Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to Aaron, and to his sons, and to all the children of Israel, and say to them, ‘Whoever is of the house of Israel, or of the foreigners in Israel, who offers his offering, whether it is any of their vows or any of their free will offerings, which they offer to Yahweh for a burnt offering: that you may be accepted, you shall offer a male without defect, of the bulls, of the sheep, or of the goats. But you shall not offer whatever has a defect, for it shall not be acceptable for you. Whoever offers a sacrifice of peace offerings to Yahweh to accomplish a vow, or for a free will offering of the herd or of the flock, it shall be perfect to be accepted. It shall have no defect. You shall not offer what is blind, is injured, is maimed, has a wart, is festering, or has a running sore to Yahweh, nor make an offering by fire of them on the altar to Yahweh. Either a bull or a lamb that has any deformity or lacking in his parts, that you may offer for a free will offering; but for a vow it shall not be accepted. You must not offer to Yahweh that which has its testicles bruised, crushed, broken, or cut. You must not do this in your land. You must not offer any of these as the bread of your God from the hand of a foreigner, because their corruption is in them. There is a defect in them. They shall not be accepted for you.’ ”
Parallel Translations
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Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
“Speak to Aaron, and to his sons, and to all the children of Israel, and say to them, ‘Whoever is of the house of Israel, or of the foreigners in Israel, who offers his offering, whether it is any of their vows or any of their free will offerings, which they offer to Yahweh for a burnt offering:
that you may be accepted, you shall offer a male without defect, of the bulls, of the sheep, or of the goats.
But you shall not offer whatever has a defect, for it shall not be acceptable for you.
Whoever offers a sacrifice of peace offerings to Yahweh to accomplish a vow, or for a free will offering of the herd or of the flock, it shall be perfect to be accepted. It shall have no defect.
You shall not offer what is blind, is injured, is maimed, has a wart, is festering, or has a running sore to Yahweh, nor make an offering by fire of them on the altar to Yahweh.
Either a bull or a lamb that has any deformity or lacking in his parts, that you may offer for a free will offering; but for a vow it shall not be accepted.
You must not offer to Yahweh that which has its testicles bruised, crushed, broken, or cut. You must not do this in your land.
You must not offer any of these as the bread of your God from the hand of a foreigner, because their corruption is in them. There is a defect in them. They shall not be accepted for you.’ ”
-
And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Speak unto Aaron, and to his sons, and unto all the children of Israel, and say unto them, Whatsoever he be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers in Israel, that will offer his oblation for all his vows, and for all his freewill offerings, which they will offer unto the LORD for a burnt offering;
Ye shall offer at your own will a male without blemish, of the beeves, of the sheep, or of the goats.
But whatsoever hath a blemish, that shall ye not offer: for it shall not be acceptable for you.
And whosoever offereth a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the LORD to accomplish his vow, or a freewill offering in beeves or sheep, it shall be perfect to be accepted; there shall be no blemish therein.
Blind, or broken, or maimed, or having a wen, or scurvy, or scabbed, ye shall not offer these unto the LORD, nor make an offering by fire of them upon the altar unto the LORD.
Either a bullock or a lamb that hath any thing superfluous or lacking in his parts, that mayest thou offer for a freewill offering; but for a vow it shall not be accepted.
Ye shall not offer unto the LORD that which is bruised, or crushed, or broken, or cut; neither shall ye make any offering thereof in your land.
Neither from a stranger’s hand shall ye offer the bread of your God of any of these; because their corruption is in them, and blemishes be in them: they shall not be accepted for you.
Show all 3 translations
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And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying:
Speak unto Aaron, and to his sons, and unto all the children of Israel, and say unto them: Whosoever he be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers in Israel, that bringeth his offering, whether it be any of their vows, or any of their free-will-offerings, which are brought unto the LORD for a burnt-offering;
that ye may be accepted, ye shall offer a male without blemish, of the beeves, of the sheep, or of the goats.
But whatsoever hath a blemish, that shall ye not bring; for it shall not be acceptable for you.
And whosoever bringeth a sacrifice of peace-offerings unto the LORD in fulfilment of a vow clearly uttered, or for a freewill-offering, of the herd or of the flock, it shall be perfect to be accepted; there shall be no blemish therein.
Blind, or broken, or maimed, or having a wen, or scabbed, or scurvy, ye shall not offer these unto the LORD, nor make an offering by fire of them upon the altar unto the LORD.
Either a bullock or a lamb that hath any thing too long or too short, that mayest thou offer for a freewill-offering; but for a vow it shall not be accepted.
That which hath its stones bruised, or crushed, or torn, or cut, ye shall not offer unto the LORD; neither shall ye do thus in your land.
Neither from the hand of a foreigner shall ye offer the bread of your God of any of these, because their corruption is in them, there is a blemish in them; they shall not be accepted for you.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Commandments (8)
The laws of the Torah, each cited and shown as a primary source.
- Not to dedicate a blemished animal for the altar
- All offerings must be without blemish
- Not to inflict a blemish on a consecrated animal
Show all 8
Cross-references (81)
- Deuteronomy 17:1 (v20) You shall not sacrifice to Yahweh your God an ox or a sheep in which is a defect or anything evil; for that is an abomination to Yahweh…
- Numbers 15:8 (v21) When you prepare a bull for a burnt offering or for a sacrifice, to accomplish a vow, or for peace offerings to Yahweh,
- Leviticus 22:20 (vv22, 24) But you shall not offer whatever has a defect, for it shall not be acceptable for you.
- Numbers 15:3 (vv18, 21) and will make an offering by fire to Yahweh—a burnt offering, or a sacrifice, to accomplish a vow, or as a free will offering, or in your…
- Malachi 1:8 (vv20, 22) When you offer the blind for sacrifice, isn’t that evil? And when you offer the lame and sick, isn’t that evil? Present it now to your…
Show all 74 cross-references
- Leviticus 1:2 (v18) “Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘When anyone of you offers an offering to Yahweh, you shall offer your offering of the…
- Deuteronomy 15:21 (v20) If it has any defect—is lame or blind, or has any defect whatever, you shall not sacrifice it to Yahweh your God.
- Leviticus 1:10 (vv18–19) “ ‘If his offering is from the flock, from the sheep or from the goats, for a burnt offering, he shall offer a male without defect.
- Hebrews 9:14 (vv19–20) how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without defect to God, cleanse your conscience from…
- 1 Peter 1:19 (vv19–20) but with precious blood, as of a lamb without blemish or spot, the blood of Christ,
- Leviticus 1:3 (v19) “ ‘If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he shall offer a male without defect. He shall offer it at the door of the Tent of…
- Leviticus 3:6 (v21) “ ‘If his offering for a sacrifice of peace offerings to Yahweh is from the flock, either male or female, he shall offer it without defect.
- Leviticus 22:25 (v20) You must not offer any of these as the bread of your God from the hand of a foreigner, because their corruption is in them. There is a…
- Deuteronomy 12:6 (v18) You shall bring your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the wave offering of your hand, your vows, your free will offerings,…
- Ecclesiastes 5:4-5 (v21) When you vow a vow to God, don’t defer to pay it; for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay that which you vow. It is better that you should not…
- Numbers 15:14-16 (vv18, 25) If a stranger lives as a foreigner with you, or whoever may be among you throughout your generations, and will offer an offering made by…
- Exodus 12:5 (v19) Your lamb shall be without defect, a male a year old. You shall take it from the sheep, or from the goats.
- Leviticus 1:9 (v22) 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…
- Leviticus 1:13 (v22) 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,…
- Leviticus 3:1 (v21) “ ‘If his offering is a sacrifice of peace offerings, if he offers it from the herd, whether male or female, he shall offer it without…
- Leviticus 3:3 (v22) He shall offer of the sacrifice of peace offerings an offering made by fire to Yahweh. The fat that covers the innards, and all the fat…
- Leviticus 3:5 (v22) Aaron’s sons shall burn it on the altar on the burnt offering, which is on the wood that is on the fire: it is an offering made by fire, of…
- Leviticus 21:6 (v25) They shall be holy to their God, and not profane the name of their God, for they offer the offerings of Yahweh made by fire, the bread of…
- Leviticus 21:8 (v25) Therefore you shall sanctify him, for he offers the bread of your God. He shall be holy to you, for I Yahweh, who sanctify you, am holy.
- Leviticus 21:18-21 (v22) For whatever man he is that has a defect, he shall not draw near: a blind man, or a lame, or he who has a flat nose, or any deformity, or a…
- Deuteronomy 23:1 (v24) He who is emasculated by crushing or cutting shall not enter into Yahweh’s assembly.
- Deuteronomy 23:21-23 (v21) When you vow a vow to Yahweh your God, you shall not be slack to pay it, for Yahweh your God will surely require it of you; and it would be…
- Ezra 6:8-10 (v25) Moreover I make a decree what you shall do for these elders of the Jews for the building of this house of God: that of the king’s goods,…
- Psalms 56:12 (v18) Your vows are on me, God. I will give thank offerings to you.
- Jonah 1:16 (v18) Then the men feared Yahweh exceedingly; and they offered a sacrifice to Yahweh, and made vows.
- Jonah 2:9 (v18) But I will sacrifice to you with the voice of thanksgiving. I will pay that which I have vowed. Salvation belongs to Yahweh.”
- Malachi 1:7-8 (v25) You offer polluted bread on my altar. You say, ‘How have we polluted you?’ In that you say, ‘Yahweh’s table is contemptible.’ When you…
- Malachi 1:12-14 (v25) “But you profane it, in that you say, ‘Yahweh’s table is polluted, and its fruit, even its food, is contemptible.’ You say also, ‘Behold,…
- Malachi 1:13-14 (v20) You say also, ‘Behold, what a weariness it is!’ and you have sniffed at it”, says Yahweh of Armies; “and you have brought that which was…
- 2 Corinthians 5:21 (v19) For him who knew no sin he made to be sin on our behalf; so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
- Ephesians 2:12 (v25) that you were at that time separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of the…
- Ephesians 5:27 (v19) that he might present the assembly to himself gloriously, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that it should be holy and…
- 1 Peter 2:22-24 (v19) who didn’t sin, “neither was deceit found in his mouth.” When he was cursed, he didn’t curse back. When he suffered, he didn’t threaten,…
- Leviticus 4:32 (v19) “ ‘If he brings a lamb as his offering for a sin offering, he shall bring a female without defect.
- Leviticus 7:11-38 (v21) “ ‘This is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings, which one shall offer to Yahweh: If he offers it for a thanksgiving, then he shall…
- Leviticus 7:16 (v18) “ ‘But if the sacrifice of his offering is a vow, or a free will offering, it shall be eaten on the day that he offers his sacrifice. On…
- Leviticus 17:10 (v18) “ ‘Any man of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who live as foreigners among them, who eats any kind of blood, I will set my face…
- Leviticus 17:13 (v18) “ ‘Whatever man there is of the children of Israel, or of the strangers who live as foreigners among them, who takes in hunting any animal…
- Leviticus 21:18 (v23) For whatever man he is that has a defect, he shall not draw near: a blind man, or a lame, or he who has a flat nose, or any deformity,
- Leviticus 21:20 (v24) or hunchbacked, or a dwarf, or one who has a defect in his eye, or an itching disease, or scabs, or who has damaged testicles.
- Leviticus 21:21-22 (v25) No man of the offspring of Aaron the priest who has a defect shall come near to offer the offerings of Yahweh made by fire. Since he has a…
- Leviticus 23:38 (v18) in addition to the Sabbaths of Yahweh, and in addition to your gifts, and in addition to all your vows, and in addition to all your free…
- Numbers 16:40 (v25) to be a memorial to the children of Israel, to the end that no stranger who isn’t of the offspring of Aaron, would come near to burn…
- Deuteronomy 12:17 (v18) You may not eat within your gates the tithe of your grain, or of your new wine, or of your oil, or the firstborn of your herd or of your…
- Deuteronomy 16:10 (v18) You shall keep the feast of weeks to Yahweh your God with a tribute of a free will offering of your hand, which you shall give according to…
- Psalms 22:25 (v18) My praise of you comes in the great assembly. I will pay my vows before those who fear him.
- Psalms 50:14 (v21) Offer to God the sacrifice of thanksgiving. Pay your vows to the Most High.
- Psalms 61:5 (v18) For you, God, have heard my vows. You have given me the heritage of those who fear your name.
- Psalms 61:8 (v18) So I will sing praise to your name forever, that I may fulfill my vows daily.
- Psalms 65:1 (v18) Praise waits for you, God, in Zion. Vows shall be performed to you.
- Psalms 66:13 (v18) I will come into your temple with burnt offerings. I will pay my vows to you,
- Psalms 116:14 (v18) I will pay my vows to Yahweh, yes, in the presence of all his people.
- Psalms 116:18 (v18) I will pay my vows to Yahweh, yes, in the presence of all his people,
- Proverbs 7:14 (v21) “Sacrifices of peace offerings are with me. Today I have paid my vows.
- Ecclesiastes 5:4 (v18) When you vow a vow to God, don’t defer to pay it; for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay that which you vow.
- Nahum 1:15 (v18) Behold, on the mountains the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace! Keep your feasts, Judah! Perform your vows, for the…
- Matthew 27:4 (v19) saying, “I have sinned in that I betrayed innocent blood.” But they said, “What is that to us? You see to it.”
- Matthew 27:24 (v19) So when Pilate saw that nothing was being gained, but rather that a disturbance was starting, he took water, and washed his hands before…
- Matthew 27:54 (v19) Now the centurion, and those who were with him watching Jesus, when they saw the earthquake, and the things that were done, feared…
- 1 Peter 3:18 (v19) Because Christ also suffered for sins once, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring you to God, being put to death in the…
- 1 John 5:18 (v25) We know that whoever is born of God doesn’t sin, but he who was born of God keeps himself, and the evil one doesn’t touch him.
- Genesis 28:20 (v21) Jacob vowed a vow, saying, “If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and clothing to…
- Genesis 35:1-3 (v21) God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel, and live there. Make there an altar to God, who appeared to you when you fled from the face of…
- Matthew 27:19 (v19) While he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent to him, saying, “Have nothing to do with that righteous man, for I have suffered…
- Luke 23:14 (v19) and said to them, “You brought this man to me as one that perverts the people, and behold, having examined him before you, I found no basis…
- Luke 23:41 (v19) And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.”
- Luke 23:47 (v19) When the centurion saw what was done, he glorified God, saying, “Certainly this was a righteous man.”
- John 19:4 (v19) Then Pilate went out again, and said to them, “Behold, I bring him out to you, that you may know that I find no basis for a charge against…
- Acts 18:18 (v18) Paul, having stayed after this many more days, took his leave of the brothers, and sailed from there for Syria, together with Priscilla and…
74 distinct cross-references across this passage (81 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (19 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv22, 25 Or, wart.
Or, wart.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv19, 20, 21, 23, 24, 25 Lev 22:19 [Ye shall offer] at your own will…
Lev 22:19 [Ye shall offer] at your own will a male without blemish, of the beeves, of the sheep, or of the goats.
Ver. 19. At your own will.] Yet observing strictly the law in that case provided, with all the rites appointed. Such will worship is very acceptable.
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 On vv18, 19, 21, 23, 25 Or of the strangers; such as were proselytes.
Or of the strangers; such as were proselytes.
For all his vows. See on Lev 7:16.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v17 Here are four laws concerning sacrifices: -
Here are four laws concerning sacrifices: -
I. Whatever was offered in sacrifice to God should be without blemish, otherwise it should not be accepted. This had often been mentioned in the particular institutions of the several sorts of offerings. Now here they are told what was to be accounted a blemish which rendered a beast unfit for sacrifice: if it was blind, or lame, had a wen, or the mange (Lev 22:22), - if it was bruised, or crushed, or broken, or cut (Lev 22:24), that is, as the Jewish writers understand it, if it was, in any of these ways, castrated, if bulls and rams were made into oxen and weathers, they might not be offered. Moreover a difference is made between what was brought as a free-will offering and what was brought as a vow, Lev 22:23. And, though none that had any of the forementioned blemishes might be brought for either, yet if a beast had any thing superfluous or lacking (that is, as the Jews understand it, if there was a disproportion or inequality between those parts that are pairs, when one eye, or ear, or leg, was bigger than it should be, or less than it should be) - if there was no other blemish than this, it might be accepted for a free-will offering, to which a man had not before laid himself, nor had the divine law laid him, under any particular obligation; but for a vow it might not be accepted. Thus God would teach us to make conscience of performing our promises to him very exactly, and not afterwards to abate in quantity or value of what we had solemnly engaged to devote to him. What was, before the vow, in our own power, as in the case of a free-will offering, afterwards is not, Act 5:4. It is again and again declared that no sacrifice should be accepted if it was thus blemished, Lev 22:20, Lev 22:21. According to this law great care was taken to search all the beasts that were brought to be sacrificed, that there might, to a certainty, be no blemish in them. A blemished sacrifice might not be accepted even from the hand of a stranger, though to such all possible encouragement should be given to do honour to the God of Israel, Lev 22:25. By this it appears that strangers were expected to come to the house of God from a far country (Kg1 8:41, Kg1 8:42), and that they should be welcome, and their offerings accepted, as those of Darius, Ezr 6:9, Ezr 6:10; Isa 56:6, Isa 56:7. The heathen priests were many of them not so strict in this matter, but would receive sacrifices for their gods that were ever so scandalous; but let strangers know that the God of Israel would not be so served. Now, 1. This law was then necessary for the preserving of the honour of the sanctuary, and of the God that was there worshipped. It was fit that every thing that was employed for his honour should be the best of the kind; for, as he is the greatest and brightest, so he is the best of beings; and he that is the best must have the best. See how greatly and justly displeasing the breach of this law was to the holy God, Mal 1:8, Mal 1:13, Mal 1:14. 2. This law made all the legal sacrifices the fitter to be types of Christ, the great sacrifice from which all these derived their virtue. In allusion to this law, he is said to be a Lamb without blemish and without spot, Pe1 1:19. As such a priest, so such a sacrifice, became us, who was harmless and undefiled. When Pilate declared, I find no fault in this man, he did thereby in effect pronounce the sacrifice without blemish. The Jews say it was the work of the sagan, or suffragan, high priest, to view the sacrifices, and see whether they were without blemish or no; when Christ suffered, Annas was in that office; but little did those who brought Christ to Annas first, by whom he was sent bound to Caiaphas, as a sacrifice fit to be offered (Joh 18:13, Joh 18:24), think that they were answering the type of this law. 3. It is an instruction to us to offer to God the best we have in our spiritual sacrifices. If our devotions are ignorant, and cold, and trifling, and full of distractions, we offer the blind, and the lame, and the sick, for sacrifice; but cursed be the deceiver that does so, for, while he thinks to put a cheat upon God, he puts a damning cheat upon his own soul.
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II. That no beast should be offered in sacrifice before it was eight days old, Lev 22:26, Lev 22:27. It was provided before that the firstlings of their cattle, which were to be dedicated to God, should not be brought to him till after the eighth day, Exo 22:30. Here it is provided that no creature should be offered in sacrifice till it was eight days old complete. Sooner than that it was not fit to be used at men's tables, and therefore not a God's altar. The Jews say, "It was because the sabbath sanctifies all things, and nothing should be offered to God till at least one sabbath had passed over it." It was in conformity to the law of circumcision, which children were to receive on the eighth day. Christ was sacrificed for us, not in his infancy, though then Herod sought to slay him, but in the prime of his time.
III. That the dam and her young should not both be killed in one day, whether in sacrifice or for common use, Lev 22:28. There is such a law as this concerning birds, Deu 22:6. This was forbidden, not as evil in itself, but because it looked barbarous and cruel to the brute creatures; like the tyranny of the king of Babylon, that slew Zedekiah's sons before his eyes, and then put out his eyes. It looked ill-natured towards the species to kill two generations at once, as if one designed the ruin of the kind.
IV. That the flesh of their thank-offerings should be eaten on the same day that they were sacrificed, Lev 22:29, Lev 22:30. This is a repetition of what we had before, Lev 7:15; Lev 19:6, Lev 19:7. The chapter concludes with such a general charge as we have often met with, to keep God's commandments, and not to profane his holy name, Lev 22:31, Lev 22:32. Those that profess God's name, if they do not make conscience of keeping his commandments, do but profane his name. The general reasons are added: God's authority over them - I am the Lord; his interest in them - I am your God; the title he had to them by redemption - "I brought you out of the land of Egypt, on purpose that I might be your God;" the designs of his grace concerning them - I am the Lord that hallow you; and the resolutions of his justice, if he had not honour from them, to get himself honour upon them - I will be hallowed among the children of Israel. God will be a loser in his glory by no man at last; but sooner or later will recover his right, either in the repentance of sinners or in their ruin.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv17–25 Speak unto Aaron, and to his sons,.... The priests,…
Speak unto Aaron, and to his sons,.... The priests, whose work it was to offer sacrifices, and therefore it behoved them to know what kind and sort were to be offered by them, when brought to them:
and unto all the children of Israel: who were to bring the sacrifices, and for whom they were to be offered, and therefore should be acquainted with the nature and kind of what would be acceptable to God, and what not:
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and say unto them, whatsoever he be of the house of Israel; this phrase includes women and servants, and even Gentiles, as say the Jewish writers (q), who may vow vows, and make voluntary gifts, as well as the Israelites:
or of the strangers in Israel: those of other nations that dwelt there, either proselytes of the gate, or proselytes of righteousness, so Ben Gersom; and Aben Ezra observes, that the text speaks of the stranger, because there is some reason in the vows and freewill offerings of an Israelite and stranger, as follows:
that will offer his oblation for all his vows, and for all his freewill offerings, which they will offer unto the Lord for a burnt offering; the wise men, as Aben Ezra observes, distinguish between a vow and a freewill offering; every vow is a freewill offering, but every freewill offering is not a vow; and though these were both of them sorts of peace offerings, yet they were not received from Gentiles under that notion, but as burnt offerings, because they were offered in devotion to God, and not to be eaten by Israelites; so Maimonides (r) says, they do not receive from Gentiles but burnt offerings only, as it is said Lev 22:25, "neither from a stranger's hand", &c. even burnt offerings of fowls they receive from a Gentile, though he be an idolater; but they do not receive of them peace offerings, nor meat offerings, nor sin offerings, nor trespass offerings; and so burnt offerings, which do not come by way of a vow, or a freewill offering, they do not receive from Gentiles, as the burnt offering of a new mother and the like unto it; a Gentile that brings peace offerings, they offer them as burnt offerings, because the heart of the Gentile is towards heaven.
(q) T. Bab. Cholin, fol. 13. 2. Bartenora in Misn. Shekalim, c. 1. sect. 5. (r) Hilchot Maaseh Hakorbanot, c. 3. sect. 2, 3.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv18, 19, 25 Strangers - Such as were proselytes.
Strangers - Such as were proselytes.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv20, 23, 24, 25 Verse 20. Whatsoever hath a blemish] The same perfection…
Verse 20. Whatsoever hath a blemish] The same perfection is required in the sacrifice that was required in the priest; see on Le 22:2, and the notes on the preceding chapter.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv17, 19, 21, 23, 25 Lev 22:17-18. The Lord spake unto Moses — The…
Lev 22:17-18. The Lord spake unto Moses — The following laws relate to the qualifications required in any offering made either by the Israelites or proselytes. For such proselytes as had renounced idolatry, and were proselytes of the gate, termed, Lev 22:18, strangers in Israel — Though not circumcised, and obliged to keep the whole law of Moses, were yet permitted, in testimony of their worshipping the true God, to offer free- will-offerings at the Jewish altar, as well as proselytes to the whole Mosaic system, termed proselytes of righteousness.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv19, 22, 24, 25 Ye shall offer at your own will a male…
Ye shall offer at your own will a male - Rather, That it may be accepted (so Lev 22:29) for you it shall be a male. See Lev 1:3. It is the same phrase as in Lev 22:20-21, Lev 22:27.
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 On vv18, 19, 22, 23, 24, 25 Strangers: proselytes of justice, or converts of the Jewish…
Strangers: proselytes of justice, or converts of the Jewish religion. See ver. 25.
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 On vv19, 23 THE SACRIFICES MUST BE WITHOUT BLEMISH. (Lev. 22:17-33)
THE SACRIFICES MUST BE WITHOUT BLEMISH. (Lev. 22:17-33)
Ye shall offer at your own will--rather, to your being accepted.
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a male without blemish--This law (Lev 1:3) is founded on a sense of natural propriety, which required the greatest care to be taken in the selection of animals for sacrifice. The reason for this extreme caution is found in the fact that sacrifices are either an expression of praise to God for His goodness, or else they are the designed means of conciliating or retaining His favor. No victim that was not perfect in its kind could be deemed a fitting instrument for such purposes if we assume that the significance of sacrifices is derived entirely from their relation to Jehovah. Sacrifices may be likened to gifts made to a king by his subjects, and hence the reasonableness of God's strong remonstrance with the worldly-minded Jews (Mal 1:8). If the tabernacle, and subsequently the temple, were considered the palace of the great King, then the sacrifices would answer to presents as offered to a monarch on various occasions by his subjects; and in this light they would be the appropriate expressions of their feelings towards their sovereign. When a subject wished to do honor to his sovereign, to acknowledge allegiance, to appease his anger, to supplicate forgiveness, or to intercede for another, he brought a present; and all the ideas involved in sacrifices correspond to these sentiments--those of gratitude, of worship, of prayer, of confession and atonement [BIB. SAC.].
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 On vv18, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24 ACCEPTABLE SACRIFICES, Lev_22:17-28.
ACCEPTABLE SACRIFICES, Lev_22:17-28.
18. Strangers in Israel — For their religious privileges, see Lev_1:2, note. For their civil rights, see chap. 23, note.
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Vows — There are exigencies in the history of every man when he is impelled to make religious resolutions. For the character of the sacrifices prescribed for the release from the vow, and also for the freewill offerings, see Lev_7:11; Lev_7:16, notes.
Burnt offering — See chapters 1 and Lev_6:9, notes.
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 On vv17, 22, 23, 24, 25 17–25. Directions as to the quality of offerings
17–25. Directions as to the quality of offerings
This passage retains clear signs of a remarkably composite character. Lev_22:17-18 a indicate (‘unto Aaron, and to his sons,’ ‘unto all etc.’) that what follows is a blending of directions referring to priests and to the people. But further, Lev_22:21 presents what is virtually a repetition of the directions in Lev_22:18-20, while the differences in phraseology between the two point to diversity of origin. We notice further that the classes of offerings dealt with differ, viz. Burnt-Offerings and Peace-Offerings respectively, while each of these have the same sub-divisions, i.e. Vows and Freewill-Offerings, the former passage making no reference to other classes of Burnt-Offerings, such as the Sin-Offerings and Guilt-Offerings (4, 5), and the latter ignoring the third species, viz. Thank-Offering (see Lev_22:29), included (Lev_7:12) under the genus Peace-Offering. Moreover, within the parallelism (Lev_22:18-20 as compared with Lev_22:21) there are marked differences in phraseology (e.g. ‘of the beeves, of the sheep, or of the goats,’ Lev_22:19, ‘of the herd or of the flock,’ Lev_22:21). For other differences see Oxf. Hex., which further points out the frequent changes in number and person in 18a–20 as indicating successive editorial revisions.
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 On vv17–25 (17) And the Lord spake unto Moses.—The laws about…
(17) And the Lord spake unto Moses.—The laws about the physical features and ceremonial purity of the priests, who are to be devoted to the services of the altar, are now followed by kindred precepts about the animals which are to be offered upon the altar.
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 On v17 Vers. 17-25. Just as the priests who offer to…
Vers. 17-25. Just as the priests who offer to the Lord are to be ceremonially and morally holy, so the animals offered to him are to be physically perfect, in order
(1) to be types of a future perfect Victim,
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(2) to symbolize the "perfect heart" which God requires to be given to him, and
(3) to teach the duty of offering to him of our best.
Whatsoever hath a blemish, that shall ye not offer. The list of blemishes and malformations which exclude from the altar is given; they are such as deform the animal, and make it less valuable: blind, or broken, or maimed, or having a wen, or scurvy, or scabbed, ye shall not offer these unto the Lord, nor any animal that is bruised, or crushed, or broken, or cut, that is, castrated in any manner. The clause following the mention of castration neither shall ye make any offering thereof in your land literally translated, neither shall ye make in your land, probably forbids castration altogether, not merely the offering of castrated animals in sacrifice. The expression, Ye shall offer at your own will, should be understood, as before, for your acceptance. (see note on Lev_2:1) Only one exception is made as to blemished offerings: an animal that hath any thing superfluous or lacking in his parts may be offered for a freewill offering, but not for a vow. (for the distinction of these offerings, see note on Lev_2:1) These rules as to unblemished victims are to apply to the offerings of strangers as well as of Israelites.
Vers. 17-25. The perfection demanded in the sacrificial victims
contains a typical, a symbolical, and a moral lesson.
I THEY MUST BE PERFECT, THAT THEY MAY BE TYPES OF CHRIST. The perfect Victim must not be represented by anything imperfect. There are but few points in which the perfection of Christ, both absolute and in relation to the work which as the appointed Victim he was to fulfil, could be foreshadowed by the animals offered in sacrifice, but this was one that they should be without blemish and perfect of their kind. "The blood of Christ who through the Eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God," is the antitype, we are taught in the Epistle to the Hebrews, to "the blood of bulls, and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer, sprinkling the unclean," which "sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh". (Heb_9:13, Heb_9:14) For "ye know," says St. Peter, "that ye were redeemed... with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot; (1Pe_1:18, 1Pe_1:19) "who did no sin"; (1Pe_2:22) who "gave himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour". (Eph_5:2) The physical freedom from blemish on the part of the animal typifies the "spotlessness" of Christ.
II THEY MUST BE PERFECT, THAT THEY MAY SYMBOLIZE THE PERFECT HEART WITH WHICH ALL SERVICE MUST BE DONE TO GOD. They symbolized the integrity of soul with which the offerer made his offering, and the purity of intention required of all who present themselves or anything that they do to God and his service. A gift to God is unacceptable, and not accepted, if there be in it anything superfluous, viz. self-display, or anything lacking, namely, the spirit of love. God chose those whom he afterwards called into his Church to "be holy and without blame (or blemish) before him in love", (Eph_1:4) "that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God", (Col_4:12) "that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing". (Jam_1:4) Imperfection must always mark man and his work, seeing that "the infection of nature doth remain, yea in them that are regenerated" (Art. 9); but the Christian must not rest satisfied with aiming at anything but the highest. His purpose, however marred, must be to please God perfectly.
III THEY MUST BE PERFECT, BECAUSE WHAT WE GIVE TO GOD MUST BE COSTLY TO US. "And the king said unto Araunah, Nay; but I will surely buy it of thee at a price: neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the Lord my God of that which doth cost me nothing. So David bought the threshingfloor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. (2Sa_24:24) "And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? and if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? offer it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person? saith the Lord of hosts". (Mal_1:8) "But cursed be the deceiver, which hath in iris flock a male, and voweth, and sacrificeth unto the Lord a corrupt thing: for I am a great King, saith the Lord of hosts, and my Name is dreadful among the heathen". (Mal_1:14) The cost of our gifts to God need not be absolutely great the widow"s two mites, which make a farthing, may be more than all that the rich cast into the treasury. (Mar_12:41-44) Whatever we give, it must be of our best, the best effort of our intellect, the best affections of our hearts. Whatever we are most attached to, that we must be prepared to give up, if God demands the sacrifice at our hands.
Vers. 17-30. Characteristics of acceptable service.
The very fact that all the points here referred to have been fully brought out before lends strong emphasis to them as matters of vital importance in the estimation of God. If our worship and service are to be acceptable, there must be
I SPONTANEITY OF SPIRIT. "Ye shall offer at your own will" (verse 19); "when ye will offer... offer it at your own will" (verse 29). There is a wilfulness in worship which is blamable; (Col_2:23) but there is a willingness, a "cheerfulness in giving," which is peculiarly acceptable unto God. The service which is rendered of necessity, under strong constraint and against the inclination of the spirit, has the least virtue, if, indeed, it have any at all. That which proceeds from a heart in fullest sympathy with the act, delighting to do the will of God, (Psa_40:8) is well pleasing unto him.
II COMPARATIVE EXCELLENCY. "Ye shall offer... a male without blemish.... whatsoever hath a blemish, that shall ye not offer: for it shall not be acceptable for you," etc. (verses 19-22). If the Hebrew worshipper brought that creature from flock or herd which, as being blemished, was least valuable, he did that which was offensive rather than acceptable. He put his Creator and Redeemer (verse 33) in the second place, and his own material interests in the first place. He was to bring his best to the holiest. We, too, must avoid this fatal error must rise to this spiritual height. We must not put off our Redeemer with that which we shall miss the least in kind, in substance, in time; we must bring to his altar the sweetness, the strength, and the beauty of all that we have to bring; we must reserve the choice treasures for his hand of love. So far as may be in a world of imperfection, our offering to a Divine Saviour "shall be perfect to be accepted" (verse 21).
III REGARD FOR A SOLEMN PLEDGE. Absolute perfection, the positively whole and unblemished animal, might be difficult, or in some cases impossible, to secure. Hence some relaxation from the rule was allowed in the case of the free-will offering. But in the redemption of a vow no such departure was permitted (verse 23). Any vow which was made unto God was considered to be in the last degree obligatory. (Deu_23:21, 22 Ecc_5:4, 5 Psa_76:11) When "God"s vows are upon us," when we stand pledged before him
(1) to discharge certain functions, or
(2) to abstain from certain evils or perils,
we should feel that we are bound with peculiarly strong bonds to make our sacrifice, of whatever kind it be, in its fulness and integrity.
IV ABSENCE OF IMPURITY. (Verse 20; see Lev_7:15-18)
V PREFERENCE OF THE DIVINE WILL TO HUMAN GRATIFICATION. "Strangers" might bring their offerings to the house of the Lord. It was a pleasing and gratifying firing to witness the stranger bringing his bountiful tribute to the altar of Jehovah. It gratified the national feeling. But nothing might be accepted from the foreigner which was not worthy to be laid on the altar of the Holy One of Israel. His will to receive only unblemished offerings must outweigh their readiness or eagerness to receive outside testimony to the excellency of their institutions. We may be too eager to welcome the tribute of the stranger; we must require of him that he worship in sincerity and purity. The honour and the will of God should be more to us than the passing gratification we gain from any source whatever. Whatever we lose, he must be honoured and obeyed. C.
Vers. 17-33. Laws of the oblations.
These naturally follow those concerning the priests, which form the subject of the earlier portion of this chapter. They may be considered
I WITH RESPECT TO THE SACRIFICES.
1. These must be the animals prescribed.
(1) Clean creatures. To offer swine upon God"s altar would be an outrageous insult to his purity. It would be figuratively equivalent to asking his acceptance and approval of passions and conduct the most filthy and loathsome. To attempt to foreshadow in the sacrifice of a hog the sacrifice of Christ would be against the most sacred propriety a horrible blasphemy.
(2) Clean creatures of kinds specially selected by God. These are "of the beeves, of the sheep, or of the goats" (verse 19). The roebuck and the hart are clean creatures, but not of the kinds selected, so, however they may be fitted to represent saints, viewed under particular aspects, they were too wild and intractable to be made fit emblems of Christ.
2. They must be individuals without blemish.
(1) They must be free from disease. Therefore, if they have "scurvy," or a "wen," or a "running scab," which are symptoms of a diseased state of the blood, they are pronounced unfit. For disease is generally taken as an emblem of sin, and in this sense the reason should be understood, "because their corruption is in them" (verse 25).
(2) There must be no natural deformity, such as having any part too much extended, or, on the other hand, too much contracted. "We are shapen in iniquity." From our birth we are marred with moral deformities. But not so Jesus. He was in his birth the "holy thing.
(3) They must have no acquired blemish no blindness, lameness, fracture, or mutilation of any kind. By actual transgression we have fallen upon moral disasters. But Christ "fulfilled all righteousness," and must not be foreshadowed by any imperfect creature.
(4) The same perfection was required in the sacrifice that was required in the priests. The best service and the best sacrifice should be given to the best Being. (see Mal_1:8, Mal_1:12-14) The priest and the sacrifice were alike types of the same Lord Jesus, our Priest and Sacrifice.
(5) But who is to judge of the fitness of the victim? The Jews say the sagan, or suffragan high priest, had to determine this. Now, Annas sustained that office under Caiaphas, and he accordingly sent Jesus bound to Caiaphas, viz. as a Sacrifice fit to be offered. (see Joh_18:12-14, Joh_18:24) The offerer also had to pass his judgment upon the creature he selects from his herd or flock. If Pilate be viewed as a representative person in this capacity, we hear him say," I find no fault in this man." But God himself is the ultimate Judge; and has he not emphatically approved of Christ? (See Mat_3:17 Mat_17:5 Joh_12:28)
3. Blemished creatures may be given as free-will offerings.
(1) These were not prescribed in the Law, though permitted. They were things which piety might add to what was essential. They were not types of Christ, so they might be imperfect.
(2) Piety will give to God the most perfect thing she possesses when she would acknowledge his worthiness to be honoured. But she would also express with humility the imperfection of her best services, and this she might do most appropriately in the offering of a blemished oblation.
(3) But when the free-will offering is for a vow, then an imperfect thing will not be accepted. In this case the offering is prescribed in the Law because it is beyond the power of the offerer to retract. (see Act_5:4) And the sacrifice for a vow was a figure of Christ, who is pledged in the covenant of our redemption. (see Psa_22:25 Psa_40:6, Psa_40:7)
II WITH RESPECT TO THEIR OFFERING.
1. They may not be offered till after the eighth day.
(1) For this there was a reason of humanity. The creature must remain "seven days under the dam." The Laws of God are framed to inculcate kindliness and tenderness of heart.
(2) It has also a reason of health. For the animal is scarcely formed in the first week of its life. Its hair and its hook are not grown. It is not wholesome food.
(3) But the typical reasons are the more important. The "eighth day" was that upon which circumcision took place. The import of both rites, that of circumcision and that of sacrifice, is the same. Both represent the cutting off of the Holy Seed out of the land of the living, to secure the blessings of the covenant to men. The Jews say that the eighth day was specified so that a sabbath must be included, for that "the sabbath sanctifies all things." No doubt, when the great sabbath of the eighth day arrives, which is that of the new heavens and earth, all things in that state will be sanctified. That state will be the consummation of the blessings of the covenant.
2. An animal and its young may not be killed the same day.
(1) This law respects fowls as well as larger creatures. (see Deu_22:6) It inculcates tenderness of heart.
(2) But it has also a gospel import. It teaches that utter desolation is inconsistent with the idea of atonement. Life is spared because life is sacrificed. The death of Christ is vicarious; it is for the life of the world.
3. It should be eaten the same day on which it is killed.
(1) The moral here is that we must not delay to avail ourselves of the benefits of redemption in Christ. On the morrow (verse 30) it may be too late.
(2) On the third day it will be certainly too late. (see Lev_7:15 Lev_19:6, Lev_19:7) The third day, or age, is that of our resurrection. (see Hos_6:2) If we neglect salvation until then, it cannot be realized. Let us improve the opportunities of our probation.
4. They should be offered devoutly.
(1) The Name of God must not be profaned. God"s Name is hallowed by keeping his commandments (verses 31, 32). The Name of God will be hallowed when his kingdom is come, for then his will shall be done upon earth as it is in heaven. (Mat_6:9, Mat_6:10)
(2) He is to be recognized as our Redeemer. "I am the Lord which hallow you, that brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God." That redemption was only a figure of the great redemption through which God hallows his people in truth, of which also the oblations of the Law were figures. This is never to be forgotten. J.A.M.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v21 It shall be perfect to be accepted.
Lev_22:21
It shall be perfect to be accepted.
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A plain mans sermon
1. The ceremonial law, as ordained by the hand of Moses and Aaron, called the worshippers of God to great carefulness before Him. Before their minds that solemn truth was ever made visible, I the Lord thy God am a jealous God. Nothing might be done thoughtlessly. Of every ceremony it might be said, It must be perfect to be accepted. God must have the minds and thoughts of men, or He counts that they are no worshippers. We need to think a great deal more about how we come before the Most High; and if we thought more and prayed more, we should become more certain of our inability to do anything as we ought to do it, and we should be driven to a more entire dependence upon the Spirit of God in every act of worship. This in itself would be a great blessing.
2. The ceremonial law also engendered in men who did think a great respect for the holiness of God. They could not help seeing that God required everything in His service to be of the very best. They must have felt that sin was not a trifle, but a thing for which there must be life given and blood shed before it could be removed; and that life and blood must be the life and blood of a perfect and unblemished offering.
3. Under the Jewish ceremonial law, one of the most prominent thoughts, next to a great respect for the holiness of God, would be a deep regard for the law of God. Everywhere that the Israelite went he was surrounded by law. If men do not understand the law, they will not feel that they are sinners; and if they are not consciously sinners, they will never value the sin-offering.
I. First, then, the rule of our text, it shall be perfect to be accepted, may be used to shut out all those faulty offerings whereon so many place their confidence.
1. It most effectually judges and casts forth all self-righteousness, although this is the great deceit wherewith thousands are buoyed up with false hopes. It shall be perfect to be accepted; there shall be no blemish therein. If you can come up to this rule you shall be saved by your righteousness; but if you cannot reach you must fail of acceptance.
2. Why, look, ye that hope to be saved by your own doings, your nature at the very first is tainted! There is evil in your heart from the very beginning, so that you are not perfect and are not without blemish. Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Not one.
3. Look again, for I feel sure that there must have been a blemish somewhere as matter of fact. As yet you are not conscious of a blemish; and possibly there is some justification for this unconsciousness. Looking upon you, I feel inclined to love you, as Jesus loved that young man who could say of the commandments, All these have I kept from my youth up. But I must beg you to answer this question--Has there not been a blemish in your motives? What have you been doing all these good things for? Why, that I might be saved! Precisely so. Therefore selfishness has been the motive which has ruled your life. Moreover, it is not only your nature and your motive which are imperfect. You certainly must have erred somewhere or other, in some act of your life. The Scripture also is dead against you when it says, There is none righteous; no, not one.
4. Methinks if I could read all hearts, there is not one here, however self-righteous he may be, who would not have to confess distinct acts of sin. I know how some of you have lived. You were amiable girls and excellent young women, and have grown up to be careful, loving wives; and therefore you say, I never did anybody any harm; surely I may be accepted. I wish that there were more like you. I am not condemning you; far from it; but I know that your tendency is to think that because of all this you must in yourselves be accepted of God. Give me your hand, and let me say to you, with tears, It is not so, my sister; it is not so, my brother. It must be perfect to be accepted; there must be no blemish in it. This is a death-blow for your self-confidence; for there was a time, some day or other in your life, in which you did wrong. What I have you no hasty temper? Have no quick words escaped you which you would wish to recall? What! have you never murmured against God, or complained of His providence? Have you never been slothful when you ought to have been diligent? Can you say that your heart has never desired evil--never imagined impurity? Have you never gone to live in an old house which looked like new? You had fresh paint, and varnish, and paper in superabundance; and you thought yourself dwelling in one of the sweetest of places, till one day it happened that a board was taken up, and you saw under the floor. What a gathering of every foul thing! You could not have lived in that house at peace for a minute had you known what had been covered up. Rottenness had been hidden, decay had been doctored, death had been decorated. That is just like our humanity. When lusts are quiet, they are all there. The best man in this place, who is not a believer in Christ, would go mad if he were to see himself as God sees him.
5. This text makes a clean sweep of all other kinds of human confidences. Some are deceived in this sort: Well, they say, I do not trust in my works; but I am a religious person, and I attend the sacrament, and I go to my place of worship pretty regularly. I feel that I must certainly be right. I have faith in Jesus Christ and in myself. In various ways men thus compose an image whose feet are part of iron and part of clay.
II. As this rule shuts out all other confidences, so this rule shuts us up to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Oh, if I had the tongues of men and of angels, I could never fitly tell you of Him who offered Himself without spot unto God, for He is absolutely perfect; there is no blemish in Him!
1. He is perfect in His nature as God and man. There was not the possibility of sinning about the Saviour--no tendency that way, no desire that way. Nothing that could be construed into evil ever came upon His character.
2. As He was perfect in His nature, so was He in His motive. What brought Him from above but love to God and man? You can find no trace of ambition in Christ Jesus. In Him there is no thought of self.
3. As His nature was perfect, so was His spirit. He was never sinfully angry, nor harsh, nor untrue, nor idle. Tile air of His soul was the atmosphere of heaven rather than of earth.
4. Look at His life of obedience, and see how perfect that was. Which commandment did He ever break? Which duty of relationship did He ever forget? He honoured the law of God and loved the souls of men.
5. Look at the perfection of His sacrifice. He gave His body to be tortured, and His mind to be crushed and broken, even unto the death-agony. He gave Himself for us a perfect sacrifice. All that the law could ask was in Him.
III. Listen, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that know the Lord! You are saved. You have not, therefore, to bring any sacrifice by way of a sin-offering, but you have to bring sacrifices of thanksgiving. It is your reasonable service that you offer your bodies a living sacrifice unto God. If you do this you cannot bring an absolutely perfect sacrifice, but you must labour to let it be perfect in what is often the Biblical sense of perfection. You must take care that what you bring is not blind, for the blind were not to be offered. You must serve God with a single eye to the glory of God. And as it must not be blind, so it must not be broken. Whenever we serve God, we must do it with the whole of our being, for if we try to serve God with a bit of our nature, and leave the rest unconsecrated, we shall not be accepted. Next, they were not to bring a maimed sacrifice: that is, one without its limbs. Some people give grudgingly, that is to say, they come up to the collection-box with a limp. Many serve Christ with a broken arm. The holy work is done, but it is painfully and slowly done. Among the heathen, I believe, they never offered in sacrifice to the gods a calf that had to be carried. The reason was that they considered that the sacrifice ought to be willing to be offered, and so it must be able to walk up to the altar. Notice in the Old Testament, though there were many creatures, both birds and beasts, that were offered to God, they never offered any fish on the holy altar. The reason probably is that a fish could not come there alive. Its life would be spent before it came to the altar, and therefore it could not render a life unto God. Take care that you bring your bodies a living sacrifice. We must not bring Him the mere chrysalis of a man, out of which the life has gone; but we must bring before Him our living, unmaimed selves if we would be acceptable before Him. It is then added, or having a wen. It does not look as though it would hurt the sacrifice much to have a wen; yet there must not be a wen, or spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing. Above all, avoid that big wen of pride. The sacrifice was not to be scabbed, or to have the scurvy. That is to say, it was to be without any sort of outward fault. I have heard men say, It is true I did not do that thing well, but my heart was right. That may be, but you must try and make the whole matter as good as it can be. What a deal of scabbed service our Lord gets! Men try to be benevolent to their fellow-creatures with an irritable temper. Certain people try to serve God, and write stinging letters to promote brotherly love, and dogmatical epistles in favour of large-mindedness. Too many render to the Lord hurried, thoughtless worship; and many more give for offerings their smallest coins and such things as they will never miss. God has many a scurvy sheep brought before Him. The best of the best should be given to the Best of the best. Would God that the best of our lives, the best hours of the morning, the best skill of our hands, the best thoughts of our minds, the very cream of our being, were given to our God! (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Offerings to be without blemish
1. This law was, then, necessary for the preserving of the honour of the sanctuary and of the God that was there worshipped.
2. This law made all the legal sacrifices the fitter to be types of Christ, the great Sacrifice, from which all those derived their virtue.
3. It is an instruction to us to offer to God the best we have in our spiritual sacrifices. If our devotions be ignorant, and cold, and trifling, and full of distractions, we offer the blind, and the lame, and the sick for sacrifice. But cursed be the deceiver that doth so, for while he thinks to put a cheat upon God, he puts a damning cheat upon his own soul. (Matthew Henry, D. D.)
Blemishes in our sacrifices
All religious service is of the nature of sacrifice.
I. Read this requirement of perfect sacrifices, and by it let us test our regard for the sabbath services. God has once, at least, read us a very solemn lesson of the manner in which He regards lost Sabbaths. Seventy Sabbatical years the Jews allowed to drop out of their calendar. Seventy years were spent by them in captivity. A fearful presage to us of what might be the national judgment if, as a Church and people, we went on to blot out from amongst us our day of rest. Every one will agree that if the Sabbath be obligatory, then it is assuredly obligatory thus far--
1. That there be regular attendance upon public service.
2. Of the other hours of the day, that a part be spent in private devotional exercises, a part in religious reading; that a higher and more sacred tone of conversation be maintained; that some work of piety and love be performed.
II. By this test let us judge our sanctuary worship. Examine ourselves in the house of God. Difficulty of keeping the mind collected and devout results from want of due preparation.
1. Something may be said respecting the posture of body we assume in the sanctuary. Position of body reacts upon the mind. Indolence is associated with, and leads to, irreverence. Kneeling is required equally by the dignity of God and the weakness of our nature.
2. So with the voice. Difficult to overestimate how much is lost--
(a) to the beauty of our services;
(b) to the glory of God;
(c) to our own souls, by the silence so many of us maintain, both in the responses and in the service of song.
But there are more serious blemishes in our sanctuary sacrifices than these. Where is--
(1) The constant mental effort essential to true worship and proper in the presence of God?
(2) The self-distrust due from such sinful creatures as we?
(3) The self-discipline to bring ourselves into responsiveness to Gods Spirit?
(4) The inward up-looking for Divine light and grace?
(5) The frequent reminding our selves of what we are and what God is?
(6) The simple spirit of self-application?
(7) The faith to give wings to prayer?
Well might St. James say, Ye have not because ye ask not, or ask amiss. Blemish on sacrifice drives the flame down again.
III. By this test let us examine our observance of the sacrament of the Lords supper. A word in solemn affection to some. You never attend the sacrament to celebrate the Lords death at all. Others, if at all, so irregularly as almost to turn the attendance into a mockery.
1. Happy for us that we can turn from all our poor blemished sacrifices to that pure and perfect sacrifice of Christ, which has been offered without blemish and without spot for us.
2. Only let us never forget that he who would safely trust in the power of that Sacrifice for his salvation must take the spotlessness of that Sacrifice for his daily pattern. (Anon.)
Giving the worst to God
A pastor went one day to call on a member of his church, who was a farmer. During the conversation the work of Christian benevolences was touched upon, and the farmer proudly alluded to the fact that out of his few acres of ground he always set aside one acre to the Lords use. The pastor, hoping to here get the material for an illustration in his own work, asked the farmer brother, Which acre do you set aside? This was a question that came very unexpectedly, but the farmer was honest enough to tell the truth, and replied, When it is a dry season, I select one up there, pointing to a field on the hillside; and when it is a wet season, I choose one down there, pointing to a field of very low land which lay at the foot of the hill. I give this illustration, not on account of its rarity, but because it is a true picture of thousands of professed Christians, who give to Gods service that part of their time and means that is left after first satisfying their own personal selfish ends. (Sharpened Arrows.)
God ought to have the best
One cold morning a little ragged, woeful-looking child came in at our back door, begging for food. Please, maam, mend the children most starved. Only a bit o bread. Have you no father or mother, child? asked
I. Yesm, and a look of shame and despair mantled his hollow cheeks. Dont they work and earn money? Yesm, little; but they most allus spend it afore they gets home, at the Horn o Plenty. Immediately my heart became adamant. The miserable, drunken brutes, thought I, Ill not feed their children. Then I remembered there is a very stale loaf of bread in the cupboard, scarcely fit for toast. I gave that to the child, very glad to dispose of it. He grabbed it eagerly, with a clutch that reminded one of the grasp of the drowning, when they would fain save themselves. Little Gracie, our six-year-old darling, had been a silent spectator; but after the boy departed, she came to me with deep inquiry depicted upon her spiritual countenance, saying, Mamma, if Jesus Christ had come and said He was starving to death, would you have given Him that awful dry loaf of bread? Why, child, said I, why do you ask such a question ? Why, when we give to the poor, ought we not to think that we are really giving to Jesus Himself? I thought He said so when here upon the earth. Well, Gracie, said I, kissing her sweet, troubled face, I think you are right, and I will remember your lesson next time. Yes, Gracie, we, whom the Lord hath blessed in our granary and our store, would soon relieve suffering humanity if we gave our alms as if we really were giving to the Blessed Redeemer. We are too prone to forget this truth. The very best that we have in the house isnt too good for Him, is it, mamma? asked she. No, no, my precious child, replied I, clasping her to my heart and thinking, Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings hast Thou ordained strength and wisdom. (Christian Age.)
Worthless offerings
A missionary in China, describing in the Sunday at Home, the sacrifices which are offered to Confucius at the usual and autumnal equinoxes, says, We looked at the victims, and they were diseased, scraggy brutes, worthless offerings. Oh, the mockery and the utter insincerity and indifference of the Chinese mind to all sense of honour I My friend explained the matter to me; he said they were allowed so much by the Treasury for this purpose, and the cheaper they could get the animals the more they could pocket. (J. Tinling.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v17 Some Qualifications of Sacrifices
Some Qualifications of Sacrifices
v. 17. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
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v. 18. Speak unto Aaron and to his sons and unto all the children of Israel, and say unto them, whatsoever he be of the house of Israel or of the strangers in Israel that will offer his oblation for all his vows and for all his free-will offerings, two forms of peace-offerings, Lev 7:16, which they will offer unto the Lord for a burnt offering,
v. 19. ye shall offer at your own will, for the purpose of gaining the good pleasure of the Lord: a male without blemish, of the beeves, of the sheep, or of the goats. The point that the animal offered had to be physically perfect stands out with special emphasIsaiah
v. 20. But whatsoever hath a blemish, that shall ye not offer; for it shall not be acceptable for you.
v. 21. And whosoever offereth a sacrifice of peace-offerings unto the Lord to accomplish his vow, in payment of some promise made to the Lord, or a free-will offering in beeves or sheep, any animal from the flocks, it shall be perfect to be accepted; there shall be no blemish therein.
v. 22. Blind or broken, that is, ruptured, or maimed, with some deep incision or wound, or having a wen, a festering sore, or scurvy, an eruption like leprosy, or scabbed, with a putrid skin disease, ye shall not offer these unto the Lord, nor make an offering by fire of them upon the altar unto the Lord.
v. 23. Either a bullock or a lamb that hath anything superfluous or lacking in his parts, members too many or too few, or members and organs of an abnormal shape in either direction, so long as they were not diseased, that mayest thou offer for a free-will offering, for in this case an exception was permitted; but for a vow it shall not be accepted.
v. 24. Ye shall not offer unto the Lord that which is bruised, or crushed, or broken, or cut, for by these four ways was sterility produced in male animals; neither shall ye make any offering thereof in your land; the Israelites were not to make such mutilations a practice, for a perfect animal included its fitness for breeding.
v. 25. Neither from a stranger’s hand shall ye offer the bread of your God of any of these, because their corruption is in them, and blemishes be in them; they shall not be accepted for you. We Christians should also keep in mind that it is not whatever remains after we have had our fill which we ought to give to the Lord, but that He expects perfect gifts at our hands.
v. 26. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
v. 27. When a bullock or a sheep or a go at is brought forth, then it shall be seven days under the dam, to get its nourishment from its mother; and from the eighth day and thenceforth it shall be accepted for an offering made by fire unto the Lord. "The reason for this was that the young animal had not attained to a mature and self-sustained life during the first week of its existence. " (Keil. ) Animals became admissible for sacrifices at the same age as that when a male child was received into the covenant relationship with God by the sacrament of circumcision.
v. 28. And whether it be cow or ewe, a female from the flock, ye shall not kill it and her young both in one day. Cf Exo 23:19; Deu 22:6-7.
v. 29. And when ye will offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving unto the Lord, offer it at your own will; it was essential that the gift be voluntary.
v. 30. On the same day it shall be eaten up; ye shall leave none of it until the morrow. I am the Lord. Cf Lev 7:15; Lev 19:5-6.
v. 31. Therefore shall ye keep My commandments and do them. I am the Lord.
v. 32. Neither shall ye profane My holy name in any of the ways discussed in this Chapter;but I will be hallowed among the children of Israel, given that obedience, honor, and reverence which pertains to Him as the one true God. I am the Lord which hallow you,
v. 33. that brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God: I am the Lord. Just as the Lord at that time stressed the necessity of cheerful willingness on the part of the worshipers, so the truly good works of the Christians flow from the love of their hearts based upon their faith in their Savior.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv17, 20, 22, 24 an alien
an alien
"a foreigner"
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if it is to be accepted
This can be stated in active form. AT: "if Yahweh is to accept it" or "if I, Yahweh, am to accept it" (See: Active or Passive)
translationWords
Yahweh
Moses
Aaron
sacrifice
fulfill
vow
freewill offering
burnt offering
blemish
cow
ewe
goat
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv18, 21, 23 22:18 Apparently individuals could present a whole burnt offering…
22:18 Apparently individuals could present a whole burnt offering instead of a peace offering if they desired (see 1:3).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.