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Leviticus 7 - The Sacrifice of Praise and Priestly Portions

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A sacred meal has both a welcome and a boundary. Leviticus 7 provides food for the priests, bread with the sacrifice of praise, and flesh that clean worshippers may eat. Yet every portion has its recipient, every meal its appointed time, and every approach its demand for reverence. The offering remains the Lord’s even when He gives part of it to be eaten. Gratitude therefore takes a bodily form: hands bring the gift, mouths receive the meal, and the worshipper’s conduct answers the holiness of the One who gives it.

The trespass offering before the Lord (Leviticus 7:1-5)

This study follows NKJV Leviticus 7:1–38 and prints Brenton’s Septuagint. All thirty-eight verse boundaries correspond by content, with no internal numbering offset. Brenton’s wording is retained, including ‘sacrifice of praise’, ‘right shoulder’, and ‘shall perish’.

1 And this is the law of the ram for the trespass-offering; it is most holy. 2 In the place where they slay the whole-burnt-offering, they shall slay the ram of the trespass-offering before the Lord, and he shall pour out the blood at the bottom of the altar round about. 3 And he shall offer all the fat from it; and the loins, and all the fat that covers the inwards, and all the fat that is upon the inwards, 4 and the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, that which is upon the thighs, and the caul upon the liver with the kidneys, he shall take them away. 5 And the priest shall offer them on the altar a burnt-offering to the Lord; it is for trespass.

The ram for trespass is ‘most holy’. Its slaughter takes place where the whole-burnt offering is slain, before the Lord, and its blood is poured at the altar’s base around it. The fat covering and lying upon the inward parts, the loins, kidneys and their fat, and the caul upon the liver are named for removal and offering on the altar. ‘Caul’ here names the covering associated with the liver. The repeated anatomical detail defines the portions that belong to the altar; it offers no instruction to consume the blood or reserve the altar fat for the priest’s table.

The conclusion identifies the offering’s purpose: it is for trespass. The wrongdoer’s need for atonement is answered through an appointed gift, handled in an appointed way. This priestly law complements the restitution commanded in Leviticus 6:1–7. There, the neighbor receives restoration; here, the altar receives its proper portion. Bringing the ram never turns the neighbor’s stolen property into an acceptable religious gift.

The law’s precision guards against two evasions: treating atonement as a vague feeling and treating a ritual action as a substitute for truthful conduct. A person seeking mercy brings the actual wrong into the light. The priest handles a real gift before the Lord. Christian repentance likewise needs truthful confession, hope in Christ, and the practical repair that hope makes possible.

Food, the hide, and equal portions (Leviticus 7:6-10)

6 Every male of the priests shall eat them, in the holy place they shall eat them: they are most holy. 7 As the sin-offering, so also is the trespass-offering. There is one law of them; the priest who shall make atonement with it, his it shall be. 8 And as for the priest who offers a man’s whole-burnt-offering, the skin of the whole-burnt-offering which he offers, shall be his. 9 And every sacrifice which shall be prepared in the oven, and every one which shall be prepared on the hearth, or on a frying-pan, it is the property of the priest that offers it; it shall be his. 10 And every sacrifice made up with oil, or not made up with oil, shall belong to the sons of Aaron, an equal portion to each.

Male priests eat the trespass offering in the holy place. The sin and trespass offerings share a law of priestly entitlement: the priest making atonement receives the offering. Then the text distinguishes further gifts. The priest offering a whole-burnt offering receives its skin, even though the flesh is wholly offered on the altar. The hide is an expressly assigned remainder, not permission to keep some of the burnt flesh.

Prepared offerings from the oven, hearth, or frying-pan belong to the officiating priest. Verse 10 then names grain offerings with oil or without it as belonging to Aaron’s sons in equal portions. The adjacent provisions distinguish preparation and allocation, placing individual entitlement beside provision for the priestly body. Neither favoritism nor a general claim that the officiant may keep everything can replace these particular rules. God’s provision has recipients whom the law names.

1 Corinthians 9:13–14 explicitly uses altar support when explaining the right of Gospel ministers to live from their ministry. Paul’s wider chapter also explains his own renunciation of that right for the Gospel’s sake. Support is a legitimate provision, not proof of greed; renunciation is a free apostolic choice, not a license to neglect someone else’s needs. The priest serves the Lord, and the goods entrusted to him must be handled honestly.

1 Corinthians 10:16–18 adds a deeper relation: eating sacrificial food is participation in the altar. Paul brings that relation into his teaching on communion in Christ’s Body and Blood. The meals are not interchangeable rites, but neither are they merely ways of distributing calories. The sacred table expresses belonging.

Bread with the sacrifice of praise (Leviticus 7:11-15)

11 This is the law of the sacrifice of peace-offering, which they shall bring to the Lord. 12 If a man should offer it for praise, then shall he bring, for the sacrifice of praise, loaves of fine flour made up with oil, and unleavened cakes anointed with oil, and fine flour kneaded with oil. 13 With leavened bread he shall offer his gifts, with the peace-offering of praise. 14 And he shall bring one of all his gifts, a separate offering to the Lord: it shall belong to the priest who pours forth the blood of the peace-offering. 15 And the flesh of the sacrifice of the peace-offering of praise shall be his, and it shall be eaten in the day in which it is offered: they shall not leave of it till the morning.

The peace offering may be brought for praise. Brenton repeatedly calls it a ‘sacrifice of praise’ or ‘peace-offering of praise’, and that printed wording gives the meal its voice. Oil accompanies fine-flour loaves, unleavened cakes, and kneaded flour. Leavened bread is also brought with the gifts. One from the gifts is separated for the Lord and assigned to the priest who pours forth the peace-offering’s blood. The flesh of the praise sacrifice is eaten on its day of offering, with none left until morning. Bread, priestly portion, and timely meal all belong to gratitude made visible.

The presence of leavened bread does not erase the no-leaven command in Leviticus 2:11. That command concerns what is offered in the altar fire, while this law names bread accompanying a peace-offering meal. An ingredient receives its meaning within its particular use; the law does not make every occurrence of leaven an identical symbol.

Hebrews 13:15–16 carries sacrifice of praise into Christian life through Christ. Lips give thanks to God’s name, and doing good and sharing are also named as pleasing sacrifices. Praise therefore reaches the person beside us. A grateful mouth with a deliberately closed hand contradicts the response Hebrews describes. Psalm 50:14, 23 (LXX 49:14, 23) likewise joins grateful sacrifice to the honoring of God.1

Gems from the Fathers 💎: Praise through Christ

St. John Chrysostom, interpreting Hebrews 13:15, directs Christian sacrifice toward thanksgiving rather than a renewed supply of animal victims: ‘They the [Jews] brought sheep, and calves, and gave them to the Priest: let us bring none of these things, but thanksgiving.’2 His contrast concerns Christian fulfillment in Christ; Israel’s sacrifices were real historical commands. His translator’s ‘thanksgiving’ explains the Christian response and does not replace Brenton’s printed ‘praise’. The surrounding Hebrews passage keeps that response joined to generosity.

The Church’s Voice in Worship ⛪

In the Liturgy of St. Basil, the people respond, ‘A mercy of peace, a sacrifice of praise.’3 Peace and praise stand together on the Church’s lips before the anaphora, the Eucharistic prayer. The words resonate with the peace-offering of praise while the Church’s worship centers on Christ’s saving self-offering.

The Coptic offering bread is leavened and made without salt. Fr. Jacob Nadian gives a named Coptic explanation of the yeast: ‘Since The Lord Jesus Christ carried our sins within His Body on the cross; as He offered Himself as a sacrifice for sin, so the bread offered in the Holy Liturgy should be made with yeast to symbolize these sins that The Lord Jesus bore.’4 The symbolism concerns the sins borne by the sinless Savior, not sins of His own. Nadian also writes, ‘Salt is not added because the sacrifice of The Lord Jesus Christ does not need to be preserved.’5 These are his explanations of the Church’s offering, not a claim that Leviticus 7 dictates the Eucharistic recipe.

The Southern United States diocese’s rite manual says of the Holy Mysteries, ‘The whole Sacraments must be communed. Nothing is to remain for later or the next day.’6 It immediately excepts the portion taken after the Liturgy to a sick person. The manual relates its rule to Exodus 12:10; its similarity to Leviticus 7:15 is a reverent analogy, not a demonstrated derivation of the Christian rubric from this verse.

The second day and the forbidden third (Leviticus 7:16-18)

16 And if it be a vow, or he offer his gift of his own will, on whatsoever day he shall offer his sacrifice, it shall be eaten, and on the morrow. 17 And that which is left of the flesh of the sacrifice till the third day, shall be consumed with fire. 18 And if he do at all eat of the flesh on the third day, it shall not be accepted for him that offers: it shall not be reckoned to him, it is pollution; and whatsoever soul shall eat of it, shall bear his iniquity.

A vow or freely chosen gift has a different eating period from the praise offering. It may be eaten on the day it is offered and on the morrow. What remains until the third day is consumed with fire. The distinction is deliberate: the same broad class of peace offering contains differing conditions, and the worshipper’s freely chosen gift still comes under God’s command.

Eating on the third day prevents acceptance and reckoning of the offering. Brenton calls it pollution and says that the eater bears iniquity. The meal’s appointed period is therefore part of the offering’s integrity, not a suggestion that may be ignored once the animal has been presented. The gift cannot be held indefinitely as the owner’s private store.

The text does not explain the rule solely by food preservation, and it gives no warrant to identify this third day with Christ’s Resurrection. Its direct claim concerns obedient use of holy food. That claim touches a familiar temptation: to offer something freely and then insist on controlling all the conditions. A gift dedicated to God is received within His order. Christian generosity likewise becomes truthful when it releases its demand to manage every recipient, acknowledgment, and outcome.

Holy food and the unclean eater (Leviticus 7:19-21)

Brenton prints “shall perish from his people” at 7:20–21 where NKJV uses exclusion language. The reading retains Brenton’s severe wording; both editions attach the warning to eating the Lord’s offering while unclean.

19 And whatsoever flesh shall have touched any unclean thing, it shall not be eaten, it shall be consumed with fire; every one that is clean shall eat the flesh. 20 And whatsoever soul shall eat of the flesh of the sacrifice of the peace-offering which is the Lord’s, and his uncleanness be upon him, that soul shall perish from his people. 21 And whatsoever soul shall touch any unclean thing, either of the uncleanness of a man, or of unclean quadrupeds, or any unclean abominable thing, and shall eat of the flesh of the sacrifice of the peace-offering, which is the Lord’s, that soul shall perish from his people.

The law addresses two different cases. Flesh that has touched something unclean is burned rather than eaten. Clean persons may eat the permitted flesh; an unclean person who eats the Lord’s peace-offering flesh faces the severe sentence that the soul ‘shall perish from his people’. Verse 21 specifies contact with human uncleanness, unclean quadrupeds, or another unclean abominable thing before eating. The condition of the food and the condition of the eater both matter.

The repeated phrase ‘which is the Lord’s’ gives the warning its center. This is holy food received by permission, not a possession to be used without regard to the Giver. The law describes a grave breach within Israel’s covenant life. Ritual uncleanness itself is not a verdict that someone is worthless or necessarily guilty of personal moral wrongdoing; crossing the meal’s boundary is the issue addressed.

1 Corinthians 11:27–29 brings a related warning to Christian Communion: receiving in an unworthy manner can bring judgment, and the communicant must examine himself and discern the Lord’s Body. Paul speaks in a setting where the shared meal has been disfigured by divisions and humiliating treatment of others. His remedy is truthful self-examination followed by reverent receiving. The warning seeks healing, not endless avoidance of the Chalice by those who repent. Nor does it permit us to infer from every illness that someone has communed badly. Holiness calls the person toward Christ with honesty, humility, and pastoral care.

Fat reserved from the table (Leviticus 7:22-25)

22 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 23 Speak to the children of Israel, saying, Ye shall eat no fat of oxen or sheep or goats. 24 And the fat of such animals as have died of themselves, or have been seized of beasts, may be employed for any work; but it shall not be eaten for food. 25 Every one that eats fat off the beasts, from which he will bring a burnt-offering to the Lord - that soul shall perish from his people.

The Lord addresses Israel about the fat of oxen, sheep, and goats. These are the animals whose altar portions the preceding laws describe. Their fat is not for eating. Fat from an animal that has died by itself or been taken by beasts may be employed in work, but that permission expressly excludes food. Use and consumption are different categories.

Verse 25 again names the beasts from which an offering is brought to the Lord and attaches the severe consequence of perishing from the people to eating their fat. The prohibition reaches ordinary possession of these animals, not only the priest’s handling at a particular sacrifice. Portions reserved for the Lord must not become the worshipper’s treat. The law trains Israel’s appetite to recognize a boundary within the goods available to it.

This is an Israelite command, not a Christian ban on every dietary fat. Its abiding challenge is more exact than ‘eat less’: the presence of a desirable thing does not establish our right to consume it. The same distinction matters whenever we handle an entrusted account, a communal resource, or a gift designated for someone else. Gratitude makes room for the Giver’s claim and for a recipient’s rights.

Blood in every dwelling (Leviticus 7:26-27)

26 Ye shall eat no blood in all your habitations, either of beasts or of birds. 27 Every soul that shall eat blood, that soul shall perish from his people.

The blood prohibition extends to every dwelling and to birds as well as beasts. It is not confined to meals eaten near the sanctuary. The same serious consequence accompanies it: the person who eats blood shall perish from his people. The sacrifice’s poured blood and the household’s abstention thus stand under one Lord. What is done at home cannot be excused as lying outside worship’s concern.

Acts 15:20 and 15:29 retain abstention from blood among the apostolic instructions for Gentile believers. The council does not impose the whole Mosaic law upon them. Its particular commands require attention to the apostolic decision itself, rather than either dismissing the Old Testament or transferring every Levitical food rule wholesale.

The abstention from animal blood must also be distinguished from Christ’s gift of His own life-giving Blood. In John 6:53–56, the Lord joins receiving His Flesh and Blood with eternal life and abiding in Him. 1 Corinthians 10:16 names communion in His Blood. The Eucharistic gift is not ordinary animal blood, and the animal-blood law cannot be turned against Christ’s command. The giver of life brings His people into communion with Himself; reverence receives His gift on His terms.

The offerer’s hands and the priest’s portion (Leviticus 7:28-31)

At Leviticus 7:30, Brenton names the fat on the breast and the lobe of the liver being set as a gift before the Lord; NKJV describes the breast being waved. The verse boundary corresponds, but the ritual description differs. The reading keeps Brenton’s words.

28 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 29 Thou shalt also speak to the children of Israel, saying, He that offers a sacrifice of peace-offering, shall bring his gift to the Lord also from the sacrifice of peace-offering. 30 His hands shall bring the burnt-offerings to the Lord; the fat which is on the breast and the lobe of the liver, he shall bring them, so as to set them for a gift before the Lord. 31 And the priest shall offer the fat upon the altar, and the breast shall be Aaron’s and his sons,

The person offering the peace sacrifice brings a gift to the Lord from it. Verse 30 makes the action personal: ‘His hands shall bring’ the offerings. Ownership and priestly mediation do not remove the offerer’s participation. The gift is brought into the Lord’s presence by the person giving it, rather than discussed as someone else’s ceremonial responsibility.

Brenton identifies fat upon the breast and the lobe of the liver in the presentation. The priest then offers the fat on the altar, while the breast belongs to Aaron and his sons. The distinction between altar and priestly portions is preserved within one offering. The offerer does not distribute the whole animal wherever he wishes, and the priest cannot appropriate what belongs on the altar. Each has an action to perform before the Lord.

For Christian worship, this personal bringing searches the temptation to outsource the heart. Another person may teach us to pray or help prepare a gift, but cannot supply the repentance and gratitude we refuse to bring. The offerer’s hands also call attention to provenance: a gift is personal only when we have the right to give it. The restitution law at the opening of Leviticus 6 remains near enough to forbid an attractive offering assembled from another person’s loss.

The wave-breast and shoulder of separation (Leviticus 7:32-34)

32 and ye shall give the right shoulder for a choice piece to the priest of your sacrifices of peace-offering. 33 He that offers the blood of the peace-offering, and the fat, of the sons of Aaron, his shall be the right shoulder for a portion. 34 For I have taken the wave-breast and shoulder of separation from the children of Israel from the sacrifices of your peace-offerings, and I have given them to Aaron the priest and his sons, a perpetual ordinance due from the children of Israel.

The right shoulder is the priest’s choice piece, assigned specifically to the son of Aaron who offers the blood and fat. The breast belongs to Aaron and his sons, while the shoulder distinguishes the officiant’s portion. Brenton then names both with their ritual titles: ‘the wave-breast and shoulder of separation’. The breast is presented as an offering, and the shoulder is separated as an assigned portion. The law explains the entitlement through God’s own action: He has taken these portions from Israel’s peace offerings and given them to the priests.

The terminology keeps support within worship rather than reducing it to a fee negotiated by the priest. Israel owes the portion by the Lord’s ordinance. Its direction toward the priest does not make it less an act of obedience to God; its sacred source does not authorize the priest to demand whatever he likes. The portion is named and bounded.

Sirach 7:29–31 receives this law into wisdom teaching, joining reverence for the Lord with honoring the priest and giving the commanded portion, including the gift of the shoulders. The text gives generosity toward ministry a clear object while keeping the Lord at its center. Sirach 45:20–22 further remembers Aaron’s share in the offerings and the Lord as his inheritance. Christian respect for ordained ministry can grow from this pattern without confusing an office with its holder’s personal merit. Honest support and sober accountability can belong together.

The anointing, the summary, and Sina (Leviticus 7:35-38)

At Leviticus 7:35, Brenton says ‘anointing’ where NKJV says ‘consecrated portion’. The following words concern the priests’ assigned share in the offerings, associated with the day of their anointing.

35 This is the anointing of Aaron, and the anointing of his sons, their portion of the burnt-offerings of the Lord, in the day in which he brought them forward to minister as priests to the Lord; 36 as the Lord commanded to give to them in the day in which he anointed them of the sons of Israel, a perpetual statute through their generations. 37 This is the law of the whole-burnt-offerings, and of sacrifice, and of sin-offering, and of offering for transgression, and of the sacrifice of consecration, and of the sacrifice of peace-offering; 38 as the Lord commanded Moses in the mount Sina, in the day in which he commanded the children of Israel to offer their gifts before the Lord in the wilderness of Sina.

Aaron and his sons receive their portion when they are brought forward ‘to minister as priests to the Lord’. The recipient of their ministry is explicit. Their support accompanies a calling to holy service and continues by the Lord’s command through their generations. The phrase ‘anointing of Aaron’ gathers office, consecration, and provision together without making a portion of meat identical to the anointing oil.

The final list recapitulates whole-burnt offerings, sacrifice, sin offerings, transgression offerings, the sacrifice of consecration, and peace offerings. This gathers the laws just given while the sacrifice of consecration points toward Leviticus 8, where Aaron and his sons are publicly consecrated. The closing reference to Moses, mount Sina, and the wilderness of Sina places the offerings within God’s covenant instruction to Israel. The priests did not invent these portions to establish their own importance.

Language insight: ‘anointing’ and ‘consecration’

The Greek behind ‘anointing’ at 7:35 is χρῖσις, chrisis, anointing. Here its context ties the term to the allotted priestly share. At 7:37, ‘consecration’ represents τελείωσις, teleiosis, completion or consecration, a different word.7 Recognizing the distinction keeps two connected ideas from collapsing into one: provision accompanies anointing to office, while the consecration sacrifice prepares us for the rites that follow.

Gems from the Fathers 💎: A summary at the threshold of consecration

Origen begins Homilies on Leviticus 6.2 by reading Leviticus 7:35–38 before turning to Aaron’s clothing in chapter 8. He relates the anointing language to the portions already described and reads the closing law-list as a recapitulation, a gathering of the preceding instruction. He writes:

In the end he repeats what he had said earlier and says, “This is the law of whole burnt offerings and of sacrifice and for sin.”8

This is a direct observation on the chapter’s closing verses, not a claim that Homily 6 explains every sacrifice in chapter 7. His attention to the hinge helps us read the law as a whole: the assigned portions belong to the priestly calling, and the summary leads immediately toward its consecration. The historical commands and material portions remain real even as Christian reading seeks their spiritual instruction.

Spiritual Fruit 🍇

Let praise open the hand. Hebrews joins the sacrifice of praise to doing good and sharing. Give thanks for one particular mercy, then let the thanks reach someone through a concrete gift of time, food, or money. Refuse the bargain that makes generosity depend on receiving recognition. A mercy received can become mercy given.

Approach the Chalice truthfully. The sacred meal’s warning searches both presumption and fear. Before receiving, examine how you have treated the people with whom you worship, especially anyone you have humiliated or excluded. Seek reconciliation where it can be safely sought, and bring persistent sin to confession and pastoral counsel. Repentance prepares us to receive healing; despair can become another way of refusing the Physician.

Release the gift’s demand for control. The freely chosen offering still has an appointed time and use. When you give, notice the desire to dictate every detail or retain authority over the recipient. Choose a trustworthy purpose, give responsibly, and allow the gift to cease being a hidden instrument of possession. Honest accountability protects generosity without making another person your debtor.

Honor ministry without buying privilege. The breast and shoulder are assigned portions, not rewards for flattering a priest. Support the Lord’s work according to your means, quietly and without expectation of preferred attention. Those entrusted with offerings can answer that generosity through transparent handling and faithful service to the Lord. Both sides are freed when the gift remains His.

The offerer brings the gift with his own hands. The fat reaches the altar, the assigned portion reaches the priest, and the meal is received within God’s command. Bring before Christ the gratitude you have spoken and the generosity you have delayed. Ask Him to make your praise truthful, your receiving reverent, and your hands free to share.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 50:14, 23 (LXX 49:14, 23). Brenton reading; NKJV comparison. ↩

  2. St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on Hebrews, Homily XXXIII, §7, on Hebrews 13:15. T. Keble, trans., revised by Frederic Gardiner, NPNF 1.14 (1889), New Advent transcription. Text. ↩

  3. Coptic Reader, Liturgy of St. Basil, people’s response after Reconciliation, before the anaphoral signings. Menu path: Liturgies / St. Basil / Liturgy of the Faithful. Text. ↩

  4. Fr. Jacob Nadian, The Coptic Liturgy: Liturgy of the Word (Catechumens), Rite of Qorban. Text. The corresponding bread-offering context is Liturgies / St. Basil / Offering of the Lamb; the explanation quoted is Nadian’s. ↩

  5. Fr. Jacob Nadian, The Coptic Liturgy: Liturgy of the Word (Catechumens), Rite of Qorban. Text. ↩

  6. Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States, RIT 101: Liturgy, Agpeya and Praises (2005), p. 47, Communion and consumption of the Holy Mysteries. Text. The next paragraph excepts the portion taken immediately after the Liturgy to a sick person. ↩

  7. Leviticus 7:35, 37, CCAT-derived Septuagint Greek. Greek text; NKJV comparison. ↩

  8. Origen, Homilies on Leviticus, 6.2(2), following the opening citation of Leviticus 7:35–38 at p. 117. English based on G. W. Barkley, Fathers of the Church 83 (1990), as given in the ldysinger.com text. ↩

  9. Updated Coptic lectionary reference, @andraws/lectionary-data 1.3.1, generated 8 October 2026. The consulted scope includes annual, Holy Pascha, Agpeya, Bright Saturday, and special-service entries. Coptic Reader. This does not exclude every historical manuscript or local practice. ↩

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