Leviticus 2 KJV
The Grain Offering
Leviticus Chapter 2: The Grain Offering
The explicit command to season every grain offering with salt, termed 'the salt of the covenant,' echoes ancient Near Eastern treaty practices where salt sealed irrevocable agreements, thereby framing the offering as a perpetual pledge rather than a one-time gift.
1nd when any will offer a meat offering unto the LORD, his offering shall be of fine flour; and he shall pour oil upon it, and put frankincense thereon:
2 And he shall bring it to Aaronโs sons the priests: and he shall take thereout his handful of the flour thereof, and of the oil thereof, with all the frankincense thereof; and the priest shall burn the memorial of it upon the altar, to be an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD:
3 And the remnant of the meat offering shall be Aaronโs and his sonsโ: it is a thing most holy of the offerings of the LORD made by fire.
4 And if thou bring an oblation of a meat offering baken in the oven, it shall be unleavened cakes of fine flour mingled with oil, or unleavened wafers anointed with oil.
5 And if thy oblation be a meat offering baken in a pan, it shall be of fine flour unleavened, mingled with oil.
6 Thou shalt part it in pieces, and pour oil thereon: it is a meat offering.
7 And if thy oblation be a meat offering baken in the fryingpan, it shall be made of fine flour with oil.
8 And thou shalt bring the meat offering that is made of these things unto the LORD: and when it is presented unto the priest, he shall bring it unto the altar.
9 And the priest shall take from the meat offering a memorial thereof, and shall burn it upon the altar: it is an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD.
10 And that which is left of the meat offering shall be Aaronโs and his sonsโ: it is a thing most holy of the offerings of the LORD made by fire.
11 No meat offering, which ye shall bring unto the LORD, shall be made with leaven: for ye shall burn no leaven, nor any honey, in any offering of the LORD made by fire.
12 As for the oblation of the firstfruits, ye shall offer them unto the LORD: but they shall not be burnt on the altar for a sweet savour.
13 And every oblation of thy meat offering shalt thou season with salt; neither shalt thou suffer the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meat offering: with all thine offerings thou shalt offer salt.
14 And if thou offer a meat offering of thy firstfruits unto the LORD, thou shalt offer for the meat offering of thy firstfruits green ears of corn dried by the fire, even corn beaten out of full ears.
15 And thou shalt put oil upon it, and lay frankincense thereon: it is a meat offering.
16 And the priest shall burn the memorial of it, part of the beaten corn thereof, and part of the oil thereof, with all the frankincense thereof: it is an offering made by fire unto the LORD.
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Did You Know?
The explicit command to season every grain offering with salt, termed 'the salt of the covenant,' echoes ancient Near Eastern treaty practices where salt sealed irrevocable agreements, thereby framing the offering as a perpetual pledge rather than a one-time gift.
Frankincense is placed atop the memorial portion before burning, producing a shared olfactory element with the sacred incense of Exodus 30 and thereby linking the layperson's daily provision offering to the high priest's inner-sanctum ritual.
Leaven and honey are barred from any portion burned on the altar yet permitted in firstfruit presentations that sustain the priests, creating a deliberate liturgical boundary between total consumption by fire (symbolizing unalloyed devotion) and priestly sustenance.
The text permits four distinct preparations. Raw flour, oven-baked loaves, griddle cakes, or pan-fried wafers. Yet uniformly requires oil and salt, underscoring that the mode of human agricultural labor remains subordinate to fixed covenantal markers.
The remnant given to Aaron's sons is labeled 'a thing most holy of the offerings of the LORD made by fire,' elevating ordinary priestly consumption to the same sanctity as altar portions and thereby merging clerical maintenance with sacrificial mediation.
Commentary & Study Notes Jamieson-Fausset-Brown (1871) ยท Public Domain when any will offer a meat offering โ or gift โ distinguishing a bloodless from a bloody sacrifice. The word "meat," however, is improper, as its meaning as now used is different fโฆ
Classic verse-by-verse commentary on Leviticus 2 from Jamieson, Fausset & Brown (1871). Covers: The meat offerings.
- 1
- when any will offer a meat offering โ or gift โ distinguishing a bloodless from a bloody sacrifice. The word "meat," however, is improper, as its meaning as now used is different from that attached at the date of our English translation. It was then applied not to "flesh," but "food," generally, and here it is applied to the flour of wheat. The meat offerings were intended as a thankful acknowledgment for the bounty of Providence; and hence, although meat offerings accompanied some of the appointed sacrifices, those here described being voluntary oblations, were offered alone. pour oil upon it โ Oil was used as butter is with us; symbolically it meant the influences of the Spirit, of which oil was the emblem, as incense was of prayer.
- 2
- shall burn the memorial โ rather, "for a memorial"; that is, a part of it.
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