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Leviticus 3

1

And if his oblation be a sacrifice of peace offering, if he offer it of the herd; whether it be a male or female, he shall offer it without blemish before the Lord.

2

And he shall lay his hand upon the head of his offering, and kill it at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and Aaron’s sons the priests shall sprinkle the blood upon the altar round about.

1
3

And he shall offer of the sacrifice of the peace offering an offering made by fire unto the Lord; the fat that covereth the inwards, and all the fat that is upon the inwards,

4

And the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which is by the flanks, and the caul above the liver, with the kidneys, it shall he take away.

1
5

And Aaron’s sons shall burn it on the altar upon the burnt sacrifice, which is upon the wood that is on the fire: it is an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord.

6

And if his offering for a sacrifice of peace offering unto the Lord be of the flock; male or female, he shall offer it without blemish.

7

If he offer a lamb for his offering, then shall he offer it before the Lord.

8

And he shall lay his hand upon the head of his offering, and kill it before the tabernacle of the congregation: and Aaron’s sons shall sprinkle the blood thereof round about upon the altar.

9

And he shall offer of the sacrifice of the peace offering an offering made by fire unto the Lord; the fat thereof, and the whole rump, it shall he take off hard by the backbone; and the fat that covereth the inwards, and all the fat that is upon the inwards,

1
10

And the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, which is by the flanks, and the caul above the liver, with the kidneys, it shall he take away.

1
11

And the priest shall burn it upon the altar: it is the food of the offering made by fire unto the Lord.

12

And if his offering be a goat, then he shall offer it before the Lord.

13

And he shall lay his hand upon the head of it, and kill it before the tabernacle of the congregation: and the sons of Aaron shall sprinkle the blood thereof upon the altar round about.

14

And he shall offer thereof his offering, even an offering made by fire unto the Lord; the fat that covereth the inwards, and all the fat that is upon the inwards,

15

And the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, which is by the flanks, and the caul above the liver, with the kidneys, it shall he take away.

16

And the priest shall burn them upon the altar: it is the food of the offering made by fire for a sweet savour: all the fat is the Lord’s.

17

It shall be a perpetual statute for your generations throughout all your dwellings, that ye eat neither fat nor blood.

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Leviticus 3

The fellowship offering (shelem, from shalom) is the covenant's most communal offering: unlike the burnt offering that is entirely consumed, the fellowship offering creates a shared meal among God, the priests, and the worshipping household. Cattle, sheep, or goats — male or female — may be offered, making this the most inclusive of the major offerings. In every case the procedure is the same: hand-laying, slaughter, blood-splash on the altar, and the burning of the fat portions and inner organs on God's behalf. The chapter closes with the absolute declaration that all the fat is the Lord's, paired with the prohibition on eating fat or blood — both substances belong to God as the richest portion (fat) and the life-substance (blood) of every animal. The fellowship offering's shared meal is the liturgical form of the covenant relationship: God and His people at table together, each receiving their portion.

Leviticus 3:1

If someone's offering is a fellowship offering, and they offer an animal from the herd, whether male or female, they are to present before the Lord an animal without defect. The fellowship offering — shelem, from the root shalom, peace or wholeness — is the offering of covenant communion: the animal is partly burned on the altar for God, partly given to the priests, and partly eaten by the offerer and their household. Unlike the burnt offering that is entirely consumed, the fellowship offering creates a shared meal. The male-or-female specification (unlike the burnt offering's male-only requirement) and the without defect standard establish the range and the quality of what is acceptable for covenant communion.

Leviticus 3:2

You are to lay your hand on the head of your offering and slaughter it at the entrance to the tent of meeting. Then Aaron's sons the priests shall splash the blood against the sides of the altar. The hand-laying and slaughter at the tent's entrance follow the same pattern as the burnt offering. The offerer identifies with the animal, kills it, and the priests apply the blood to the altar. The blood application that is common to all the major offerings communicates the consistent principle: every approach to God through sacrifice is mediated by blood. Hebrews 9:18–22 says almost everything is cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness — the blood-splash of Leviticus 3:2 is a specific instance of the universal principle.

Leviticus 3:3

From the fellowship offering you are to bring a food offering to the Lord: the fat that covers the internal organs and all the fat that is connected to them. The fat — the rich, visceral covering of the internal organs — is the portion of the fellowship offering that belongs exclusively to God and is burned on the altar. The fat that covers and connects the internal organs is the body's reserve of richness and energy. Designating this fat as God's portion communicates that the richest, most vital part of what the animal contains belongs to the God who is the source of all richness and vitality. Deuteronomy 32:14 describes God feeding Israel with the fat of the land — the fat that Israel returns to God on the altar is from the same abundance God gave.

Leviticus 3:4

Both kidneys with the fat on them near the loins, and the long lobe of the liver, which you are to remove with the kidneys. The kidneys and the liver lobe — the organs most associated with the body's vital functions and, in ancient thought, with emotion and inner life — are included in God's portion along with their surrounding fat. The kidneys were considered the seat of the deepest emotions in Hebrew thought; Psalm 7:9 says God examines minds and hearts (literally kidneys and heart). The offering of the kidneys to God is the offering of the seat of the inner life. The fat on the kidneys near the loins — the body's most energy-rich deposit — is the richest portion of the richest organs.

Leviticus 3:5

Then Aaron's sons are to burn it on the altar on top of the burnt offering that is on the burning wood, as a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord. The fat portions of the fellowship offering are burned on top of the burnt offering already on the altar — the two offerings are layered, the fellowship offering's fat added to what the burnt offering has already begun. The fellowship offering does not stand alone but is added to the burnt offering's fire. The layering communicates a theological relationship: the total consecration of the burnt offering provides the foundation on which the covenant fellowship of the peace offering is built. Access to God's fellowship requires the total offering that the burnt offering represents.

Leviticus 3:6

If you offer an animal from the flock as a fellowship offering to the Lord, you are to offer a male or female without defect. The fellowship offering from the flock — sheep or goats — follows the same pattern as the herd offering: male or female, without defect. The extension of the fellowship offering to the flock democratizes the covenant meal: not only those wealthy enough to own cattle but those with only a small flock can participate in the shared meal that the fellowship offering creates. The fellowship that the shelem establishes between the offerer and God is available at every economic level of the covenant community.

Leviticus 3:7

If you offer a lamb, you are to present it before the Lord. The specific mention of the lamb as a category within the flock offering prepares for the distinct regulations that follow. The lamb is the most common sacrificial animal throughout the Levitical system — the daily burnt offering uses two lambs, the Passover lamb is a lamb, and the lamb becomes the primary sacrificial metaphor of Scripture. John 1:29 records John the Baptist identifying Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world — the lamb presented before the Lord in the fellowship offering is among the many types of the one final Lamb.

Leviticus 3:8

You are to lay your hand on its head and slaughter it in front of the tent of meeting. Then Aaron's sons shall splash its blood against the sides of the altar. The hand-laying, slaughter, and blood-splash for the lamb follow the pattern established for every sacrifice: the offerer identifies, kills, and the priests apply the blood. The consistency of the ritual pattern across the different animals communicates the consistency of the theological principle: every sacrifice, regardless of the species, mediates covenant relationship through the same acts of identification, death, and blood application. The pattern is the covenant's grammar.

Leviticus 3:9

From the fellowship offering you are to bring a food offering to the Lord: its fat, the entire fat tail cut off close to the backbone, the fat that covers the internal organs and all the fat that is connected to them. The lamb's fat portions include the entire fat tail — a distinctive feature of the broad-tailed sheep that were common in the ancient Near East, whose fat tail was a significant portion of the animal's rich fat reserves. The fat tail cut off close to the backbone is entirely God's portion. The comprehensiveness of the fat portions given to God communicates the completeness of what is rendered: no significant fat reserve is retained by the offerer; the richest portions go to the Lord.

Leviticus 3:10

Both kidneys with the fat on them near the loins, and the long lobe of the liver, which you are to remove with the kidneys. The kidneys and liver lobe for the lamb follow the same specification as for the cattle offering in verse 4. The consistency of the organ-fat offering across different animals communicates the consistency of the principle: the inner organs that represent the seat of the inner life, with their surrounding fat, belong to God in every fellowship offering. What the offerer brings from the herd or from the flock follows the same principle: the richest and most vital portions belong to the God who gave the animal its life.

Leviticus 3:11

The priest is to burn them on the altar as a food offering presented to the Lord. The fat portions of the lamb fellowship offering are burned on the altar as food presented to the Lord. The anthropomorphic language of food presented to the Lord — used throughout the offerings section — communicates that the sacrificial system is a real exchange: Israel gives; God receives. The God who does not need food nonetheless designates certain portions as His food, communicating that He genuinely receives what His people present. The covenant relationship is a relationship of genuine mutual engagement, not a one-way performance.

Leviticus 3:12

If your offering is a goat, you are to present it before the Lord. The goat is the third option within the fellowship offering from the flock. The goat was a common and economically significant animal in ancient Israel — used for meat, milk, and skin. Including the goat alongside the sheep ensures that both primary flock animals are available for the fellowship offering. The range of acceptable animals for the fellowship offering (cattle, sheep, goat — male or female for each) is the widest of any of the major offerings, reflecting the fellowship offering's character as the most community-inclusive of the sacrificial acts.

Leviticus 3:13

You are to lay your hand on its head and slaughter it in front of the tent of meeting. Then Aaron's sons shall splash its blood against the sides of the altar. The hand-laying, slaughter, and blood-splash for the goat repeat the established pattern for the third time within the fellowship offering regulations. The triple repetition across cattle, lamb, and goat is not literary redundancy but legal thoroughness: each animal's regulation is stated completely so that there is no ambiguity about what is required for each species. The thoroughness mirrors the thoroughness of the covenant itself — every situation addressed, every species specified.

Leviticus 3:14

From what you offer you are to present this food offering to the Lord: the fat that covers the internal organs and all the fat that is connected to them. The fat that covers the internal organs of the goat — identical to the specification for the cattle in verse 3 — is God's portion of the goat fellowship offering. The same richest portions of the same organs are designated God's food in the same words for the goat as for the cattle and the lamb. The repetition communicates the consistent claim: wherever the fat of the vital organs is found in a fellowship offering, it belongs to God. The principle is not species-specific but universal within the offering system.

Leviticus 3:15

Both kidneys with the fat on them near the loins, and the long lobe of the liver, which you are to remove with the kidneys. The kidneys and liver lobe of the goat are specified identically to those of the cattle and the lamb. The three-fold repetition of the same organ-fat specification across the three fellowship offering animals is the Levitical system's way of establishing an unambiguous standard: anyone offering any fellowship offering from any animal knows exactly which portions belong to God and which to the priests and the offerer.

Leviticus 3:16

The priest is to burn them on the altar as a food offering, a pleasing aroma. All the fat is the Lord's. The declaration all the fat is the Lord's is the theological summary of the entire fellowship offering fat-portion system. Not some of the fat, not most of the fat, but all the fat belongs to God. The three animal categories are completed, and the underlying principle is stated as a universal claim. Ezekiel 44:15 describes the faithful Levitical priests who continued to offer the fat and the blood — the fat and blood that belong to the Lord are the two substances that define the covenant's sacrificial offering.

Leviticus 3:17

This is a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live: you must not eat any fat or any blood. The absolute prohibition on eating fat or blood is declared a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live — not only in the land of promise but in every location where Israel lives. The two substances prohibited — fat and blood — are the two substances given to God in the sacrificial system: the fat burned on the altar and the blood splashed on the altar's sides. By prohibiting the eating of fat and blood, the ordinance maintains the exclusive divine ownership of the two substances that represent the richness and the life of the animal. Leviticus 17:14 grounds the blood prohibition in the principle that the life of every creature is its blood.