^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.

Processed Grain Offerings

^2:4“ ‘When you present an offering of grain baked in an oven, it must be made of¹⁰ choice wheat flour baked into unleavened loaves¹¹ mixed with olive oil or¹² unleavened wafers smeared¹³ with olive oil. ^2:5If your offering is a grain offering made on the griddle, it must be choice wheat flour mixed with olive oil, unleavened. ^2:6Crumble it in pieces¹⁴ and pour olive oil on it—it is a grain offering. ^2:7If your offering is a grain offering made in a pan,¹⁵ it must be made of choice wheat flour deep fried in olive oil.¹⁶

Read in Logos

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.”
10 The insertion of the words “it must be made of” is justified by the context and the expressed words “it shall be made of” in vv. 7 and 8 below.
11 These “loaves” were either “ring-shaped” ( חַלָּה) or “perforated” ( 319 חַלָּה; cf. J. Milgrom, Leviticus [], 1:).
12 Heb “and.” Here the conjunction vav (ו) has an alternative sense (“or”).
13 The Hebrew word מְשֻׁחִים (méshukhim) translated here as “smeared” is often translated “anointed” in other contexts. Cf. “brushed with olive oil” ( similar).
14 There is no vav (ו, “and”) in the at the beginning of v. 6 and the verb is pointed as an infinite absolute. The present translation has rendered it as an imperative (see §113.bb) and, therefore, the same for the following vav consecutive perfect verb (cf. “Crumble it and pour oil on it”; cf. also , , , and J. Milgrom, Leviticus [], 1:, but note the objections to this rendering in J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [], ). The seems to suggest adding a vav (“and”) and pointing the verb as a consecutive perfect, which yields “and you shall break it in pieces” (cf. the textual note; Hartley, , prefers the rendering).
15 Heb “a grain offering of a pan”; cf. “fryingpan”; “pot”; “pan with a lid on it.”
16 Lev 7:9 makes it clear that one cooked “on” a griddle but “in” a pan. This suggests that the oil in the pan served for deep fat frying, hence the translation “deep fried in olive oil” (see, e.g., J. Milgrom, Leviticus [], 1:); cf. also .