Leviticus 3
Laws for Peace Offerings
1“‘If his offering is a sacrifice of peace offerings, if he offers it from the herd, whether male or female, he shall offer it without defect before the LORD.
2He shall lay his hand on the head of his offering, and kill it at the door of the Tent of Meeting. Aaron’s sons, the priests, shall sprinkle the blood around on the altar.
3He shall offer of the sacrifice of peace offerings an offering made by fire to the LORD. The fat that covers the innards, and all the fat that is on the innards,
4and the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which is by the loins, and the cover on the liver, with the kidneys, he shall take away.
5Aaron’s sons shall burn it on the altar on the burnt offering, which is on the wood that is on the fire: it is an offering made by fire, of a pleasant aroma to the LORD.
6“‘If his offering for a sacrifice of peace offerings to the LORD is from the flock, either male or female, he shall offer it without defect.
7If he offers a lamb for his offering, then he shall offer it before the LORD;
8and he shall lay his hand on the head of his offering, and kill it before the Tent of Meeting. Aaron’s sons shall sprinkle its blood around on the altar.
9He shall offer from the sacrifice of peace offerings an offering made by fire to the LORD; its fat, the entire tail fat, he shall take away close to the backbone; and the fat that covers the entrails, and all the fat that is on the entrails,
10and the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which is by the loins, and the cover on the liver, with the kidneys, he shall take away.
11The priest shall burn it on the altar: it is the food of the offering made by fire to the LORD.
12“‘If his offering is a goat, then he shall offer it before the LORD.
13He shall lay his hand on its head, and kill it before the Tent of Meeting; and the sons of Aaron shall sprinkle its blood around on the altar.
14He shall offer from it as his offering, an offering made by fire to the LORD; the fat that covers the innards, and all the fat that is on the innards,
15and the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which is by the loins, and the cover on the liver, with the kidneys, he shall take away.
16The priest shall burn them on the altar: it is the food of the offering made by fire, for a pleasant aroma; all the fat is the LORD’s.
17“‘It shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwellings, that you shall eat neither fat nor blood.’”
Leviticus 3 establishes the regulations for peace offerings, a type of sacrifice that expresses gratitude, fulfills vows, or celebrates fellowship with God. The chapter provides detailed instructions for offering cattle, sheep, or goats, specifying that the animal must be without defect and that specific portions of fat and organs must be burned on the altar as 'food' for the LORD. The chapter concludes with a perpetual prohibition against consuming fat or blood, emphasizing that these belong exclusively to God.
Context
Following the burnt offering laws in chapters 1-2, this chapter continues the sacrificial system instructions that will be completed with sin and guilt offerings in chapters 4-5.
Key Themes
Outline
- 1-5Peace Offerings from CattleInstructions for offering bulls or cows, including the laying on of hands, slaughter, and burning of fat portions.
- 6-11Peace Offerings from SheepSimilar procedures for lamb offerings, with special attention to the fat tail that must be completely removed.
- 12-16Peace Offerings from GoatsRegulations for goat sacrifices, emphasizing that the fat portions are 'food' offerings that create a pleasant aroma to the LORD.
- 17Perpetual ProhibitionA permanent statute forbidding the consumption of fat or blood by the Israelites in all their dwellings.
Laws for Peace Offerings
3:1–3:17Laws for peace offerings from cattle, sheep, and goats, detailing the ritual procedures and fat portions to be burned. These offerings symbolize fellowship and communion between the worshiper and God.
person_contrast
Aaron's sons appear in this peace offering ritual despite Aaron himself being absent from the text, creating the only Levitical sacrifice where priestly succession operates without the high priest's direct presence.
Leviticus 3:1
Leviticus 1:3lexical“‘If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he shall offer a male without defect. He shall offer it at the door…
Leviticus 22:21lexicalWhoever offers a sacrifice of peace offerings to the LORD to accomplish a vow, or for a free will offering of the herd o…
Leviticus 1:10lexical“‘If his offering is from the flock, from the sheep or from the goats, for a burnt offering, he shall offer a male witho…
Numbers 6:14lexicaland he shall offer his offering to the LORD: one male lamb a year old without defect for a burnt offering, one ewe lamb…
Numbers 7:77lexicaland for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two head of cattle, five rams, five male goats, and five male lambs a year old…
Leviticus 3:2
Leviticus 1:5lexicalHe shall kill the bull before the LORD. Aaron’s sons, the priests, shall present the blood and sprinkle the blood around…
Leviticus 1:11lexicalHe shall kill it on the north side of the altar before the LORD. Aaron’s sons, the priests, shall sprinkle its blood aro…
Leviticus 9:18lexicalHe also killed the bull and the ram, the sacrifice of peace offerings, which was for the people. Aaron’s sons delivered…
Exodus 29:20lexicalThen you shall kill the ram, and take some of its blood, and put it on the tip of the right ear of Aaron, and on the tip…
Leviticus 9:12lexicalHe killed the burnt offering; and Aaron’s sons delivered the blood to him, and he sprinkled it around on the altar.
Leviticus 3:3
Leviticus 4:35lexicalHe shall remove all its fat, like the fat of the lamb is removed from the sacrifice of peace offerings. The priest shall…
Leviticus 7:3lexicalHe shall offer all of its fat: the fat tail, and the fat that covers the innards,
Leviticus 4:26lexicalAll its fat he shall burn on the altar, like the fat of the sacrifice of peace offerings; and the priest shall make aton…
Leviticus 4:31lexicalAll its fat he shall take away, like the fat is taken away from the sacrifice of peace offerings; and the priest shall b…
Leviticus 7:25lexicalFor whoever eats the fat of the animal which men offer as an offering made by fire to the LORD, even the soul who eats i…
Leviticus 3:4
Leviticus 4:9lexicaland the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which is by the loins, and the cover on the liver, with the kidneys, h…
Leviticus 7:4lexicaland he shall take away the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which is by the loins, and the cover on the liver,…
Leviticus 8:16lexicalHe took all the fat that was on the innards, and the cover of the liver, and the two kidneys, and their fat; and Moses b…
Leviticus 9:10lexicalbut the fat, and the kidneys, and the cover from the liver of the sin offering, he burned upon the altar, as the LORD co…
Exodus 29:13lexicalYou shall take all the fat that covers the innards, the cover of the liver, the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them…
Leviticus 3:5
Leviticus 1:17lexicalHe shall tear it by its wings, but shall not divide it apart. The priest shall burn it on the altar, on the wood that is…
Exodus 29:18lexicalYou shall burn the whole ram on the altar: it is a burnt offering to the LORD; it is a pleasant aroma, an offering made…
Leviticus 1:9lexicalbut he shall wash its innards and its legs with water. The priest shall burn all of it on the altar, for a burnt offerin…
Exodus 29:25lexicalYou shall take them from their hands, and burn them on the altar on the burnt offering, for a pleasant aroma before the…
Leviticus 8:28lexicalMoses took them from their hands, and burned them on the altar on the burnt offering. They were a consecration offering…
Leviticus 3:6
Leviticus 1:10lexical“‘If his offering is from the flock, from the sheep or from the goats, for a burnt offering, he shall offer a male witho…
Leviticus 22:21lexicalWhoever offers a sacrifice of peace offerings to the LORD to accomplish a vow, or for a free will offering of the herd o…
Leviticus 4:28lexicalif his sin which he has sinned is made known to him, then he shall bring for his offering a goat, a female without defec…
Leviticus 12:7lexicalHe shall offer it before the LORD, and make atonement for her; then she shall be cleansed from the fountain of her blood…
Leviticus 4:23lexicalif his sin in which he has sinned is made known to him, he shall bring as his offering a goat, a male without defect.
Leviticus 3:8
Leviticus 1:5lexicalHe shall kill the bull before the LORD. Aaron’s sons, the priests, shall present the blood and sprinkle the blood around…
Leviticus 9:12lexicalHe killed the burnt offering; and Aaron’s sons delivered the blood to him, and he sprinkled it around on the altar.
Leviticus 9:18lexicalHe also killed the bull and the ram, the sacrifice of peace offerings, which was for the people. Aaron’s sons delivered…
Exodus 29:20lexicalThen you shall kill the ram, and take some of its blood, and put it on the tip of the right ear of Aaron, and on the tip…
Leviticus 1:11lexicalHe shall kill it on the north side of the altar before the LORD. Aaron’s sons, the priests, shall sprinkle its blood aro…
Leviticus 3:9
Leviticus 7:3lexicalHe shall offer all of its fat: the fat tail, and the fat that covers the innards,
Leviticus 4:35lexicalHe shall remove all its fat, like the fat of the lamb is removed from the sacrifice of peace offerings. The priest shall…
Exodus 29:22lexicalAlso you shall take some of the ram’s fat, the fat tail, the fat that covers the innards, the cover of the liver, the tw…
Leviticus 4:31lexicalAll its fat he shall take away, like the fat is taken away from the sacrifice of peace offerings; and the priest shall b…
Leviticus 22:21lexicalWhoever offers a sacrifice of peace offerings to the LORD to accomplish a vow, or for a free will offering of the herd o…
Leviticus 3:10
Leviticus 4:9lexicaland the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which is by the loins, and the cover on the liver, with the kidneys, h…
Leviticus 7:4lexicaland he shall take away the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which is by the loins, and the cover on the liver,…
Leviticus 8:25lexicalHe took the fat, the fat tail, all the fat that was on the innards, the cover of the liver, the two kidneys and their fa…
Leviticus 9:19lexicaland the fat of the bull and of the ram, the fat tail, and that which covers the innards, and the kidneys, and the cover…
Exodus 29:22lexicalAlso you shall take some of the ram’s fat, the fat tail, the fat that covers the innards, the cover of the liver, the tw…
Leviticus 3:11
Leviticus 1:13lexicalbut the innards and the legs he shall wash with water. The priest shall offer the whole, and burn it on the altar. It is…
Leviticus 1:17lexicalHe shall tear it by its wings, but shall not divide it apart. The priest shall burn it on the altar, on the wood that is…
Leviticus 2:2lexicalHe shall bring it to Aaron’s sons, the priests. He shall take his handful of its fine flour, and of its oil, with all it…
Leviticus 5:12lexicalHe shall bring it to the priest, and the priest shall take his handful of it as the memorial portion, and burn it on the…
Leviticus 7:5lexicaland the priest shall burn them on the altar for an offering made by fire to the LORD: it is a trespass offering.
Leviticus 3:13
Leviticus 1:5lexicalHe shall kill the bull before the LORD. Aaron’s sons, the priests, shall present the blood and sprinkle the blood around…
Leviticus 9:12lexicalHe killed the burnt offering; and Aaron’s sons delivered the blood to him, and he sprinkled it around on the altar.
Leviticus 9:18lexicalHe also killed the bull and the ram, the sacrifice of peace offerings, which was for the people. Aaron’s sons delivered…
Exodus 29:20lexicalThen you shall kill the ram, and take some of its blood, and put it on the tip of the right ear of Aaron, and on the tip…
Leviticus 1:11lexicalHe shall kill it on the north side of the altar before the LORD. Aaron’s sons, the priests, shall sprinkle its blood aro…
Leviticus 3:14
Leviticus 7:3lexicalHe shall offer all of its fat: the fat tail, and the fat that covers the innards,
Leviticus 7:25lexicalFor whoever eats the fat of the animal which men offer as an offering made by fire to the LORD, even the soul who eats i…
Numbers 28:2lexical“Command the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘See that you present my offering, my food for my offerings made by fire…
Exodus 29:13lexicalYou shall take all the fat that covers the innards, the cover of the liver, the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them…
Exodus 29:22lexicalAlso you shall take some of the ram’s fat, the fat tail, the fat that covers the innards, the cover of the liver, the tw…
Leviticus 3:15
Leviticus 7:4lexicaland he shall take away the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which is by the loins, and the cover on the liver,…
Leviticus 4:9lexicaland the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which is by the loins, and the cover on the liver, with the kidneys, h…
Leviticus 8:16lexicalHe took all the fat that was on the innards, and the cover of the liver, and the two kidneys, and their fat; and Moses b…
Exodus 29:22lexicalAlso you shall take some of the ram’s fat, the fat tail, the fat that covers the innards, the cover of the liver, the tw…
Leviticus 9:10lexicalbut the fat, and the kidneys, and the cover from the liver of the sin offering, he burned upon the altar, as the LORD co…
Leviticus 3:16
Numbers 18:17lexical“But you shall not redeem the firstborn of a cow, or the firstborn of a sheep, or the firstborn of a goat. They are holy…
Leviticus 2:9lexicalThe priest shall take from the meal offering its memorial, and shall burn it on the altar, an offering made by fire, of…
Leviticus 1:17lexicalHe shall tear it by its wings, but shall not divide it apart. The priest shall burn it on the altar, on the wood that is…
Leviticus 8:28lexicalMoses took them from their hands, and burned them on the altar on the burnt offering. They were a consecration offering…
Leviticus 2:2lexicalHe shall bring it to Aaron’s sons, the priests. He shall take his handful of its fine flour, and of its oil, with all it…
Leviticus 3:17
Leviticus 23:31lexicalYou shall do no kind of work: it is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
Leviticus 23:21lexicalYou shall make proclamation on the same day that there shall be a holy convocation to you. You shall do no regular work.…
Leviticus 23:14lexicalYou must not eat bread, or roasted grain, or fresh grain, until this same day, until you have brought the offering of yo…
Numbers 35:29lexical“‘These things shall be for a statute and ordinance to you throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
Exodus 27:21lexicalIn the Tent of Meeting, outside the veil which is before the covenant, Aaron and his sons shall keep it in order from ev…
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