Leviticus 7 · WEB
Priestly Portions and the Conclusion of the Offering Laws
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"'This is the law of the trespass offering. It is most holy.
2In the place where they kill the burnt offering, he shall kill the trespass offering; and its blood he shall sprinkle around on the altar.
3He shall offer all its fat: the fat tail, and the fat that covers 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, shall he take away;
5and the priest shall burn them on the altar for an offering made by fire to Yahweh. It is a trespass offering.
6Every male among the priests shall eat of it. It shall be eaten in a holy place. It is most holy.
7As is the sin offering, so is the trespass offering; there is one law for them. The priest who makes atonement with it shall have it.
8The priest who offers any man's burnt offering shall have the skin of the burnt offering which he has offered.
9Every grain offering that is baked in the oven, and all that is dressed in the pan, and on the griddle, shall be the priest's who offers it.
10Every grain offering, mixed with oil or dry, shall belong to all the sons of Aaron, one as well as another.
11"'This is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings, which one may offer to Yahweh.
12If he offers it for a thanksgiving, then he shall offer with the sacrifice of thanksgiving unleavened cakes mixed with oil, unleavened wafers anointed with oil, and cakes of fine flour soaked with oil.
13With cakes of leavened bread he shall offer his offering with the sacrifice of his peace offerings for thanksgiving.
14Of it he shall offer one out of each offering for a wave offering to Yahweh. It shall be the priest's who sprinkles the blood of the peace offerings.
15The flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offerings for thanksgiving shall be eaten on the day of his offering. He shall not leave any of it until the morning.
16"'But if the sacrifice of his offering is a vow, or a freewill offering, it shall be eaten on the day that he offers his sacrifice; and on the next day what remains of it shall be eaten.
17But what remains of the flesh of the sacrifice on the third day shall be burned with fire.
18If any of the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offerings is eaten on the third day, it shall not be accepted, and it shall not be credited to him who offers it. It will be an abomination, and the soul who eats of it shall bear his iniquity.
19"'The flesh that touches any unclean thing shall not be eaten. It shall be burned with fire. As for the flesh, everyone who is clean may eat it;
20but the soul who eats of the flesh of the sacrifice of peace offerings that belongs to Yahweh, having his uncleanness on him, that soul shall be cut off from his people.
21When anyone touches any unclean thing, the uncleanness of man, or an unclean animal, or any unclean abomination, and eats of the flesh of the sacrifice of peace offerings, which belong to Yahweh, that soul shall be cut off from his people.'"
22Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
23"Speak to the children of Israel, saying, 'You shall eat no fat, of bull, or sheep, or goat.
24The fat of an animal that dies of itself, and the fat of an animal that is torn by animals, may be used for any other service, but you shall in no way eat of it.
25For whoever eats the fat of the animal, of which men offer an offering made by fire to Yahweh, even the soul who eats it shall be cut off from his people.
26You shall not eat any blood, whether it is of bird or of animal, in any of your dwellings.
27Whoever eats any blood, that soul shall be cut off from his people.'"
28Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
29"Speak to the children of Israel, saying, 'He who offers the sacrifice of his peace offerings to Yahweh shall bring his offering to Yahweh out of the sacrifice of his peace offerings.
30His own hands shall bring the offerings of Yahweh made by fire. He shall bring the fat with the breast, that the breast may be waved for a wave offering before Yahweh.
31The priest shall burn the fat on the altar, but the breast shall be Aaron's and his sons'.
32The right thigh you shall give to the priest for a wave offering, out of the sacrifices of your peace offerings.
33He among the sons of Aaron who offers the blood of the peace offerings, and the fat, shall have the right thigh for his portion.
34For the wave breast and the wave thigh I have taken from the children of Israel out of the sacrifices of their peace offerings, and have given them to Aaron the priest and to his sons as their portion forever from the children of Israel.'"
35This is the anointing portion of Aaron, and the anointing portion of his sons, out of the offerings of Yahweh made by fire, in the day when he presented them to minister to Yahweh in the priest's office;
36which Yahweh commanded to be given them of the children of Israel, in the day that he anointed them. It is their portion forever throughout their generations.
37This is the law of the burnt offering, of the grain offering, and of the sin offering, and of the trespass offering, and of the consecration, and of the sacrifice of peace offerings;
38which Yahweh commanded Moses in Mount Sinai, in the day that he commanded the children of Israel to offer their offerings to Yahweh, in the wilderness of Sinai.
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Summary
Chapter 7 concludes the first major section of Leviticus by detailing the priestly portions for the trespass and peace offerings, along with rules about when peace offering meat must be eaten. Thanksgiving offerings must be eaten the same day; vow and freewill offerings may be eaten over two days; anything remaining on the third day must be burned. Eating sacred meat while unclean results in being "cut off." The chapter closes with the formal summary of all five major offerings and confirms they were given by God at Mount Sinai.
Themes
- Holiness requires careful boundaries around sacred things — even sacred food
- The priestly system was God's ordained provision for those who served at the altar
- Blood is sacred because it represents life, which belongs to God
- The entire sacrificial system originates from God's command at Sinai
Key verses
- Lev 7:18 — “If any of the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offerings is eaten on the third day, it shall not be accepted, and it shall not be credited to him who offers it. It will be an abomination.”
- Lev 7:26-27 — “You shall not eat any blood, whether it is of bird or of animal... Whoever eats any blood, that soul shall be cut off from his people.”
- Lev 7:37-38 — “This is the law of the burnt offering, of the grain offering, and of the sin offering, and of the trespass offering, and of the consecration, and of the sacrifice of peace offerings; which Yahweh commanded Moses in Mount Sinai.”
Context & background
Chapter 7 closes the first major literary unit of Leviticus (chapters 1-7), known as the "manual of offerings." The explicit notation at the end of the chapter that these laws were given "in the wilderness of Sinai" (modern Sinai Peninsula, Egypt) situates the entire sacrificial code at the base of Mount Sinai during Israel's wilderness period. The prohibition on blood was universal and ancient, rooted in the belief that blood represents life and all life belongs to God (see Gen 9:4). The wave offering, performed by the priest moving the offering toward and away from the altar in a gesture of presentation to God, was a physical enactment of giving and receiving.
Cross-references
- 1 Cor 9:13-14 — Paul appeals to the priests' right to eat from the altar to argue that gospel ministers deserve support
- Acts 15:29 — The Jerusalem Council instructs Gentile believers to abstain from blood, maintaining this principle
- Gen 9:4 — God prohibits eating blood after the flood, establishing the principle behind Lev 7:26-27
- Heb 5:1 — The high priestly role described in Hebrews draws on the full Levitical offering system summarized here
- Lev 17:11 — Explains the theological reason: "the life of the flesh is in the blood"