Lev 7:11-21 | TNotes

Summary for Lev 7:12-15: 7:12-15 ^a The peace offering could be presented as an expression of thanks (as here), as payment of a vow (7:16 ^b), or as a voluntary offering (see 3:1-7 ^c). A worshiper made it an expression of thanksgiving by presenting a grain offering along with the peace offering (2:1-16 ^d). A grain offering consisted of unleavened cakes, wafers, or cakes of fine flour, all mixed or spread with olive oil. A representative portion was set aside to be burned (2:9 ^e). The grain offering was to be accompanied by loaves of yeast bread (7:13 ^f).
7:15 ^g The thanksgiving offering was given when the worshiper was thankful (Jer 17:26 ^h; 33:11 ⁱ). The sacrifice was to be eaten on the same day it was offered so that the event would not fade from the worshiper’s memory.
Summary for Lev 7:16-18: 7:16-18 ^j In contrast to the “peace offering of thanksgiving,” which was presented as an expression of thanks to the Lord (7:12-15 ^k), the offering to fulfill a vow related to a vow made by a worshiper. The festive meal that followed was more relaxed and could extend into the next day. However, because the vow offering involved a vow made to God, it was still more restrictive than the voluntary offering, which could even use a deformed animal (22:23 ^l).
7:18 ^m The Hebrew term for contaminated (piggul) occurs only in three other places (19:7 ⁿ; Isa 65:4 ^o; Ezek 4:14 ^p). It is always used in reference to meat that is unacceptable for sacrifice or human consumption.
Summary for Lev 7:19-21: 7:19-21 ^q Anything that was ceremonially unclean could not come into contact with what was holy (7:20 ^r). Although uncleanness was not sinful in itself, it symbolized what was unholy (see Exod 19:10 ^s).
Summary for Lev 7:20-21: 7:20-21 ^t cut off: Three interpretations are possible for this expression, all of them very grave: (1) The person was subject to God’s judgment and faced an early death by natural causes (17:10-14 ^u). (2) The person was to be executed by the community (cp. Exod 31:14 ^v). (3) The person lost communal membership in Israel, either by banishment (such as by excommunication) or by shunning the person and treating him or her as unclean (Lev 18:24-30 ^w; cp. 23:29-30 ^x, where “cut off” seems distinct from “destroy”).