but he shall wash its innards and its legs with water. The priest shall burn all of it on the altar, for a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, of a pleasant aroma to Yahweh.
Parallel Translations
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but he shall wash its innards and its legs with water. The priest shall burn all of it on the altar, for a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, of a pleasant aroma to Yahweh.
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But his inwards and his legs shall he wash in water: and the priest shall burn all on the altar, to be a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD.
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but its inwards and its legs shall he wash with water; and the priest shall make the whole smoke on the altar, for a burnt-offering, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD.
Cross-references (19)
Passages linked to Leviticus 1:9 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Genesis 8:21 Yahweh smelled the pleasant aroma. Yahweh said in his heart, “I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake because the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth. I will never again strike every living thing, as I have done.
- Leviticus 1:13 but the innards and the legs he shall wash with water. The priest shall offer the whole, and burn it on the altar. It is a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, of a pleasant aroma to Yahweh.
- Ephesians 5:2 Walk in love, even as Christ also loved us and gave himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling fragrance.
- Exodus 29:18 You shall burn the whole ram on the altar: it is a burnt offering to Yahweh; it is a pleasant aroma, an offering made by fire to Yahweh.
- Leviticus 3:11 The priest shall burn it on the altar: it is the food of the offering made by fire to Yahweh.
- Ezekiel 20:41 I will accept you as a pleasant aroma when I bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries in which you have been scattered. I will be sanctified in you in the sight of the nations.
- 2 Corinthians 2:15 For we are a sweet aroma of Christ to God, in those who are saved and in those who perish:
- Exodus 29:25 You shall take them from their hands, and burn them on the altar on the burnt offering, for a pleasant aroma before Yahweh: it is an offering made by fire to Yahweh.
- Leviticus 1:17 He shall tear it by its wings, but shall not divide it apart. The priest shall burn it on the altar, on the wood that is on the fire. It is a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, of a pleasant aroma to Yahweh.
- Leviticus 8:21 He washed the innards and the legs with water; and Moses burned the whole ram on the altar. It was a burnt offering for a pleasant aroma. It was an offering made by fire to Yahweh, as Yahweh commanded Moses.
- Leviticus 9:14 He washed the innards and the legs, and burned them on the burnt offering on the altar.
- Numbers 15:8-10 When you prepare a bull for a burnt offering or for a sacrifice, to accomplish a vow, or for peace offerings to Yahweh, then he shall offer with the bull a meal offering of three tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with half a hin of oil; and you shall offer for the drink offering half a hin of wine, for an offering made by fire, of a pleasant aroma to Yahweh.
- Psalms 51:6 Behold, you desire truth in the inward parts. You teach me wisdom in the inmost place.
- Psalms 66:15 I will offer to you burnt offerings of fat animals, with the offering of rams, I will offer bulls with goats.
- Jeremiah 4:14 Jerusalem, wash your heart from wickedness, that you may be saved. How long will your evil thoughts lodge within you?
- Ezekiel 20:28 For when I had brought them into the land which I swore to give to them, then they saw every high hill, and every thick tree, and they offered there their sacrifices, and there they presented the provocation of their offering. There they also made their pleasant aroma, and there they poured out their drink offerings.
- Matthew 23:25-28 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and unrighteousness. You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the platter, that its outside may become clean also. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitened tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but inwardly are full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
- Philippians 4:18 But I have all things and abound. I am filled, having received from Epaphroditus the things that came from you, a sweet-smelling fragrance, an acceptable and well-pleasing sacrifice to God.
- Zechariah 13:7 “Awake, sword, against my shepherd, and against the man who is close to me,” says Yahweh of Armies. “Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered; and I will turn my hand against the little ones.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (14 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Or a savor of rest, which pacifieth the anger…
Or a savor of rest, which pacifieth the anger of the Lord.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Lev 1:9 But his inwards and his legs shall…
Lev 1:9 But his inwards and his legs shall he wash in water: and the priest shall burn all on the altar, [to be] a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD.
Ver. 9. Shall he wash.] Shadowing Christ’s perfect purity {Heb 7:26} and our entire sanctification. {Eze 26:19 Heb 10:22}
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Of a sweet savour unto the Lord.] The burning and broiling of the beasts could yield no sweet savour; but thereto was added wine, oil, and incense, by God’s appointment, and then there was a savour of rest in it. Our prayers, as from us, would never please; but as indited by the Spirit, and presented by Christ, they are highly accepted in heaven.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain His inwards and his legs shall he wash, to…
His inwards and his legs shall he wash, to signify the universal and perfect purity both of the inwards, or the heart, and of the legs, or ways, or actions, which was in Christ, and which should be in all Christians.
The priest shall burn all; not only the parts now mentioned, but all the rest, the trunk of the body, and the shoulders, as is apparent from the practice or execution of these precepts.
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Of a sweet savour; not in itself, for so it rather caused a stink, but as it represented Christ’s offering up himself to God as a sweet-smelling savour, Eph 5:2; and to admonish us of the excellent virtue of Divine institution, without which God values no worship, though never so glorious, and by which even the meanest things, are precious and acceptable to God.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain But the inwards and his legs shall he wash…
But the inwards and his legs shall he wash in water,.... This was first done in a room in the court of the temple, called , "the room of the washers", or the washing room, where they washed the inwards of the holy things (a); and after that they washed them upon the marble tables between the pillars, where they washed them three times at least (b); and whereas this is said to be done "in water"; Maimonides (c) observes,"not in wine, nor in a mixture of wine and water, nor in other liquids:''the washing of the inwards and legs denoted the internal purity of Christ's heart, and the external holiness of his life and conversation, and the saints' purification by him both in heart and life: with Philo the Jew (d) these things had a mystical meaning; by the washing of the inwards was signified that lusts were to be washed away, and such spots removed as were contracted by surfeiting and drunkenness, very harmful to the lives of men; and by the washing of the feet was signified that we should no more walk upon the earth, but mount up to the air, and pass through that, even to heaven:
and the priest shall burn all on the altar; all the other pieces, as well as the inwards and legs, excepting the skin, which denoted the painful sufferings of Christ, and the extent of them to all parts of his body; and indeed his soul felt the fire of divine wrath, and became an offering for sin:
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to be a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire; that is, all the parts of the bullock were burnt on the altar, that it might appear to be a whole burnt offering consumed by fire:
of a sweet savour unto the Lord: he accepting of it, and smelling a sweet savour of rest in it, as an atonement for sin, typical of the sacrifice of Christ, which is to God for a sweet smelling savour, Eph 5:2 the Jewish doctors (e) gather from hence, that whether a man offers much or little, it matters not, if his heart is but directed to God; which Maimonides explains thus (f), he that studies in the law, it is all one as if he offered a burnt offering, or a meat offering, or a sin offering, concerning which this phrase is used.
(a) Misn. Middot, c. 5. sect. 2. Maimon Beth Habechirah, c. 5. sect. 17. (b) Ib. c. 3. sect. 5. & Tamid, c. 4. sect. 2. Piske, Tosaphot Middot, Art. 23. (c) Hilchot Hakorbanot, c. 6. sect. 6. Vid. T. Bab. Zebachim, fol. 22. 1. (d) De Victimis, p. 839. (e) Misn. Menachot, c. 13. sect. 11. T. Bab. Shebuot, fol. 15. 1. (f) In Misn. ib.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 9. An offering - of a sweet savour]…
Verse 9. An offering - of a sweet savour] אשה ריח ניחוח ishsheh reiach nichoach, a fire-offering, an odour of rest, or, as the Septuagint express it, θυσια οσμη ευωδιας, "a sacrifice for a sweet-smelling savour;" which place St. Paul had evidently in view when he wrote Eph 5:2: "Christ hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering, και θυσιαν - εις οσμην ευωδιας, and a sacrifice, for a sweet-smelling savour," where he uses the same terms as the Septuagint. Hence we find that the holocaust, or burnt-offering, typified the sacrifice and death of Christ for the sins of the world.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain The parts which were washed were the stomach, and…
The parts which were washed were the stomach, and bowels, and feet, divided from the carcass at the knee-joint.
The priest shall burn - The verb here translated burn, is applied exclusively to the burning of the incense, to the lights of the tabernacle, and to the offerings on the altar. The primary meaning of its root seems to be to exhale odor. (See the margin of Lev 24:2; Exo 30:8). The word for burning in a common way is quite different, and is applied to the burning of those parts of victims which were burned without the camp (Lev 4:12, Lev 4:21; Num 19:5, etc.). The importance of the distinction is great in its bearing on the meaning of the burnt-offering. The substance of the victim was regarded not as something to be consumed, but as an offering of a sweet-smelling savor sent up in the flame to Yahweh.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Sweet. Not that the Deity can take delight in…
Sweet. Not that the Deity can take delight in sweet odours; but he is pleased with the devotion of men. For their advancement in piety, he required these sacrifices; 1. to keep the people from idolatry; 2. to teach them to consecrate their body and effects to him, as well as their souls, to serve justice unto sanctification; (Romans vi. 19; John iv. 24) as without the help of exterior observances, the mind will hardly rise to the contemplation of truth; 3. to prefigure the greater mysteries of the Christian religion, of which the law was only a shadow, incapable of conferring justifying grace. (John i. 17; Galatians iii. 11.) (Worthington) --- The law was our pedagogue, in Christ, that we might be justified by faith, ver. 24.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain but his inwards and his legs shall he wash…
but his inwards and his legs shall he wash in water, &c.--This part of the ceremony was symbolical of the inward purity, and the holy walk, that became acceptable worshippers.
a sweet savour unto the Lord--is an expression of the offerer's piety, but especially as a sacrificial type of Christ.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 9. His inwards — The intestines, because they contained…
9. His inwards — The intestines, because they contained impurities, could not be burned until they had first been cleansed. According to Maimonides the ablution was three times repeated. Thus there is strikingly set forth that inward holiness required by God of all his people, and the provision made for its attainment in the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Ghost. “I will put my law in their inwards, and write it in their hearts.” Jer_31:33. “Having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience.” Heb_10:22.
And his legs — The lower parts, below the knees, having contracted defilements in walking, were unfit to lay upon the altar until cleansed. “Lord, not my feet only.” — Peter.
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All on the altar — Of most of the other offerings a portion might be given to the Lord in the persons of his priests, and a part might be given back to the offerer to share with his friends, (Lev_7:15;) but the burnt offering must all lie upon the altar till the fire has changed it into an odour of sweet smell, and wafted it, on the curling smoke, to heaven. The spiritual import of this self-dedicatory sacrifice is obvious. If we would obtain a thorough and pervasive holiness through all our collective powers and parts, we must, without mental reservation, surrender ourselves entirely unto the God of peace till, through the Holy Ghost, he sanctifies us wholly. Rom_12:1; 1Th_5:23.
An offering made by fire — The term ishsheh is generic of every kind of sacrifice by fire, and once even where no fire is used except for baking. Lev_24:7; Lev_24:9.
A sweet savour unto the Lord — The anthropomorphism so clearly implied here is scarcely to be avoided. It is impossible for us to form a conception of pure spirit. Hence our ideas naturally clothe themselves in material forms, and we think of Jehovah as a man whose nostrils are regaled with the delicious odours diffused through the air. Stripped of its impressive imagery, and expressed in the cold phrase of modern philosophy, the Orientalism becomes this: God receives with delight every true act of worship.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 9. a sweet savour] a soothing odour (McNeile on…
9. a sweet savour] a soothing odour (McNeile on Exo_29:18). The word ‘savour’ in old English is applied to the smell as well as the taste of a thing. See HDB. Art. Savour and Driver’s note (C.B.) on Exo_29:18.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (9) But his inwards.—Before, however, the cut-up victim was…
(9) But his inwards.—Before, however, the cut-up victim was thus arranged to be burnt, the stomach, the bowels, and the feet had to be thoroughly cleansed. In the time of the second Temple, the washing had to be repeated three times before the ablution was deemed complete.
And the priest shall burn.—The word here used is not the one generally used to denote consuming by fire, but it originally signifies to make a fume or vapour by incense. It is used in connection with all sacrifices (Lev_2:2; Lev_2:9; Lev_3:5; Lev_3:11; Lev_4:10; Lev_4:19; Lev_6:8; Lev_7:5, &c.) and the idea intended to be conveyed thereby is, that man upon earth fitly brought his gift to God in heaven, by causing the odour emitted from the burning sacrifice to ascend in a sweet-smelling savour to heaven.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain The priest shall burn all on the altar, etc.…
The priest shall burn all on the altar, etc. The fourth and last part of the sacrifice. The word employed is not the common term used for destroying by fire, but means "make to ascend." The life of the animal has already been offered in the blood; now the whole of its substance is "made to ascend" to the Lord. Modern science, by showing that the effect of fire upon the substance of a body is to resolve it into gases which rise from it, contributes a new illustration to the verse. The vapour that ascends is not something different from that which is burnt, but the very thing itself, its essence; which, having ascended, is of a sweet savour unto the Lord, that is, acceptable and well-pleasing to him. The burnt offering, the meat offering, and the peace offering, are sacrifices of sweet savour; (in Lev_2:2 Lev_3:5) the expression is not used with regard to the sin offering and trespass offering. St. Paul applies it to the sacrifice of Christ, Eph_5:2, "As Christ also loved us, and gave himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour;" thus indicating, in an incidental manner, the connection between the Jewish sacrifices and the sacrifice of Christ, as type and antitype.
Our reasonable service.
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The burnt offering appears to have been the most general of the sacrifices presented to Jehovah, and to have had the widest significance. Its spiritual counterpart is furnished in Rom_12:1. Meditation upon the prophetic symbol will abed light upon the "living sacrifice" of the gospel dispensation.
I THE NATURE OF THE CHRISTIAN OFFERING AS THUS SYMBOLIZED.
1. It is a surrender to God of something that belongs to us. Property inherited and acquired is the material of the sacrifice. Not only what has come to us by natural endowment, but that which is the result of toil the cattle that were given to us, and the produce we have reared. God demands our hearts, our minds, our talents; and he looks for the devotion to him of any increment that effort may secure. Just as Barnabas sold his land and laid the price at the apostles" feet, and the Apostle Paul commanded that each Corinthian should "lay by him in store as God hath prospered him.
2. It is a voluntary surrender. The man "shall put his band upon the head of the burnt offering," to evince his willingness to part with the animal. All "the cattle on a thousand bills" are really owned by Jehovah, yet does he treat man as proprietor, and does not take by violence the necessary sacrifices for his glory, but leaves it to man freely to recognize his God, and to pay his just dues. "Voluntary" in no wise excludes the force of motives, since every decision has motives, as an antecedent if not as an efficient cause. Freedom implies absence, not of inducements, but of constraint. Man has the power to withhold from the service of God his faculties and possessions. He is ever appealed to in Scripture as a reasonable individual, capable of deciding to what purposes his abilities shall be devoted. "Yield yourselves unto God.
3. The surrender must be complete. It was not possible to offer part of a goat or lamb, the victim must be given in its entirety. The blood is sprinkled round about, and "all" the parts are burnt upon the altar. The disciple must follow the Lord fully. No putting of the hand to the plough and looking hack. No keeping back part of the price. The believer is bought by Christ, body and soul. The reason why many seem to have offered themselves to God in vain, is because they have done it in a halfhearted way, they have not "sought him with their whole desire.
II THE MANNER IN WHICH THE OFFERING IS DEVOTED TO GOD.
1. By the death of the victim. Death is the total renunciation of present enjoyment the extremest proof of an intention to set one"s self apart for a certain object. If it does not suffice to prove sincerity and entire consecration, then proof is impossible. "All that a man hath will he give for his life." Like the apostle, it behoves Christians to "die daily." At baptism there was the emblem of death to the world. "Old things have passed away." Our death to sin, however, resembles the crucifixion of our Lord, a lingering painful death. We mortify the deeds of the body, crucify the flesh, deny ourselves. "If any man will lose his life he shall save it.
2. By cleansing water and purifying fire. "Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth." "Having these promises, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit." "Every one shall be salted with fire." "The trial of your faith which is much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire." All that is earthly is consumed. The smoke, rising from the material sacrifice, reminds us of the pure metal that is free from dross, and remains to "praise, honour, and glory." Learn to welcome the tribulations of your lot as being the discipline that makes the surrender of yourselves complete. Martyrs have experienced actual flames, the fire may assume another shape to you. Perhaps temptations assail you, and difficulties wear away your strength. Glorify God in the fires. Fire is an emblem of the Holy Spirit, and as Christ offered himself through the Eternal Spirit, so does his Spirit abide with his people, to hallow them, to put away sin, to make them pleasing unto God.
3. By means of the ordained mediator. The priest must take the slain animal to perform the necessary rites. Otherwise, however free from fault, the offering will bring loss, not gain, to the offerer. If all believers are now "a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices," they are only "acceptable to God by Jesus Christ." Our Saviour must be our "Daysman," to come between us and God, and present us to his Father. His life, death, and intercession must be the inspiration of our lives, the spring of our hopes, the constraining influence that shall make us dedicate all we have and are to God. "No man cometh unto the Father but by me." We determine to know nothing save Christ and him crucified. "In Christ Jesus" we "are made nigh.
III THE EFFECT OF THE OFFERING.
1. It pleases God. Anthropomorphic expressions are employed, not to degrade the Almighty, but to clarify our conceptions, and to make the truth plain to the dullest eyed. "It is a sweet savour unto the Lord." The smell is repulsive, and cannot be supposed to be grateful in itself to him who is a Spirit. But it is the disposition to honour and please God that he delights to observe in his children. A parent may admire the rudest sketch if his little one brings it as a token of love, and may esteem the commonest fare a banquet, and ill-dressed food a feast, if regard and affection have contributed to its preparation. The agony and wounds of the Redeemer were not watched by the Father with unmingled delight. As we shudder at the spectacle of the Holy One made a curse for us, and yet rejoice in the all-sufficiency of his burden-bearing; so the Father felt the keenest pangs that rent the breast of his beloved Son, and only joyed in the sublime manifestation of filial devotion, content to endure torture and insult that the blot on his Father"s world through the presence of sin might be erased even at such infinite cost. Wherein we are partakers if the sufferings of Christ our Sacrifice is fragrant to the Father. The apostles, in preaching the gospel, became "unto God a sweet savour of Christ." If we walk in love, we cause the incense of love to ascend with sweet odour to heaven. (Eph_5:2) Jesus ministered to the wants of many, and the Philippians, in supplying the necessities of Paul, Christ"s servant, were an "odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice well-pleasing unto God.
2. It procures for the offerer satisfaction of conscience and the favour of God. The sacrifice is accepted, communion is re-established, sin is covered. There is an inward contentment in all religious acts that is of itself evidence of the reality of religion, and its adaptation to our circumstances. Never did any man abstain from selfish, sinful gratification, or pursue the rugged path of holiness and virtue, without being solaced by the consciousness of having done what was right, what was in harmony with the noblest dictates of his nature. The self-denying, God-serving life is the happiest and most blessed life. Then do we walk in the light of God"s countenance, and drink of the river of his pleasures. S.R.A.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain sweet savour
sweet savour
The sweet savour offerings are so called because they typify Christ in His own perfections, and in His affectionate devotion to the Father’s will. The non-sweet savour offerings typify Christ as bearing the whole demerit of the sinner. Both are substantial. In our place Christ, in the burnt-offering, makes good our lack of devotedness, and, in the sin- and trespass-offerings, suffers because of our disobediences.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 1:9 The offering was washed with water to remove…
1:9 The offering was washed with water to remove dirt or debris that might contaminate the offering. Washing was also part of purification from ritual uncleanness, a prerequisite for Tabernacle service (6:27; 11:28). • special gift: The Hebrew term (’isheh) has traditionally been rendered “offering made by fire.” Although the offering was to be burned (1:13, 17), recent scholarship suggests that the word had the more generic meaning of “gift.” • pleasing aroma to the Lord (literally a restful odor; also in 1:13, 17): Pagan people of the ancient Near East believed that their gods smelled the offerings because they needed to eat them to sustain their lives. Although God’s response is sometimes represented in language that reflects the cultural setting (e.g., 21:6; Num 28:2), the Bible is clear that God did not need offerings as food (Ps 50:9-13). Instead, they pleased him as sincere offerings for the purpose of atonement.
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