And the priest shall burn it upon the altar ,.... The fat of the tail, of the inwards, the two kidneys, and the caul of the liver: it is the food of the offering made by fire unto the Lord ; or "bread"; this part of the offering that was burnt belonged to the Lord; it was his food, and what was accepted of by him, and therefore is elsewhere called the bread of God, Leviticus 21:8 . read more
And if his offering be a goat ,.... As it might be, and which also was of the flock: then he shall offer it before the Lord ; in the same place and manner as the bullock and the lamb, Leviticus 3:1 read more
And he shall lay his hand upon the head of it ,.... His right hand, according to the Targum of Jonathan, as before; the same directions are given for the killing of it, and for the sprinkling of its blood, as in the offerings of the bullock and lamb. read more
And he shall offer thereof his offering ,.... The same rules are laid down about taking the fat off of several parts as in the sacrifice of the bullock; but nothing is said of the fat of the rump and tail, as is said of the lamb. read more
And the priest shall burn them upon the altar ,.... Which shows that not the fat only, but the inwards and the kidneys, were burnt also; so Maimonides says F12 Ut supra, (Maaseh Hakorbanot) c. 9. sect. 11. , that the priest salted the parts, and burned them upon the altar; and the priests might not have the breast and shoulder (which were what belonged to them) until the parts were burnt: it is the food of the offering made by fire ; which the Lord ate of, or accepted of: for... read more
It shall be a perpetual statute for your generations ,.... That is, unto the end of the Mosaic dispensation, until the Messiah comes, and his sacrifice is offered up, and his blood is shed, till that time in all generations: and throughout all your dwellings ; wherever their habitations should be, it is a law to be observed: that ye eat neither fat nor blood ; the Jewish writers think, that this is not to be restrained to the fat and blood of sacrifices, because these were not... read more
It is the food of the offering - We have already remarked that God is frequently represented as feasting with his people on the sacrifices they offered; and because these sacrifices were consumed by that fire which was kindled from heaven, therefore they were considered as the food of that fire, or rather of the Divine Being who was represented by it. "In the same idiom of speech," says Dodd, "the gods of the heathens are said, Deuteronomy 32:38 , to eat the fat and drink the wine which... read more
A goat - Implying the whole species, he-goat, she-goat, and kid, as we have already seen. read more
That ye eat neither fat nor blood - It is not likely that the fat should be forbidden in the same manner and in the same latitude as the blood. The blood was the life of the beast, and that was offered to make an atonement for their souls; consequently, this was never eaten in all their generations: but it was impossible to separate the fat from the flesh, which in many parts is so intimately intermixed with the muscular fibres; but the blood, being contained in separate vessels, the... read more
Get Bible verse every day in your inbox
Read on Mobile
Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Leviticus 3:6-17
Directions are here given concerning the peace-offering, if it was a sheep or a goat. Turtle-doves or young pigeons, which might be brought for whole burnt offerings, were not allowed for peace-offerings, because they have no fat considerable enough to be burnt upon the altar; and they would be next to nothing if they were to be divided according to the law of the peace-offerings. The laws concerning a lamb or goat offered for a peace offering are much the same with those concerning a bullock,... read more