Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Leviticus 3:4
And the two kidneys, and the fat that [is] on them, which [is] by the flanks, and the caul above the liver, with the kidneys, it shall he take away.
4. the two kidneys, and the fat by the loins ] Between the kidneys and the backbone are thick layers of fat. These may be seen in the carcases of sheep and lambs in butchers’ shops; the omentum and the liver are generally removed before they are exposed for sale.
the caul upon the liver ] Here and in Lev 3:10 ; Lev 3:15, Lev 4:9, Lev 7:4; Exo 29:13; the caul of the liver Exo 29:22; Lev 8:16; Lev 8:25; Lev 9:19; the caul from the liver Lev 9:10. The Heb. word translated ‘caul’ occurs only in these passages, and A.V. has the preposition ‘above’ in all of them. By ‘caul’ is here meant the membrane known as the small omentum, which covers the liver, the reticulum jecoris of Vulg. Jerome probably obtained the meaning from his Hebrew teachers. Mediaeval Jewish commentators interpret in the same way, or, as A.V. mg. renders, ‘midriff.’
But Moore in Enc. Bib. iv. p. 420 b had expressed his opinion that the lobus caudatus of the liver is the part indicated by the Heb. text. In an Article contributed to Orient. Studien Th. Nldeke gewidmet (1906) ii. 761 ff. he examined fully the renderings of the LXX. and other versions, quotations from the Mishna and other Jewish authorities, and shewed that the oldest tradition supported this interpretation. The Heb. literally translated is the redundance upon the liver which he shall take away along with the kidneys. Something connected with the liver, but in the nature of an appendage, which can be removed when the kidneys with the fat enclosing them are taken away, is indicated. From the right lobe of the liver of a sheep projects upwards an excrescence like a finger lying close to the right kidney fat, reaching about halfway up the kidney, which can easily be separated from the liver when the kidney with its surrounding fat is removed according to the directions in Lev 3:3-4. It is called (Tal. Bab. Tamid 31 a) ‘the finger of the liver,’ a more descriptive title than ‘the nut,’ given to it by the modern butcher. Anatomists call it lobus caudatus, and it appears to be clearly indicated by the Heb. ythreth, redundance, and the directions which imply its proximity to the kidney.
The LXX. translate, , and as there are several lobes in the liver, this was by some interpreted to mean the great upper lobe. But Greek writers who refer to divination by means of the liver (Eurip. Electra, 827 f., Aesch. Eumen. 155 f., Prom. Vinc. 509 f., and other references in Moore’s Article) employ to denote lobus caudatus, which was observed with special care by the haruspex. Latin writers employ the phrase caput jecoris, and Cicero, de Divin. ii. 13 says that it is regarded as a most unfavourable omen if this part of the liver is not found. When Agesilaus (Xen. Hellenica, iii. 4. 15) desired to know whether the omens were favourable to an advance with his army, the animal’s liver was found defective in this respect; whereupon he retreated to the coast. The renderings of Targ. and Peshitto (for which see Moore) confirm the conclusions already drawn.
For the significance of the parts reserved for sacrifice, as the seat of life and passions, see Rel. Sem. 2 pp. 379 f. The agreement between Semite, Greek, and the aboriginal Australian as there shewn should be particularly noted.
The description given above applies to the carcase of a sheep as exposed in the shops with the head downwards. The liver with the lobus caudatus has been removed, but the place where it rested against the right kidney can be seen. The ‘right’ is that opposite to the right hand of the person looking at it, and is the right side of the sheep when alive and on its legs; ‘upwards’ would then be ‘horizontally.’
It is interesting to note that earlier English versions observe the distinction of prepositions as in R.V. and though in Exodus 29 they render ‘the kal of the lyver,’ they have the word ‘ab(o)unda(u)nce,’ with variation of spelling, instead of ‘kal’ in Lev. The Bishops’ Bible (1568) has ‘kall’ throughout.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The caul above the liver – Probably the membrane covering the upper part of the liver.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
4-11. the two kidneys . . . of theflock . . . the whole rumpThere is, in Eastern countries, aspecies of sheep the tails of which are not less than four feet and ahalf in length. These tails are of a substance between fat andmarrow. A sheep of this kind weighs sixty or seventy English poundsweight, of which the tail usually weighs fifteen pounds and upwards.This species is by far the most numerous in Arabia, Syria, andPalestine, and, forming probably a large portion in the flocks of theIsraelites, it seems to have been the kind that usually bled on theJewish altars. The extraordinary size and deliciousness of theirtails give additional importance to this law. To command by anexpress law the tail of a certain sheep to be offered in sacrifice toGod, might well surprise us; but the wonder ceases, when we are toldof those broad-tailed Eastern sheep, and of the extreme delicacy ofthat part which was so particularly specified in the statute[PAXTON].
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And the two kidneys, and the fat that [is] on them, which is [by] the flanks,…. Meaning either the two kidneys which were next the flanks, or the fat upon them, which was next to them; these, and the burning of them, may signify the burning zeal and flaming love and affections of Christ for his people, which instructed him, and put him upon offering himself a sacrifice of peace offering for them, see
Ps 16:7
and the caul above the liver, with the kidneys, it shall he take away; or the caul, which is a thin membrane or skin, in which the liver is enclosed, with the liver, together with the kidneys, he separated from the rest in order to burn, at least with a part of the liver; so Jarchi and Gersom interpret it, that he should take a little of the liver with the caul; and indeed some think the word rendered “caul” signifies a part of the liver, that which the Greeks call the “table”, the broader part of it, like a table; and which word the Talmudists g retain, who speak of , “the table of the liver”; and by which Jarchi on Ex 29:13 interprets the caul above the liver, the same as here.
g T. Bab. Cholin, fol. 46. 1.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
4. The two kidneys Professor Bush suggests that the kidneys were burned because they are “the supposed seat of some of the strongest sensual propensities,” such as fornication and uncleanness. But we fail to see why the kidneys should be burned for this reason while the very organs of impurity are spared. The kidneys (reins) are, with the Scripture writers, the inmost seat of character. Their burning signifies the purgation, by the fire of the Holy Spirit, of the inscrutable depths of the spiritual nature and the cleansing of the heart from inbred sin. “God trieth the hearts and kidneys.” Psa 7:9. “I try the kidneys.” Jer 17:10. Outside of the Pentateuch the substitution of reins for kidneys occurs in the Authorized Version thirteen times in the Old Testament.
The caul above the liver These words are found together twice in Exodus, and quite often in the sacrificial ritual of Leviticus. In physiological terms it is “the small omentum which bounds part of the liver and the stomach, and comes into the region of the kidneys, and which is itself surrounded with the tunica adiposa a bed of fatty matter.”
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Lev 3:4 And the two kidneys, and the fat that [is] on them, which [is] by the flanks, and the caul above the liver, with the kidneys, it shall he take away.
Ver. 4. With the kidneys. ] Those seats of lust. Earthly members must be mortified by the thankful.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
caul Fat appendage.
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
caul above the liver, with the kidneys: or, midriff over the liver, and over the kidneys, Lev 3:10, Lev 3:15, Lev 4:9, Lev 7:4, Lev 8:16, Lev 8:25, Lev 9:10, Lev 9:19, Exo 29:13, *marg. Exo 29:22
Reciprocal: Lev 3:9 – the fat Lev 5:12 – according Lev 7:30 – own hands 1Sa 1:4 – offered