Leviticus 6

1 And the Lord said to Moses,

2 If anyone does wrong, and is untrue to the Lord, acting falsely to his neighbour in connection with something put in his care, or something given for a debt, or has taken away anything by force, or has been cruel to his neighbour,

3 Or has taken a false oath about the loss of something which he has come across by chance; if a man has done any of these evil things,

4 Causing sin to come on him, then he will have to give back the thing he took by force or got by cruel acts, or the goods which were put in his care or the thing he came on by chance,

5 Or anything about which he took a false oath; he will have to give it all back, with the addition of a fifth of its value, to him whose property it is, when he has been judged to be in the wrong.

6 Then let him take to the Lord the offering for his wrongdoing; giving to the priest for his offering, a male sheep from the flock, without any mark, of the value fixed by you:

7 And the priest will take away his sin from before the Lord, and he will have forgiveness for whatever crime he has done

8 And the Lord said to Moses,

9 Give orders to Aaron and to his sons, saying, This is the law for the burned offering: the offering is to be on the fire-wood on the altar all night till the morning; and the fire of the altar is to be kept burning.

10 And the priest is to put on his linen robes and his linen trousers, and take up what is over of the offering after it has been burned on the altar, and put it by the side of the altar.

11 Then having taken off his linen robes and put on other clothing, he is to take it away into a clean place, outside the tent-circle.

12 The fire on the altar is to be kept burning; it is never to go out; every morning the priest is to put wood on it, placing the burned offering in order on it, and there the fat of the peace-offering is to be burned.

13 Let the fire be kept burning on the altar at all times; it is never to go out.

14 And this is the law for the meal offering: it is to be offered to the Lord before the altar by the sons of Aaron.

15 The priest is to take in his hand some of the meal of the meal offering and of the oil of it, and all the perfume on it, burning it on the altar as a sign, for a sweet smell to the Lord.

16 And whatever is over Aaron and his sons may have for their food, taking it without leaven in a holy place; in the open space of the Tent of meeting they may take a meal of it.

17 It is not to be cooked with leaven. I have given it to them as their part of the offerings made by fire to me; it is most holy, as are the sin-offerings and the offerings for error.

18 Every male among the children of Aaron may have it for food; it is their right for ever through all your generations, from the offerings made by fire to the Lord: anyone touching them will be holy.

19 And the Lord said to Moses,

20 This is the offering which Aaron and his sons are to make to the Lord on the day when he is made a priest: the tenth part of an ephah of the best meal for a meal offering for ever; half of it in the morning and half in the evening.

21 Let it be made with oil on a flat plate; when it is well mixed and cooked, let it be broken and taken in as a meal offering, for a sweet smell to the Lord.

22 And the same offering is to be given by that one of his sons who takes his place as priest; by an order for ever, all of it is to be burned before the Lord.

23 Every meal offering offered for the priest is to be completely burned: nothing of it is to be taken for food.

24 And the Lord said to Moses,

25 Say to Aaron and his sons, This is the law for the sin-offering: the sin-offering is to be put to death before the Lord in the same place as the burned offering; it is most holy.

26 The priest by whom it is offered for sin, is to take it for his food in a holy place, in the open space of the Tent of meeting.

27 Anyone touching the flesh of it will be holy: and if any of the blood is dropped on any clothing, the thing on which the blood has been dropped is to be washed in a holy place.

28 But the vessel of earth in which the flesh was cooked is to be broken; or if a brass vessel was used, it is to be rubbed clean and washed out with water.

29 Every male among the priests may take it for his food: it is most holy.

30 No sin-offering, the blood of which is taken into the Tent of meeting, to take away sin in the holy place, may be used for food: it is to be burned with fire.

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Leviticus 6 Commentary

Chapter 6

Concerning trespasses against our neighbour. (1-7) Concerning the burnt-offering. (8-13) Concerning the meat-offering. (14-23) Concerning the sin-offering. (24-30)

Verses 1-7 Though all the instances relate to our neighbour, yet it is called a trespass against the Lord. Though the person injured be mean, and even despicable, yet the injury reflects upon that God who has made the command of loving our neighbour next to that of loving himself. Human laws make a difference as to punishments; but all methods of doing wrong to others, are alike violations of the Divine law, even keeping what is found, when the owner can be discovered. Frauds are generally accompanied with lies, often with false oaths. If the offender would escape the vengeance of God, he must make ample restitution, according to his power, and seek forgiveness by faith in that one Offering which taketh away the sin of the world. The trespasses here mentioned, still are trespasses against the law of Christ, which insists as much upon justice and truth, as the law of nature, or the law of Moses.

Verses 8-13 The daily sacrifice of a lamb is chiefly referred to. The priest must take care of the fire upon the altar. The first fire upon the altar came from heaven, ch. 9:24 ; by keeping that up continually, all their sacrifices might be said to be consumed with the fire from heaven, in token of God's acceptance. Thus should the fire of our holy affections, the exercise of our faith and love, of prayer and praise, be without ceasing.

Verses 14-23 The law of the burnt-offerings put upon the priests a great deal of care and work; the flesh was wholly burnt, and the priests had nothing but the skin. But most of the meat-offering was their own. It is God's will that his ministers should be provided with what is needful.

Verses 24-30 The blood of the sin-offering was to be washed out of the clothes on which it should happen to be sprinkled, which signified the regard we ought to have to the blood of Christ, not counting it a common thing. The vessel in which the flesh of the sin-offering was boiled must be broken, if it were an earthen one; but if a brazen one, well washed. This showed that the defilement was not wholly taken away by the offering; but the blood of Christ thoroughly cleanses from all sin. All these rules set forth the polluting nature of sin, and the removal of guilt from the sinner to the sacrifice. Behold and wonder at Christ's love, in that he was content to be made a sin-offering for us, and so to procure our pardon for continual sins and failings. He that knew no sin was made sin (that is, a ( 2 Corinthians. 5:21 ) only pardon, but power also, against sin, ( Romans 8:3 ) .

Taken from Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible (Concise)

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO LEVITICUS 6

This chapter treats of the trespass offering for sins committed knowingly and wilfully, Le 6:1-7 and of the law of the burnt offering, and of cleansing the altar of burnt offering, and keeping the fire burning on it continually, Le 6:8-13 and of the meat offering, which is repeated with some additional circumstances, Le 6:14-18 and of the offering at the consecration of the high priest, Le 6:19-23 and of the sin offering, and where to be killed and eaten, and by whom, Le 6:24-30.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible