32 And the right leg you are to give to the priest for an offering to be lifted up out of what is given for your peace-offerings.
For the breast which is waved and the right leg which is lifted up on high I have taken from the children of Israel, from their peace-offerings, and have given them to Aaron the priest and to his sons as their right for ever from the children of Israel.
And Aaron took the breasts and the right leg, waving them for a wave offering before the Lord, as Moses gave orders.
And he took the fat, and the fat tail, and the fat on the inside parts, and the fat on the liver, and the two kidneys with their fat, and the right leg; And out of the basket of unleavened bread which was before the Lord he took one unleavened cake, and one cake of bread with oil on it, and one thin cake, and put them on the fat and on the right leg:
And the breast which is waved and the leg which is lifted up on high, you are to take as your food in a clean place; you and your sons and your daughters with you: for they are given to you as your right and your sons' right, from the peace-offerings of the children of Israel.
Their flesh is to be yours; like the breast of the wave offering and the right leg, it is to be yours. All the lifted offerings of the holy things which the children of Israel give to the Lord, I have given to you and to your sons and to your daughters as a right for ever. This is an agreement made with salt before the Lord, to you and to your seed for ever.
And this is to be the priests' right: those who make an offering of a sheep or an ox are to give to the priest the top part of the leg and the two sides of the head and the stomach.
Do you not see that the servants of the holy things get their living from the Temple, and the servants of the altar have their part in the food which is offered on the altar? Even so did the Lord give orders that the preachers of the good news might get their living from the good news.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Leviticus 7
Commentary on Leviticus 7 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 7
Le 7:1-27. The Law of the Trespass Offering.
1. Likewise this is the law of the trespass offering—This chapter is a continuation of the laws that were to regulate the duty of the priests respecting the trespass offerings. The same regulations obtained in this case as in the burnt offerings—part was to be consumed on the altar, while the other part was a perquisite of the priests—some fell exclusively to the officiating minister, and was the fee for his services; others were the common share of all the priestly order, who lived upon them as their provision, and whose meetings at a common table would tend to promote brotherly harmony and friendship.
8. the priest shall have to himself the skin of the burnt offering which he hath offered—All the flesh and the fat of the burnt offerings being consumed, nothing remained to the priest but the skin. It has been thought that this was a patriarchal usage, incorporated with the Mosaic law, and that the right of the sacrificer to the skin of the victim was transmitted from the example of Adam (see on Ge 3:21).
11-14. this is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings—Besides the usual accompaniments of other sacrifices, leavened bread was offered with the peace offerings, as a thanksgiving, such bread being common at feasts.
15-17. the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offerings … shall be eaten the same day that it is offered—The flesh of the sacrifices was eaten on the day of the offering or on the day following. But if any part of it remained till the third day, it was, instead of being made use of, to be burned with fire. In the East, butcher-meat is generally eaten the day it is killed, and it is rarely kept a second day, so that as a prohibition was issued against any of the flesh in the peace offerings being used on the third day, it has been thought, not without reason, that this injunction must have been given to prevent a superstitious notion arising that there was some virtue or holiness belonging to it.
18. if any of the flesh of the sacrifice … be eaten at all on the third day, it shall not be accepted, neither … imputed—The sacrifice will not be acceptable to God nor profitable to him that offers it.
20. cut off from his people—that is, excluded from the privileges of an Israelite—lie under a sentence of excommunication.
21. abominable unclean thing—Some copies of the Bible read, "any reptile."
22-27. Ye shall eat no manner of fat—(See on Le 3:17).
Le 7:28-38. The Priests' Portion.
29-34. He that offereth the sacrifice of his peace offerings unto the Lord—In order to show that the sacrifice was voluntary, the offerer was required to bring it with his own hands to the priest. The breast having been waved to and fro in a solemn manner as devoted to God, was given to the priests; it was assigned to the use of their order generally, but the right shoulder was the perquisite of the officiating priest.
35-38. This is the portion of the anointing of Aaron—These verses contain a general summing up of the laws which regulate the privileges and duties of the priests. The word "anointing" is often used as synonymous with "office" or "dignity." So that the "portion of the anointing of Aaron" probably means the provision made for the maintenance of the high priest and the numerous body of functionaries which composed the sacerdotal order.
in the day when he presented them to minister unto the Lord, &c.—that is, from the day they approached the Lord in the duties of their ministry.