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Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Leviticus 1:5

Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Leviticus 1:5

And he shall kill the bullock before the LORD: and the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall bring the blood, and sprinkle the blood round about upon the altar that [is by] the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

5, 6. And he shall kill flay and cut it into its pieces ] Many would not be able to flay and divide an animal without assistance; it seems probable that these parts of the ritual were performed by some one else. The plural verbs in LXX. and some other versions ( they shall kill flay ) may refer to existing practice, and it appears from 2Ch 29:24; 2Ch 29:34; 2Ch 35:9-11 that priests and Levites performed these duties.

Aaron’s sons, the priests, shall present ] bring A.V., the same Heb. word as that translated ‘offer’ in Lev 1:3. The priestly action commences here.

and sprinkle ] Better, throw or scatter; the blood was caught in a bowl, and thrown against the sides of the altar twice, in such a manner that the blood touched all the four sides. The priest went to the N.E. corner, and threw the blood against the N. and E. sides, and then to the S.W. corner, where he threw the blood against the S. and W. sides. This is described in Mishna Zebm 53 b as ‘two applications of the blood which are four’ and quoted by Rashi in his commentary on this verse. For ‘sprinkling’ with the finger (Lev 4:6) another Heb. word is used.

door ] entrance. There were no doors to the tent of meeting, but curtains.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

And he shall kill the bullock – Tradition states that before the laying on of the hand, the victim was bound by a cord to a ring on the north side of the altar; as the words of the prayer were ended, the throat was cut and the blood received into a bowl held by an assistant.

Sprinkle the blood – Rather, throw the blood, so as to make the liquid cover a considerable surface. (The Christian significance of this typical action is referred to in Heb 12:24; 1Pe 1:2.)

By the door of the tabernacle – At the entrance of the tent.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Lev 1:5

He shall kill the bullock

Slaying the sacrifice


I
.

Concerning the killing and slaying of the offering, our first point is that it was absolutely essential.

1. The pouring out of the blood of the victim was of the very essence of the type. The death of Christ by blood-shedding was absolutely necessary to make Him an acceptable sacrifice for sin. It behoved Christ to suffer. He could only enter into the presence of God with His own blood. He could not be the grain of wheat which bringeth forth much fruit unless He should die. The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin. Observe, not the life, not the incarnation, not the resurrection, not the second coming of the Lord Jesus, but His blood, His death, the giving up of His life, is that which cleanseth us from all sin. This is that purging with hyssop whereof David speaks when he laments his sin, and yet looks to be made whiter than snow by the free pardon of his God. This truth is the subject of all true gospel preaching. Do you not know how Paul puts it–The preaching of the Cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God; for, he says, the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: but we preach Christ crucified. It is not Christ in any other position, but Christ as crucified, Christ as made a curse for us up n the tree, that is the first and most prominent fact that we are called to preach among the sons of men.

2. Here let us further consider that death is the result and penalty of sin–The soul that sinneth it shall die. Sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. The wages of sin is death. It was meet that the Substitute should bear a similar chastisement to that which should have fullen upon the sinner.

3. This death of Christ was absolutely necessary also for the clearing of the troubled conscience. An awakened conscience will never be quieted with anything less than the blood of the Lamb: it rests at the sight of the great Sacrifice, but nowhere else.


II.
Secondly, we will with great delight meditate upon the fact that the death of Christ is effectually prevalent. Other offerings, though duly slain, did nothing thoroughly, did nothing lastingly, did nothing really, by way of expiation; for the Scripture saith, It is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins the true purification is alone found in the death of the Son of God. Why was there such cleansing power in the Redeemers blood? I answer, for several reasons.

1. First, because of the glory of His person. Only think who He was I He was none other than the Light of light, very God of very God.

2. Next, consider the perfection of our Lords character. In Him was no sin, nor tendency to sin. He was holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners. In His character we see every virtue at its best; He is incomparable. If lie therefore died, the just for the unjust, what must be the merit of such a death?

3. Think next of the nature of the death of Christ, and you will be helped to see how effectual it must be. It was not a death by disease or old age, but a death of violence, well symbolised by the killing of the victim at the altar.

4. And then think of the Spirit in which our Lord and Saviour bore all this. Martyrs who have died for the faith have only paid the debt of nature a little before its time, for they must have died sooner or later; but our Lord needed not to have died at all he said of His life, No man taketh it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. O glorious Christ, there must be infinite merit in such a death as Thine, endured in such a style!

5. And then I bid you to remember once more the covenant character which Christ sustained: for when He was crucified we thus judge that one died for all, and in Him all died. He was not slain as a private individual, but He was put to death as a representative man.


III.
That the fact of the necessity for the death of the Lord Jesus is intensely instructive.

1. Must the victims die? must Jesus bleed? then let us see what is claimed by our righteous God. He claims our life: He claimed of the offering its blood, which is the life thereof: He justly requires of each of us our whole life. Nor is the demand unjust. Did He not make us, and does He not preserve us? Should He not receive homage from the creatures of His hand?

2. Next, must the sacrifice die? then see the evil of sin. It is not such a trifle as certain men imagine. It is a deadly evil, a killing poison. It is a horrible and a grievous thing, and God saith to you, Oh, do not this abominable thing which I hate. God help you to flee from all iniquity.

3. Next learn the love of God. Behold how He loved you and me I He must punish sin, but He must save us, and so He gives His Son to die in our stead. I shall not go too far if I say that in giving His Son the Lord God gave Himself, for Jesus is one with the Father. Next learn how Christ has made an end of sin. His one offering has perfected for ever the set-apart ones. These are but a few of the great lessons which we may learn from the necessity that the Sacrifice should be slain.


IV.
And so I shall close by saying that this blessed subject is not only full of instruction, but it is energetically inspiring.

1. First, this inspires us with the spirit of consecration. When I think that I could not be saved except by the death of Jesus, then I feel that I am not my own, but bought with a price.

2. Next, this truth should create in us a longing after the greatest holiness, for we should say, Did sin kill my Saviour? Then I will kill sin!

3. Does not this inspire you with great love for the Lord Jesus? Can you look at His dear wounds, and not be wounded with love for Him? Are not His wounds as mouths which plead with you to yield Him all your hearts?

4. Lastly, do you not think that this solemn truth should inspire us with great zeal for the salvation of others? (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

He shall kill; either,

1. The offerer, who is said to do it, to wit, by the priest; for men are commonly said to do what they cause others to do, as Joh 4:1,2. Or,

2. The priest, as it follows, or the Levite, whose office this was. See Exo 29:11; Lev 8:15; Num 8:19; 1Ch 23:28,31; 2Ch 20:16; 35:11.

Sprinkle the blood round about upon the altar; which was done in a considerable, quantity, as may be gathered from Zec 9:15; and whereby was signified,

1. That the offerer deserved to have his blood spilt in that manner.

2. That the blood of Christ should be poured forth for sinners, and that that was the only mean of their reconciliation to God, and acceptance with him.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

5. he shall kill the bullockTheanimal should be killed by the offerer, not by the priest, for it wasnot his duty in case of voluntary sacrifices; in later times,however, the office was generally performed by Levites.

before the Lordon thespot where the hands had been laid upon the animal’s head, on thenorth side of the altar.

sprinkle the bloodThiswas to be done by the priests. The blood being considered the life,the effusion of it was the essential part of the sacrifice; and thesprinkling of itthe application of the atonementmade the personand services of the offerer acceptable to God. The skin having beenstripped off, and the carcass cut up, the various pieces weredisposed on the altar in the manner best calculated to facilitatetheir being consumed by the fire.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

And he shall kill the bullock before the Lord,…. That is, the man that brings the burnt offering, for no other is yet spoken of; and according to the traditions of the elders h, killing of the sacrifice was right when done by strangers, by women, and by servants, and by unclean persons, even in the most holy things so be it that the unclean did not touch the flesh; and it is observed i, that the service of the priest begins in the next clause, killing being lawful by him that was not a priest, according to the Targum of Jonathan, the butcher; but Aben Ezra interprets it of the priests, and certain it is, that the burnt offerings of the fowls were killed by the priests, Le 1:15 and the Septuagint version renders it, “and they shall kill”: but be this as it will, the burnt offering was to be killed in the court before the Lord; and this was typical of the death of Christ, who, according to these types, as well as to other prophecies, was to die for the sins of men, and accordingly did; and if this was the proprietor and not the priest that killed the sacrifice, it may denote that the sins of God’s people, for whom Christ’s sacrifice was offered up, were the cause of his death:

and the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall bring the blood: in vessels or basins, as the Targum of Jonathan adds, into which they received it when slain:

and sprinkle the blood round about upon the altar that is by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation; which was the altar of burnt offering, and not the altar of incense, as appears by the situation of it, see Ex 40:5 and the blood was sprinkled all around the altar with two sprinklings: the rule in the Misnah is k; the slaying of the burnt offering is in the north, and the reception of its blood into the ministering vessels is in the north, and its blood ought to have two sprinklings, which answer to four; which Maimonides l explains thus; because it is said “round about”, it must needs be that the sprinklings should comprehend the four sides of the altar; and this is done when the two sprinklings are upon the two horns, which are diametrically opposite; and this is what is meant, “which are four”; the sense is, that those two should include the four sides, and the two opposite horns were the northeast and the southwest, as he and other Jewish writers observe m, and which he expresses more clearly elsewhere n: when the priest took the blood in the basin, he sprinkled out of it in the basin, two sprinklings upon the two corners of the altar opposite from it; and he ordered it so to sprinkle the blood upon the horn, that the blood might surround the corners in the form of the Greek letter “gamma” o; so that the blood of the two sprinklings might be found upon the four sides of the altar; because it is said of the burnt offerings, and of the peace offerings “round about”; and this is the law for the trespass offering, and the rest of the blood was poured out at the bottom southward: now this was always done by a priest, for though the bullock might be killed by a stranger, as Gersom on the place observes, yet its blood must be sprinkled by a priest; and it is the note of Aben Ezra, that this might be done by many, and therefore it is said, the “priests, Aaron’s sons”, when the slaying of it was only by one. The “altar” on which the blood was sprinkled typified the divinity of Christ, which gave virtue to his blood, whereby it made atonement for sin; and in allusion to this rite Christ’s blood is called “the blood of sprinkling”, 1Pe 1:2

Heb 12:24 which being sprinkled on the heart by the Spirit of God clears it from an evil conscience, and purges the conscience from dead works, and speaks peace and pardon there, Heb 10:22.

h Misn. Zebachim, c. 3. sect. 1. & Maimon. in ib. T. Bab. Yoma, fol. 27. 1. & Zebachim, fol. 32. 1. & Menachot, fol. 19. 1. i Bartenora in Misn. Zebachim, ib. k Misn. Zebachim, c. 5. sect. 4. l Perush in ib. m Jarchi, Bartenora, & Yom Tob, in ib. n Hilchot Korbanot, c. 5. sect. 6. o Vid. T. Bab. Zebachim, fol. 53. 2.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

5. And he shall kill the bullock. The ceremony of killing is subjoined, viz., that the priest should prepare the victim itself, and pour its blood upon the altar, for it was not allowable for a private person to kill the victim with his own hands, but what the priest did in their name was transferred to them. (250) But this is worth remarking, that although they brought the pledge of reconciliation from their home, yet that the ministers of expiation were to be sought elsewhere, since no one was competent for so illustrious an office, save he who was graced by the holy unction of God. It was, therefore, plainly manifested that all mortals are unworthy of coming near God to propitiate Him, and that the hands of all are in a manner polluted or profane except those which God himself has purged. For the honor of sacrificing came from nowhere else but from the grace of the Spirit, of which the external anointing was a pledge. We now understand how it was that individuals offered sacrifices to God, and yet that the priest alone performed this office. The altar was sprinkled with the blood, that the people might know that the blood poured from the victim did not fall on the ground, but was consecrated to God, and breathed, as it were, a sweet savor; just as now the blood of Christ appears before His face. I pass by the rest, since it does not seem worth while to enlarge on the third kind of offering, i.e., of the birds. Yet we must recollect that thus far Moses only speaks of the burnt-offerings, whose flesh was burned; for this was not the case with all, as we shall see hereafter. Although, then, it is twice said that “the priests shall lay the parts, the head and the fat,” etc., we must not understand it as if he only commanded the fat and the head to be burned, but that nothing was to be left the skin. Some think that פדר pheder, (251) is a dissevered head, nor do I reject their opinion, provided we do not exclude the fat. Whatever was filthy in the victim, God would have to be washed, that it might not contaminate it. The question now arises why it was burned either wholly or partially. My own opinion is, that by the fire the efficacy of the Spirit is represented, on which all the profit of the sacrifices depends; for unless Christ had suffered in the Spirit, He would not have been a propitiatory sacrifice. Fire, then, was as the condiment which gave their true savor to the sacrifices, because the blood of Christ was to be consecrated by the Spirit, that it might cleanse us from all the stains of our sins. This God would have more fully represented in the burnt-offerings, yet no victim was offered of which some part was not consumed by fire.

(250) “It is interesting to notice here, (says Bonar, in loco,) that Outram, Witzius, and others, seem to have proved that in patriarchal ages every man might offer his own sacrifice. The patriarchal ages were taught that every man must take Christ for himself personally. In the Mosaic economy, however, this is altered; there is another truth to be shewn forth. Any one (2Ch 30:17) might kill the animal — any common Levite, or even the offerer himself — for there may be many executioners of God’s wrath. Earth and hell were used in executing the Father’s purpose toward the Prince of Life. But there is only one appointed way for dispensing mercy, and therefore only priests must engage in that act that signified the bestowal of pardon.” He appears, however, to be singular in his opinion that any but a Levite might kill the victim.

(251) This word only occurs here, and in Lev 1:12, and Lev 8:20. S.M. says that the Jewish expositors declare it to mean that fat, or network of fat which is found upon the liver, and with which the severance ( locus de-collationis ) of the head was covered, when the head was put upon the fire. It is not easy to discover who may have said that it meant a dissevered head. — W. “Some translate it (says Poole, in loco) the body, or the trunk of the body, (whence, perhaps, C. ’s error.) So the ancient Hebrews quoted in Fagius; so Vatablus, Grotius, Malvenda, Mercerus in Bochart.”

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

(5) And he shall kill the bullock.The sacrificer himself slaughtered the victim on the north side of the altar, by cutting its throat, while a priest or an assistant held a bowl under the neck to receive the blood.

Before the Lord.That is, before the door of the tent of meeting (comp. Lev. 1:11). The two phrases constantly interchange in the directions about the sacrifices. (Comp. Lev. 3:2; Lev. 3:8; Lev. 3:12; Lev. 4:4; Lev. 4:15; Lev. 4:24; Lev. 6:18, &c.)

The priests, Aarons sons.Better, the sons of Aaron, the priests, as the Authorised Version renders this phrase in Num. 10:8. Besides the passage in Jos. 21:19, this phrase only occurs six times, once in Numbers, where it is properly rendered, and five times in this book, where it is translated three times the priests Aarons sons (Lev. 1:5; Lev. 1:8; Lev. 1:11), and twice Aarons sons the priests (Lev. 2:2; Lev. 3:2). (See Lev. 21:1.)

And sprinkle.Better, throw the blood. The priestly functions, which began with the catching of the blood in the bowl, are now to continue also in this instance. The priest threw the blood upon the walls of the altar in two portions. He first stepped to the north-eastern corner, and from that corner diffused the blood on the northern and eastern walls; he then placed himself at the south-western corner, whence he diffused the second portion of the blood on the south and western walls. The rest of the blood he poured out at the Southern side of the altar, which was furnished with two holes; these holes communicated with a drain which conducted the blood into the Kedron.

By the door of the tabernacle.Better, at the entrance of the tent of meeting. (See Lev. 1:3.)

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

5. Shall kill After the most searching scrutiny by the priest, if the animal was pronounced perfect, the offerer killed it, except when it was presented in behalf of the whole congregation; then it was killed by the high priest. Chap. Lev 16:15.

The bullock Literally, the son of a bull. The term ox is often used in a broad sense as describing sacrificial victims of the bovine genus, but in the narrow sense of modern parlance it is an improper term, since the ox is not a perfect male. See note on Lev 1:3.

Before the Lord Since Jehovah had deigned to take up his abode between the cherubim above the mercy seat in the holy of holies, the whole tabernacle, recently illumined with his glory, was filled with his special presence. Hence before the open door of the holy place, the court of the priests, was before the Lord.

The priests, Aaron’s sons They had been designated (Exodus xxix) but not yet consecrated. Chap. 8.

Sprinkle the blood Brought from the door of the tabernacle to the altar, it is to be copiously spilled upon the ground round about, upon the altar’s walls, and probably upon its top. The verb sprinkle here used is different from that employed to express the scattering of drops with the finger or hyssop. As no instrument for sprinkling is here specified, and as the same verb is used when all the blood of an ox, as here, and all the blood of a sheep, Lev 1:11, are to be thus treated, we infer that the manner was by waving the basin and spilling the blood. For the ceremonial office of the blood see Introduction, (6.)

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Lev 1:5. And the priestsshall bring the blood This blood, as Le Clerc observes, was to be offered by the priest alone, and served to remind the person who brought the victim, that he was in a sinful state, and so not worthy to have access to God, but through a mediator; and a mediator, be it noted, offering the blood of the sacrifice. The heathens had the same custom: they received the blood of the sacrifices in vessels prepared for that purpose, and then offered it to their deities by pouring it upon the altar. The reader will find, in Homer’s Iliad, a very accurate account of their manner of sacrifice; which was evidently borrowed from the ceremonials of the true religion before, the coming of the great Antitype.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

Was not this killing of the bullock, a representation, that the Lord Jesus, should suffer by his death, on the cross, for the sins of his people? 1Pe 3:18 . And by the sprinkling of the blood, was it not meant to signify, that the merits of Jesus’s death, and righteousness, must be applied to the sinner, who is made the happy partaker of salvation? Heb 12:24 . Did not the sprinkling of the blood round about the Altar, teach the preciousness of Christ’s atonement, in the Godhead of his person? 1Pe 1:2 .

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

Lev 1:5 And he shall kill the bullock before the LORD: and the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall bring the blood, and sprinkle the blood round about upon the altar that [is by] the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

Ver. 5. And he shall kill the bullock. ] The priest shall kill it: for it was death for any man to offer his own sacrifice. So it is still for any to come to God, otherwise than in and by Christ.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

he. The sacrificer himself killed: the priest received the blood.

the priests, Aaron’s sons. Hebrew = the sons of Aaron, the priests. Occurs seven times: Lev 1:5, Lev 1:8, Lev 1:11; Lev 2:2; Lev 3:2. Num 10:8. Jos 21:19.

sprinkle = dash. Hebrew throw or jerk.

door = entrance.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

kill: Lev 1:11, Lev 3:2, Lev 3:8, Lev 3:13, Lev 16:15, 2Ch 29:22-24, Mic 6:6

the priests: Lev 1:11, Lev 1:15, 2Ch 35:11, Heb 10:11

sprinkle: Lev 1:11, Lev 3:2, Lev 3:8, Lev 3:13, Exo 24:6-8, Exo 29:16, Num 18:17, 2Ch 35:11, Isa 52:15, Eze 36:25, Heb 12:24, 1Pe 1:2

Reciprocal: Exo 29:11 – And Lev 4:24 – in the place Lev 5:9 – sprinkle Lev 6:25 – In the Lev 7:2 – in the place Lev 8:15 – he slew it Lev 9:8 – General Lev 14:13 – in the place Deu 12:27 – thy burnt 1Ch 6:49 – Aaron 2Ch 30:16 – the priests Eze 43:18 – to offer

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Lev 1:5-6. And he Either, 1st, The offerer, who is said to do it, namely, by the priest; for men are commonly said to do what they cause others to do, as Joh 4:1-2. Or, 2d, The priest, as it follows, or the Levite, whose office this was. Shall sprinkle the blood Which was done in a considerable quantity, and whereby was signified, 1st, That the offerer deserved to have his blood spilt in that manner. 2d, That the blood of Christ should be poured forth for sinners, and that this was the only means of their reconciliation to God, and acceptance with him. Pieces Namely, the head, and fat, and inwards, and legs, Lev 1:8-9.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

1:5 And {d} he shall kill the bullock before the LORD: and the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall bring the blood, and sprinkle the blood round about upon the {e} altar that [is by] the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

(d) A priest of the Levites.

(e) Of the burnt offering, Exo 27:1.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

THE BURNT OFFERING (CONCLUDED)

Lev 1:5-17; Lev 6:8-13

AFTER the laying on of the hand, the next sacrificial act was-

THE KILLING OF THE VICTIM

“And he shall kill the bullock before the Lord.” (Lev 1:5)

In the light of what has been already said, the significance of this killing, in a typical way, will be quite clear. For with the first sin, and again and again thereafter, God had denounced death as the penalty of sin. But here is a sinner who, in accord with a Divine command, brings before God a sacrificial victim, on whose head he lays his hand, on which he thus rests as he confesses his sins, and gives over the innocent victim to die instead of himself. Thus each of these sacrificial deaths, whether in the burnt offering, the peace offering, or the sin offering, brings ever before us the death in the sinners stead of that one Holy Victim who suffered for us, “the just for the unjust,” and thus laid down His life, in accord with His own previously declared intention, “as a ransom for many.”

In the sacrifices made by and for individuals, the victim was killed, except in the case of the turtledove or pigeon, by the offerer himself; but, very naturally, in the case of the national and public offerings, it was killed by the priest. As, in this latter case, it was impossible that all individual Israelites should unite in killing the victim, it is plain that the priest herein acted as the representative of the nation. Hence we may properly say that the fundamental thought of the ritual was this, that the victim should be killed by the offerer himself.

And by this ordinance we may well be reminded, first, how Israel, -for whose sake as a nation the antitypical Sacrifice was offered, -Israel itself became the executioner of the Victim; and, beyond that, how, in a deeper sense, every sinner must regard himself as truly causal of the Saviours death, in that, as is often truly said, our sins nailed Christ to His cross. But whether such a reference were intended in this law of the offering or not, the great, significant, outstanding fact remains, that as soon as the offerer, by his laying on of the hand, signified the transfer of the personal obligation to die for sin from himself to the sacrificial victim, then came at once upon that victim the penalty denounced against sin.

And the added words, “before the Lord,” cast further light upon this, in that they remind us that the killing of the victim had reference to Jehovah, whose holy law the offerer, failing of that perfect consecration which the burnt offering symbolised, had failed to glorify and honour.

THE SPRINKLING OF BLOOD

“And Aarons sons, the priests, shall present the blood, and sprinkle the blood round about upon the altar that is at the door of the tent of meeting.” (Lev 1:5)

And now follows the fourth act in the ceremonial, the Sprinkling of the Blood. The offerers part is now done, and herewith the work of the priest begins. Even so must we, having laid the hand of faith upon the head of the substituted Lamb of God, now leave it to the heavenly Priest to act in our behalf with God.

The directions to the priest as to the use of the blood vary in the different offerings, according as the design is to give greater or less prominence to the idea of expiation. In the sin offering this has the foremost place. But in the burnt offering, as also in the peace offering, although the conception of atonement by blood was not absent, it was not the dominant conception of the sacrifice. Hence, while the sprinkling of blood by the priest could in no wise be omitted, it took in this case a subordinate place in the ritual. It was to be sprinkled only on the sides of the altar of burnt offering which stood in the outer court. We read (Lev 1:5): “Aarons sons, the priests, shall present the blood, and sprinkle the blood round about upon the altar that is at the door of the tent of meeting.”

It was in this sprinkling of the blood that the atoning work was completed. The altar had been appointed as a place of Jehovahs special presence; it had been designated as a place where God would come unto man to bless him. Thus, to present and sprinkle the blood upon the altar was symbolically to present the blood unto God. And the blood represented life, -the life of an innocent victim atoning for the sinner, because rendered upin the stead of his life. And the priests were to sprinkle the blood. So, while to bring and present the sacrifice of Christ, to lay the hand of faith upon His head, is our part, with this our duty ends. To sprinkle the blood, to use the blood God-ward for the remission of sin, this is the work alone of our heavenly Priest. We are then to leave that with Him.

Reserving a fuller exposition of the meaning of this sprinkling of blood for the exposition of the sin offering, in which it was the central act of the ritual, we pass on now to the burning of the sacrifice, which in this offering marked the culmination of its special symbolism.

Fuente: Expositors Bible Commentary