The Pulpit Commentary — Leviticus — Section 21

3. The offerings of the holy women. In this case again we seem merely to have an .tn&tance or a class of presentations capable or infinite I epetition by BeCtions of Jewish Bociety. These holy women "served at the door of the tabernacle" (Exod. xxxviii. 8; 1 Sam. ii. 22), not aBBisting, of course, in any of the ritual prescribed for the priests or Levites, but abiding apparently in a holy ministration of prayer and praise, fasting and sacrifice, like the saintly daughter of Pbanuel; at least, such ie the interpretation ol these holy attendants suggested by the Septuagint, the Targum of Onkelos, Jerome, and many rabbis, as shown by Munster and Fagiue in the 'Critici Sacri.' III. THE PERSONAL OFFERmos. These are divisible into two classes-the blood and I.he bloodless sacrifices, the former including the burnt offerings, the peace offerings, the sin and the trespass offerings ; and the latter including the meat, or the meal, offerings, as they are better termed, the libations, the offerings of oil and incense, and a variety of oblations, such as the redemption moneys for every Israelite, the tithes, the firstlings, and the vows. Of these two classes in order ; certain modifications of the blood and bloodless sacrifices under special circumstances may then be appended. 1. The blood sacrifices. The burnt offerings. Two points call for notice, namely, the injunctions concerning the victims to be slain, and those concerning the ritual to be observed in slaying. The victims varied with the wealth of the offerers. If the offerer was poor, a turtle-dove or pigeon sufficed to neutralize the command not "to appear before the Lord empty," and in the presentation of this humblest offering the officiating priest simply cleaned the birds and burnt them upon the accustomed altar. Richer offerings were such as an ox, a ram, or a goat, in the transformation of either of which into a sweet savour a more elaborate ritual was observed. This ritual ie described at length because it was adopted in all burnt offerings, whether national, official, or personal. "The victim was brought to the altar by the offerer, who then forcibly laid his hand upon the animal's head, and slaughtered it upon the north side. In the act of slaughtering, the blood was caught by the priest and swung against the four walls of the altar. The offerer then flayed the slaughtered animal, divided it, cleansed the intestines and the lower parts of the legs ; whereupon the officiating priest, appropriating the skin, placed the several parts, with the head and fat, in order upon the wood, which had been previously arranged upon the ever-burning fire, and the whole sacrifice rose 'as an offering of fire of a sweet savour unto Jehovah.'" A meal offering and a drink offering always accompanied this form of sacrifice (comp. eh. i.). The peace offerings. In this case also emphasis must be laid upon the victims and the mode. With respect to the former, it might be a bull, a cow or a calf, a ram, a sheep or a lamb, a be-goat or a ehe-goat, the selection being regulated by the purse and the inclination of the offerer. As for the ritual, which mutatis mutandis was also observed in all the varieties of the peace offering, national, official, or individual, it in part resembled and in part differed from that of the burnt offering. "The victim having been brought to the altar, the offerer laid his band upon its head, slaughtered it (but apparently not on the north side)-tbe priest meanwhile catching the blood and sprinkling it upon the altar-flayed, divided, and cleansed it. The course subse- ,quently followed was essentially different from that employed for the burnt offering. Instead of burning the animal entire, the offerer detached all the separable portious of fat, such as the flare, and that in which the intestines, kidneys, and liver are embedded; and in the case of sheep severed the fat tail; these portions were then burnt with the daily burnt offering. The breast was afterwards 'waved' by a kind of horizontal movement, and given to the Aaronites, and the right leg was lifted or 'hoaved off' as a gift to the officiating priest. The remains of the carcase were carried away by the offerer, and a meal made of it in the sacred rrecincts of the taberoocle. x TIIE LEVITTCAL SACRIFICES LITERALLY CONSIDERED.