Leviticus 3

Chapters 1–7 of Leviticus contain a series of regulations on sacrifices. This chapter is the third of them, treating the peace offering after the burnt offering of Leviticus 1 and the grain offering of Leviticus 2. The following chapter, Leviticus 4, turns to the sin offering.

Outline

• Verses 1–5 regulate the peace offering from the herd. The animal, male or female, must be without blemish. The offerer lays his hand on the head of the offering and slaughters it at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and the priests sprinkle the blood upon the altar round about. The fat covering the inner parts, the two kidneys with the fat on them, and the caul above the liver are burned on top of the burnt offering.
• Verses 6–11 regulate the peace offering of a sheep from the flock. The procedure is the same as for the herd, except that the whole fat tail, removed hard by the backbone, is added to the portions that are burned.
• Verses 12–16 regulate the peace offering of a goat. The same portions as for the herd are burned on the altar.
• Verses 16–17 declare that all the fat belongs to the LORD and establish the prohibition against eating fat and blood as a perpetual statute for all generations.

Key Verses

• Leviticus 3:1 "a sacrifice of peace offering": "Peace offering" translates the Hebrew shelamim, a word generally thought to share a root with shalom, meaning "peace."
• Leviticus 3:16 "all the fat is the LORD's": This expresses the principle that the best portion belongs to God.
• Leviticus 3:17 "ye eat neither fat nor blood": The prohibition against eating blood is taken up again in Leviticus 17 and in the New Testament.

People and Places

• The sons of Aaron: the priests who officiate at the sacrifices.
• The tabernacle of the congregation: the tent where God meets His people, that is, the tabernacle.
• The altar: the altar of burnt offering in front of the tabernacle.

Points for Reflection

• This chapter regulates only the portions burned on the altar. The provisions for the priest and the offerer to share the remaining meat appear in Leviticus 7. For this reason, the peace offering is sometimes described as a sacrifice with the character of a shared, festive meal.
• Interpretations of the laying on of hands differ. Some see it as identifying the offerer with the offering; others see it as declaring that the offering belongs to the offerer.
• Jewish tradition has interpreted the prohibition of fat as limited to the fat of the portions offered on the altar. In Christianity, the view that the dietary laws no longer apply in the New Testament era is widely held (Mark 7:19). The prohibition of blood, however, is repeated in Acts 15:29, and interpretations differ on how it applies today.
• Christian tradition associates the peace offering with the peace with God that comes through Christ, citing passages such as Ephesians 2:14 and Colossians 1:20.

In the Korean Church

The chapter serves as the text on the peace offering in sermons and Bible studies that work through the five offerings of Leviticus in turn (burnt offering, grain offering, peace offering, sin offering, and trespass offering).