John Gill's Bible Commentary Ver. 2. And he shall bring it to Aaron’s sons, the priests , etc.] And this is all that he did with it; he left it with the priest, who carried it to the altar, to the southwest horn of it f49 : the order of bringing it, according to Maimonides f50 , was this, “a man brings fine flour from his house in baskets of silver or of gold or of other kind of metals, in a vessel fit to be a ministering vessel; and if it is a meat offering of fine flour, he puts it into a ministering vessel, and sanctifies it in a ministering vessel;” then did what follows: and he shall take thereout his handful of the flour thereof, and of the oil thereof ; as mixed together: the Jews say f51 , this was done with the right hand, which is very likely, that being generally used in this way: the Talmudists thus describe the manner in which the handful was taken; the priest stretched out his three fingers over the palm of his hand, and gathered the handful in the plate or pan, and parted it off with his thumb above, and with his little finger below; and this was the most difficult piece of service in the sanctuary f52 : though Maimonides rejects this notion of difficulty, and says it was done in the common way, in which men take up a handful of anything: but Bartenora says f54 , it was not in the usual way, but much as before described: the priest put the sides of his fingers into the flour, and gathered the flour with the sides of his fingers within his hand, and took of the flour only three fingers’ full, upon the palm of his hand, and no more; and that it might not be heaped or go out, he pared it off, above with his thumb, and below with his little finger; and this he affirms, according to the Gemara, and what his masters had taught him, was one of the hardest pieces of service in the sanctuary: with all the frankincense thereof ; this was not taken along with the handful of flour and oil; for if there was ever so small a quantity of frankincense in the handful it was not right f55 ; for the frankincense, when brought, was put on one side of the fine flour, and when the handful was taken, then that was taken altogether, and put upon it: and the priest shall burn the memorial of it upon the altar : that is, he was to burn the handful of fine flour and oil with the frankincense, as a “memorial”; either to put the Lord in mind of his lovingkindness to his people, and of his covenant with them, and promises unto them, to which the allusion is, ( Psalm 20:3) or to put the offerer in mind of the great sacrifice of Christ, who was to be offered for his sins, and to be a meat offering to him: this was the part the Lord had in this offering, and which related to his worship, as the word used sometimes signifies, as De Dieu has observed: [to be] an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord ; (see Gill on “ Leviticus 1:9”).
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 1-11 - Meat-offerings may typify Christ, as presented to God for us, and a being the Bread of life to our souls; but they rather seem to denot our obligation to God for the blessings of providence, and those goo works which are acceptable to God. The term "meat" was, and still is properly given to any kind of provision, and the greater part of thi offering was to be eaten for food, not burned. These meat-offerings ar mentioned after the burnt-offerings: without an interest in the sacrifice of Christ, and devotedness of heart to God, such service cannot be accepted. Leaven is the emblem of pride, malice, an hypocrisy, and honey of sensual pleasure. The former are directl opposed to the graces of humility, love, and sincerity, which God approves; the latter takes men from the exercises of devotion, and the practice of good works. Christ, in his character and sacrifice, wa wholly free from the things denoted by leaven; and his suffering lif and agonizing death were the very opposites to worldly pleasure. Hi people are called to follow, and to be like him.
Original Hebrew והביאה935 אל413 בני1121 אהרן175 הכהנים3548 וקמץ7061 משׁם8033 מלא4393 קמצו7062 מסלתה5560 ומשׁמנה8081 על5921 כל3605 לבנתה3828 והקטיר6999 הכהן3548 את853 אזכרתה234 המזבחה4196 אשׁה801 ריח7381 ניחח5207 ליהוה׃3068
