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Leviticus 3 Bible study: All the fat is the LORD's

A peace offering could be male or female, from the herd or the flock (3:1, 3:6), and only its fat, kidneys and the cover on the liver went on the altar (3:3-5): "all the fat is the LORD’s" (3:16). Leviticus 7 says what happened to the rest: the priest had his share and the rest was eaten (7:15-16, 7:31-32).

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“The priest shall burn them on the altar: it is the food of the offering made by fire, for a pleasant aroma; all the fat is the LORD’s.”
Leviticus 3:16 · World English Bible

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“In Leviticus, a peace offering from the herd could be male or female.”

Is that in Leviticus 3, or not? Make your call.

What's really going on

Three animals, one pattern

In the text

The chapter gives three choices: an animal "from the herd" (3:1), a lamb "from the flock" (3:6-7), or "a goat" (3:12). Each time the same steps follow. The one who brings it offers it "before the LORD" (3:1, 3:7, 3:12), lays his hand on its head, and kills it at the Tent of Meeting, and Aaron's sons sprinkle its blood "around on the altar" (3:2, 3:8, 3:13). Then the same parts are taken away, in almost the same words each time: the fat on the innards, "the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which is by the loins, and the cover on the liver" (3:3-4, 3:9-10, 3:14-15). Only the lamb adds one more part: "the entire tail fat" (3:9).

Where it leads to Jesus

I desire mercy, and not sacrifice

Interpretation

Leviticus 3:1leads toMatthew 9:13

The chapter opens, "If his offering is a sacrifice of peace offerings" (3:1). Through Hosea the LORD said, "For I desire mercy, and not sacrifice" (Hosea 6:6), and the Hebrew word for sacrifice there is zevach, the same as in 3:1. When the Pharisees asked why he ate "with tax collectors and sinners" (Matthew 9:11), Jesus said, "But you go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ for I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance" (Matthew 9:13). He said it again when they condemned his disciples (Matthew 12:7). Jesus doesn't mention the peace offering or this chapter. His words are about what God desires more than sacrifice, set here beside a chapter about how to offer one.

Honest questions

Questions people ask about Leviticus 3

That was a taste

The rest of Leviticus 3 is waiting in Favor

  • Most of it was eaten
  • The LORD's part
  • Neither fat nor blood
  • Before the fat was burned
  • Peace offerings before Leviticus
  • 9 questions as you read
  • 8 more Hebrew words
  • A short check at the end
  • Your notes, saved as you go
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The Hebrew word behind it

שֶׁלֶםshelemsay SHE-lem

Brown-Driver-Briggs: "sacrifice for alliance or friendship". Strong's: "properly, requital, i.e. a (voluntary) sacrifice in thanks", "from 7999". Strong's also traces shalom, peace, to the same root ("from 7999"). The text doesn't explain the name. Here it is plural, shelamim: "a sacrifice of peace offerings" (3:1), with zevach, sacrifice, in front of it (3:1, 3:3, 3:6, 3:9). The word comes 87 times in the Hebrew Bible, 30 of them in Leviticus. Its first appearance is at Sinai: "your burnt offerings and your peace offerings" (Exodus 20:24).

For your group

Leviticus 3 Bible study questions

  1. 1"All the fat is the LORD’s" (3:16). The part that was God's went on the altar, and none of it was eaten (3:17). What would it look like for you to give God the first and best of something this week, instead of what's left over?
  2. 2"You shall sacrifice peace offerings, and shall eat there. You shall rejoice before the LORD your God" (Deuteronomy 27:7). Worship and a shared meal went together. When has a meal with others felt like thanking God?
  3. 3Jesus said, "First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift" (Matthew 5:24). Is there someone you need to make things right with before you come to God with anything else?

Leading a group? In Favor, everyone reads Leviticus 3 during the week and answers these questions privately. Answers stay sealed until you meet, then appear together, and you can print the week's sheet.

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Questions

What is Favor?

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