Lev 3 | KD | STEP | The Peace-Offerings. - The third kind of sacrifice is called שׁלמים זבח, commonly rendered thank-offering, but more correctly a saving-offering ( Heilsopfer: Angl. peace-offering). Besides this fuller form, which is the one most commonly employed in Leviticus, we meet with the abbreviated forms זבחים and שׁלמים: e.g., זבח in ; , more especially in combination with עלה, cf. ; ; , ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; , etc., - and שׁלמים in ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; , etc. זבח is derived from זבח, which is not applied to slaughtering generally (שׁחט), but, with the exception of , where the use of זבח for slaughtering is occasioned by the retrospective reference to , is always used for slaying as a sacrifice, or sacrificing; and even in ; and , it is only used in a figurative sense. The real meaning, therefore, is sacrificial slaughtering, or slaughtered sacrifice. It is sometimes used in a wider sense, and applied to every kind of bleeding sacrifice ( ; ), especially in connection with minchah ( ; ; ; , etc.); but it is mostly used in a more restricted sense, and applied to the peace-offerings, or slain offerings, which culminated in a sacrificial meal, as distinguished from the burnt and sin-offerings, in which case it is synonymous with שׁלמים or שׁלמים זבח. The word shelamim , the singular of which ( Shelem ) is only met with in , is applied exclusively to these sacrifices, and is derived from שׁלם to be whole, uninjured. It does not mean "compensation or restitution," for which we find the nouns שׁלּם ( ), שׁלּוּם ( ), and שׁלּוּמה ( ), formed from the Piel שׁלּם, but integritas completa, pacifica, beata, answering to the Sept . rendering σωτήριον. The plural denotes the entire round of blessings and powers, by which the salvation or integrity of man in his relation to God is established and secured. The object of the shelamim was invariably salvation: sometimes they were offered as an embodiment of thanksgiving for salvation already received, sometimes as a prayer for the salvation desired; so that they embraced both supplicatory offerings and thank-offerings, and were offered even in times of misfortune, or on the day on which supplication was offered for the help of God ( ; ; ; ). (Note: Cf. Hengstenberg, Dissertations . Outram's explanation is quite correct: Sacrificia salutaria in sacris litteris shelamim dicta, ut quae semper de rebus prosperis fieri solerent, impetratis utique aut impetrandis .) The law distinguishes three different kinds: praise-offerings, vow-offerings, and freewill-offerings ( , ). They were all restricted to oxen, sheep, and goats, either male or female, pigeons not being allowed, as they were always accompanied with a common sacrificial meal, for which a pair of pigeons did not suffice. In the act of sacrificing, the presentation of the animal before Jehovah, the laying on of hands, the slaughtering, and the sprinkling of the blood were the same as in the case of the burnt-offering ( ). It was in the application of the flesh that the difference first appeared.

Leviticus 3

The Peace-Offerings. - The third kind of sacrifice is called שׁלמים זבח, commonly rendered thank-offering, but more correctly a saving-offering (Heilsopfer: Angl. peace-offering). Besides this fuller form, which is the one most commonly employed in Leviticus, we meet with the abbreviated forms זבחים and שׁלמים: e.g., זבח in Lev 7:16-17; Lev 23:37, more especially in combination with עלה, Lev 17:8 cf. Exo 10:25; Exo 18:12; Num 15:3, Num 15:5; Deu 12:27; Jos 22:27; 1Sa 6:15; 1Sa 15:22; 2Ki 5:17; 2Ki 10:24; Isa 56:7; Jer 6:20; Jer 7:21; Jer 17:26, etc., - and שׁלמים in Lev 9:22; Exo 20:24; Exo 32:6; Deu 27:7; Jos 8:31; Jdg 20:26; Jdg 21:4; 1Sa 13:9; 2Sa 6:17-18; 2Sa 24:25; 1Ki 3:15, etc. זבח is derived from זבח, which is not applied to slaughtering generally (שׁחט), but, with the exception of Deu 12:15, where the use of זבח for slaughtering is occasioned by the retrospective reference to Lev 17:3-4, is always used for slaying as a sacrifice, or sacrificing; and even in 1Sa 28:24; Eze 34:3 and Eze 39:17, it is only used in a figurative sense. The real meaning, therefore, is sacrificial slaughtering, or slaughtered sacrifice. It is sometimes used in a wider sense, and applied to every kind of bleeding sacrifice (1Sa 1:21; 1Sa 2:19), especially in connection with minchah (1Sa 2:29; Psa 40:7; Isa 19:21; Dan 9:27, etc.); but it is mostly used in a more restricted sense, and applied to the peace-offerings, or slain offerings, which culminated in a sacrificial meal, as distinguished from the burnt and sin-offerings, in which case it is synonymous with שׁלמים or שׁלמים זבח. The word shelamim, the singular of which (Shelem) is only met with in Amo 5:22, is applied exclusively to these sacrifices, and is derived from שׁלם to be whole, uninjured. It does not mean "compensation or restitution," for which we find the nouns שׁלּם (Deu 32:35), שׁלּוּם (Hos 9:7), and שׁלּוּמה (Psa 91:8), formed from the Piel שׁלּם, but integritas completa, pacifica, beata, answering to the Sept. rendering σωτήριον. The plural denotes the entire round of blessings and powers, by which the salvation or integrity of man in his relation to God is established and secured. The object of the shelamimwas invariably salvation: sometimes they were offered as an embodiment of thanksgiving for salvation already received, sometimes as a prayer for the salvation desired; so that they embraced both supplicatory offerings and thank-offerings, and were offered even in times of misfortune, or on the day on which supplication was offered for the help of God (Jdg 20:26; Jdg 21:4; 1Sa 13:9; 2Sa 24:25).

(Note: Cf. Hengstenberg, Dissertations. Outram's explanation is quite correct: Sacrificia salutaria in sacris litteris shelamimdicta, ut quae semper de rebus prosperis fieri solerent, impetratis utique aut impetrandis.)

The law distinguishes three different kinds: praise-offerings, vow-offerings, and freewill-offerings (Lev 7:12, Lev 7:16). They were all restricted to oxen, sheep, and goats, either male or female, pigeons not being allowed, as they were always accompanied with a common sacrificial meal, for which a pair of pigeons did not suffice.

In the act of sacrificing, the presentation of the animal before Jehovah, the laying on of hands, the slaughtering, and the sprinkling of the blood were the same as in the case of the burnt-offering (Lev 1:3-5). It was in the application of the flesh that the difference first appeared.

The same rules apply to the peace-offerings of sheep and goats, except that, in addition to the fat portions, which were to be burned upon the altar in the case of the oxen (Lev 3:3, Lev 3:4) and goats (Lev 3:14, Lev 3:15), the fat tail of the sheep was to be consumed as well. תמימה האליה: "the fat tail whole" (Lev 3:9), cauda ovilla vel arietina eaque crassa et adiposa; the same in Arabic (Ges. thes. p. 102). The fat tails which the sheep have in Northern Africa and Egypt, also in Arabia, especially Southern Arabia, and Syria, often weigh 15 lbs. or more, and small carriages on wheels are sometimes placed under them to bear their weight (Sonnini, R. ii. p. 358; Bochart, Hieroz. i. pp. 556ff.). It consists of something between marrow and fat. Ordinary sheep are also found in Arabia and Syria; but in modern Palestine all the sheep are "of the broad-tailed species." The broad part of the tail is an excresence of fat, from which the true tail hangs down (Robinson, Pal. ii. 166). "Near the rump-bone shall he (the offerer) take it (the fat tail) away," i.e., separate it from the body. עצם, ἁπ. λεγ., is, according to Saad., os caudae s. coccygis, i.e., the rump or tail-bone, which passes over into the vertebrae of the tail (cf. Bochart, i. pp. 560-1). In Lev 3:11 and Lev 3:16 the fat portions which were burned are called "food of the firing for Jehovah," or "food of the firing for a sweet savour," i.e., food which served as a firing for Jehovah, or reached Jehovah by being burned; cf. Num 28:24, "food of the firing of a sweet savour for Jehovah." Hence not only are the daily burnt-offerings and the burnt and sin-offerings of the different feasts called "food of Jehovah" ("My bread," Num 28:2); but the sacrifices generally are described as "the food of God" ("the bread of their God," Lev 21:6, Lev 21:8, Lev 21:17, Lev 21:21-22, and Lev 22:25), as food, that is, which Israel produced and caused to ascend to its God in fire as a sweet smelling savour. - Nothing is determined here with regard to the appropriation of the flesh of the peace-offerings, as their destination for a sacrificial meal was already known from traditional custom. The more minute directions for the meal itself are given in Lev 7:11-36, where the meaning of these sacrifices is more fully explained. - In Lev 3:17 (Lev 3:16) the general rule is added, "all fat belongs to Jehovah," and the law, "eat neither fat nor blood," is enforced as "an eternal statute" for the generations of Israel (see at Exo 12:14, Exo 12:24) in all their dwelling-places (see Exo 10:23 and Exo 12:20).