Leviticus 1:12
Ver. 12. And he shall cut it into his pieces, with his head and his fat,.... Or "his body", as the Targum of Jonathan; this was to be cut in pieces in the same manner as the bullock, See Gill on "Le 1:6":
and the priest shall lay them in order on the wood that [is] on the fire, which is on the altar; See Gill on "Le 1:8". Leviticus 1:13Ver. 13. But he shall wash the inwards and the legs with water,.... As he did the bullock, Le 1:9:and the priest shall bring [it] all: all the parts to the ascent of the altar, as the Jews {i} interpret it; all the parts and pieces of it, even the very wool on the sheep's head, and the hair on the goat's beard, their bones, sinews, and horns, and hoofs {k}, all were burnt, as it follows:and burn [it] on the altar, it [is] a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord;See Gill on "Le 1:9".{i} T. Bab. Pesachim, fol. 65. 2. & Yoma, fol. 27. 1. Chagigah, fol. 11. 1. {k} Misn. Zebachim, c. 9. sect. 5. Maimon. Hilchot Hakorbanot, c. 6. sect. 2. Leviticus 1:14Ver. 14. And if the burnt sacrifice for his offering to the Lord be of fowls,.... As it might be for the poorer sort, who could not offer a bullock, nor a sheep, or a lamb, Le 5:7:then he shall bring his offering of turtledoves, or of young pigeons; the Jewish writers all agree, that the turtles should be old, and not young, as the pigeons young, and not old; so the Targum of Jonathan, Jarchi, Aben Ezra and Gersom {l}; the latter gives two reasons for it, because then they are the choicest and easiest to be found and taken: no mention is made of their being male or female, either would do, or of their being perfect and unblemished, as in the other burnt offerings; but if any part was wanting, it was not fit for sacrifice, as Maimonides {m} observes. These creatures were proper emblems of Christ, and therefore used in sacrifice, whose voice is compared to the turtle's, and his eyes to the eyes of doves, So 2:12 and who is fitly represented by them for his meekness and humility, for his chaste and strong affection to his church, as the turtledove to its mate, and for those dove like graces of the Spirit which are in him.{l} Vid. T. Bab. Cholin, fol. 22. 1, 2. {m} Issure Mizbeach, c. 3. sect. 1, 2. Vid. Misn. Zebachim, c. 7. sect. 5. & Maimon. & Bartenora, in ib. Leviticus 1:15Ver. 15. And the priest shall bring it unto the altar,.... The southeast horn of it; near which was the place of the ashes, into which the crop and its feathers were cast {n}:and wring off his head; by twisting it back as it should seem; the word used is only to be found here, and in Le 5:8 the Jews say, it signifies to cut with the nail, and that the priest did this, not with a knife or any other instrument, but with his nail; so Jarchi and Gersom on the place observe: some think he only let out the blood this way, but did not separate the head from the body, which seems to be favoured by Le 5:8 though Maimonides and Bartenora {o} conclude the reverse from the same place; and that the meaning is, that he should cut off the head and divide it asunder at the time he cuts with the nail: the manner of cutting with the nail was this {p}, the priest held both the feet of the bird with his two fingers of his left hand, and the wings between two other fingers, and the bird upon the back of his hand, that it might not be within the palm of it; then he stretches out its neck upon the thumb about two fingers' breadth, and cuts it over against the neck with his nail, and this is one of the hardest services in the sanctuary:and burn [it] on the altar; that is, the head, after squeezing out the blood, and rubbing it with salt:and the blood thereof shall be wrung out at the side of the altar: or "the wall" of it: this, though mentioned last, must be done before, and immediately upon the wringing of the head, and between that and the burning it on the altar: this wringing off the head, and wringing out the blood, denote violence, and show that Christ's death, which this was a type of, was a violent one; the Jews laid violent hands upon him, and pursued his life in a violent manner, were very pressing to have it taken away, and his life was taken away in such a manner by men, though not without his Father's secret will, and his own consent.{n} Misn. Zebachim, c. 6. sect. 5. & Bartenora in ib. {o} In Misn. ib. {p} Maimon. in Misn. ib. sect. 4. & Bartenora. in ib. Leviticus 1:16Ver. 16. And he shall pluck away his crop with his feathers,.... Or "with its meat", or "dung", as Onkelos renders it, meaning that which was in its crop; and so the Jerusalem Targum interprets it, "with its dung"; and Jonathan's paraphrase is, "with its collection", or what was gathered together in the crop; it includes the entrails, as Gersom observes:and cast it beside the altar on the east part, by the place of the ashes; where the ashes of the burnt offering were put every day, and every time such an offering was made; and all this answered to the washing of the inwards, and legs of the other burnt offerings, and signified the same thing, the cleanness and purity of Christ, and of his people by him. Leviticus 1:17Ver. 17. And he shall cleave it with the wings thereof,.... One wing being on one side, and the other on the other side:but shall not divide it asunder; the body of the bird, though it was cleaved down in the middle, yet not parted asunder, nor any of its wings separated from it; the Targum of Jonathan paraphrases it, "but shall not separate its wings from it"; this denoted, that though, by the death of Christ, his soul and body were separated from each other, yet the human nature was not separated from his divine Person, the personal union between the two natures still continuing; nor was he divided from his divine Father, though he was forsaken by him, yet still in union with him as the Son of God; nor from the divine Spirit, by which he offered up himself to God, and by which he was quickened; nor from his church and people, for whom he suffered, they being united to him as members to their head:and the priest shall burn it upon the altar, upon the wood that is upon the fire; in like manner as the ox, sheep, or goat were burnt: according to the Misnah, the priest went up the ascent (of the altar) and turned round about the circuit; when he came to the southeast horn, he cut its head (or nipped it) with his nail, over against its neck, and divided it, and squeezed out its blood by the wall of the altar, and turned the part nipped to the altar, and struck it at it, and rubbed it with salt, and cast it upon the fires; then he went to the body and removed the crop and its feathers (or dung) and the entrails that came out along with it, and threw them into the place of ashes; he cleaved but did not divide asunder, but if he divided it was right, then he rubbed it with salt, and cast it upon the fires {q}:it is a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord; See Gill on "Le 1:9" so with the Heathens, to the gods of the air they sacrificed fowls for burnt offerings {r}.{q} Misn. Zebachim, c. 6. sect. 5. {r} Porphyr. apud Euseb. Praepar. Evangel. l. 4. c. 9. p. 146. Vid. Maoreb. Saturnal. l. 3. c. 8.
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.