Every grain offering for a priest shall be burned completely; it is not to be eaten.”
Parallel translations
- WEB Every meal offering of a priest shall be wholly burned. It shall not be eaten.”
- KJV For every meat offering for the priest shall be wholly burnt: it shall not be eaten.
- NKJV For every grain offering for the priest shall be wholly burned. It shall not be eaten.”
- NASB So every grain offering of the priest shall be burned entirely. It shall not be eaten.”
- NLT All such grain offerings of a priest must be burned up entirely. None of it may be eaten.”
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
Every priest's own meal offering must be wholly burned and not eaten. The one who offers for himself takes no benefit from his own gift.
Overview
Because a priest cannot profit from atoning for himself, his meal offering is entirely consumed on the altar. This rule preserves the principle that one cannot mediate for himself and also receive the offering's portion. It magnifies the uniqueness of Christ, who needed no offering for Himself yet freely gives all His benefits to us (Hebrews 7:26-27).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 2
- Lev 6:16–17Aaron and his sons are to eat the remainder. It must be eaten without leaven in a holy place; they are to eat it in the courtyard of the Tent of Meeting.
- Lev 2:10But the remainder of the grain offering shall belong to Aaron and his sons; it is a most holy part of the offerings made by fire to the LORD.
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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 6:23 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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