Leviticus 1-2
12 Jul 2026 - Theology
A Kingdom of Priests
Leviticus 1:1-2 - “And the Lord called unto Moses, and spake unto him out of the tabernacle of the congregation, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel…”
In other ancient religions, such as ancient Egypt, priests kept their laws and rituals secret from the people, and thus they were thought by the people to have magic powers. But here in Leviticus, the Lord commands Moses to speak to all the Israelite people. The priestly laws are given to all of us.
Exodus 19:6 - “And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.”
All people of Israel are to be a “kingdom of priests”. This does not say that Israel is to be a kingdom that has priests, but a kingdom of priests - meaning the entire kingdom is meant to be priests.
The usual Hebrew word for “sacrifice” is korban, meaning “approaching” or “drawing closer to”. While the world was created by God as a place for humans to dwell, the people of Israel created the Tabernacle so they would know that God dwelt among them. In the word korban we get a better sense of the reason for sacrifices in ancient Israel. We can understand the idea of sacrifice as a way of “approaching” or “drawing closer to” the Lord.
Leviticus 1
This first chapter of Leviticus details the types of burnt offerings that people would sacrifice before the Lord. Bernard Bamberger (1904-1980), a modern commentator, notes that ancient people thought the gods lived not by eating the food offered to them, but by inhaling it.
There are a few types of burnt offering listed here in Leviticus 1:
Leviticus 1:3 - “If his offering be a burnt sacrifice of the herd…”
Leviticus 1:10 - “And if his offering be of the flocks, namely, of the sheep, or of the goats…”
Leviticus 1:14 - “And if the burnt sacrifice for his offering to the Lord be of fowls…”
These three groups of sacrifices are all to be “a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord.” (9,13,17)
Israelites often brought a burnt-offering when they thought they had sinned and wanted to atone, so it was usually voluntary. The rich brought bulls, rams, or male goats, while the people who were poor could bring turtledoves or young pigeons. The sages of the Talmud say, “Whether you offer much [a bull or ram] or little [a pigeon or a turtledove] makes no difference, if only your heart is turned toward God.”
Leviticus 2
This chapter regards the meal-offering, which the King James Version (KJV) translates as “meat offering” because, when the translation was completed in 1611, the English word “meat” referred to food in general, not specifically animal flesh.
This meal-offering was grain or flour mixed with oil and salt and sometimes sprinkled with frankincense (to make a more pleasant aroma).
Leviticus 2:11 - “No meat offering, which ye shall bring unto the Lord, shall be made with leaven: for ye shall burn no leaven, nor any honey, in any offering of the Lord made by fire.”
The Torah says that the Lord wishes no leaven on the altar. Leaven is anything like yeast that causes flour to rise.
All throughout the year, the Jewish people eat bread made with leaven. But one week each year, during Passover, they remove all leaven from their homes and eat only matzah, unleavened bread. This stems from a command of the Lord during Passover:
Exodus 12:15 - “Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread; even the first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses: for whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel.”
By removing anything with leaven during Passover, the Jewish people aim to make their homes holy the way the Lord’s altar is holy (as here in Leviticus).
The Lord also commands here in Leviticus that every meal-offering be offered with salt. Salt helps to preserve foods, and was used in almost everything that was eaten.
Leviticus 2:13 - “And every oblation of thy meat offering shalt thou season with salt; neither shalt thou suffer the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meat offering: with all thine offerings thou shalt offer salt.”
References
- The Hebrew - Greek Key Study Bible (KJV Version)
- The Torah Portion-by-Portion by Rabbi Seymour Rossel (2007)