Leviticus 6:26

The priest that offereth it for sin shall eat it: in the holy place shall it be eaten, in the court of the tabernacle of the congregation.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(26) The priest that offereth it for sin.—Rather, the priest that offereth it for expiation, or, the priest that expiateth sin by it. That is, who makes atonement by the blood thereof. (See Leviticus 9:15.)

Shall eat it.—God gave the sin offering as food for the priests to bear the iniquity of the congregation, and to make atonement for them (Leviticus 10:17). It constituted a part of their livelihood (Ezekiel 44:28-29). The officiating priest to whom fell this perquisite could invite not only his family but other priests and their sons to partake of it. Covetous priests abused this gift (Hosea 4:8).

In the holy place shall it be eaten.—That is, within the forecourt of the sanctuary. Eight of the offerings had to be eaten in the precincts of the sanctuary: (1) the flesh of the sin offering (Leviticus 4:26); (2); the flesh of the trespass offering (Leviticus 7:6); (3) the peace offering of the congregation (Leviticus 23:19-20); (4), the remainder of the omer (Leviticus 23:10-11); (5), of the meat offering of the Israelites (Leviticus 2, 3-10); (6), the two loaves (Leviticus 23, 20); (7), the shew-bread (Leviticus 24:9); and (8), the leper’s log of oil (Leviticus 14:10-13).

Benson Commentary

Leviticus 6:26. The priest that offereth it for sin — For the sins of the rulers, or of the people, or any of them, but not for the sins of the priests; for then its blood was brought into the tabernacle, and therefore it might not be eaten.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

6:24-30 The blood of the sin-offering was to be washed out of the clothes on which it should happen to be sprinkled, which signified the regard we ought to have to the blood of Christ, not counting it a common thing. The vessel in which the flesh of the sin-offering was boiled must be broken, if it were an earthen one; but if a brazen one, well washed. This showed that the defilement was not wholly taken away by the offering; but the blood of Christ thoroughly cleanses from all sin. All these rules set forth the polluting nature of sin, and the removal of guilt from the sinner to the sacrifice. Behold and wonder at Christ's love, in that he was content to be made a sin-offering for us, and so to procure our pardon for continual sins and failings. He that knew no sin was made sin (that is, a sin-offering) for us, 2Co 5:21. Hence we have pardon, and not only pardon, but power also, against sin, Ro 8:3.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The place where ... - See Leviticus 1:11.

It is most holy - See Leviticus 2:3. The key to the special sanctity of the flesh of the sin-offering, as set forth in Leviticus 6:26-30, must, it would seem, be found in the words of Moses to the priests Leviticus 10:17. The flesh of the victim, which represented the sinner for whom atonement was now made, was to be solemnly, and most exclusively, appropriated by those who were appointed to mediate between the sinner and the Lord. The far-reaching symbolism of the act met its perfect fulfillment in the One Mediator who took our nature upon Himself. Philippians 2:7.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

25-28. This is the law of the sin offering—It was slain, and the fat and inwards, after being washed and salted, were burnt upon the altar. But the rest of the carcass belonged to the officiating priest. He and his family might feast upon it—only, however, within the precincts of the tabernacle; and none else were allowed to partake of it but the members of a priestly family—and not even they, if under any ceremonial defilement. The flesh on all occasions was boiled or sodden, with the exception of the paschal lamb, which was roasted [Ex 12:8, 9]; and if an earthen vessel had been used, it being porous and likely to imbibe some of the liquid particles, it was to be broken; if a metallic pan had been used it was to be scoured and washed with the greatest care, not because the vessels had been defiled, but the reverse—because the flesh of the sin offering having been boiled in them, those vessels were now too sacred for ordinary use. The design of all these minute ceremonies was to impress the minds, both of priests and people, with a sense of the evil nature of sin and the care they should take to prevent the least taint of its impurities clinging to them.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

For sin; for the sins of the rulers, or of the people, or any of them, but not for the sins of the priests; for then its blood was brought into the tabernacle, and therefore it might not be eaten.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

The priest that offereth it for sin shall eat it,.... Thereby signifying that he bore the sin of the person that brought the offering, and made atonement for it; as a type of Christ, who bore the sins of his people in his own body on the tree, and made satisfaction for them; see Leviticus 10:17. This is to be understood not of that single individual priest only that was the offerer, but of him and his family; for, as Ben Gersom observes, it was impossible for one man to eat all the flesh of a beast at one meal or two; but it means, as he says, the family of the priest that then officiated, the male part:

in the holy place shall it be eaten, in the court of the tabernacle of the congregation; within the hangings, as Ben Gersom's note is, with which the court of the tabernacle was hung and made; in some room in that part of the sanctuary did the priest, with his sons, eat of the holy offerings that were appropriated to them; an emblem of spiritual priests, believers in Christ, feeding in the church upon the provisions of his house, the goodness and fatness of it.

Geneva Study Bible

The priest that offereth it for sin shall eat it: in the holy place shall it be eaten, in the court of the tabernacle of the congregation.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

26. What remains after the sacrifice has been offered (except in the cases specified in Leviticus 6:30 and Leviticus 4:3-21) is ‘most holy’—to be eaten in the same place and manner as the Meal-Offering (Leviticus 6:16-18).

in a holy place] Here and in Leviticus 6:16 further designated as ‘the court of the tent of meeting’ and prescribed for the Guilt-Offering in Leviticus 7:6. Cp. the command to eat the flesh of the ram of consecration at ‘the door of the tent of meeting’ (Exodus 29:32). The remainder belongs to the priest who officiates, but any male among the priests may join in eating it (Leviticus 6:29).

The passages which assign a portion of the sacrifice to the officiating priest are Leviticus 6:26 a, Leviticus 7:7-10; Leviticus 7:33. May these be parts of a law of sacrifice which has been combined with rest of Leviticus 6:8 to Leviticus 7:38? If on a particular occasion the priestly dues of a sacrifice fell to any one priest, he might invite his fellow priests to share in the meal, and the custom of eating these portions of the sacrifice together would be embodied in a law which asserted the right of all priests to partake of the sacrificial meal.

Leviticus 6:26

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The Law of the Sin-Offering, which is introduced with a new introductory formula on account of the interpolation of Leviticus 6:19-23, gives more precise instructions, though chiefly with regard to the sin-offerings of the laity, first as to the place of slaughtering, as in Leviticus 4:24, and then as to the most holy character of the flesh and blood of the sacrifices. The flesh of these sin-offerings was to be eaten by the priest who officiated at a holy place, in the fore-court (see Leviticus 6:16). Whoever touched it became holy (see at Leviticus 6:18); and if any one sprinkled any of the blood upon his clothes, whatever the blood was sprinkled upon was to be washed in a holy place, in order that the most holy blood might not be carried out of the sanctuary into common life along with the sprinkled clothes, and thereby be profaned. The words "thou shalt wash" in Leviticus 6:20 are addressed to the priest.