burnt offering of the sheep and goats, Leviticus 1:11 and to the burnt offering of fowls, Leviticus 1:15 all which, when offered aright, were of a sweet savour to the Lord, Leviticus 1:9.

THE THIRD BOOK OF MOSES, CALLED

LEVITICUS.

Leviticus.

BY

THE REV. C. D. GINSBURG, LL.D.

INTRODUCTION

TO

LEVITICUS.

I. Name and Signification.—The name Leviticus, by which the third book is called, is taken from the Greek Version (LXX) of the Old Testament. It properly denotes the Levitical book, or the volume treating on Levitical matters. In Hebrew it is called “the Book Vayikra” or simply “Vayikra,” from the word with which it commences, and which denotes and he called. It is by this name that the Book is always quoted in Jewish writings. In the Hebrew manuscripts of the Old Testament, Leviticus is not only always a book by itself marked off from the rest both at the beginning and at the end by the space of four vacant lines, but like the other four books of the Pentateuch it begins a new column, whilst the other books of the Old Testament, though having the same vacant space to separate them from each other, do not begin at the top of a new column.

II. Division.—In accordance with the practice which obtained from time immemorial, the Book is divided, both in the most ancient MSS. and in the earliest printed editions of the Hebrew Scriptures, into the following ten sections: —

(1)

Leviticus 1:1 to Leviticus 5:19.

(2)

Leviticus 6:1 to Leviticus 8:36.

(3)

Leviticus 9:1 to Leviticus 11:47.

(4)

Leviticus 12:1 to Leviticus 13:59.

(5)

Leviticus 14:1 to Leviticus 15:33.

(6)

Leviticus 16:1 to Leviticus 18:30.

(7)

Leviticus 19:1 to Leviticus 20:27.

(8)

Leviticus 21:1 to Leviticus 24:23.

(9)

Leviticus 25:1 to Leviticus 26:2.

(10)

Leviticus 26:3 to Leviticus 27:34.

These are ten of the fifty-four sections into which the whole Pentateuch is divided in order to furnish a lesson for each Sabbath of those years which, according to Jewish chronology, have fifty-four Sabbaths, so that the whole Law of Moses should be read through once every year. This division and the reading through of the Law in the manner here indicated are observed by the Jews to this day, and it is to these weekly lessons, in conjunction with portions from the Prophets, that reference is made in the New Testament (Acts 13:15, &c.). Besides this division, which is designed for the weekly lessons, the Book of Leviticus is also divided into twenty-three larger sections, which correspond more nearly to our modern chapters, and which are as follows:—

(1)

Leviticus 1:1 to Leviticus 3:17.

(2)

Leviticus 4:1 to Leviticus 6:11.

(3)

Leviticus 6:12 to Leviticus 7:38.

(4)

Leviticus 8:1 to Leviticus 10:7.

(5)

Leviticus 10:8-20.

(6)

Leviticus 11:1-47.

(7)

Leviticus 12:1 to Leviticus 13:28.

(8)

Leviticus 13:29-59.

(9)

Leviticus 14:1-32.

(10)

Leviticus 14:33-57.

(11)

Leviticus 15:1-24.

(12)

Leviticus 15:25 to Leviticus 16:34

(13)

Leviticus 17:1-16.

(14)

Leviticus 18:1-30.

(15)

Leviticus 19:1-22.

(16)

Leviticus 19:23 to Leviticus 20:27.

(17)

Leviticus 21:1 to Leviticus 22:16.

(18)

Leviticus 22:17 to Leviticus 23:14.

(19)

Leviticus 23:15 to Leviticus 25:13.

(20)

Leviticus 25:14-38.

(21)

Leviticus 25:39 to Leviticus 26:2.

(22)

Leviticus 26:3-46.

(23)

Leviticus 27:1-34.

These sections are called Sedarim,, and are indicated in all the correct manuscripts of the Hebrew Scriptures.[114]

[114] See Ginsburg, The Massorah, Vol. 2, Letter Samech, § 77, p. 330.

There is a third division, or rather subdivision, of this Book, which consists of 98 smaller sections or paragraphs, 52 of which are open sections and 46 closed sections. These minor sections are so minutely indicated by a vacant space, either at the beginning or end of the line, and are so sacredly guarded that a manuscript of the Pentateuch in which one of the open sections has, by mistake, been made into a closed section, or vice versa, is ritually illegal.[115]

[115] For a complete list of these sections see Ginsburg, The Massorah, Vol. 2, Letter Pè, § 407, p. 482.

III. Design and Contents.—The design of the Book has been aptly described as “the spiritual statute-book of Israel as the congregation of God.” By the laws therein enacted, God designed to train Israel as His peculiar people, to keep them from defilements, and to sanctify them for holy fellowship with their covenant Jehovah, who has deigned to erect His sanctuary in their midst. To effect this purpose enactments are in the first place laid down to regulate the access of the Israelites to the Divine Being, as follows: The sacrifices which obtained from time immemorial are more minutely defined and systematised (Lev 1:1 to Lev 7:38); the priesthood whose duty it is to offer up these sacrifices are consecrated and installed (Leviticus 8:1 to Leviticus 10:20); the uncleanness of animals (Leviticus 11:1-47), and the impurities of men (Leviticus 12:1 to Leviticus 15:33), which cause defilement and debar access to God, are described; and, finally, the Day of Atonement is instituted, which is to expiate at the end of every year the neglect of any of the above-named regulations (Leviticus 16:1-34), thus appropriately concluding the enactments which are designed to fit God’s people for fellowship with Him. This group of laws is followed by sundry enactments which have for their object the holiness of the people in their every-day life, in their domestic relations, and in their! intercourse with one another (Leviticus 17:1 to Leviticus 20:27); the holiness of the priesthood, and their purity in their sacred ministrations (Leviticus 21:1 to Leviticus 22:33); the sanctification of the festivals (Leviticus 23:1 to Leviticus 24:12) and of the whole land (Leviticus 25:1 to Leviticus 26:2); with directions about collateral questions arising from this part of legislation. The logical sequence of these different regulations, however, is not always apparent.

IV. Authorship.—As I do not believe that the Book of Leviticus, in its present form, was written by Moses, and as it is against the plan of this commentary to enter at this place into a discussion on this question, which has nothing whatever to do with the inspiration of the Book, I thought that I should best serve the student of Holy Writ by showing him how the laws here enacted were administered during the second Temple. I have therefore endeavoured to depict the Temple service in the time of Christ as conducted according to the laws laid down in the Book before us.

V. Literature.—The most important aids are (1) the Septuagint, an English translation of which has been published by Bagster. (2) The two Chaldee versions of the Pentateuch, one under the name of Onkelos, and the other under the name of Jonathan b. Uzziel, both of which have been translated into English, but not altogether satisfactorily, by Etheridge (Longman, 1865). The latter of the two is especially important, since, though in its present form it is a late compilation, it embodies the ancient development of the Mosaic Law as administered during the second Temple. (3) The Midrach Rabboth, which is a traditional explanation of the Mosaic Law, containing many expositions which obtained in the time of Christ, A German translation of this work by Dr. Wünsche has been published at Leipzig. Modern commentaries are too well known to require description.

THE THIRD BOOK OF MOSES, CALLED

LEVITICUS.

THE name Leviticus, that is, the Levitical book, as this portion of the Pentateuch is called in our Bibles, is taken from the Greek (LXX.) Version of the Old Testament, where it is so called because it treats of the sacrificial ordinances and the services performed by the Levites.

Chs. 1–7. THE LAW OF SACRIFICE

The first part of this law comprising Leviticus 1:1 to Leviticus 6:7 [Hebrews 1-5] is addressed to the children of Israel. The first two verses are introductory.

Le 1:1-17.

BURNT OFFERINGS OF THE HERD.

1. the Lord . . . spake . . . out of the tabernacle--The laws that are contained in the previous record were delivered either to the people publicly from Sinai, or to Moses privately, on the summit of that mountain; but on the completion of the tabernacle, the remainder of the law was announced to the Hebrew leader by an audible voice from the divine glory, which surmounted the mercy seat.

The Lord - In the Hebrew text of Leviticus, Jehovah יהוה yehovâh is the name by which God is usually called. Where אלהים 'ĕlohı̂ym occurs, it is generally with a possessive pronoun, so as to designate Him as the God of the chosen people (Leviticus 2:13; Leviticus 11:45; Leviticus 18:21; Leviticus 19:12, Leviticus 19:14, Leviticus 19:32, etc.).

The tabernacle of the congregation - Rather, the tent of meeting. See Exodus 22:21 note. When Jehovah (Yahweh) was about to give His people the Law of the Ten Commandments Exodus 19:3 He called to Moses from the top of Mount Sinai in thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud. When He was now about to give them the laws by which their formal acts of worship were to be regulated, He called to Moses out of the tabernacle which had just been constructed at the foot of the mountain. Exodus 25:22.