Leviticus 6:8-18 “What Priests Must Do – Part I”

Translation & Sermon by Nate Wilson for Christ The Redeemer Church, Manhattan, KS 24 Apr 2016

Introduction

· Last week we looked at the first seven verses of Leviticus 6, which are really a continuation of the guilt-offering introduced in the latter part of chapter 5. The guilt offering, you will remember, had to do with restoring the damages done by sin.

· The rest of chapter 6 goes back over the list of sacrifices from the beginning, this time from the perspective of the priest instead of the perspective of the worshipper.

· This stuff in chapter 6 is broken down into three main parts according to the three of the types of sacrifices which priests would be called upon to offer:

o the whole-burnt-offering (vs. 8-13),

o the grain offering (vs. 14-18), including a special type of grain offering used at the ordination of priests (vs. 19-23),

o and then the sin-offering (vs. 24-30).

· A lot of this material is a repeat of what we’ve already read in the earlier chapters of Leviticus, so I don’t intend to repeat it all. What I want to do is highlight some of the new things that show up here in chapter 6 regarding the things that the priests were to do.

· Now, what good is it to know what a priest had to do in the Old Testament temple? We don’t have temples and sacrifices and priests anymore, so why bother studying them? Two reasons:

o One, it points us to Jesus, because everything God expected the Levitical priests to do must be done by Jesus as their replacement. This is one way we can worship Jesus is by recognizing what He is doing for us as our great high priest.

o A second reason it is worthwhile to study the priest’s responsibilities is the fact that God has given Christians the status of priests. Three times in the book of Revelation, it says that Jesus has made us who believe in Him to be priests.

§ Rev_1:6 To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. This was written to all the readers of the book of Revelation.

§ Then the saints in heaven are recorded as singing: “You were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth." Rev_5:9-10

§ And then, depending on your eschatology, Rev_20:6b describes the current or future status of Christians, “...they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.

o Everything that those Levitical priests had to do has some parallel in what God wants you to do now or in the future. By studying the principles behind what those priests did, we can learn more of what our job is spiritually.

· I’m afraid I’m only going to be able to cover about half the rest of the chapter this morning, verses 8-18, and the three things I want to highlighted in this section are the duty of the priests to treat the altar as holy, the duty of priests to keep the fire on the altar burning, and the duty of priests to be good stewards of holiness.

Translation

6:8 And Yahweh spoke to Moses saying, 9 “Command Aaron and his sons saying, ‘This is [the] instruction regarding the whole-burnt-offering: The whole-burnt-offering itself [goes] on top of the burn-pile on the altar all night until the morning, and the altar’s fire shall be made to burn within it [the altar]. 10 And the priest shall wear his linen outfit and wear linen underwear over his flesh and thus he shall scoop up the ash from the whole-burnt-offering which the fire consumes upon the altar, and he shall put it beside the altar. 11 Then he shall strip off his garments and wear backup garments and take out the ash to the outside of the camp, to a clean place 12 And the fire upon the altar must be caused to burn within it[1] [and] must not burn out, so the priest must burn wood over it [the fire] morning by morning and must arrange the whole-burnt-offering over it and cause the fats of the peace-offerings to go up in smoke over it. 13 Fire shall be made to burn upon the altar continuously; it must not burn out.

· The first principle I want to comment on is that Levites were to treat the altar as holy and keep it clean and wear special holy clothes whenever they came near it,

o This was instituted in Exodus 28:42-43 NKJV “And you shall make for them linen trousers to cover their nakedness; they shall reach from the waist to the thighs. 43 They shall be on Aaron and on his sons when they come into the tabernacle of meeting, or when they come near the altar to minister in the holy place, that they do not incur iniquity and die. It shall be a statute forever to him and his descendants after him.”

o Every morning, the priests had to scoop off of the altar the ashes and residue from the sacrifices of the day before and dump them away from the community. This kept the temple clean and neat.

· But, there is no temple with an altar or a lampstand anymore in Palestine, so how can that apply to Christ or to us today?

o Heb. 13:10 “‘We have an altar...’ Christ himself, who is altar, sacrifice, and priest; he was typified by the altar of the burnt offering, and the sacrifice that was offered upon it; the altar was made of Shittim wood, and covered with brass, denoting the incorruptibleness, duration, and strength of Christ: the horns of it, at the four corners, were for refuge; whoever fled to it, and laid hold on them, were safe; so Christ is a refuge to his people, that come from the four corners of the earth; and who believe in him, and lay hold on him, are preserved and protected by his power and grace: the use of it was for sacrifice to be offered upon it; which being a male, without blemish, and wholly burnt with fire, was a sweet savour to God; and which was typical of Christ's human nature, offered on the altar of his divine nature; which was pure and holy, suffered the fire of divine wrath, and was for a sweet smelling savour to God: this altar was but one, and most holy, and sanctified what was put upon it; all which is true of Christ: now this altar the saints have, and have a right to eat of it; even all Christ's friends and beloved ones; all that are made priests unto God by him; all that know him, believe in him, have a spiritual discerning of him, and hunger and thirst after him” ~Rev. John Gill

o It is Christ’s interest to keep Himself holy, for He sits at the right hand of God, interceeding for us in the place of highest holiness.

o It is also our responsibility as priests to treat Jesus as holy, worshipping Him, not taking His name in vain, but telling the good news of His salvation so that more and more people will honor Jesus as holy.

o The special holy robes that the priests in the Old Testament also have a counterpart in the New Testament:

§ Revelation 19:8 NKJV “And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.”

§ Revelation 7:14b NKJV “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”

§ Revelation 3:4 NKJV “You have a few names even in Sardis who have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy.”

o In order to be a priest with Jesus and serve at His altar, you must take care to trust and obey Him, your trust and obedience is your special robe. God grants faith and righteousness to you, and your faith and actions are made pure by the blood of Jesus cleansing you from all sin and rebellion, now it is your job as a priest of the Lord Jesus Christ to walk with Him and keep that garment of faith and obedience undefiled by ongoing sin.

· The second duty mentioned in verses 9, 12, and 13 was that priests were not to let the fire on the altar ever burn out.

o The fire on the altar had been ignited by God Himself with fire that had come down from heaven (Lev. 9:24, 2 Chron. 7:1), so it was a very special thing worth keeping aflame.

o Every morning after removing the ashes, the priests would prepare the altar for the morning sacrifice, laying wood on the fire that had been left to smoulder all night, then carefully arranging the burnt offering, the grain offering, and the fellowship and sin offerings, layer upon layer over the burning wood. All day they would tend that fire to keep it burning, and then around sunset, they would prepare the evening sacrifice with enough wood to burn all night long on the altar.

o Parallel to the fire on the altar was the fire in the lampstand in the tabernaclewhose fire was also never to go out (Ex. 27:20).

· Why would God make a big deal of keeping these fires burning?

o Remember, the things in the temple of the Old Testament were copies patterned after things in heaven (Exodus 26:30, Hebrews 9:23-24), so what spiritual things burn forever?

§ The scriptures tell us that our “God is a consuming fire” (Heb. 12:29, Deut. 4:24)

§ The Lord appeared to Moses in a burning bush (Acts 7:30)

§ Jesus’ eyes are described three times in the book of Revelation as being like a “flame of fire” (Revelation 1:14)

§ And the Holy Spirit is also portrayed as “tongues of fire” at Pentecost (Acts 2:3) and also in John’s heavenly vision: “Seven lamps of fire were burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.” (Revelation 4:5b, NKJV)

§ Living with God is like living with a wildfire according to Isaiah 33:14, “The sinners in Zion are afraid; Fearfulness has seized the hypocrites: ‘Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?’” (NKJV)

§ When Jesus comes to judge the earth, it’s going to be with fire (Luke 12:49, 1 Cor. 3:13ff, 2 Thess. 1:8, 2 Peter 3)

§ And that fire of God’s judgment against sin will never die out, “He will... say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels’” (Mt. 25:41, NKJV, cf. Jude 1:7, Matthew 18:8), “where their worm will not die and their fire will not burn out” (Isa. 66:24)

· Now, there is no temple with an altar or a lampstand anymore in Palestine, so how can the keeping of the altar fire apply to Christ or to us today?

o I am reminded of Jesus’ Parable of the 10 virgins in Matthew 25, where five of the wedding attendants didn’t bring enough fuel to keep their torches lit until the groom arrived for the wedding, so they ended up having to miss out on the wedding. The application Jesus gave at the end of that parable was to be alert so as to be ready for His return.

o There is another New Testament command which comes to mind, and that is the admonition in 1 Thess. 5:19: “Do not quench the Spirit” I like what Albert Barnes wrote in application: “This fire may have been regarded as emblematic of devotion, and as denoting that that devotion was never to become extinct. The Holy Spirit is the source of true devotion, and hence the enkindlings of piety in the heart, by the Spirit, are never to be quenched. Fire may be put out by pouring on water; or by covering it with any incombustible substance; or by neglecting to supply fuel. If it is to be made to burn, it must be nourished with proper care and attention. The Holy Spirit, in his influences on the soul, is here compared with fire that might be made to burn more intensely, or that might be extinguished. In a similar manner the apostle gives this direction to Timothy, “I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up ἀναζωπυρεῖν anazōpurein, kindle up, cause to burn) the gift of God;” 2Ti_1:6. Anything that will tend to damp the ardor of piety in the soul; to chill our feelings; to render us cold and lifeless in the service of God, may be regarded as ‘quenching the Spirit.’ Neglect of cultivating the Christian graces, or of prayer, of the Bible, of the sanctuary, of a careful watchfulness over the heart, will do it...”

· So we are to treat Christ our altar as holy and wear the garments of faith and obedience to him, and we are to keep the fire of devotion to God burning and not quench the Spirit. My last point for the morning comes from the second section on the priest’s grain offerings:

6:14 Now this is the instruction concerning the grain offering: The sons of Aaron shall bring it before the face of Yahweh to the front of the altar, 15 then he shall scoop up from it his handful of fine flour of the grain offering and of its oil plus all the frankincense which is upon the grain offering, and he shall make its memorial portion go up in smoke on the altar – a soothing aroma to Yahweh. 16 Then Aaron and his sons shall eat what is left of it. It shall be eaten unleavened in a holy place. In the courtyard of the tent of meeting is where they shall eat it. 7 It shall not be baked leavened. I gave it to be their inheritance from my fire-offerings. It is a holy thing among holy things, like the sin-offering is and like the guilt-offering is. 18 Every male of the sons of Aaron may eat of it. [This is] a lasting statute for y’all’s generations concerning the fire-offerings of Yahweh. Everyone who comes into contact with them shall be holy.’”

· The Hebrew is somewhat ambiguous as to whether it means that you have to be holy before you can touch these holy things or whether it means that whatever touches them automatically becomes holy along with them.

· Although the former is what is said to be the rule in this chapter (it can only be descendents of Aaron), I think that the Hebrew grammar also indicates the latter, and it is in the latter sense that our modern English versions translate this phrase.

· This is the converse of Leviticus 5:2-3, which teaches that coming into contact with unclean things makes you unclean.

· This reminds me of a story by John White, that I like to read to my children called, The Tower of Geburah, pages 193-195, of Gaal’s robe being unaffected by the girl’s dirt when she touched it.

· The statement God makes that everyone who comes into contact with the holy things will become holy raises a challenge to the Pietistic way of thinking which Evangelicals in our country have largely accepted over the last century especially. Is the world essentially an unclean place that Christians need to remove themselves from in order not to be defiled by it, or should we who have been sanctified purposefully bring ourselves into contact with the world in order to make the world sanctified?

· There is a balance, I believe, because sacred things need a certain level of honor and protection so that Christians do not become compromised with sin and so that God and the things of God are not purposefully trodden underfoot as worthless. Like Jesus said, “Don’t cast your pearls before swine,” it takes some wisdom to know when to try to spread holiness and when to protect it. But on the other hand, the Gospel is awesomely powerful. God can hold His own in the midst of the defilements of sin, so Christians should not be driven into leading an unhealthily-insulated life by a fear of the world. We are to be salt and light.

Conclusion

· So as we consider the instructions God gave to the Old Testament priests, remember these three principles:

o First, that the altar is holy. The place where God touches man in the person of Jesus Christ must be treated as holy. It is our job as priests to exalt Jesus and to maintain faith and obedience to Him as our holy spiritual garments.

o Second, that the fire must not go out. It is our job as priests to keep the flame of devotion burning toward God and to guard against quenching the Spirit. We must not rebel against against what He wants to do.

o and Third, holiness is contagious. As priests, we are stewards of a powerful message and representatives of a powerful God. God doesn’t need us to protect Him from evil, our job as priests is to spread holiness to others.

· “O Thou who camest from above, the pure celestial fire to impart, Kindle a flame of sacred love on the mean altar of my heart. There let it for Thy glory burn with inextinguishable blaze, and trembling to its source return in humble prayer and fervent praise.” ~Charles Wesley

Comparative translations of Leviticus 6:8-18

When a translation adds words not in the Hebrew text, but does not indicate it has done so by the use of italics (or greyed-out text), I put the added words in [square brackets]. When one version chooses a wording which is different from all the other translations, I underline it. When a version chooses a translation which, in my opinion, either departs too far from the root meaning of the Hebrew word or departs too far from the grammar form of the original Hebrew, I use ~~strikeout~~. And when a version omits a word which is in the Hebrew text, I insert an X. (Sometimes I will place the X at the end of a word if the original word is plural but the English translation is singular.) I have also tried to use colors to help the reader see correlations between the various editions and versions when there are more than two different translations of a given word.

LXX	KJV	DRB (Vulgate)	ESV	NASB	NIV	NAW	WestminsterMT
6:1 Καὶ ἐλάλησεν κύριος πρὸς Μωυσῆν λέγων	6:8 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,	8 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:	8 X The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,	8 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,	8 X The LORD said to Moses X:	6:8 And Yahweh spoke to Moses saying,	6:1וַיְדַבֵּר יְהוָה אֶל-מֹשֶׁה לֵּאמֹר:
6:2 Ἔντειλαι Ααρων καὶ τοῖς υἱοῖς αὐτοῦ λέγων Οὗτος [ὁ] νόμος τῆς ὁλοκαυτώσεως· αὐτὴ ἡ ὁλοκαύτωσις ἐπὶ τῆς καύσεως αὐτῆς ἐπὶ τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου ὅλην τὴν νύκτα ἕως τὸ πρωί, καὶ τὸ πῦρ τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου καυθήσεται ἐπ᾿ αὐτοῦ, [οὐ σβεσθήσεται.]	6:9 Command Aaron and his sons, saying, This is [the] law of the burnt offering: It is the burnt offering, because of the burning upon the altar all night unto the morning, and the fire of the altar shall be burning in it.	9 Command Aaron and his sons X: This is [the] law of a holocaust. It X X X X ~~shall be~~ burnt upon the altar, all night until morning: X the fire shall be X of the same altar.	9 "Command Aaron and his sons, saying, This is [the] law of the burnt offering. X The burnt offering X ~~shall be~~ on the hearth on the altar all night until the morning, and the fire of the altar shall be kept burning on it.	9 "Command Aaron and his sons, saying, 'This is [the] law for the burnt offering: the burnt offering itself shall remain on the hearth on the altar all night until the morning, and the fire on the altar is to be kept burning on it.	9 "Give Aaron and his sons [this] command: 'Th~~ese are~~ [the] regulations for the burnt offering: The burnt offering X [is to remain] on the altar hearth throughout the night, till X morning, and the fire X X must be kept burning on the altar.	6:9 “Command Aaron and his sons saying, ‘This is [the] instruction regarding the whole-burnt-offering: The whole-burnt-offering itself [goes] on top of the burn-pile on the altar all night until the morning, and the altar’s fire shall be made to burn within it[2].	6:2 צַו אֶת-אַהֲרֹן וְאֶת-בָּנָיו לֵאמֹר זֹאת תּוֹרַת הָעֹלָה הִוא הָעֹלָה עַל מוֹקְדָה[3] עַל-הַמִּזְבֵּחַ כָּל-הַלַּיְלָה עַד-הַבֹּקֶר וְאֵשׁ הַמִּזְבֵּחַ תּוּקַדHoI3fs בּוֹ:
6:3 καὶ ἐνδύσεται ὁ ἱερεὺς χιτῶνα λινοῦν καὶ περισκελὲς λινοῦν ἐνδύσεται περὶ τὸ σῶμα αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀφελεῖ τὴν κατακάρπωσιν, ἣν ἂν καταναλώσῃ τὸ πῦρ τὴν ὁλοκαύτωσιν, ~~ἀπὸ~~ τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου καὶ παραθήσει αὐτὸ ἐχόμενον τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου.	6:10 And the priest shall put on his linen garment, and his linen breeches shall he put upon his flesh, and take up the ashes which the fire hath consumed with the burnt offering on the altar, and he shall put them beside the altar.	10 The priest shall be vested with the tunick and the linen breeches X X; and he shall take up the ashes of that X X X X which the devouring fire hath burnt: and putting them beside the altar,	10 And the priest shall put on his linen garment and put his linen undergarment on his body, and he shall take up the ashes to which the fire has reduced the burnt offering on the altar and put them beside the altar.	10 'The priest is to put on his linen robe, and he shall put on undergarments next to his flesh; and he shall take up the ashes to which the fire reduces the burnt offering on the altar and place them beside the altar.	10 The priest shall then put on his linen clothes, with linen undergarments next to his body, and shall remove the ashes of the burnt offering that the fire has consumed on the altar and place them beside the altar.	6:10 And the priest shall wear his linen outfit[4] and wear linen underwear over his flesh and thus he shall scoop up the ash[5] from the whole-burnt-offering which the fire consumes upon the altar, and he shall put it beside the altar.	6:3 וְלָבַשׁ הַכֹּהֵן מִדּוֹ[6] בַד וּמִכְנְסֵי-בַד יִלְבַּשׁ עַל-בְּשָׂרוֹ וְהֵרִים אֶת-הַדֶּשֶׁן אֲשֶׁר תֹּאכַל הָאֵשׁ אֶת-הָעֹלָה עַל-הַמִּזְבֵּחַ וְשָׂמוֹ אֵצֶל הַמִּזְבֵּחַ:
6:4 καὶ ἐκδύσεται τὴν στολὴν αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐνδύσεται στολὴν ἄλλην καὶ ἐξοίσει τὴν κατακάρπωσιν ἔξω τῆς παρεμβολῆς εἰς τόπον καθαρόν.	6:11 And he shall put off his garments, and put on other garments, and carry forth the ashes without the camp unto a clean place.	11 Shall put off his [former] vestments, and being clothed with other Xs, shall carry them forth without the camp, [and shall cause them to be consumed to] dust in a [very] clean place.	11 Then he shall take off his garments and put on other garments and carry the ashes outside the camp to a clean place.	11 'Then he shall take off his garments and put on other garments, and carry the ashes outside the camp to a clean place.	11 Then he is to take off ~~these~~ clothes and put on other Xs, and carry the ashes outside the camp to a place [that is ceremonially] clean.	6:11 Then he shall strip off his garments and wear backup garments and take out the ash to the outside of the camp, to a clean place[7]	6:4 וּפָשַׁט אֶת-בְּגָדָיו וְלָבַשׁ בְּגָדִים אֲחֵרִים וְהוֹצִיא אֶת-הַדֶּשֶׁן אֶל-מִחוּץ לַמַּחֲנֶה אֶל-מָקוֹם טָהוֹר:
6:5 καὶ πῦρ ἐπὶ τὸ θυσιαστήριον καυθήσεται ἀπ᾿ αὐτοῦ καὶ οὐ σβεσθήσεται, καὶ καύσει ὁ ἱερεὺς ἐπ᾿ αὐτὸ ξύλα τὸ πρωὶ X καὶ στοιβάσει ἐπ᾿ αὐτοῦ τὴν ὁλοκαύτωσιν καὶ ἐπιθήσει ἐπ᾿ αὐτὸ τὸ στέαρ τοῦ σωτηρίου·	6:12 And the fire upon the altar shall be burning in it; it shall not be put out: and the priest shall burn wood on it [every] morning, and lay the burnt offering in order upon it; and he shall burn thereon the fat of the peace offerings.	12 And the fire on the altar shall [always] burn X X X X X, and the priest shall ~~feed~~ it, [putting] wood on it [every] ~~day~~ in the morning: and laying on the holocaust, shall burn thereupon the fat of the peace offerings.	12 The fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it; it shall not go out. X The priest shall burn wood on it [every] morning, and he shall arrange the burnt offering on it and shall burn on it the fat of the peace offerings.	12 'The fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it. It shall not go out, but the priest shall burn wood on it [every] morning; and he shall lay out the burnt offering on it, and offer up in smoke the fat portions of the peace offerings on it.	12 The fire on the altar must be kept burning X X; it must not go out. [Every] morning the priest is to ~~add~~ [fire]wood X X and arrange the burnt offering on [the fire] and burn the fat of the fellowship offerings on it.	6:12 And the fire upon the altar must be caused to burn within it[8] [and] must not burn out, so the priest must burn wood over it morning by morning and must arrange the whole-burnt-offering over it and cause the fats of the peace-offerings to go up in smoke over it.	6:5 וְהָאֵשׁ עַל-הַמִּזְבֵּחַ תּוּקַד-בּוֹ לֹא תִכְבֶּהQI3fs וּבִעֵר[9] עָלֶיהָ הַכֹּהֵן עֵצִים בַּבֹּקֶר בַּבֹּקֶר וְעָרַךְ עָלֶיהָ הָעֹלָה וְהִקְטִיר עָלֶיהָ חֶלְבֵי הַשְּׁלָמִים:
6:6 [καὶ] πῦρ διὰ παντὸς καυθήσεται ἐπὶ τὸ θυσιαστήριον, οὐ σβεσθήσεται.	6:13 The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar; it shall never go out.	13 [This is the] perpetual X fire [which] shall never go out on the altar.	13 Fire shall be kept burning on the altar continually; it shall not go out.	13 'Fire shall be kept burning continually on the altar; it is not to go out.	13 The fire must be kept burning on the altar continuously; it must not go out.	6:13 Fire shall be made to burn upon the altar continuously; it must not burn out.	6:6 אֵשׁ תָּמִיד תּוּקַד עַל-הַמִּזְבֵּחַ לֹא תִכְבֶה: ס
6:7 Οὗτος ὁ νόμος τῆς θυσίας, ἣν προσάξουσιν αὐτὴν οἱ υἱοὶ Ααρων ἔναντι κυρίου ἀπέναντι τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου·	6:14 And this is the law of the meat offering: the sons of Aaron shall offer it before the LORD, before the altar.	14 This is the law of the [sacrifice and] libation[s], which the children of Aaron shall offer before the Lord, [and] before the altar.	14 "And this is the law of the grain offering. The sons of Aaron shall offer it before the LORD in front of the altar.	14 'Now this is the law of the grain offering: the sons of Aaron shall present it before the LORD in front of the altar.	14 "'~~These are~~ the regulation[s] for the grain offering: Aaron's sons are to bring it before the LORD, in front of the altar.	6:14 Now this is the instruction concerning the grain offering: The sons of Aaron shall bring it before the face of Yahweh to the front of the altar,	6:7 וְזֹאת תּוֹרַת הַמִּנְחָה הַקְרֵב[10] אֹתָהּ בְּנֵי-אַהֲרֹן לִפְנֵי יְהוָה אֶל-פְּנֵי הַמִּזְבֵּחַ:
6:8 καὶ ἀφελεῖ ἀπ᾿ αὐτοῦ τῇ δρακὶ ἀπὸ τῆς σεμιδάλεως τῆς θυσίας σὺν τῷ ἐλαίῳ αὐτῆς καὶ σὺν τῷ λιβάνῳ αὐτῆς τὰ ὄντα ἐπὶ τῆς θυσίας καὶ ἀνοίσει ἐπὶ τὸ θυσιαστήριον [κάρπωμα]· ὀσμὴ εὐωδίας, τὸ μνημόσυνον αὐτῆς τῷ κυρίῳ.	6:15 And he shall take of it his handful, of the flour of the meat offering, and of the oil thereof, and all the frankincense which is upon the meat offering, and shall burn it upon the altar for a sweet savour, even the memorial of it, unto the LORD.	15 The priest shall take a handful of the flour that is [tempered] with oil, and all the frankincense that is put upon the flour: and he shall burn on the altar [for] a memorial of most sweet odour to the Lord.	15 And one shall take from it a handful of the fine flour of the grain offering and its oil and all the frankincense that is on the grain offering and burn this [as] its memorial portion on the altar, a pleasing aroma to the LORD.	15 'Then one of them shall lift up from it a handful of the fine flour of the grain offering, with its oil and all the incense that is on the grain offering, and he shall offer it up in smoke on the altar, a soothing aroma, as its memorial offering to the LORD.	15 The priest is to take a handful of fine flour and oil, together with all the incense on the grain offering, and burn the memorial portion on the altar as an aroma pleasing to the LORD.	6:15 then he shall scoop up from it his handful of fine flour of the grain offering and of its oil plus all the frankincense which is upon the grain offering, and he shall make its memorial portion go up in smoke on the altar – a soothing aroma to Yahweh.[11]	6:8 וְהֵרִים מִמֶּנּוּ[12] בְּקֻמְצוֹ מִסֹּלֶת הַמִּנְחָה וּמִשַּׁמְנָהּ וְאֵת כָּל-הַלְּבֹנָה אֲשֶׁר עַל-הַמִּנְחָה וְהִקְטִיר הַמִּזְבֵּחַ רֵיחַ נִיחֹחַ אַזְכָּרָתָהּ לַיהוָה:
6:9 τὸ δὲ καταλειφθὲν ἀπ᾿ αὐτῆς ἔδ~~εται~~ Ααρων καὶ οἱ υἱοὶ αὐτοῦ· ἄζυμα βρωθήσεται ἐν τόπῳ ἁγίῳ, ἐν αὐλῇ τῆς σκηνῆς τοῦ μαρτυρίου ἔδονται αὐτήν.	6:16 And 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.	16 And the part [of the flour] that is left, Aaron and his sons shall eat, without leaven: and he shall eat it in [the] holy place of the court of the tabernacle X X X.	16 And the rest of it Aaron and his sons shall eat. It shall be eaten unleavened in a holy place. In the court of the tent of meeting they shall eat it.	16 'X What is left of it Aaron and his sons are to eat. It shall be eaten as unleavened [cakes] in a holy place; they are to eat it in the court of the tent of meeting.	16 X Aaron and his sons shall eat the rest of it, [but] it is to be eaten without yeast in a holy place; they are to eat it in the courtyard of the Tent of Meeting.	6:16 Then Aaron and his sons shall eat what is left of it [13]. It shall be eaten unleavened in a holy place. In the courtyard of the tent of meeting is where they shall eat it.	6:9וְהַנּוֹתֶרֶתNPtcFS מִמֶּנָּה יֹאכְלוּ[14] אַהֲרֹן וּבָנָיו מַצּוֹת תֵּאָכֵלNI3fs בְּמָקוֹם קָדֹשׁ בַּחֲצַר אֹהֶל-מוֹעֵד יֹאכְלוּהָ:
6:10 οὐ πεφθήσεται ἐζυμωμένη· μερίδα ~~αὐτὴν~~ ἔδωκα αὐτοῖς ἀπὸ τῶν καρπωμάτων [κυρίου]· ἅγια ἁγίων ὥσπερ τὸ τῆς ἁμαρτίας καὶ ὥσπερ τὸ τῆς πλημμελείας.	6:17 It shall not be baken [with] leaven. I have given it unto them for their portion of my offerings made by fire; it is ~~most~~ holy, as is the sin offering, and as the trespass offering.	17 [And therefore] it shall not be X leavened, because part thereof ~~is offered for the~~ burnt sacrifice [of the Lord]. It shall be ~~most~~ holy, as [that which is offered for] sin and ~~for~~ trespass.	17 It shall not be baked [with] leaven. I have given it [as] their portion of my ~~food~~ offerings. It is a thing ~~most~~ holy, like the sin offering and X the guilt offering.	17 'It shall not be baked [with] leaven. I have given it [as] their share from My offerings by fire; it is ~~most~~ holy, like the sin offering and X the guilt offering.	17 It must not be baked [with] yeast; I have given it [as] their share of the offerings [made to] me [by] fire. Like the sin offering and X the guilt offering, it is ~~most~~ holy.	6:17 It shall not be baked leavened. I gave it to be their inheritance from my[15] fire-offerings. It is a holy thing among holy things, like the sin-offering is and like the guilt-offering is.	6:10 לֹא תֵאָפֶהNI3fs חָמֵץms חֶלְקָם נָתַתִּיQP1s אֹתָהּfs מֵאִשָּׁי קֹדֶשׁ קָדָשִׁים הִואfs כַּחַטָּאת וְכָאָשָׁם:
6:11 πᾶν ἀρσενικὸν τῶν X ~~ἱερέων~~ ἔδονται αὐτήν· νόμιμον αἰώνιον εἰς τὰς γενεὰς ὑμῶν ἀπὸ τῶν καρπωμάτων κυρίου. πᾶς, ὃς ~~ἐὰν~~ ἅψηται αὐτῶν, ἁγιασθήσεται (passive).	6:18 All [the] male[s] among the children of Aaron shall eat of it. It shall be a statute for ever in your generations concerning the offerings of the LORD [made by] fire: every one that toucheth them shall be holy.	18 [The] males ~~only~~ of the ~~race~~ of Aaron shall eat it. It shall be an ordinance everlasting in your generations concerning the sacrifices of the Lord: Every one that toucheth them shall be ~~sanctified~~.	18 Every male among the children of Aaron may eat of it, [as] ~~decreed~~ forever throughout your generations, from the LORD's ~~food~~ offerings. Whatever touches them shall become holy."	18 'Every male among the sons of Aaron may eat it; it is a permanent ordinance throughout your generations, from the offerings by fire to the LORD. Whoever touches them will become consecrated.'"	18 Any male descendantX of Aaron may eat it. It is [his] ~~regular share~~ of the offerings [made to] the LORD by fire for ~~the~~ generations [to come]. Whatever touches them will become holy.'"	6:18 Every male of the sons of Aaron may eat of it. [This is] a lasting statute for y’all’s generations concerning the fire-offerings of Yahweh. Everyone who comes into contact with[16] them shall be holy.’”	6:11 כָּל-זָכָר בִּבְנֵי אַהֲרֹן יֹאכֲלֶנָּה חָק-עוֹלָם לְדֹרֹתֵיכֶם מֵאִשֵּׁי יְהוָה כֹּל אֲשֶׁר-יִגַּע בָּהֶם יִקְדָּשׁQI3ms: פ

^{^[1]} Cf. 1:7-8. The masculine “it” refers to the masculine “altar,” whereas the verbs (“be caused to burn” and “not burn out”) are feminine, referring to the feminine subject “fire.” The gender of the word “it” then changes to feminine for the rest of the verse, indicating that it is the “altar fire” over which the wood, sacrifice, and fat are to be placed so as to be burned by that fire.

^{^[2]} “It” is masculine in Heb, indicating the altar.

^{^[3]} Noun only here and Isa 33:14, where it is rendered in the masculine plural “everlasting burnings.” From the same root as the verb at the end of the verse for “burn.”

^{^[4]} This word mid only occurs 10 other places in the O.T., mostly as the outfit of a soldier (Judges 3:16; 1 Samuel 4:12; 17:38,39; 18:4; 2 Samuel 20:8; Psalm 109:18), but once here as the uniform of a priest, and once in Judges 5:10 as the uniform of a judge. The word’s root meaning is “to measure” so “outfit” or “uniform” seems appropriate. The following noun comes from a root meaning “to hide” and basically refers to underwear worn under the robe so that there was no exposure of private parts. This was instituted in Exodus 28:42-43.

^{^[6]} Samaritan Penteteuch & Targums end this word with a yod instead of vav, which would translate plural “linen garments” instead of possessive “his linen garment.” No big deal.

^{^[8]} Cf. 1:7-8. The masculine “it” refers to the masculine “altar,” whereas the verbs (“be caused to burn” and “not burn out”) are feminine, referring to the feminine subject “fire.” The word for “extinguish/put out/burn out” only occurs 23 other times (all outside the Pentateuch) and is the word used in Isaiah 66:24 to describe hell. The gender of the word “it” then changes to feminine for the rest of the verse, indicating that it is the “altar fire” over which the wood, sacrifice, and fat are to be placed so as to be burned by that fire. It all emphasizes the specialness (holiness) of this particular place, the altar, and the symbolic importance of its fire.

^{^[9]} The Cairo Geniza manuscript substitutes ntn “give/put,” instead of “burn,” thus the reading of the Vulgate and the NIV. The Septuagint and Samaritan match the Masoretic, so I think it is a mistake to follow the Cairo manuscript here.

^{^[10]} Beal and also Davidson labeled this verb as Hiphil Infinitive, which would be singular. The Samaritan Pentateuch, Septuagint, and Vulgate, as well as Targums appear to spell this verb as a perfect or imperfect plural, which would read more naturally.

^{^[12]} The Cairo and the Samaritan manuscripts appear to replace this masculine ending with a feminine ending, matching the feminine gender of the grain offering. The LXX is masculine, though.

^{^[14]} Samaritan Pentateuch and Septuagint make this verb singular, but the plural seems appropriate for the compound subject “Aaron and his sons.”

^{^[15]} The Septuagint and the Samaritan Pentateuch render “of the LORD/YHWH” instead of “my.” This is the same person, however, since it is the Lord speaking to Moses.