Chapter 1
The book opens with this verse:
1 The LORD called Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting, saying, [Lev 1:1 ESV]
God is there with them, in the camp, a constant, visible, discernible presence.
Vs 2 starts with "When anyone brings an offering..."
JSB says the word offering is korban -which I remember from the NT - and the root word means to "come close" or "draw near". This is how the Jews saw these offerings. They were an opportunity to come close to God. So korban is an object that helps the worshiper draw closer to God.
I am going to be using "The Complete Jewish Study Bible" as I go through Leviticus this second time, as it seems to offer more explanation of these strictly Jewish rituals. It says this by way of introduction to the burnt offering:
The Hebrew word for burnt offering is 'olah, meaning literally "goes up". JSB elaborates that the 'olah deals with one's specific violation of the Torah. It is a voluntary act of devotion, commitment, and surrender to God. The other two offerings in Leviticus, the sin offering "hattat", and the guilt offering, "asham" are offerings meant for atonement. The Hebrew word for atonement is "kaphar, or kippur" and means "to ransom by means of a substitute. All this in the first 3 verses.
MSB references a note after Eze 45, 46 that compares the sacrifices here to the Millennial sacrifices. That would be a good one to read!
MSB also notes that only domestic animals could be sacrificed, nothing wild.
2024 - As worded above, it is not obvious that the burnt offering is about atonement, but not about just atonement in general. The burnt offering if for a specific violation of a Law in the Torah that has been committed. Which makes one wonder...would it only be for violations committed unintentionally? I have somewhere gotten the opinion that these offerings only "cured" unintentional sin, and that intentional sin could not be put away...But maybe instead it is the once/year offerings that the priest makes on the Day of Atonement that are about the intentional sins. And the punishment for those CANNOT be atoned for by the blood of animals, but could only be put on hold until Jesus paid for them? That makes sense to me, but I don't know if that's right.
2024 - I also note this year for the first time that in the JSB, instead of "flay" in vs 6, it says "skin". That is, the burnt offering was skinned before it was burned, so no hair burning...or maybe the hair was burned separately. If not burned, where did all those skins go? We are never told about that. What does "flay" mean though? Merriam Webster says it is "to strip off the skin or surface of". So it always meant "skin". I reread it...and it is not clear to me whether the skin was also burnt. Why skin it if you were going to burn it anyway?
2024 - In Chapter 7 we learn that the hide belongs to the priest who offers the burnt offering. The priest gets the hide.
2024 - From the flock, it does not say it is to be flayed, but is specific that it is to be killed on the north side of the altar. It didn't say that from the herd. In fact, from the herd was to be killed at the entrance to the tent of meeting. Are the procedures different, or do we need to sort of "mesh" all the rules together? Did a little more research...The north side of the altar is just really not the same place as the entrance to the tent of meeting. I don't know why they are different, but they certainly seem to be. So I would also say that from the flock is not flayed first.
Burnt offerings for atonement were males without blemish. The one making the offering laid his hand on the head of the animal to be sacrificed, and the one offering the sacrifice personally killed the bull. I am sure this would make the whole thing seriously more personal. The blood was "caught", and thrown against the side of the altar. The offering was then cut up, entrails and legs washed first, and the entire animal burnt on the altar.
This verse:
9 but its entrails and its legs he shall wash with water. And the priest shall burn all of it on the altar, as a burnt offering, a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the LORD. [Lev 1:9 ESV]
Parts of it had to be washed. Likely this has something to do with purity and cleanliness in worship. There is an MSB note that makes "food offering" equivalent with "an offering by fire". The second meaning makes better sense to me, though the symbolism may be that we would not offer uncooked food to God.
Lambs, goats, and pigeons could also be offered as burnt offerings. The handling of each is a little bit different, but all were acceptable, perhaps reflecting the finances available to the penitent, but maybe just a reflection of the attitude of the one making the offering.