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Leviticus 7

Leviticus 7 sets the terms for holy offerings, shared meals, and priestly portions under YHWH’s command.

YHWH gives Moses rules for Israel’s offerings, specifying how priests handle the trespass offering and how peace offerings are shared and eaten. Thanksgiving sacrifices have a shorter eating period than offerings made for a vow or of free will. The instructions forbid eating certain fat and any blood, set purity requirements for sacrificial meals, and assign portions to Aaron and his sons. The closing verses identify these laws as commands given at Sinai.

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1“‘This is the law of the trespass offering: It is most holy.
2In the place where they kill the burnt offering, he shall kill the trespass offering; and its blood he shall sprinkle around on the altar.
3He shall offer all of its fat: the fat tail, and the fat that covers the innards,
5and the priest shall burn them on the altar for an offering made by fire to the LORD: it is a trespass offering.
6Every male among the priests may eat of it. It shall be eaten in a holy place. It is most holy.
7“‘As is the sin offering, so is the trespass offering; there is one law for them. The priest who makes atonement with them shall have it.
8The priest who offers any man’s burnt offering shall have for himself the skin of the burnt offering which he has offered.
9Every meal offering that is baked in the oven, and all that is prepared in the pan and on the griddle, shall be the priest’s who offers it.
10Every meal offering, mixed with oil or dry, belongs to all the sons of Aaron, one as well as another.
11“‘This is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings, which one shall offer to the LORD:
12If he offers it for a thanksgiving, then he shall offer with the sacrifice of thanksgiving unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil, and cakes mixed with oil.
13He shall offer his offering with the sacrifice of his peace offerings for thanksgiving with cakes of leavened bread.
14Of it he shall offer one out of each offering for a heave offering to the LORD. It shall be the priest’s who sprinkles the blood of the peace offerings.
15The flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offerings for thanksgiving shall be eaten on the day of his offering. He shall not leave any of it until the morning.
16“‘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 the next day what remains of it shall be eaten,
17but what remains of the meat of the sacrifice on the third day shall be burned with fire.
18If any of the meat of the sacrifice of his peace offerings is eaten on the third day, it will not be accepted, and it shall not be credited to him who offers it. It will be an abomination, and the soul who eats any of it will bear his iniquity.
19“‘The meat that touches any unclean thing shall not be eaten. It shall be burned with fire. As for the meat, everyone who is clean may eat it;
20but the soul who eats of the meat of the sacrifice of peace offerings that belongs to the LORD, having his uncleanness on him, that soul shall be cut off from his people.
21When anyone touches any unclean thing, the uncleanness of man, or an unclean animal, or any unclean abomination, and eats some of the meat of the sacrifice of peace offerings which belong to the LORD, that soul shall be cut off from his people.’”
23“Speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘You shall eat no fat, of bull, or sheep, or goat.
24The fat of that which dies of itself, and the fat of that which is torn of animals, may be used for any other service, but you shall in no way eat of it.
25For whoever eats the fat of the animal which men offer as an offering made by fire to the LORD, even the soul who eats it shall be cut off from his people.
26You shall not eat any blood, whether it is of bird or of animal, in any of your dwellings.
27Whoever it is who eats any blood, that soul shall be cut off from his people.’”
29“Speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘He who offers the sacrifice of his peace offerings to the LORD shall bring his offering to the LORD out of the sacrifice of his peace offerings.
30With his own hands he shall bring the offerings of the LORD made by fire. He shall bring the fat with the breast, that the breast may be waved for a wave offering before the LORD.
31The priest shall burn the fat on the altar, but the breast shall be Aaron’s and his sons’.
32The right thigh you shall give to the priest for a heave offering out of the sacrifices of your peace offerings.
33He among the sons of Aaron who offers the blood of the peace offerings, and the fat, shall have the right thigh for a portion.
34For the waved breast and the heaved thigh I have taken from the children of Israel out of the sacrifices of their peace offerings, and have given them to Aaron the priest and to his sons as their portion forever from the children of Israel.’”
35This is the consecrated portion of Aaron, and the consecrated portion of his sons, out of the offerings of the LORD made by fire, in the day when he presented them to minister to the LORD in the priest’s office;
36which the LORD commanded to be given them of the children of Israel, in the day that he anointed them. It is their portion forever throughout their generations.
37This is the law of the burnt offering, the meal offering, the sin offering, the trespass offering, the consecration, and the sacrifice of peace offerings
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Key verses
Leviticus 7:6The trespass offering’s holiness governs who may eat it and requires that the meal take place in a holy place.
Leviticus 7:11This verse introduces the peace offering regulations, where shared eating remains subject to YHWH’s requirements.
Leviticus 7:12Thanksgiving takes a prescribed form, with bread accompanying the sacrifice and further rules governing its distribution and eating.
Where this chapter reaches

Exodus and Numbers share instructions about sacrifices and the portions assigned to Aaron’s priesthood, linking worship with provision for those who serve at the altar. 1 Corinthians also refers to Israel’s sacrificial meals and to altar service as a source of food for those serving.

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After reading the whole chapter

What stands out about thanksgiving taking the form of a shared meal with strict limits?

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How do the portions assigned to the altar, priests, and worshipers shape your understanding of these offerings?

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Questions people ask about Leviticus 7

What is a peace offering in Leviticus 7?

A peace offering is a sacrifice brought to YHWH that includes a shared meal. This chapter distinguishes thanksgiving offerings from those made for a vow or of free will. Fat is burned on the altar, designated portions go to the priests, and those who are clean may eat the meat.

Why did the thanksgiving offering have to be eaten the same day?

The chapter commands same-day eating for thanksgiving sacrifices, while allowing meat from vow or free will offerings to remain until the next day. It does not explain the reason for that difference. The deadlines govern the sacred meal, and eating meat on the third day makes the offering unacceptable.

What does being cut off mean in Leviticus 7?

Being cut off is the stated penalty for eating sacrificial meat while unclean, eating forbidden fat, or consuming blood. The phrase concerns a person’s place among the people of Israel. This chapter does not specify how the penalty is carried out or whether it means expulsion, death, or another form of divine judgment.

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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).