^2:1“ ‘When a person presents a grain offering¹ to the Lord, his offering must consist of choice wheat flour,² and he must pour olive oil on it and put frankincense³ on it. ^2:2Then he must bring it to the sons of Aaron, the priests, and the priest⁴ must scoop out from there a handful of its choice wheat flour and some of its olive oil in addition to all of its frankincense, and the priest must offer its memorial portion⁵ up in smoke on the altar—it is⁶ a gift of a soothing aroma to the Lord. ^2:3The remainder of the grain offering belongs to Aaron and to his sons⁷—it is⁸ most holy⁹ from the gifts of the Lord.

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Footnotes

1 The “grain offering” (מִנְחָה [minkhah]; here קָרְבַּן מִנְחָה, [qorbban minkhah], “an offering of a grain offering”) generally accompanied a burnt or peace offering to supplement the meat with bread (the libation provided the drink; cf. Num 15:1–10), thus completing the food “gift” to the Lord. It made atonement (see the note on ) along with the burnt offering (e.g., Lev 14:20) or alone as a sin offering for the poor ().
2 The Hebrew term for “choice wheat flour” (סֹלֶת, selet) is often translated “fine flour” (cf. , , , ), but it refers specifically to wheat as opposed to barley (B. A. Levine, Leviticus [], ). Moreover, the translation “flour” might be problematic, since the Hebrew term may designate the “grits” rather than the more finely ground “flour” (see J. Milgrom, Leviticus [], 1: as opposed to Levine, 10, and J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [], ).
3 This is not just any “incense” (קְטֹרֶת, qétoret; R. E. Averbeck, 3:), but specifically “frankincense” (לְבֹנָה, lévonah; R. E. Averbeck, 2:).
4 Heb “and he”; the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity. The syntax is strange here and might suggest that it was the offerer who scooped out a handful of the grain offering for the memorial portion (G. J. Wenham, Leviticus [], ), but based on v. 9 below it should be understood that it was the priest who performed this act (see, e.g., “After taking from it a handful of the choice flour and oil … the priest shall …”; see also J. Milgrom, Leviticus [], 1:, and J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [], ).
5 The “memorial portion” (אַזְכָרָה, ’azkharah) was the part of the grain offering that was burnt on the altar (see the previous clause), as opposed to the remainder, which was normally consumed by the priests (v. 3; see the full regulations in Lev 6:14–23[7–16]). It was probably intended to call to mind (i.e., memorialize) before the Lord the reason for the presentation of the particular offering (see the remarks in R. E. Averbeck, 1:).
6 The words “it is” have been supplied. See the notes on and . There is no text critical problem here, but the syntax suggests the same translation.
7 Heb “… is to Aaron and to his sons.” The preposition “to” (לְ, lamed) indicates ownership. Cf. , , and other English versions.
8 The words “it is” (הוּא, hu’) are not in the , but are supplied for the sake of translation into English. The also for translational reasons adds it between “most holy” and “from the gifts” (cf. 1:13, 17).
9 Heb “holy of holies”; , “a thing most holy.”

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

“When anyone brings a grain offering as an offering to the Lord, his offering shall be of fine flour. He shall pour oil on it and put frankincense on it and bring it to Aaron’s sons the priests. And he shall take from it a handful of the fine flour and oil, with all of its frankincense, and the priest shall burn this as its memorial portion on the altar, a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the Lord. But the rest of the grain offering shall be for Aaron and his sons; it is a most holy part of the Lord’s food offerings.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

“ ‘When anyone brings a grain offering to the Lord, their offering is to be of the finest flour. They are to pour olive oil on it, put incense on it and take it to Aaron’s sons the priests. The priest shall take a handful of the flour and oil, together with all the incense, and burn this as a memorial portion on the altar, a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord. The rest of the grain offering belongs to Aaron and his sons; it is a most holy part of the food offerings presented to the Lord.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

“When anyone presents a grain offering as an offering to the Lord, it is to consist of fine flour. He is to pour olive oil on it, put frankincense on it, and bring it to Aaron’s sons the priests. The priest will take a handful of fine flour and oil from it, along with all its frankincense, and will burn this memorial portion of it on the altar, a food offering, a pleasing aroma to the Lord. But the rest of the grain offering will belong to Aaron and his sons; it is the holiest part of the food offerings to the Lord.

NLTNew Living Translation

“When you present grain as an offering to the Lord, the offering must consist of choice flour. You are to pour olive oil on it, sprinkle it with frankincense, and bring it to Aaron’s sons, the priests. The priest will scoop out a handful of the flour moistened with oil, together with all the frankincense, and burn this representative portion on the altar. It is a special gift, a pleasing aroma to the Lord. The rest of the grain offering will then be given to Aaron and his sons. This offering will be considered a most holy part of the special gifts presented to the Lord.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

“ ‘When a person brings a grain offering to Yahweh, his offering must be finely milled flour, and he must pour out oil on it and place frankincense on it. And he shall bring it to the sons of Aaron, the priests, and he shall take his handful from its finely milled flour and from its oil in addition to all its frankincense. The priest shall turn its token portion into smoke on the altar as an offering made by fire, as an appeasing fragrance for Yahweh. The remainder of the grain offering belongs to Aaron and to his sons—it is a most holy thing from the offerings made by fire for Yahweh.

KJV 1900King James Version

And when any will offer a meat offering unto the Lord, his offering shall be of fine flour; and he shall pour oil upon it, and put frankincense thereon: And he shall bring it to Aaron’s sons the priests: and he shall take thereout his handful of the flour thereof, and of the oil thereof, with all the frankincense thereof; and the priest shall burn the memorial of it upon the altar, to be an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord: And the remnant of the meat offering shall be Aaron’s and his sons’: it is a thing most holy of the offerings of the Lord made by fire.

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