Leviticus Chapter 7 — Laws of Offerings and Priestly Portions
This chapter details instructions for the trespass and peace offerings, specifically outlining which portions are reserved for the priests and forbidding the consumption of fat and blood.
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Notable Verses
Leviticus 7:26
“You shall not eat any blood, whether it is of bird or of animal, in any of your dwellings.”
This verse establishes a fundamental and strict dietary restriction that is central to the biblical laws regarding the sanctity of life.
Leviticus 7:37
“This is the law of the burnt offering, the meal offering, the sin offering, the trespass offering, the consecration, and the sacrifice of peace offerings”
It provides a concise summary of the entire sacrificial system described in the opening chapters of Leviticus.
Chapter Summary
Leviticus 7 provides additional regulations for the sacrificial system, focusing on the trespass offering and the peace offering. It explains that the fat of the trespass offering belongs to the LORD, while the meat is reserved for the priests to eat in a holy place. The chapter further distinguishes between different types of peace offerings—thanksgiving, vows, and freewill offerings—specifying the timeframe within which the meat must be eaten. Strict prohibitions are given regarding the consumption of fat and blood, with the penalty of being cut off from the community for violators. Finally, the text identifies the wave breast and the heave thigh as the specific portions of the peace offerings granted to Aaron and his sons as their permanent share. The chapter concludes by summarizing that these laws were given to Moses on Mount Sinai as a comprehensive system for Israel's offerings in the wilderness.
Frequently Asked Questions
The text identifies three categories: the thanksgiving offering, the vow offering, and the freewill offering. They differed primarily in the time allowed for eating the sacrifice, with the thanksgiving offering required to be consumed on the same day it was offered.
The fat of animals offered by fire was reserved as an offering to the LORD, and the blood was considered sacred. Violating these rules resulted in being 'cut off' from the people, emphasizing the holiness of these specific components.
The priests were specifically assigned the breast, which was waved as a 'wave offering,' and the right thigh, which was presented as a 'heave offering.' These portions were a permanent inheritance for Aaron and his descendants.
Study Note
The distinction between the 'wave offering' and 'heave offering' refers to the specific physical motions the priest made with the meat to symbolize its presentation to God and its subsequent return to the priest for food.
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