Then the priest is to burn the food on the altar as an offering made by fire, a pleasing aroma. All the fat is the LORD’s.
Parallel translations
- WEB The priest shall burn them on the altar: it is the food of the offering made by fire, for a pleasant aroma; all the fat is Yahweh’s.
- KJV And the priest shall burn them upon the altar: it is the food of the offering made by fire for a sweet savour: all the fat is the LORD’s.
- NKJV and the priest shall burn them on the altar as food, an offering made by fire for a sweet aroma; all the fat is the Lord’s.
- NASB The priest shall offer them up in smoke on the altar as food, an offering by fire as a soothing aroma; all fat is the Lord’s.
- NLT and the priest will burn them on the altar. It is a special gift of food, a pleasing aroma to the Lord. All the fat belongs 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
The priest burns the fat as a pleasing aroma, for all the fat is the LORD's. God claims the richest portions of every offering as His own.
Overview
The declaration that 'all the fat is Yahweh's' establishes a lasting principle: the best portions belong to God. The burning of the fat ascends as a pleasing aroma, marking God's acceptance. This claim that the choicest is God's reflects His supreme worth and anticipates the wholehearted devotion God ultimately receives in the perfect offering of His Son.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Lev 7:23–25“Speak to the Israelites and say, ‘You are not to eat any of the fat of an ox, a sheep, or a goat.
- Lev 3:3–5From the peace offering he is to bring an offering made by fire to the LORD: the fat that covers the entrails, all the fat that is on them,
- Lev 4:8–19Then he shall remove all the fat from the bull of the sin offering—the fat that covers the entrails, all the fat that is on them,
- Isa 53:10Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush Him and to cause Him to suffer; and when His soul is made a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, and the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand.
- 1 Sam 2:15–16Even before the fat was burned, the servant of the priest would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, “Give the priest some meat to roast, because he will not accept boiled meat from you, but only raw.”
- Lev 3:9–11And from the peace offering he shall bring an offering made by fire to the LORD consisting of its fat: the entire fat tail cut off close to the backbone, the fat that covers the entrails, all the fat that is on them,
- Matt 22:37Jesus declared, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’
- Exod 29:13Take all the fat that covers the entrails and the lobe of the liver, and both kidneys with the fat on them, and burn them on the altar.
- Lev 3:14–15And from his offering he shall present an offering made by fire to the LORD: the fat that covers the entrails, all the fat that is on them,
- Exod 29:22Take the fat from the ram, the fat tail, the fat covering the entrails, the lobe of the liver, both kidneys with the fat on them, and the right thigh (since this is a ram for ordination),
- Lev 4:31Then he is to remove all the fat, just as it is removed from the peace offering, and the priest is to burn it on the altar as a pleasing aroma to the LORD. In this way the priest will make atonement for him, and he will be forgiven.
- Lev 4:26He must burn all its fat on the altar, like the fat of the peace offerings; thus the priest will make atonement for that man’s sin, and he will be forgiven.
- Lev 17:6The priest will then sprinkle the blood on the altar of the LORD at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and burn the fat as a pleasing aroma to the LORD.
- Lev 8:25And Moses took the fat—the fat tail, all the fat that was on the entrails, the lobe of the liver, and both kidneys with their fat—as well as the right thigh.
- 2 Chr 7:7Then Solomon consecrated the middle of the courtyard in front of the house of the LORD, and there he offered the burnt offerings and the fat of the peace offerings, since the bronze altar he had made could not contain all these offerings.
- Lev 9:24Fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed the burnt offering and the fat portions on the altar. And when all the people saw it, they shouted for joy and fell facedown.
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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 3:16 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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