No meat offering, which ye shall bring unto the LORD, shall be made with leaven: for ye shall burn no leaven, nor any honey, in any offering of the LORD made by fire.
Parallel translations
- WEB “‘No meal offering, which you shall offer to Yahweh, shall be made with yeast; for you shall burn no yeast, nor any honey, as an offering made by fire to Yahweh.
- BSB No grain offering that you present to the LORD may be made with leaven, for you are not to burn any leaven or honey as an offering made by fire to the LORD.
- NKJV ‘No grain offering which you bring to the Lord shall be made with leaven, for you shall burn no leaven nor any honey in any offering to the Lord made by fire.
- NASB ‘No grain offering, which you bring to the Lord, shall be made with leaven, for you shall not offer up in smoke any leaven or any honey as an offering by fire to the Lord.
- NLT “Do not use yeast in preparing any of the grain offerings you present to the Lord, because no yeast or honey may be burned as a special gift presented to the Lord.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
No grain offering may contain yeast or honey when burned to God. Symbols of corruption and fermentation are excluded from what ascends on the altar.
Overview
Leaven and honey both ferment and were therefore unfit for burning on the altar, likely symbolizing corruption or natural sweetness that does not belong in the fire of sacrifice. The prohibition guarded the purity of offerings made to God. This emphasis on purity anticipates the sincerity and truth that mark genuine worship, made possible through Christ our unleavened Passover (1 Corinthians 5:8).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Luke 12:1In the mean time, when there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people, insomuch that they trode one upon another, he began to say unto his disciples first of all, Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.
- Gal 5:9A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.
- Exod 23:18Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread; neither shall the fat of my sacrifice remain until the morning.
- Mark 8:15And he charged them, saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod.
- 1 Pet 4:2That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.
- Lev 6:16–17And the remainder thereof shall Aaron and his sons eat: with unleavened bread shall it be eaten in the holy place; in the court of the tabernacle of the congregation they shall eat it.
- Prov 25:27It is not good to eat much honey: so for men to search their own glory is not glory.
- Prov 24:13My son, eat thou honey, because it is good; and the honeycomb, which is sweet to thy taste:
- Exod 12:19–20Seven days shall there be no leaven found in your houses: for whosoever eateth that which is leavened, even that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a stranger, or born in the land.
- Prov 25:16Hast thou found honey? eat so much as is sufficient for thee, lest thou be filled therewith, and vomit it.
- Luke 21:34And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.
- Exod 34:25Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leaven; neither shall the sacrifice of the feast of the passover be left unto the morning.
- Matt 16:11–12How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees?
- Acts 14:22Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.
- Matt 16:6Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.
- 1 Cor 5:6–8Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?
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Christ at the center
Every sacrifice, every priest, and every day of atonement points beyond itself to the one perfect offering and the great High Priest who, by his own blood, makes the unclean holy once for all.
How Leviticus 2:11 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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