Leviticus 2: Grain Offerings

Today I will be writing about Leviticus 2, and I will begin by clearing up two small questions that occurred to me while reading. To lay the groundwork, chapter 2 is all about grain offerings, which are called food offerings (firstfruit offerings are also mentioned, but are not the main focus). Essentially, the instructions are to bring fine flour mixed with oil, and frankincense. One may cook the flour with the oil in a number of ways so long as no leavening used. Then, a handful of the offering, called the memorial portion, is burned on the altar and the rest is left for Aaron and his sons. Oh, and the offerings should be seasoned with salt.

Generally speaking I read from the ESV translation of the Bible, and in its rendition of chapter 2 it says that, however the grain offering is prepared, the main ingredient should be fine flour. So I wondered if 'fine' means 'high quality', or 'ground especially thoroughly'. I looked at a few other translations, and the NIV uses the phrase, 'of the finest flour', which strongly suggests the fine means high quality reading. I also don't know much about frankincense. It turns out that it's made from tree sap and smells especially nice when it burns. Also, it is not edible. So (as verses 2 and 16 suggest) all the frankincense would be burned while only a handful of the flour and oil would be burned.

Moving on to more substantive matters, two things struck me about chapter 2. One is that no quantities are specified. There are no instructions given about how much flour, oil, or frankincense to bring, nor any instructions about when or why they are to be brought. Unfortunately, I don't have any deeply insightful thoughts here. My one idea is that chapters 1 and 2 are not laying out burnt offerings and grain offerings as distinct kinds of offerings, but that they define procedures that will be commonly used in other offerings (e.g. sin offerings or peace offerings). That there is a memorial portion of the grain offering could support this reading since there is no mention of what is being commemorated. So we will just have to wait an see if later chapters bear out this interpretation.

The other interesting point is the specification that the portion of the offering for Aaron and his sons is "a most holy part of the Lord's food offering" (v.3,10). Why this clarification? First, it looks like the text is emphasizing that the whole portion is the offering, not just the portion burned on the altar. This strikes me as useful since, even just imagining being there, it seems like it would be easy to think that only the burned portion is the holy offering, not the rest. Interestingly, if one remembers that the whole portion is the offering to the Lord, one is prevented from thinking that one is buying a service from the priests. Of course, they are performing a service, but technically they not taking payment from the offering givers. They are (supposedly) serving others only because God told them to. The Lord receives the whole offering and He is the one who uses some of it to provide for the needs of the priests. Instead of "proper transaction," it's gifts all around. One last thought about the phrase quoted above is that it emphasizes how a thing can be holy even if it is used for mundane purposes. Presumably Aaron and his sons are just going to bake and eat the flour and oil, and it seems natural to me to think that if something can be used in so ordinary a way, then it can't be holy. But evidently not. Even the ordinary can be holy. Perhaps the idea is that, when something is given to the Lord, it is sacred no matter what it is used for, and He can command that it be used for apparently anti-climactic ends.

As always, there is much more to say, but I think that is enough for now. Have a wonderful day, and God bless!