Priestly instructions conclude with the guilt offering procedure, priestly allotments for each offering type, and detailed regulations for the peace offering's three subtypes: thanksgiving, vow, and freewill. The chapter ends with a summary of the entire five-offering system and the permanent prohibition against eating fat and blood.
What Makes This Chapter Remarkable
The todah ("thanksgiving," v12) emerges as the highest form of the peace offering -- offered from pure gratitude, not obligation or need. Rabbinic tradition taught that in the messianic age all offerings would cease except the todah. The egalitarian principle ish ke'achiv ("each man like his brother," v10) governs priestly food distribution, preventing hierarchy from determining who eats.
Translation Friction
We faced the todah's rich semantic range: from yadah ("to confess, to praise, to give thanks"), the todah is simultaneously an offering and a declaration. The word piggul ("rejected," v18) describes meat kept past its permitted time -- a term of ritual revulsion we rendered carefully to distinguish ritual unfitness from moral disgust. The closing summary (v37-38) uses the technical term torah for each offering type, confirming that "instruction" rather than "law" best captures the Hebrew sense.
Connections
The todah connects to the Psalms's theology of thanksgiving (Ps 50:14, 23; 100:1). The three-day consumption limit for peace offerings reappears in Lev 19:5-8. The permanent fat-and-blood prohibition (v22-27) restates Gen 9:4 and Lev 3:17, and Acts 15:20 carries the blood prohibition into the early church.
This is the instruction for the guilt offering — it is most holy.
KJV Likewise this is the law of the trespass offering: it is most holy.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The torat ha'asham ('instruction for the guilt offering') opens the priestly manual for the fifth offering. The classification qodesh qodashim ('most holy') places the asham in the same category as the chata't and the minchah remainder — priestly food eaten only in sacred space. Chapter 7 completes the priestly instructions begun in chapter 6: asham (v1-10), then the shelamim (v11-36), then a closing summary of the entire offering system (v37-38).
The guilt offering shall be slaughtered at the same place the burnt offering is slaughtered. Its blood shall be dashed against the sides of the altar.
KJV In the place where they kill the burnt offering shall they kill the trespass offering: and the blood thereof shall he sprinkle round about upon the altar.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The asham shares its slaughter site with the olah — the north side of the altar (1:11). Like the olah and chata't, the blood is dashed (zaraq) against the altar on all sides. The consistent slaughter location across three offerings (olah, chata't, asham) creates a single zone of death in the sanctuary: the north side. The shelamim (v11-36) does not specify the north side, suggesting it may be slaughtered at the entrance more generally.
All its fat shall be presented: the fat tail, the fat covering the entrails,
KJV And he shall offer of it all the fat thereof; the rump, and the fat that covereth the inwards,
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The fat portions follow the same pattern as the shelamim (3:3-4, 9) and chata't (4:8-9): the alyah (fat tail, when applicable), the chelev covering the internal organs. The fat always belongs to God — this principle, stated definitively in 3:16 ('all fat belongs to the LORD'), governs every offering that involves animal fat.
the two kidneys and the fat on them near the loins, and the lobe of the liver — he shall remove it along with the kidneys.
KJV And the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which is by the flanks, and the caul that is above the liver, with the kidneys, it shall he take away:
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The kidney-liver-lobe formula in its final appearance in the offering instructions. This fixed list — two kidneys, surrounding fat, liver lobe — has appeared identically in 3:4, 3:10, 3:15, 4:9. Its repetition across four chapters and five offering types makes it the most consistent element of the entire sacrificial system. The internal organs belong to God, always and without exception.
The priest shall turn them into smoke on the altar — a fire offering to the LORD. It is a guilt offering.
KJV And the priest shall burn them upon the altar for an offering made by fire unto the LORD: it is a trespass offering.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The fat goes to the altar; the identification asham hu ('it is a guilt offering') classifies the sacrifice. The asham fat procedure is identical to the shelamim and chata't — the same altar, the same fire, the same portions. What distinguishes the asham is not its altar procedure but its accompanying requirement of financial restitution (5:16, 24).
Every male among the priests may eat of it. It must be eaten in a holy place — it is most holy.
KJV Every male among the priests shall eat thereof: it shall be eaten in the holy place: it is most holy.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The same eating restrictions as the chata't (6:22) and minchah remainder (6:11): male priests only, in the sacred precinct. The three 'most holy' offerings (minchah, chata't, asham) share identical consumption rules. The shelamim (v11-36) will have broader rules — eaten in any clean place, by priestly families including women.
The purification offering and the guilt offering share one instruction: the priest who performs the atonement with it shall have it.
KJV As the sin offering is, so is the trespass offering: there is one law for them: the priest that maketh atonement therewith shall have it.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
A unifying statement: kachata't ka'asham torah achat lahem ('one instruction for the chata't and the asham'). The two purification/reparation offerings follow the same priestly procedures. The officiating priest (hakkohen asher yekhapper-bo — 'the priest who atones with it') receives the meat as his portion. This personalizes the priestly allotment — the one who does the work of atonement receives the food.
The priest who presents a person's burnt offering — the hide of that burnt offering belongs to the priest who presented it.
KJV And the priest that offereth any man's burnt offering, even the priest shall have to himself the skin of the burnt offering which he hath offered.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The olah's single non-consumed element: the hide (or ha'olah). Since the olah is entirely burned on the altar, nothing else remains for the priest. The hide is the practical exception — leather is too valuable to destroy and cannot ascend as smoke. This provision creates a priestly income from the olah (hides were economically significant) while preserving the principle that the olah itself goes entirely to God.
Every grain offering baked in an oven, prepared in a deep pan, or made on a griddle belongs to the priest who presents it.
KJV And all the meat offering that is baken in the oven, and all that is dressed in the frying pan, and in the pan, shall be the priest's that offereth it.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The three cooking methods from chapter 2 (oven, deep pan, griddle) are listed as categories of priestly allotment. The prepared minchah — already cooked by the worshipper — goes to the officiating priest. This contrasts with v10, where the raw-flour minchah is shared among all priests.
But every grain offering — whether mixed with oil or dry — shall belong to all of Aaron's sons equally, one as much as another.
KJV And every meat offering, mingled with oil, and dry, shall all the sons of Aaron have, one as much as another.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The raw-flour minchah (whether oiled or dry) is divided equally among all the priests — ish ke'achiv ('each man like his brother'). The cooked minchah goes to the individual officiant (v9); the uncooked minchah is shared communally. The phrase ish ke'achiv establishes an egalitarian principle within the priesthood: for shared offerings, no priest receives more than another. Priestly hierarchy does not determine food allocation.
This is the instruction for the sacrifice of peace offerings that may be presented to the LORD.
KJV And this is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings, which he shall offer unto the LORD.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The longest section of chapter 7 (v11-36) covers the shelamim — the peace offering — in its priestly dimensions. Three subcategories are introduced: thanksgiving (todah, v12-15), vow (neder, v16), and freewill (nedavah, v16). The shelamim section is the most detailed because it is the only offering the worshipper eats — the rules governing its consumption must be precise to prevent the holy meat from becoming a source of contamination.
If it is offered as a thanksgiving, then along with the thanksgiving sacrifice one shall present unleavened loaves mixed with oil, unleavened wafers spread with oil, and loaves of fine flour well-mixed with oil.
KJV If he offer it for a thanksgiving, then he shall offer with the sacrifice of thanksgiving unleavened cakes mingled with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil, and cakes mingled with oil, of fine flour, fried.
From yadah ('to confess, to praise, to give thanks'). The todah is both an offering and a declaration — the worshipper acknowledges what God has done. In the Psalms, todah becomes a central worship concept (Ps 50:14, 23; 100:1). The rabbis considered the todah the highest form of the shelamim because it is motivated purely by gratitude, not by obligation or request.
Translator Notes
The todah ('thanksgiving offering') is the first subcategory of shelamim. It celebrates gratitude — typically offered after deliverance from danger, recovery from illness, or safe return from a journey. Three types of bread accompany it (matching the three forms of the minchah in ch 2): loaves mixed with oil, wafers brushed with oil, and soaked loaves. The todah became the most prominent of the shelamim subtypes in later Jewish theology — the rabbis taught that in the messianic age, all offerings would cease except the todah.
Along with loaves of leavened bread, the person shall present the offering with the thanksgiving peace offering.
KJV Besides the cakes, he shall offer for his offering leavened bread with the sacrifice of thanksgiving of his peace offerings.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
A surprising instruction: leavened bread (lechem chamets) accompanies the todah — despite the general prohibition on leaven in offerings (2:11). The leaven is not burned on the altar (per 2:12) but is part of the communal meal. Since the todah is eaten by the worshipper and guests, ordinary leavened bread — the everyday bread of the household — joins the sacred meal. The sacred and the ordinary sit at the same table in the todah.
From each type of bread one piece shall be presented as a contribution to the LORD. It belongs to the priest who dashes the blood of the peace offerings.
KJV And of it he shall offer one out of the whole oblation for an heave offering unto the LORD, and it shall be the priest's that sprinkleth the blood of the peace offerings.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
One piece from each bread type (echad mikkol-qorban) is set aside as a terumah ('contribution') to the LORD — given to the officiating priest. The rest of the bread joins the meal. The priest who performed the blood-dashing (hazoreq et-dam hashelamim) receives this portion — connecting the priestly allocation directly to the priestly labor.
The meat of the thanksgiving peace offering must be eaten on the day it is offered. None of it may be left until morning.
KJV And the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offerings for thanksgiving shall be eaten the same day that it is offered; he shall not leave any of it until the morning.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The todah has the strictest time limit: same-day consumption (beyom qorbano — 'on the day of its offering'). Nothing may remain overnight. This urgency has a practical effect: the worshipper must invite enough guests to consume the entire animal in a single day, making the todah an inherently communal celebration. You cannot offer a todah alone — gratitude demands company. The time limit also prevents the holy meat from decaying and becoming ritually dangerous.
If the sacrifice is a vow or a freewill offering, it shall be eaten on the day it is offered, and what remains may also be eaten the next day.
KJV But if the sacrifice of his offering be a vow, or a voluntary offering, it shall be eaten the same day that he offereth his sacrifice: and on the morrow also the remainder of it shall be eaten:
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The other two shelamim subcategories — neder ('vow offering,' fulfilling a promise to God) and nedavah ('freewill offering,' spontaneous generosity) — have a more generous time limit: two days instead of one. The extra day may reflect the different social dynamic: a todah is a celebration with invited guests (urgency), while a vow or freewill offering may be a more private act of devotion (less urgency for communal consumption).
Whatever meat remains on the third day must be burned in fire.
KJV But the remainder of the flesh of the sacrifice on the third day shall be burnt with fire.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The absolute limit: nothing survives to the third day. The ba'esh yissaref ('it shall be burned in fire') is destructive burning (saraph), not sacrificial burning (hiqtir). The meat that was holy on day one and still edible on day two becomes forbidden on day three. The transition from sacred food to forbidden waste illustrates Leviticus's fundamental insight: holiness is not a permanent property of objects but a status that requires proper handling within defined boundaries.
If any of the meat of the peace offering is eaten on the third day, it will not be accepted. It will not be credited to the one who offered it — it becomes piggul, and the person who eats it bears the guilt.
KJV And if any of the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offerings be eaten at all on the third day, it shall not be accepted, neither shall it be imputed unto him that offereth it: it shall be an abomination, and the soul that eateth of it shall bear his iniquity.
Piggul is a technical term for sacrificial meat that has been disqualified through improper handling — specifically, by being kept beyond its permitted time. The word carries a visceral sense of revulsion. Retaining the Hebrew piggul (untranslated) preserves its technical force; no single English word captures its meaning as both ritually offensive and retroactively invalidating.
Translator Notes
The consequence of third-day consumption is devastating: the entire offering is retroactively invalidated (lo yeratseh — 'it will not be accepted'). The sacrifice is not merely wasted; it becomes piggul — a technical term for ritually offensive, repulsive meat. The offerer receives no credit (lo yechashev lo — 'it will not be reckoned to him'), and the eater bears guilt (avonah tissa). Mishandling sacred food after the deadline transforms what was holy into what is abominable.
Meat that touches anything ritually impure must not be eaten — it shall be burned in fire. As for the meat that remains pure, any ritually clean person may eat it.
KJV And the flesh that toucheth any unclean thing shall not be eaten; it shall be burnt with fire: and as for the flesh, all that be clean shall eat thereof.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Two rules govern the shelamim meat: impure meat is destroyed (ba'esh yissaref); pure meat may be eaten by anyone who is tahor ('ritually clean'). The phrase kol-tahor yokhal basar ('every clean person may eat meat') is notable — unlike the 'most holy' offerings restricted to male priests, the shelamim meat is open to any ritually clean Israelite. The shelamim is the most democratic offering: its meat goes to the broadest possible audience.
But any person who eats meat from the LORD's peace offering while in a state of ritual impurity — that person shall be cut off from their people.
KJV But the soul that eateth of the flesh of the sacrifice of peace offerings, that pertain unto the LORD, having his uncleanness upon him, even that soul shall be cut off from his people.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The penalty for eating sacred meat while tamei ('ritually impure') is karet — being 'cut off' (nikhretah) from the community. Karet is the most severe penalty in the Levitical system short of death — it may mean excommunication, divine punishment, premature death, or loss of covenantal standing. The sacred meal demands that participants be ritually fit; combining holy meat with impure status violates the holiness spectrum at its most dangerous intersection.
If a person touches anything ritually impure — human impurity, an impure animal, or any impure detestable creature — and then eats meat from the LORD's peace offering, that person shall be cut off from their people.
KJV Moreover the soul that shall touch any unclean thing, as the uncleanness of man, or any unclean beast, or any abominable unclean thing, and eat of the flesh of the sacrifice of peace offerings, which pertain unto the LORD, even that soul shall be cut off from his people.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Three sources of contact impurity are specified: human (tum'at adam — bodily discharges, corpse contact), animal (behemah teme'ah — impure animal carcass), and swarming creatures (kol-sheqets tamei). Eating the shelamim while contaminated by any of these sources triggers karet. The thoroughness of the list ensures no loophole — every category of impurity is covered. The sacred meal is a boundary: only the ritually fit may cross it.
Leviticus 7:22
וַיְדַבֵּ֥ר יְהֹוָ֖ה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֥ה לֵּאמֹֽר׃
The LORD spoke to Moses:
KJV And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
A new speech formula introduces the universal fat and blood prohibitions (v22-27) that apply to all Israelites, not just priests. These prohibitions extend beyond the sacrificial context to all eating — even in ordinary meals, fat and blood are forbidden.
"Speak to the Israelites: You must not eat the fat of an ox, a sheep, or a goat.
KJV Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, Ye shall eat no manner of fat, of ox, or of sheep, or of goat.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The fat prohibition covers the three domesticated animals used in sacrifice: ox (shor), sheep (kesev), and goat (ez). The chelev ('suet, organ fat') — the fat covering the internal organs, kidneys, and liver lobe — belongs to God (3:16). This prohibition applies even when the animal is not being offered as a sacrifice. An Israelite slaughtering a sheep for dinner must still remove and discard the chelev. God's claim on the fat is universal, not limited to the altar.
The fat of an animal that dies naturally or is torn by predators may be used for any purpose, but you must never eat it.
KJV And the fat of the beast that dieth of itself, and the fat of that which is torn with beasts, may be used in any other use: but ye shall in no wise eat of it.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
A practical concession: chelev from nevelah (an animal that died naturally) or terefah (an animal killed by predators) may be used for non-food purposes — lamp oil, leather treatment, tool lubrication — but never eaten. The distinction between 'use' (ye'aseh lekhol-melakhah) and 'eat' (akhol lo tokheluhu) acknowledges that fat is a valuable material while maintaining the absolute eating prohibition. Pragmatism and holiness coexist.
Anyone who eats the fat of an animal from which fire offerings are made to the LORD — that person shall be cut off from their people.
KJV For whosoever eateth the fat of the beast, of which men offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD, even the soul that eateth it shall be cut off from his people.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Eating chelev from sacrificial animals (the three species of v23) triggers karet — the same penalty as eating sacred meat while impure (v20-21). The fat prohibition is given the highest possible enforcement. The specific phrasing — 'from which fire offerings are made' (asher yaqriv mimmennah issheh) — emphasizes that these are the animals whose fat belongs to God's altar. To eat what belongs to God is a form of theft from the divine.
You must not consume any blood — whether of bird or animal — wherever you dwell.
KJV Moreover ye shall eat no manner of blood, whether it be of fowl or of beast, in any of your dwellings.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The blood prohibition is even broader than the fat prohibition: it covers all blood (kol-dam), from both birds (of) and animals (behemah), in every location (bekhol moshvoteikhem). The universality is total — no blood, anywhere, ever. This prohibition, repeated from 3:17, will receive its full theological explanation in 17:11: 'the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your lives.' Blood belongs to God because it carries life.
Any person who consumes any blood at all shall be cut off from their people.
KJV Whatsoever soul it be that eateth any manner of blood, even that soul shall be cut off from his people.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The third karet penalty in this chapter (after v20 and v25): eating blood results in being cut off. Three absolute prohibitions — impure person eating sacred meat, eating chelev, eating blood — are all enforced by the same maximum penalty. These three boundaries define what it means to be an Israelite at the most fundamental dietary level: respect the sacred meal, reserve fat for God, reserve blood for God. Crossing any of these lines severs the person's place in the community.
Leviticus 7:28
וַיְדַבֵּ֥ר יְהֹוָ֖ה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֥ה לֵּאמֹֽר׃
The LORD spoke to Moses:
KJV And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The final speech formula in the offering legislation introduces the priestly portions from the shelamim (v28-36): the wave breast and the contribution thigh. These verses specify the mechanics of the offering elevation and the permanent priestly allotment.
"Speak to the Israelites: The one who presents a peace offering to the LORD shall bring the offering to the LORD from the peace offering sacrifice.
KJV Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, He that offereth the sacrifice of his peace offerings unto the LORD shall bring his oblation unto the LORD of the sacrifice of his peace offerings.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The worshipper's responsibility: bring the specific portions designated for the LORD's altar and the priest's table. The repetition of 'peace offering' (zevach shelamav) three times in one verse emphasizes that the shelamim — unlike the olah or chata't — requires the worshipper's active participation beyond slaughter. The worshipper must personally bring the fat and the priestly portions forward.
With their own hands they shall bring the LORD's fire offerings — the fat together with the breast. The breast shall be elevated as a wave offering before the LORD.
KJV His own hands shall bring the offerings of the LORD made by fire, the fat with the breast, it shall he bring, that the breast may be waved for a wave offering before the LORD.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The emphasis on yadav tevieinah ('his own hands shall bring') makes the worshipper's physical involvement explicit. The fat and the breast are brought together — the fat for the altar, the breast for the priest. The tenufah ('wave offering' — a ritual elevation or presentation before the LORD) is performed with the breast: it is shown to God before being given to the priest. God sees what He gives to the priest; the priestly portion passes through divine acknowledgment.
The priest shall turn the fat into smoke on the altar, but the breast shall belong to Aaron and his sons.
KJV And the priest shall burn the fat upon the altar: but the breast shall be Aaron's and his sons'.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The division is clean: fat to the altar (God's portion), breast to Aaron's family (priestly portion). The breast (chazeh) is a substantial cut — the chest portion of the animal. Combined with the thigh (v32-34), it provides meaningful sustenance for the priestly household. The shelamim thus achieves its fullest expression as a three-way meal: God (fat), priest (breast and thigh), worshipper (everything else).
The right thigh you shall give to the priest as a contribution from your peace offerings.
KJV And the right shoulder shall ye give unto the priest for an heave offering of the sacrifices of your peace offerings.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The shoq hayyamin ('right thigh') is the second priestly portion from the shelamim. The right side carries significance — the right hand is the hand of power and blessing. The terumah ('contribution') is the portion 'lifted up' or 'set apart' from the sacrifice for the priest. The breast goes through the tenufah (wave) before God; the thigh is given directly as terumah (contribution) to the priest.
The son of Aaron who presents the blood and the fat of the peace offerings — the right thigh shall be his portion.
KJV He among the sons of Aaron, that offereth the blood of the peace offerings, and the fat, shall have the right shoulder for his part.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The right thigh goes specifically to the priest who performs the blood-and-fat ritual — the one who does the actual altar work. The word manah ('portion, allotment') is used for assigned shares. The system creates direct accountability: the priest who serves at the altar is the priest who eats from it. Service and sustenance are linked.
For the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the contribution I have taken from the Israelites, from their peace offerings, and have given them to Aaron the priest and his sons as a permanent allotment from the Israelites."
KJV For the wave breast and the heave shoulder have I taken of the children of Israel from off the sacrifices of their peace offerings, and have given them unto Aaron the priest and unto his sons by a statute for ever from among the children of Israel.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
God speaks in the first person: laqachti... va'etten ('I have taken... and I have given'). The priestly food allotment is a divine act, not a human arrangement. God takes the breast and thigh from Israel and gives them to the priesthood. The phrase choq-olam me'et benei Yisra'el ('a permanent allotment from the Israelites') makes this a permanent covenant provision — the priestly portion is guaranteed for all generations.
This is the consecration portion of Aaron and his sons from the LORD's fire offerings, assigned on the day they were presented to serve the LORD as priests —
KJV This is the portion of the anointing of Aaron, and of the anointing of his sons, out of the offerings of the LORD made by fire, in the day when he presented them to minister unto the LORD in the priest's office;
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The word mishchat ('anointing portion, consecration allotment') connects the priestly food rights to their original anointing and consecration. The allocation was established beyom hiqriv otam ('on the day he presented them') — from the very beginning of the priesthood, God designated their food supply. The priestly portion is not a later addition but an integral part of the original priestly institution.
which the LORD commanded to be given to them by the Israelites, from the day of their anointing — a permanent statute for all their generations.
KJV Which the LORD commanded to be given them of the children of Israel, in the day that he anointed them, by a statute for ever throughout their generations.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The phrase chuqqat olam ledorotam ('a permanent statute for their generations') seals the priestly allotment as perpetual law. The double temporal framing — 'from the day of their anointing' (past) and 'for all their generations' (future) — makes the provision both historically grounded and permanently binding.
This is the instruction for the burnt offering, the grain offering, the purification offering, the guilt offering, the ordination offering, and the sacrifice of peace offerings —
KJV This is the law of the burnt offering, of the meat offering, and of the sin offering, and of the trespass offering, and of the consecrations, and of the sacrifice of the peace offerings;
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The grand summary: zot hattorah ('this is the instruction') covers all six offering categories — the five standard offerings (olah, minchah, chata't, asham, shelamim) plus the millu'im ('ordination offering' — the consecration sacrifice for priests, described in ch 8-9). The list follows the order of presentation: olah first (ch 1), then minchah (ch 2), chata't (ch 4), asham (ch 5), millu'im (ch 8), and shelamim last (ch 3/7). The sacrificial system is now legislatively complete.
which the LORD commanded Moses on Mount Sinai, on the day He commanded the Israelites to present their offerings to the LORD, in the wilderness of Sinai.
KJV Which the LORD commanded Moses in mount Sinai, in the day that he commanded the children of Israel to offer their oblations unto the LORD, in the wilderness of Sinai.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The closing verse anchors the entire offering system in its Sinai origin: asher tsivvah YHWH et-Mosheh behar Sinai ('which the LORD commanded Moses on Mount Sinai'). The sacrificial system is not a human invention but a divine gift, delivered at the same mountain where the covenant was cut and the law was given. The phrase bemidbar Sinai ('in the wilderness of Sinai') places the legislation in its historical moment — Israel in the desert, between Egypt and Canaan, learning how to live with a holy God in their midst. Leviticus 1-7 is now complete: seven chapters, five offerings, one comprehensive system for approaching the God who dwells among His people.