Leviticus 2:1-16
1 And 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 Aaron's 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 Aaron's and his sons': 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,a 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 Aaron's and his sons': 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 burntb 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.
Leviticus
*Worship the *LORD in the Beauty of *Holiness
Leviticus
Gordon Churchyard
This commentary has been through Advanced Checking.Words in boxes are from the Bible, except for the words in brackets (…).
Chapter 2
The *Corn Offering
v1 ‘When anybody (wants to) bring a *corn offering to the *LORD, (that person must make it) with the *finest flour. They must pour *oil onto it and they must put *incense onto it.
v2 Then they must take it to the priests, (who are) Aaron’s sons. (The priest) must take as much (of the mixture) as he can hold in his hand. It must contain the *finest flour, (some) *oil and all the *incense. He must burn this on the *altar as a reminder. It is a gift that (people) offer by fire. Its smell pleases the *LORD.
v3 The rest of the *corn offering belongs to Aaron and to his sons. It is a very holy part of the *offerings that they make on the fire to the *LORD.
v4 If you bake your *corn offering in an oven, you must make it (like this).
Use the *finest flour.
Mix oil with the flour and make *unleavened bread.
Or make *unleavened biscuits and spread *oil on them.
v5 If you cook your *corn offering on a flat pan, you must (do these things).
Use the *finest flour.
Mix *oil with the flour.
Do not use *yeast.
v6 You must break (the *pancake) in pieces and then you must pour *oil onto it. It is a *corn offering.
v7 If you fry your *corn offering in a pan, you must make it with the *finest flour and with *oil.
v8 You must bring the *corn offering (that you) made from any of these things to the *LORD. Give it to the priest and he will bring it to the *altar.
v9 The priest will offer (part of) the *corn offering (to the *LORD). (It will be) a reminder. He will burn it on the *altar. It is a gift that (people) offer by fire. Its smell pleases the *LORD.
v10 The rest of the *corn offering belongs to Aaron and to his sons. It is a very holy part of the gifts that (people) offer to the *LORD by fire.
v11 You must not use *yeast in any *corn offering that you give to the *LORD. You must never burn any *yeast or any honey as a gift to the *LORD.
v12 You may bring those things to the *LORD when you offer the *first fruits (from your plants to him). But you must not offer them on the *altar (because they do not make) a pleasant smell (for the *LORD).
v13 You must put salt on every *corn offering that you make. Do not let the salt of your *covenant with God be missing from your *corn offerings. There must be salt with all the *offerings that you give (to the *LORD).
v14 If you bring a *corn offering of *first fruits to the *LORD, (do it like this). Break the pieces of new corn that come from the tops of the new plants. Then cook them in a fire. Then offer the *first fruits (to the *LORD).
v15 Put *oil and *incense on it, (because) it is a *corn offering.
v16 Then the priest will burn (part of) this, with the *oil and all the *incense (on the *altar). (It will be) a reminder. It is a gift that (people) offer to the *LORD by fire.’
Notes
This is the second ‘good smell’ *offering. As the *whole offering was, it was for the purpose of *fellowship. The people that made it were already God’s people. This means *Jews before Jesus came to the earth; or Christians today. So it is not about *sin. The 4th and 5th *offerings are about *sin. This is about people who want to ‘*worship the *LORD in the beauty of *holiness’. (A note near the start of this Commentary explains this phrase.)
Unlike the other *offerings, an animal does not die as a *sacrifice here. Instead, people gave a gift from their harvest. They were giving the result of their work to God.
Usually, people gave the *corn offering with one of the other *offerings. Only the poorest people could only afford to give a *corn offering.
Verse 1 The *oil came from a fruit called the olive. *Incense made a pleasant smell when they burned it. The first difference from the *whole offering is that they did not burn an animal or a bird. They burned some corn. They made the *finest flour from wheat. It cost twice as much as ordinary flour. They put it through the mill until only the tiniest pieces remained, like powder. It was hard work to make it. But afterwards, they could mix the flour easily.
Verse 2 Bible students are not sure whom the ‘reminder’ is for. Also, what does he remember? R.K. Harrison gives two main theories. Perhaps the reminder is:
to help God to remember the offerer (Psalms 20:4).
to help the offerer to remember what God has done for them.
Some Bible students think that it means both of these.
A ‘reminder’ means something that reminds someone about something else. The Book of Leviticus speaks several times about a reminder (see Leviticus 2:2; Leviticus 2:9; Leviticus 2:16; Leviticus 5:12; Leviticus 6:15 and Leviticus 24:7). On each occasion, the priests burned a small quantity of something to God, which they gave instead of something larger. Afterwards, the rest of the gift was food for the priests.
Verse 3 Here is the next difference between the *corn offering and the *whole offering. In the *whole offering, the priests burned the whole *offering for God’s satisfaction. In the *corn offering, the priests can eat most of it. But, like the *whole offering, the pleasant smell allowed the offerer to have *fellowship with God. It was not an *offering that asked God to forgive the offerer’s *sin. Because it is an ‘holy part’, the priests had to eat it in a special part of the ‘house of God’. They could not take it outside.
Verse 4 ‘*Unleavened’ means that it has no *yeast in it. People add *yeast to bread to make it ‘rise’. In other words, the bread gets bigger as it cooks. People could bring bread or biscuits instead of corn. But they must not have *yeast in them, or they would not be pure.
Verses 5-6 We call *offerings like this ‘*pancakes’. So the *corn offering can be corn (verses 1-3), bread or biscuits (verse 4), or *pancakes (verse 5). *Pancakes were the type of bread that people cooked in a flat pan.
Verse 9 Read the note on verse 2 for ‘reminder’.
Verse 11 *Yeast made bread to ‘rise’, or get bigger in the oven. Honey was a sweet substance. It is a type of sugar. But when you burn it, it makes a nasty smell! Perhaps *yeast also makes a bad smell when people burn it. But both honey and *yeast made sugar to turn into alcohol. Perhaps this was the reason.
There is another possible reason. Flour with oil made a very simple type of bread. People usually added honey or they used *yeast to make the bread nicer. Honey would make it sweeter and *yeast would make it softer. But God told the people to offer him something that was simple and basic. The only way that they could improve the gift was their own effort to prepare it.
Verse 12 Deuteronomy 26:1-11 describes how people gave the *first fruits from their harvest to God. This was a special gift to thank God for all that he had provided. It could include things like honey, which God did not allow his people to include in the regular *offerings. But the priests did not burn these gifts on the *altar.
See verses 14-16 for another type of gift of *first fruits. The priests could burn that gift, but it did not contain honey or *yeast.
Verse 13 People in the east ‘ate salt’ together when they were friends. It was the custom to pour a little salt onto bread when friends ate together. Salt made this *offering a friendship *offering; it was for the purpose of *fellowship. Read also Numbers 18:19 and 2 Chronicles 13:5.
Verses 14-16 The ‘*first fruits’ are the first corn plants that become ripe at the start of the harvest. If someone offered the ‘*first fruits’ to the *LORD, then they could use the rest for themselves. Perhaps they offered the ‘*first fruits’ of other plants too. They made these *offerings:
with the *whole offerings (Leviticus chapter 1);
at *Pentecost, when the corn was ready to harvest.
Verse 16 mentions the ‘reminder’ again, as in verse 2. Here again, the priest burns part of the grain, with oil and *incense, as a ‘reminder’.
Something to do
1. Compare the *whole offering with the *corn offering. In what ways are they (a) similar and (b) different?
2. There are 4 things in a *corn offering: flour, *oil, *incense and salt. As in the *whole offering, Jesus is again the *offering here instead of Christians. Look at the *gospels and epistles (the letters by Paul, Peter, James, and John) to find how Jesus was like these 4 things. In some passages, Jesus just speaks about these 4 things. The table below may help you.
| flour | People broke the corn to make flour. | 1 Corinthians 11:24 |
| *oil | *Oil represents (is a word picture of the Holy Spirit. | |
| *incense | Its smell pleases God. | 2 Corinthians 2:15 |
| salt | It makes things pure. |
worship ~ to praise someone (usually God). You tell him that you believe him to be very, very great. Also, you love him and you will obey him.
LORD ~ a special name for God. In the Hebrew Bible it translates YHWH. YHWH probably means ‘he is always alive’. So the word LORD (which means ‘master’) is not a proper translation.
Hebrew ~ the language that the Jews spoke.
Jews ~ another word for the Israelites.
Israelites ~ the LORD’s people whom Moses led out of Egypt. Afterwards, they lived in the countries called Judah and Israel.
Judah ~ the name of the southern part of the country where the Jews went to live.
Israel ~ the name of the country where the Jews went to live, especially the northern part of that country.
holiness ~ the quality of somebody who is holy, or very, very good.
holy ~ very, very good; only God is really holy. Or, a description of something that belongs to God.
'corn offering ~ a gift of grain to the LORD. See the explanation in the note called ‘The 5 sacrifices’ near the beginning of this commentary.LORD ~ a special name for God. In the Hebrew Bible it translates YHWH. YHWH probably means ‘he is always alive’. So the word LORD (which means ‘master’) is not a proper translation.
sacrifice ~ something that people burned on an altar for God; or to burn on an altar for God. People also gave sacrifices to false gods.
Hebrew ~ the language that the Jews spoke.
altar ~ a special table where the priests burned incense, grain and animals.
Jews ~ another word for the Israelites.
incense ~ a material that gives a good smell when people burn it.
Israelites ~ the LORD’s people whom Moses led out of Egypt. Afterwards, they lived in the countries called Judah and Israel.
Judah ~ the name of the southern part of the country where the Jews went to live.
Israel ~ the name of the country where the Jews went to live, especially the northern part of that country.
'corn offering ~ a gift of grain to the LORD. See the explanation in the note called ‘The 5 sacrifices’ near the beginning of this commentary.LORD ~ a special name for God. In the Hebrew Bible it translates YHWH. YHWH probably means ‘he is always alive’. So the word LORD (which means ‘master’) is not a proper translation.
sacrifice ~ something that people burned on an altar for God; or to burn on an altar for God. People also gave sacrifices to false gods.
Hebrew ~ the language that the Jews spoke.
altar ~ a special table where the priests burned incense, grain and animals.
Jews ~ another word for the Israelites.
incense ~ a material that gives a good smell when people burn it.
Israelites ~ the LORD’s people whom Moses led out of Egypt. Afterwards, they lived in the countries called Judah and Israel.
Judah ~ the name of the southern part of the country where the Jews went to live.
Israel ~ the name of the country where the Jews went to live, especially the northern part of that country.
'finest flour ~ in Leviticus, the best quality flour. People put it through the mill until it was like powder.oil ~ a type of oil that comes from an oily fruit called the olive. People used this oil in their food and they burnt it in lamps.
incense ~ a material that gives a good smell when people burn it.
altar ~ a special table where the priests burned incense, grain and animals.
incense ~ a material that gives a good smell when people burn it.
offering ~ gift.
unleavened ~ something that contains no yeast. The Time of Unleavened Bread is a special holiday that begins immediately after Passover. It lasts for a week. During the week, the Jews do not eat bread that contains yeast.
yeast ~ the substance that makes bread ‘rise’, that is, to get bigger in the oven.
Passover ~ the special day when the Israelites remembered that God led them out of Egypt.
Jews ~ another word for the Israelites.
Israelites ~ the LORD’s people whom Moses led out of Egypt. Afterwards, they lived in the countries called Judah and Israel.
LORD ~ a special name for God. In the Hebrew Bible it translates YHWH. YHWH probably means ‘he is always alive’. So the word LORD (which means ‘master’) is not a proper translation.
Judah ~ the name of the southern part of the country where the Jews went to live.
Israel ~ the name of the country where the Jews went to live, especially the northern part of that country.
Hebrew ~ the language that the Jews spoke.
yeast ~ the substance that makes bread ‘rise’, that is, to get bigger in the oven.
pancake ~ a flat bread that people cooked in a pan.'first fruits ~ the first fruits or grains that you pick each year.
covenant ~ the special promise or agreement that God made with the Jews.
Jews ~ another word for the Israelites.
Israelites ~ the LORD’s people whom Moses led out of Egypt. Afterwards, they lived in the countries called Judah and Israel.
LORD ~ a special name for God. In the Hebrew Bible it translates YHWH. YHWH probably means ‘he is always alive’. So the word LORD (which means ‘master’) is not a proper translation.
Judah ~ the name of the southern part of the country where the Jews went to live.
Israel ~ the name of the country where the Jews went to live, especially the northern part of that country.
Hebrew ~ the language that the Jews spoke.
'whole offering ~ an offering that the priests burned completely on the altar. See the explanation in the note called ‘The 5 sacrifices’ near the beginning of this commentary.offering ~ gift.
altar ~ a special table where the priests burned incense, grain and animals.
sacrifice ~ something that people burned on an altar for God; or to burn on an altar for God. People also gave sacrifices to false gods.
incense ~ a material that gives a good smell when people burn it.
fellowship ~ a special type of friendship between God and his people. Or, the special type of friendship that God’s people have with each other.
Jews ~ another word for the Israelites.
Israelites ~ the LORD’s people whom Moses led out of Egypt. Afterwards, they lived in the countries called Judah and Israel.
LORD ~ a special name for God. In the Hebrew Bible it translates YHWH. YHWH probably means ‘he is always alive’. So the word LORD (which means ‘master’) is not a proper translation.
Judah ~ the name of the southern part of the country where the Jews went to live.
Israel ~ the name of the country where the Jews went to live, especially the northern part of that country.
Hebrew ~ the language that the Jews spoke.
sin ~ to do wrong things; not to obey God’s rules. Or, the things we do when we sin. Evil thoughts, words and deeds are all sin, whether we do them on purpose or not.
worship ~ to praise someone (usually God). You tell him that you believe him to be very, very great. Also, you love him and you will obey him.
holiness ~ the quality of somebody who is holy, or very, very good.
holy ~ very, very good; only God is really holy. Or, a description of something that belongs to God.
sacrifice ~ something that people burned on an altar for God; or to burn on an altar for God. People also gave sacrifices to false gods.
altar ~ a special table where the priests burned incense, grain and animals.
incense ~ a material that gives a good smell when people burn it.
incense ~ a material that gives a good smell when people burn it.
unleavened ~ something that contains no yeast. The Time of Unleavened Bread is a special holiday that begins immediately after Passover. It lasts for a week. During the week, the Jews do not eat bread that contains yeast.
yeast ~ the substance that makes bread ‘rise’, that is, to get bigger in the oven.
Passover ~ the special day when the Israelites remembered that God led them out of Egypt.
Jews ~ another word for the Israelites.
Israelites ~ the LORD’s people whom Moses led out of Egypt. Afterwards, they lived in the countries called Judah and Israel.
LORD ~ a special name for God. In the Hebrew Bible it translates YHWH. YHWH probably means ‘he is always alive’. So the word LORD (which means ‘master’) is not a proper translation.
Judah ~ the name of the southern part of the country where the Jews went to live.
Israel ~ the name of the country where the Jews went to live, especially the northern part of that country.
Hebrew ~ the language that the Jews spoke.
pancake ~ a flat bread that people cooked in a pan.
yeast ~ the substance that makes bread ‘rise’, that is, to get bigger in the oven.
pentecost ~ 50th. The Day of Pentecost was a special party at the beginning of the wheat harvest. It was 50 days after Passover.
Passover ~ the special day when the Israelites remembered that God led them out of Egypt.
Israelites ~ the LORD’s people whom Moses led out of Egypt. Afterwards, they lived in the countries called Judah and Israel.
LORD ~ a special name for God. In the Hebrew Bible it translates YHWH. YHWH probably means ‘he is always alive’. So the word LORD (which means ‘master’) is not a proper translation.
Judah ~ the name of the southern part of the country where the Jews went to live.
Israel ~ the name of the country where the Jews went to live, especially the northern part of that country.
Hebrew ~ the language that the Jews spoke.
Jews ~ another word for the Israelites.
Gospels ~ the books that Matthew, Mark, Luke and John wrote.
oil ~ a type of oil that comes from an oily fruit called the olive. People used this oil in their food and they burnt it in lamps.