(1) The Burnt-Offering (8–13)

9. the burnt offering shall be on the hearth] It is clear that the Burnt-Offering must rest on the wood that is kindled in order to consume it, and that some further support for both is needed. In the description of the altar in Exodus 27:1-8 no provision is made for a top on which the sacrifices can be placed, but an altar hearth (i.e. a place whereon the sacrifices are burnt) is mentioned in the description of Ezekiel 43:13-17. A ‘hearth’ is a ‘place of burning’; if the Heb. word be so translated, or the rendering of R.V. mg., ‘on its firewood,’ be adopted, the passage adds nothing to the incomplete description of the altar in Exodus 27.

and the fire of the altar shall be kept burning thereon] i.e. on the hearth; for ‘thereon’ A.V. has ‘in it,’ referring to the altar, but the fire burns upon the altar (Leviticus 6:13); it is perhaps better to render by it, i.e. by that which is burnt. The meaning of the verse is: the Burnt-Offering shall remain in the place where it is burnt all night, and the fire of the altar shall be kept up by the wood and the material of the sacrifice.

The sacrifice is that enjoined in Exodus 29:38-42, Numbers 28:3-8, which consisted of two lambs, the one offered in the morning, the other in the evening. It is here provided that the daily evening burnt sacrifice should be kept burning during the night until the priest kindled from it the wood for the morning burnt sacrifice. Thus by means of the two daily sacrifices (described in the singular as ‘a continual burnt offering,’ Numbers 28:6) a perpetual fire was kept burning on the altar. This double daily sacrifice is always described by Jewish tradition as the Tamid, i.e. the continual offering, and is the subject of a special section of the Mishna. Before the exile, as appears from 2 Kings 16:15, a Burnt-Offering was brought only in the morning, and a minḥah or Meal-Offering in the evening; for the restored temple Ezek. prescribes a lamb with a Meal-Offering each morning but makes no provision for an evening sacrifice; even in Ezra’s time the pre-exilic custom of offering a minḥah for the evening oblation appears to be continued (Ezra 9:4-5). The Tamid, as prescribed Exodus 29 and Numbers 28, with the law for the maintenance of a continuous fire on the altar as here enjoined in Leviticus 6:9; Leviticus 6:12, is part of the Priestly Code, and was observed in the second temple from the time that the law which Ezra ‘brought before the congregation’ (Nehemiah 8:2) was accepted by the people.

Chs. Leviticus 6:8 to Leviticus 7:38 [Hebrews 6:1-20; Hebrews 6:7]. The Second Part of the Law of Offerings

See the analysis of this portion in Appendix I (a) where are given reasons for concluding that this group of laws is not by the same hand as the first, and that they have been collected by one who may or may not be identical with the compiler of P, in order to supplement Leviticus 1:1 to Leviticus 6:7. In the main they are concerned with priestly duties and dues.

Verses 8-13. - (See note on Leviticus 1:3.) The further ritual of the burnt offering is exhibited in the particular instance of the lamb sacrificed every evening (Exodus 29:33). In other cases the ritual was to be the same. Instead of It is the burnt offering, because of the burning upon the altar all night unto the morning, the reading should be, It, the burnt offering (viz. the evening sacrifice), shall burn upon the hearth upon the altar all night unto the morning. The priest is to wear his priestly dress already appointed (Exodus 28:40) - which was a white linen garment, covering the whole person like a close-fitting English surplice, fastened by a sash - while he is actually officiating at the altar; and thus vested, he is to remove from the altar the ashes which the fire hath consumed with the burnt offering, or rather, as it would be better translated, the ashes to which the fire hath reduced the burnt offering, and put them beside the altar, that is, on the ash-heap to the east of the altar. On leaving the court of the tabernacle, he is to change his dress, and to carry the ashes of the sacrifice without the camp unto a clean place. The priest is also instructed to lay fresh wood on the altar fire every morning, in preparation for the morning sacrifice of the lamb (Exodus 29:38). The fat of the peace offerings, that is, the parts of the peace offerings that were burnt on the altar, were laid on the burnt offering. The altar fire was never to go out, because the daily sacrifices constantly burning on the altar symbolized the unceasing worship of God by Israel, and the gracious acceptance of Israel by God. The ever-burning sacrifice was the token of the people being in communion with God. Leviticus 6:8(Heb. vv. 1-6). The Law of the Burnt-Offering commences the series, and special reference is made to the daily burnt-offering (Exodus 29:38-42).

Leviticus 6:8

"It, the burnt-offering, shall (burn) upon the hearth upon the altar the whole night till the morning, and the fire of the altar be kept burning with it." The verb תּוּקד is wanting in the first clause, and only introduced in the second; but it belongs to the first clause as well. The pronoun הוא at the opening of the sentence cannot stand for the verb to be in the imperative. The passages, which Knobel adduces in support of this, are of a totally different kind. The instructions apply primarily to the burnt-offering, which was offered every evening, and furnished the basis for all the burnt-offerings (Exodus 29:38-39; Numbers 33:3-4).

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