Leviticus 6

The LORD spoke to Moses. He said:

1And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

NoteIn Hebrew Bibles these first seven verses are numbered as the end of chapter 5 (5:20–26), and chapter 6 begins at what English Bibles call verse 8. English chapter numbers here follow the old Latin division, so cross-references between editions can be off by seven verses in this chapter.

2If a person sins and is unfaithful to the LORD by lying to his neighbor about something left in his care, or about something given to him as a pledge, or about something taken by force, or if he has cheated his neighbor;

2If a soul sin, and commit a trespass against the LORD, and lie unto his neighbour in that which was delivered him to keep, or in fellowship, or in a thing taken away by violence, or hath deceived his neighbour;

Note"A pledge" is property handed over to guarantee a loan or a bargain, to be returned when the debt is settled. The cases listed (a deposit left for safekeeping, a pledge, robbery, extortion) are all ordinary property crimes; they count as unfaithfulness "to the LORD" because settling such a dispute involved swearing an oath in God's name, so lying about it made God a witness to the lie.

3or if he has found something that was lost and lies about it and swears falsely, in any of these things that a person may do and sin by doing:

3Or have found that which was lost, and lieth concerning it, and sweareth falsely; in any of all these that a man doeth, sinning therein:

4then, because he has sinned and is guilty, he must give back what he took by force, or what he got by cheating, or what was left in his care, or the lost thing he found,

4Then it shall be, because he hath sinned, and is guilty, that he shall restore that which he took violently away, or the thing which he hath deceitfully gotten, or that which was delivered him to keep, or the lost thing which he found,

5or anything he swore falsely about. He must pay back the full value, add a fifth of it, and give it to the person it belongs to on the day he brings his guilt offering.

5Or all that about which he hath sworn falsely; he shall even restore it in the principal, and shall add the fifth part more thereto, and give it unto him to whom it appertaineth, in the day of his trespass offering.

Note"A fifth" is twenty percent added on top of the full value returned, the penalty payment. It goes to the person wronged, not to the sanctuary.

6He must bring his guilt offering to the LORD: a ram from the flock with no flaw, worth the value you set. He shall bring it to the priest.

6And he shall bring his trespass offering unto the LORD, a ram without blemish out of the flock, with thy estimation, for a trespass offering, unto the priest:

NoteA "guilt offering" (KJV "trespass offering") is the Hebrew *asham*, the sacrifice prescribed where someone has defrauded another party or misused something sacred, and which normally goes with making good the loss. The KJV's "with thy estimation" means the animal had to meet a fixed valuation in silver, assessed by the priest, rather than being any ram at all.

7The priest will make atonement for him before the LORD, and he will be forgiven for anything he did that made him guilty.

7And the priest shall make an atonement for him before the LORD: and it shall be forgiven him for any thing of all that he hath done in trespassing therein.

Note"Atonement" translates a Hebrew verb whose root sense is to wipe clean or to cover over. It describes what the ritual does to the offense or the impurity: it removes it, rather than describing a feeling in the worshiper.

8The LORD spoke to Moses. He said:

8And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

9Give this command to Aaron and his sons: This is the law of the burnt offering. The burnt offering is to stay on the altar's hearth all night until morning, and the fire of the altar is to be kept burning on it.

9Command Aaron and his sons, saying, This is the law of the burnt offering: It is the burnt offering, because of the burning upon the altar all night unto the morning, and the fire of the altar shall be burning in it.

NoteA "burnt offering" is an animal burned up entirely on the altar; unlike other sacrifices, no part of it was eaten by anyone. "The hearth of the altar" is the flat burning surface on top.

10The priest shall put on his linen robe, with linen undergarments next to his body. He shall take up the ashes left when the fire burned up the burnt offering on the altar, and he shall put them beside the altar.

10And the priest shall put on his linen garment, and his linen breeches shall he put upon his flesh, and take up the ashes which the fire hath consumed with the burnt offering on the altar, and he shall put them beside the altar.

NotePriests wore plain linen, not the ornate high-priestly robes, for this dirty morning chore. The linen undergarments (KJV "breeches") were required at the altar for modesty, since the altar was approached by a ramp or steps.

11Then he shall take off those clothes and put on other clothes, and carry the ashes outside the camp to a clean place.

11And he shall put off his garments, and put on other garments, and carry forth the ashes without the camp unto a clean place.

Note"Clean" here is a ritual category, not a matter of dirt: a place not disqualified by contact with corpses, disease, or anything else the law counted as defiling. The ashes had come off the altar and so could not simply be dumped anywhere.

12The fire on the altar is to be kept burning on it; it must not be put out. Every morning the priest is to burn wood on it, lay the burnt offering on it in order, and burn on it the fat of the peace offerings.

12And the fire upon the altar shall be burning in it; it shall not be put out: and the priest shall burn wood on it every morning, and lay the burnt offering in order upon it; and he shall burn thereon the fat of the peace offerings.

Note"Peace offerings" (also translated fellowship or well-being offerings) were sacrifices whose meat was shared and eaten by the worshipers at a meal; only the fat portions and certain organs went up on the altar. Fat was regarded as God's share and was never eaten.

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

13The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar; it shall never go out.

14This is the law of the grain offering: Aaron's sons shall present it before the LORD, in front of the altar.

14And this is the law of the meat offering: the sons of Aaron shall offer it before the LORD, before the altar.

NoteThe KJV's "meat offering" is not meat in the modern sense. In 1611 "meat" meant food of any kind, and this offering was flour, oil and incense, no animal at all.

15The priest shall take from it a handful of the fine flour of the grain offering, with its oil, and all the frankincense that is on the grain offering, and burn it on the altar as a pleasing smell, the memorial portion of it, to the LORD.

15And he shall take of it his handful, of the flour of the meat offering, and of the oil thereof, and all the frankincense which is upon the meat offering, and shall burn it upon the altar for a sweet savour, even the memorial of it, unto the LORD.

NoteFrankincense is a fragrant resin tapped from trees in southern Arabia and East Africa, imported and expensive. The "memorial portion" is the token handful burned on the altar to represent the whole gift; the word suggests bringing the giver to mind before God.

16Aaron and his sons shall eat what is left of it. It must be eaten without yeast in a holy place; they shall eat it in the courtyard of the tent of meeting.

16And the remainder thereof shall Aaron and his sons eat: with unleavened bread shall it be eaten in the holy place; in the court of the tabernacle of the congregation they shall eat it.

Note"The tent of meeting" is what the KJV calls "the tabernacle of the congregation", the portable sanctuary, so named because it was where God met with Israel. Its courtyard was the enclosed open area around the altar, outside the tent proper. Leaven (yeast, or more precisely a lump of fermented dough kept back from a previous batch) was excluded from what was burned or eaten as holy food.

17It must not be baked with yeast. I have given it to them as their share of my offerings made by fire. It is most holy, like the sin offering and the guilt offering.

17It shall not be baken with leaven. I have given it unto them for their portion of my offerings made by fire; it is most holy, as is the sin offering, and as the trespass offering.

Note"Most holy" is a technical grade, not just emphasis. Offerings in this class could be eaten only by priests, only by males, and only inside the sanctuary courtyard; offerings of the lesser grade could be eaten by a priest's whole household anywhere ritually clean.

18Every male among Aaron's children may eat it. This is a lasting rule for all your generations about the LORD's offerings made by fire. Whatever touches them will become holy.

18All the males among the children of Aaron shall eat of it. It shall be a statute for ever in your generations concerning the offerings of the LORD made by fire: every one that toucheth them shall be holy.

NoteThe last sentence is genuinely ambiguous in Hebrew and has been read two ways since antiquity: that whatever touches these offerings catches their holiness and is thereby withdrawn from ordinary use, or that only someone already in a state of holiness may touch them. The wording here preserves the ambiguity.

19The LORD spoke to Moses. He said:

19And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

20This is the offering that Aaron and his sons must bring to the LORD on the day he is anointed: a tenth of an ephah of fine flour as a regular grain offering, half of it in the morning and half in the evening.

20This is the offering of Aaron and of his sons, which they shall offer unto the LORD in the day when he is anointed; the tenth part of an ephah of fine flour for a meat offering perpetual, half of it in the morning, and half thereof at night.

NoteTo "anoint" is to install someone in office by pouring or smearing scented olive oil on the head, the physical act that made a man a priest. An ephah was a dry measure of roughly twenty-two liters, so a tenth of an ephah is about two liters or two quarts of flour, something over a kilogram. The Hebrew leaves it unclear whether this is a one-time offering made on the day of installation or a daily offering that begins then and continues permanently; the text says both "on the day he is anointed" and "perpetual."

21It shall be made with oil in a pan. When it is well soaked, you shall bring it in, and you shall offer the baked pieces of the grain offering as a pleasing smell to the LORD.

21In a pan it shall be made with oil; and when it is baken, thou shalt bring it in: and the baken pieces of the meat offering shalt thou offer for a sweet savour unto the LORD.

NoteThe "pan" is a flat griddle or baking plate, not a deep vessel. The Hebrew word behind the KJV's "baken pieces" occurs only here and its meaning is uncertain; ancient and modern translators have guessed variously at "well-soaked," "well-kneaded," and "broken into pieces."

22The son of Aaron who is anointed as priest in his place shall offer it. It is a lasting rule for the LORD: it shall be burned completely.

22And the priest of his sons that is anointed in his stead shall offer it: it is a statute for ever unto the LORD; it shall be wholly burnt.

Note"In his place" means as Aaron's successor in the office of high priest, the rule applies to each holder of the office in turn, not only to Aaron.

23Every grain offering for a priest shall be burned completely. It must not be eaten.

23For every meat offering for the priest shall be wholly burnt: it shall not be eaten.

24The LORD spoke to Moses. He said:

24And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

25Speak to Aaron and his sons and say: This is the law of the sin offering. The sin offering is to be killed before the LORD in the place where the burnt offering is killed. It is most holy.

25Speak unto Aaron and to his sons, saying, This is the law of the sin offering: In the place where the burnt offering is killed shall the sin offering be killed before the LORD: it is most holy.

NoteThe Hebrew for "sin offering" (*chattat*) is built on the word for sin but describes what the rite does: it purges or decontaminates. Many translators render it "purification offering," since it was also required after childbirth and recovery from disease, where no wrongdoing was involved.

26The priest who offers it for sin shall eat it. It is to be eaten in a holy place, in the courtyard of the tent of meeting.

26The priest that offereth it for sin shall eat it: in the holy place shall it be eaten, in the court of the tabernacle of the congregation.

27Whatever touches its flesh will become holy. If any of its blood is sprinkled on a garment, you must wash the spot where it was sprinkled in a holy place.

27Whatsoever shall touch the flesh thereof shall be holy: and when there is sprinkled of the blood thereof upon any garment, thou shalt wash that whereon it was sprinkled in the holy place.

NoteAs in verse 18, the Hebrew can mean that whatever touches the flesh becomes holy or that only what is already holy may touch it. Blood splashed onto clothing carried the offering's holy status, so the garment could not simply be laundered anywhere.

28The clay pot it is boiled in must be broken. If it is boiled in a bronze pot, that pot must be scoured and rinsed with water.

28But the earthen vessel wherein it is sodden shall be broken: and if it be sodden in a brasen pot, it shall be both scoured, and rinsed in water.

NoteUnglazed clay is porous and absorbs what is cooked in it, so the vessel could not be purged and had to be destroyed. Bronze is non-porous, so scouring and rinsing were enough.

29Every male among the priests may eat it. It is most holy.

29All the males among the priests shall eat thereof: it is most holy.

30But no sin offering may be eaten if any of its blood is brought into the tent of meeting to make atonement in the holy place. It must be burned in the fire.

30And no sin offering, whereof any of the blood is brought into the tabernacle of the congregation to reconcile withal in the holy place, shall be eaten: it shall be burnt in the fire.