Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Leviticus 6:9

Command Aaron and his sons, saying, This [is] the law of the burnt offering: It [is] the burnt offering, because of the burning upon the altar all night unto the morning, and the fire of the altar shall be burning in it.

9. The instructions under eight heads are given through Moses to Aaron and his sons, here and in Lev 6:25. The commands in Lev 7:23; Lev 7:29 are addressed to the children of Israel.

This is the law of ] here and Lev 6:14 ; Lev 6:25, Lev 7:1; Lev 7:11. The regulations for each sacrifice are introduced by this formula. Note that in this section the Peace-Offering comes last in order.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Rather, This, the burnt-offering, shall be upon the fire on the altar all night unto the morning. See Exo 29:38-46, with the notes.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Verse 9. This is the law of the burnt-offering] This law properly refers to that burnt-offering which was daily made in what was termed the morning and evening sacrifice; and as he had explained the nature of this burnt-offering in general, with its necessary ceremonies, as far as the persons who brought them were concerned, he now takes up the same in relation to the priests who were to receive them from the hands of the offerer, and present them to the Lord on the altar of burnt-offerings.

Because of the burning upon the altar all night] If the burnt-offering were put all upon the fire at once, it could not be burning all night. We may therefore reasonably conclude that the priests sat up by turns the whole night, and fed the fire with portions of this offering till the whole was consumed, which they would take care to lengthen out till the time of the morning sacrifice. The same we may suppose was done with the morning sacrifice; it was also consumed by piecemeal through the whole day, till the time of offering the evening sacrifice. Thus there was a continual offering by fire unto the Lord; and hence in Le 6:13 it is said: The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar, it shall never go out. If at any time any extraordinary offerings were to be made, the daily sacrifice was consumed more speedily, in order to make room for such extra offerings. See more on this subject in Clarke’s note on “Le 6:23“.

The Hebrew doctors teach that no sacrifice was ever offered in the morning before the morning sacrifice; and none, the passover excepted, ever offered in the evening after the evening sacrifice; for all sacrifices were made by day-light. The fat seems to have been chiefly burned in the night season, for the greater light and conveniency of keeping the fire alive, which could not be so easily done in the night as in the day time.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

Hitherto he hath prescribed the sacrifices themselves, now he comes to the manner of them. The law of the burnt-offering, to wit, of the daily one, of which Exo 29:38; Num 28:3, as the following words show.

Because of the burning upon the altar all night unto the morning: the meaning is, the evening burnt-offering was to be so managed and laid on piece after piece, that the fire might be constantly maintained by it. It is to be understood, that the morning burnt-offerings were to be kept burning all the day from morning to night also; but he mentions not that because there was so great a number and such a constant succession of sacrifices in the day-time, that there needed no law for feeding and keeping in the fire then; the only danger was for the night, when other sacrifices were not offered, but only the evening burnt-offering, which if it had been consumed quickly, as the morning burnt-offering was, there had been danger of the going out of that fire, which they were commanded diligently and constantly to keep in and maintain here below, Lev 6:13.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

9. Command Aaron and his sons,saying, This . . . law of the burnt offeringIn this passageMoses received instructions to be delivered to the priests respectingtheir official duties, and first the burnt offeringHebrew,“a sacrifice, which went up in smoke.” The daily serviceconsisted of two lambs, one offered in the morning at sunrise, theother in the evening, when the day began to decline. Both of themwere consumed on the altar by means of a slow fire, before which thepieces of the sacrifice were so placed that they fed it all night. Atall events, the observance of this daily sacrifice on the altar ofburnt offering was a daily expression of national repentance andfaith. The fire that consumed these sacrifices had been kindled fromheaven at the consecration of the tabernacle [Le9:24], and to keep it from being extinguished and the sacrificesfrom being burned with common fire, strict injunctions are here givenrespecting not only the removal of the ashes [Lev 6:10;Lev 6:11], but the approachingnear to the fireplace in garments that were not officially “holy.”

Le6:14-18. THE LAWOF THE MEATOFFERING.

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

Command Aaron and his sons,…. Who were nominated, selected, and appointed to the office, though not yet consecrated to it and invested with it, see Le 8:1

saying, this [is] the law of the burnt offering; of the daily sacrifice, morning and evening:

it [is] the burnt offering, because of, [or] for the burning upon the altar all night unto the morning; as there was nothing offered on the altar of burnt offering after the evening daily sacrifice, nor anything before the morning daily sacrifice, it was the more difficult to keep the fire of the altar burning in the night; wherefore a slow fire was used in the evening sacrifice, and several things remained to be burnt in the night: so Maimonides p says, the remainder of the fat of the members were burnt all night until the pillar of the morning (first rays of the rising sun, Editor.):

and the fire of the altar shall be burning in it; not without it, as Aben Ezra observes, but on it; that is, should be ever burning on it, night and day, as it is after declared.

p In Misn. Beracot, c. 1. sect. 1.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

9. Command Aaron and his sons. He more distinctly explains what might have appeared to be omitted; nor is it without reason that he carefully enters into these full details, for since God prefers obedience to all sacrifices, he was unwilling that anything should remain doubtful as to the external rites, which were not otherwise of great importance; that they might learn to observe precisely, and with the most exact care, whatever the Law commanded, and that they should not obtrude anything of themselves, inasmuch as the purity of the holy things was corrupted by the very smallest invention. He would, therefore, leave nothing to the people’s judgment, but directed them by a fixed rule even in the most trifling matters. As to the burnt-offerings, he commands that they should not be taken away from the altar till they were consumed by the fire; but after they were put on, he commands them to be burnt in a constant fire till the morrow. With this intent, he expressly says, that the fire should be kept alight on the altar all the night, since the sacrifices would not have been reduced to ashes without the application of fuel. Secondly, he commands the priest, clothed in the linen garment, and breeches, as he was wont to be in the performance of his sacred duties, to go to the altar, and to take away the ashes and put them by the side, or at some part of the altar; but when he shall have gone away from the altar, he bids him take off his holy garments, and carry the ashes out of the camp to a clean place. But what he had before briefly adverted to as to the supply of wood, he immediately declares more fully to be, lest the fire should go out. Again, he assigns to the priest the office of setting the wood in order every morning. But, because in the sacrifices (275) of prosperities the Law commanded the fat only to be burnt, Moses now adds, verse 12, that the fat was to be burnt on the same fire. It is worthy of particular observation, that he finally subjoins a precept as to so keeping up the fire that it may never go out.

The intent of this perpetuity was, that the offerings should be burnt with heavenly fire; for on the day that Aaron was consecrated, the sacrifice was reduced to ashes not by human means but miraculously, in token of approbation. True that God did not choose daily to exert this power; but He interposed the hand and labor of men in such a manner that the origin of the sacred fire should still be from heaven. The same thing afterwards happened at the dedication of Solomon’s temple, because that alteration of the divine decree demanded a sign ( tesseram,) lest any should think that it was at the will of man that the splendor of the temple should outvie the tabernacle. Finally, the sacrifice of Elijah was graced by the same privilege when he restored the abolished legal service; and then also God upheld what He had ordained in His Law, in opposition to all corrupt and degenerate rites. Meanwhile, in order to prevent any adulterations, He chose to have the fire continually burning on the altar day and night, nor was it allowable to take it from elsewhere. There was, indeed, amongst the Persians (276) a perpetual fire, and at Rome also under the guardianship of the Vestal virgins; (277) and it may be, that in foolish mimicry they transferred to themselves the custom which they had heard of being observed by the Jews; for thus it is that, for the purpose of deceiving unbelievers, the devil often falsely makes a pretense of something divine, and imitates God just as an ape imitates man: but the purpose of God in rejecting strange fire was to retain the people in His own genuine ordinance prescribed by the Law, lest any inventions of men should insinuate themselves; for the prohibition of strange fire was tantamount to forbidding men to introduce anything of their own, or to add to the pure doctrine of the Law, or to decline from its rule. Meanwhile, since God had once testified, as if by stretching forth His hand from heaven (to receive them, (278)) that the sacrifices were acceptable to Him, believers were confirmed in their confidence of this by the pledge of the perpetual fire.

(275) Or peace-offerings, vide supra, p. 105.

(276) “The Persians regarded with reverence the sun and every kind of fire. The fire continually kept alive in their temples, was considered as sacred. It had been kindled from fire, which Zoroaster pretended to have brought down from heaven. It was fed by a particular kind of wood, and was supposed to be polluted even by the breath of those who approached it.” — Hill’s Essays on Ancient Greece, Essay 20. The sacred fire was kept alive even in their marches. — Curt, 3 3; Ammian Marcel., 23:6.

(277) “ Virgines Vestales in urbe custodiunto ignem loci publici sempiternum.” — Cicero de Legg. 2:8.

(278) Added from Fr.

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

(9) It is the burnt offering, because of the burning upon the altar.Better, This, the burnt offering, shall he upon the fire on the altar. That is, the continued burnt offering, with which the sacrifices here enumerated begin, is to remain burning upon the altar from the evening until the morning. (Comp. Exo. 29:38-42; Num. 28:1-8).

Shall be burning in it.Better, shall burn by it. That is, shall be fed and kept up by it. According to the practice which obtained during the second Temple, the fat pieces of the burnt offering began to be burned at midnight, thus feeding the fire till the break of day.

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

9. The law of the burnt offering The rules for offering this sacrifice were laid down for the priests and for individual worshippers in chapter 1. But the following rules are for the guidance of the priests in the national morning and evening sacrifice. At about sunrise incense was burnt upon the golden altar, before any other sacrifice, beautifully teaching that prayer and praise should be the first employment of our waking moments. One lamb was then offered as a whole burnt offering, and another at the close of the day. These were burned with a slow fire, so that the sweet-smelling savour was going up continually in the morn, atoning for the sins of the night; at the evening, for those of the day. A bread offering and a drink offering immediately followed each of these sacrifices. The drink offering, (Num 28:5-7,) which consisted of strong wine, was not to be drank by the priest, for this was prohibited, (Lev 10:9😉 but it was to be freely poured out around the altar as a libation, symbolizing the overflowing joy of a soul conscious of forgiveness and fully consecrated to God. The whole service, of which the burnt offering was the principal part, was a daily expression of the nation’s entire devotion to Jehovah.

Because of the burning upon the altar Here we have a mistranslation in the Authorized Version leading the reader to suppose that the etymology of olah is attempted by the sacred writer. The only difficulty is in the word rendered burning, used only here, signifying hearth, according to Furst.

The whole burnt offering shall be upon the hearth upon the altar all night.

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