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Leviticus 2 · a question people ask

Why did the priests get to eat most of it?

In the text

The LORD calls it their portion: "I have given it as their portion of my offerings made by fire. It is most holy" (Leviticus 6:17). The priests were given no land: "You shall have no inheritance in their land, neither shall you have any portion among them. I am your portion and your inheritance among the children of Israel" (Numbers 18:20). A priest's own meal offering was different: "Every meal offering of a priest shall be wholly burned. It shall not be eaten" (Leviticus 6:23). Paul points to the same kind of share when he writes, "those who wait on the altar have their portion with the altar" (1 Corinthians 9:13), and "Even so the Lord ordained that those who proclaim the Good News should live from the Good News" (1 Corinthians 9:14).

The verses

“That which is left of the meal offering shall be Aaron’s and his sons’. It is a most holy part of the offerings of the LORD made by fire.”
Leviticus 2:3 · World English Bible
“It shall not be baked with yeast. I have given it as their portion of my offerings made by fire. It is most holy, as are the sin offering and the trespass offering.”
Leviticus 6:17 · World English Bible
“Every meal offering of a priest shall be wholly burned. It shall not be eaten.””
Leviticus 6:23 · World English Bible
“The LORD said to Aaron, “You shall have no inheritance in their land, neither shall you have any portion among them. I am your portion and your inheritance among the children of Israel.”
Numbers 18:20 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Leviticus 2

Leviticus 2: A handful on the fire

The meal offering is a minchah, the word for Cain's and Abel's offerings (Genesis 4:3-5). Only a handful, its "memorial", was burned; the rest was "most holy" food for the priests (2:2-3). Yeast and honey could be brought as first fruits but never burned on the altar (2:11-12), and salt went with every offering (2:13).

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions