Leviticus 3

1 “ If one ’s offering is a peace offering and he offers an animal from the herd, whether male or female, he must present it without blemish before the LORD. 2 He is to lay his hand on the head of the offering and slaughter it at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. Then Aaron’s sons the priests shall sprinkle the blood on all sides of the altar. 3 From the peace offering he is to bring an offering made by fire to the LORD: the fat that covers the entrails, all the fat that is on them, 4 both kidneys with the fat on them near the loins, and the lobe of the liver, which he is to remove with the kidneys. 5 Then Aaron’s sons are to burn it on the altar atop the burnt offering that is on the burning wood, as an offering made by fire, a pleasing aroma to the LORD. 6 If, however, one ’s peace offering to the LORD is from the flock, he must present a male or female without blemish. 7 If he is presenting a lamb for his offering, he must present it before the LORD. 8 He is to lay his hand on the head of his offering and slaughter it in front of the Tent of Meeting. Then Aaron’s sons shall sprinkle its blood on all sides of the altar. 9 And from the peace offering he shall bring an offering made by fire to the LORD consisting of its fat: the entire fat tail cut off close to the backbone, the fat that covers the entrails, all the fat that is on them, 10 both kidneys with the fat on them near the loins, and the lobe of the liver, which he is to remove with the kidneys. 11 Then the priest is to burn them on the altar as food, an offering made by fire to the LORD. 12 If one ’s offering is a goat, he is to present it before the LORD. 13 He must lay his hand on its head and slaughter it in front of the Tent of Meeting. Then Aaron’s sons shall sprinkle its blood on all sides of the altar. 14 And from his offering he shall present an offering made by fire to the LORD: the fat that covers the entrails, all the fat that is on them, 15 both kidneys with the fat on them near the loins, and the lobe of the liver, which he is to remove with the kidneys. 16 Then the priest is to burn the food on the altar as an offering made by fire, a pleasing aroma. All the fat is the LORD ’s. 17 This is a permanent statute for the generations to come, wherever you live: You must not eat any fat or any blood.”

✦ What the text says

## Summary Leviticus 3 sets out the procedure for the *zevach shelamim* ("sacrifice of peace offerings", H2077/H8002), permitting an animal from the herd, the flock, or a goat, male or female but unblemished. The offerer lays a hand on the animal's head, slaughters it at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, and the priests handle the blood and the burning of specific fat portions. The chapter closes with a perpetual prohibition against eating fat or blood. ## Key words - *shelamim* ("peace offerings", H8002) — plural noun always used in construct with *zevach* ("sacrifice of", H2077), naming the offering type repeated in each animal-category subsection (herd v.1, flock v.6, goat v.12). - *samakh* ("he will lean", H5564) — qal sequential perfect; the offerer himself performs this hand-laying action on the animal's head (vv.2, 8, 13) before slaughter. - *hiqriv* ("he will present", H7126H) — hiphil (causative) form, used repeatedly for both the offerer bringing the animal and later for presenting the fat portions to the altar (vv.3, 9, 14), showing the same causative verb covers both stages of the ritual. - *chelev* ("fat", H2459) — masculine singular noun designating the specific fatty portions (covering the entrails, kidneys, liver lobe, and in the sheep's case the *alyah*, "fat tail", H0451) that are set apart for burning, distinct from the flesh eaten by the offerer. - *ishsheh* ("a fire offering", H0801) construct with *reyach nichoach* ("odor of soothing", H7381/H5207) — describes the smoke rising from the altar as a fire-offering with a pleasing aroma "to Yahweh" (*la-Yahweh*, H3068G). ## What the text says The chapter is structured as three parallel case-laws introduced by the conditional particle *'im* ("if", H0518A): from the herd (vv.1–5), from the flock (vv.6–11), and specifically a goat (vv.12–16). Each case follows an identical sequence of hiphil and qal sequential-perfect verbs — *samakh* (lean hand), *shachat* ("cut the throat", H7819A), *zarqu* ("they will sprinkle", H2236), *hiqtiru* ("they will make smoke", H6999A) — showing a fixed liturgical procedure regardless of which animal is used. The repeated construct chains (*rosh qorbano*, "head of his offering"; *kol ha-chelev asher al ha-qerev*, "all the fat that is on the entrails") anatomically specify which fat portions belong to Yahweh, distinguishing them from the remainder of the animal not discussed in this chapter. Verse 17 shifts to a direct second-person plural imperfect prohibition, *lo tokhelu* ("you must not eat", H0398), marked as a *choq olam* ("statute of perpetuity", H2708) for all generations and dwelling places, generalizing beyond the peace offering to any fat and any blood.

This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.