Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Leviticus 4:7
And the priest shall put [some] of the blood upon the horns of the altar of sweet incense before the LORD, which [is] in the tabernacle of the congregation; and shall pour all the blood of the bullock at the bottom of the altar of the burnt offering, which [is at] the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
7. The ‘altar of sweet incense’ does not appear in Exodus 27-29 (P g ). It must therefore be ascribed to a secondary addition (p [43] ) to the groundwork of the Priestly Code. See App. on P, pp. 174 f.
[43] ( secondary enactments) combined with the earlier strata. See further, pp. 174 ff.
before the Lord] The cloud was on the mercy-seat upon the ark in tie Holy of Holies; the sprinkling before the veil of the sanctuary was a sprinkling ‘before the Lord.’ The two phrases describe the same action.
at the base of the altar ] The base (bottom A.V.) is mentioned only in connexion with pouring out the blood of the Sin-Offering in this ch., and in Lev 5:9, Lev 8:15 (= Exo 29:12), Lev 9:9.
the altar of burnt offering ] A designation which marks p s [44] . In the legislation of P g (see last note) there was no need for this distinction. There, accordingly, it was simply called ‘the altar’ (Lev 9:7-8 etc.) and so in P t (ancient trth; see App. on P, pp. 174 f.), e.g. in Lev 1:7 ff., Lev 2:2, Lev 3:2 ff. etc.
[44] ( secondary enactments) combined with the earlier strata. See further, pp. 174 ff.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Pour – All the blood that was left after the sprinkling and the smearing should be disposed of in such a manner as to suit the decorum of divine service. It had no sacrificial significance.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
The altar of sweet incense which is in the tabernacle; the altar of burnt-offerings was without the tabernacle.
All the blood; so also below, Lev 4:18,30,34, to wit, all the rest, as it is expressed Lev 5:9, for part was disposed elsewhere.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And the priest shall put [some] of the blood,…. With his finger, which he dipped into it:
upon the horns of the altar of sweet incense before the Lord, which is in the tabernacle of the congregation; this was the golden altar on which incense was offered: it was placed before the vail, on the outside of it, in the holy place, see Ex 30:1 and the priest, when he put the blood on the horns of it, began at the northeast horn, so to the northwest, then to the southwest, and last to the southeast w; and the priest dipped his finger at every horn, and when he had finished at one horn, he wiped his finger at the edge of the basin, and after that dipped a second time; for what remained of the blood on his finger was not fit to put upon another horn x. This rite shows, that the intercession of Christ, signified by the altar of sweet incense, proceeds upon the foot of his blood and sacrifice, Re 8:3 1Jo 2:1:
and shall pour all the blood of the bullock at the bottom of the altar of burnt offering, which is at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation; this altar stood without the holy place, and the altar of incense within; and after the priest had sprinkled of the blood of the bullock, upon the horns of the altar of incense, what remained he poured at the bottom of the altar of burnt offering; for though it is said “all” the blood, it can mean no more than what was left; wherefore the Vulgate Latin version renders it, “all the remaining blood”: and Jarchi’s explanatory note is, the rest of the blood. The place where this was poured, according to Maimonides y, was the west bottom of the altar; and Gersom on the place observes the same. This denotes the efficacy of Christ’s blood to make atonement for sin, and the reverent esteem it ought to be had in, being precious blood.
w Misn. Yoma, c. 5. sect. 5. Maimon. ib. (Maasch Hakorbanot c. 5.) sect. 10. 14. x Maimon. ib. sect. 8. y Ib. sect. 11.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(7) And the priest shall put.That is, the high priest. With the finger thus dipped into it, he is to put some of the blood on each of the four horns of the golden altar on which the incense was offered.
This process, too, was peculiar to the sacrifice of the sin offering. The altar was placed in the holy place before the vail which separated off the holy of holies (Exo. 30:1-6). According to the practice which obtained in the time of Christ, the priest began by putting the blood first on the north-east horn, then on the north-west, then on the south-west, and, lastly, on the south-east horn. He dipped his finger in the blood of the bowl at the sprinkling of each horn, and wiped his finger on the edge of the bowl between the separate sprinklings, as the blood which remained on his finger from one horn was not deemed fit to be put on the other.
And shall pour all the blood.That is, all the remaining blood. The bulk of the blood which remained, after expending the small quantity on the horns of the incense altar inside the sanctuary, the priest poured out at the bottom of the altar of burnt offering, which stood outside the holy place. At the time of the second Temple, there were at the southwest horn of this altar two holes, like two nostrils, through which the blood ran into a drain conveying it into the brook of Kedron.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
7. Blood horns of the altar These horns are not supposed to have been made of horn, but to have been projections from the four corners covered with the metal with which the altar was overlaid. Josephus describes the altars in use in his day as having these projections in the shape of horns. Others are of the opinion that the horns of the original altars were perpendicular cones rising from each corner of the altar to half its height. There is much discussion respecting their purpose. They could not, in the case of the altar of incense, have been for binding the victim before killing it, (Psa 118:27,) because no victim was ever burned on this altar. The horn is with the Hebrews a favourite symbol of power. Its presence on every altar may have been to suggest the glory of Jehovah’s omnipotence. Previous to the appointment of the six cities of refuge, the altar was the asylum for the accidental manslayer. Exo 21:14. The refugee was accustomed to lay hold of the horns of the altar. 1Ki 1:50. The horns were to be smeared with blood, perhaps to set forth the great truth that the blood of Christ is the only inviolable refuge, and that the penitent sinner can lay hold of the protecting power of God only as he lays hold of sacrificial blood. See Introduction, (6.)
Altar of sweet incense This, being covered with gold, was called the golden altar, to distinguish it from the brazen altar of burnt offering. Exo 38:30; Exo 39:38. The Hebrew name for altar, signifying “the killing-place,” as applied to the altar of incense is not strictly appropriate. It is not here used in its etymological sense. For a description, see notes on Exo 30:1-10.
Before the Lord This altar was situated in the holy place. In apparent contradiction to this, the writer to the Hebrews (Heb 9:4) enumerates it among the objects which were within the second vail, that is, in the holy of holies. In 1Ki 6:21-22, it is said to belong to “the oracle,” or most holy place. The best explanation is that suggested by Bleek and adopted by Tholuck, namely, that the author of the epistle “treats the holy of holies, irrespective of the vail, as symbolical of the heavenly sanctuary, and had also a motive to include in it the altar of incense, whose offerings of incense are the symbol of the prayers of the saints. See note on Heb 9:4.
Pour all the blood bottom of the altar In the temple there was a duct by which the blood was conveyed to the brook Kedron. There was doubtless some such way of disposing of the blood in the tabernacle, of which the temple was only an enlarged copy.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Were not those things, in putting some of the blood upon the altar, and pouring out the rest, typical of the different parts of CHRIST’S passion? Rev 8:3-4 ; Isa 53:12 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Lev 4:7 And the priest shall put [some] of the blood upon the horns of the altar of sweet incense before the LORD, which [is] in the tabernacle of the congregation; and shall pour all the blood of the bullock at the bottom of the altar of the burnt offering, which [is at] the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
Ver. 7. Upon the horns of the altar. ] To signify, saith one, that the preaching of the gospel concerning the blood of Christ, should be published and proclaimed to the four corners of the earth. To show, saith another, that by faith in the blood of Christ, our prayers are acceptable unto God, and our infirmities pardoned and purged.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
before. A various reading called Sevir has “which is before”. See App-34.
all = all the remaining blood.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
the horns: Lev 8:15, Lev 9:9, Lev 16:18, Exo 30:1-10, Psa 118:27, Heb 9:21-25
all the blood: Lev 4:18, Lev 4:34, Lev 5:9, Lev 8:15, Eph 2:13
Reciprocal: Exo 27:2 – horns of it upon the four corners thereof Exo 29:12 – pour all Lev 4:17 – General Lev 4:25 – put 2Ch 29:22 – sprinkled Zec 9:15 – the corners Rev 6:9 – I saw
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
4:7 And the priest shall put [some] of the blood upon the horns of the altar of sweet incense before the LORD, which [is] in the {e} tabernacle of the congregation; and shall pour all the blood of the bullock at the bottom of the altar of the burnt offering, which [is at] the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
(e) Which was in the court: meaning by the tabernacle the sanctuary: and in the end of this verse it is taken for the court.