Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
The third kind of sacrifice is described, namely the peace offering; and it is threefold: first, of an ox, verse 1; second, of sheep, verse 6; third, of a goat, verse 12. Finally, in the last verse, God claims for Himself all the fat and blood.
Vulgate Text: Leviticus 3:1-17
1. If his offering is a sacrifice of peace offerings, and he wishes to offer from the herd, whether male or female, he shall offer it without blemish before the Lord. 2. And he shall lay his hand upon the head of his victim, which shall be slain at the entrance of the tabernacle of the testimony, and the sons of Aaron the priests shall sprinkle the blood round about upon the altar. 3. And they shall offer from the sacrifice of peace offerings, as an oblation to the Lord, the fat that covers the entrails, and all the fat that is within: 4. the two kidneys with the fat by which the flanks are covered, and the caul of the liver with the kidneys. 5. And they shall burn them upon the altar as a holocaust, with fire placed under the wood, as an offering of the sweetest odor to the Lord. 6. But if his offering and the sacrifice of peace offerings be of sheep, whether he offer male or female, they shall be without blemish. 7. If he offer a lamb before the Lord, 8. he shall lay his hand upon the head of his victim, which shall be slain in the vestibule of the tabernacle of the testimony; and the sons of Aaron shall pour out its blood round about upon the altar. 9. And they shall offer from the sacrifice of peace offerings, as a sacrifice to the Lord, the fat and the whole tail, 10. with the kidneys and the fat that covers the belly and all the entrails, and each kidney with the fat that is near the flanks, and the caul of the liver with the kidneys; 11. and the priest shall burn them upon the altar as the food of the fire and of the offering to the Lord. 12. If a goat be his offering, and he offer it to the Lord, 13. he shall lay his hand upon its head; and he shall slay it at the entrance of the tabernacle of the testimony. And the sons of Aaron shall pour out its blood round about upon the altar. 14. And they shall take from it for the food of the Lord's fire, the fat that covers the belly, and that which covers all the entrails; 15. the two kidneys with the caul that is upon them near the flanks, and the fat of the liver with the kidneys; 16. and the priest shall burn them upon the altar as the food of the fire and of the sweetest odor. All the fat shall be the Lord's 17. by a perpetual right throughout your generations and in all your dwellings; you shall eat neither blood nor fat.
Verse 1: If His Offering Is a Sacrifice of Peace Offerings
1. IF HIS OFFERING IS A SACRIFICE OF PEACE OFFERINGS — "Sacrifice of peace offerings," understand "of animals," that is, of those things which are offered for peace, that is, for health, safety, and prosperity (for this is what peace means to the Hebrews), whether already obtained or yet to be obtained: for there were two kinds of peace offering, one which was offered in thanksgiving for prosperity already obtained; the other which was offered to obtain prosperity or some benefit for someone, whether for a person, or a family, or the state. The Septuagint translate it as thusia soteriou, that is, a salvific sacrifice, that is, a sacrifice of salvation, that is, a sacrifice offered for well-being; the Chaldean translates it as "sacrifice of sanctifications." In Hebrew this sacrifice is called זבח שלמים Zebach schelamim, which can first be translated as "sacrifice of peace offerings," that is, a peace sacrifice, for the reason already stated, and because this sacrifice, as it were, made peace between God, the priest, and those offering, since in it a portion of the victim was assigned to each party. Second, it can be translated as "victim of the tranquil," that is, a victim offered for quiet and tranquility. Third, it can be translated as "victim of retributions," that is, a victim of thanksgiving, as Josephus translates it. Fourth, it can be translated as "victim of the perfect," that is, a victim offered for the integrity and perfection of either a person, or a house and family. For the Hebrew שלם schalam means first, to make peace; second, to be quiet and tranquil; third, to repay; fourth, to finish, complete, and perfect.
The Peace Offering Was Voluntary
Note: This peace offering was offered not by precept, but by vow or voluntarily; hence, at the discretion of the one offering, it could be male or female. If, however, someone had vowed the better animal from his flock, and therefore a male, he was obliged to offer that, according to Malachi 1:14: "Cursed is the deceiver who has a male in his flock, and making a vow, sacrifices a weak one to the Lord."
The Three Parts of the Peace Offering
Note second: The peace offering was divided into three parts: the first, namely the fat and blood, was burned to God; the second, namely the breast and the right shoulder, went to the sacrificing priest; the third, namely the remaining flesh, went to the laypeople offering it, about which see chapter VII. In the holocaust, however, the entire victim went to God; in the sin offering, a part went to God, a part to the priest, but nothing to the one offering, as is clear from chapter VII, verse 6.
Only Ox, Sheep, or Goat — Not Birds
Hence note third: The peace offering, as also the sin offering, had to be an ox, sheep, or goat, and not birds, such as a turtledove or pigeon, because these are too small to be conveniently divided into three portions. Birds, however, were offered as a holocaust, because the whole of that was burned to God.
Tropological Interpretation
Tropologically, Radulphus and Hesychius say: In the holocaust, they say, the life of the perfect is signified; in the peace offerings, the way of life of those of middling virtue is designated, who, although they do not fulfill the highest good, nevertheless avoid the greatest evils. These persons distribute some things to the altar, some to priests, and the rest they allow for the use of the body, says Theodoret, Question I.
"He therefore who sacrifices an ox," says Radulphus, "is anyone who, devoted to worldly occupations in secular life, ministers to God from his own labors. He offers a sheep, who, unable to labor sufficiently, and called back from acts of mercy by illness and age or poverty, pleases God by innocence alone. He sacrifices a goat, whoever changes his old way of life by the correction of a better purpose. No mention of birds is made here, because the virtue of contemplation is usually attributed to those more perfect."
Second, Rupert here, chapter XXVII, understands by the sin offering, faith; by the peace offering, hope; by the holocaust, charity, which is the greatest of all; but this is not so much tropological as accommodated.
The Peace Offering as Continence and Mercy
The peace offering, therefore, is continence and mercy. "Truly continent is he who is superior to disturbance and admits no provocation of pleasure; but is sober in spirit and yielding to pleasure nowhere," says St. Basil, and after him Maximus, sermon On Continence.
Anacharsis ordered to be inscribed on his statues: "One must be temperate in tongue, belly, and private parts"; for an unbridled tongue is the cause of the greatest evils, nothing is more shameful than luxury, and lust turns a man into a beast, says Laertius, book I, chapter IX.
Socrates, when asked how one could become wealthy, said: "If he is continent and free from desires."
Archidamus, when someone promised him the sweetest wine, said: "What need is there? For the better it is, the more will be consumed; and it will render men more useless for those things that befit brave men." Plutarch is the witness, in the Laconian Sayings.
Alcamenes, a wealthy man, when he lived rather frugally and others marveled at this, said: "It befits one who possesses much to live according to reason, not according to desire"; signifying that riches are pernicious unless a mind superior to them is present. Plutarch in the same place.
Alexander the Great, when invited to visit the most beautiful captured daughters of Darius, refused to go, saying: "I will not allow that I, who have conquered men, should be conquered by women."
The same Alexander, gazing at a very beautiful image of a woman on the altar of Jupiter, when Hephaestion said it was fair that he should take the beloved woman, replied: "Would it not be most shameful if we, who wish to punish the incontinence of others, should ourselves be found serving incontinence and caught in it by foreigners?" Maximus reports this, sermon 3.
Menedemus, when a certain young man said it was a great thing to obtain whatever one desires, replied: "It is a far greater thing to desire nothing of those things that are not fitting."
Hear the Christians. St. Ephrem in the Life of St. Abraham says: "Continence is the foundation of the spiritual life."
Abbot Isaac in the Lives of the Fathers had so devoted himself to continence that he said it had been forty years since he felt any stirring in his mind to which he had ever consented, whether of concupiscence or anger.
In the same place, a prior, commanded by St. Anthony to greet his sister, did so but with closed eyes: so continent was he with his eyes. And Marcus greeted his mother with closed eyes. Simeon Stylites refused to see his mother. Eusebius, as Theodoret testifies, did not wish to see even the neighboring fields or the sky, but, weighed down by iron chains, bent over and looking at the ground, he walked.
Well-known is the continence of Arsenius, by which he endured neither satisfying his hunger nor seeing any woman. Dorotheus, according to Palladius in the Lausiac History, chapter II, mortified himself with labor and heat: when asked why, he said: "The body must be killed (mortified), lest it kill us."
Abbot Pambo asked Abbot Anthony: "What shall I do to be saved?" He replied: "Be continent in belly and tongue." The continent, therefore, are peace offerings to themselves and to God.
Without Blemish
WITHOUT BLEMISH — In Hebrew תם tamim, that is, whole, perfect. See what was said at chapter I, verse 3.
HE SHALL OFFER BEFORE THE LORD — before the altar, where God is worshipped and represented.
Verse 2: And He Shall Lay His Hand upon the Head of the Victim
2. AND HE SHALL LAY HIS HAND UPON THE HEAD OF THE VICTIM — The reason for this rite I gave at chapter I, verse 4.
WHICH SHALL BE SLAIN AT THE ENTRANCE OF THE TABERNACLE OF THE TESTIMONY — In Hebrew, which shall be slain at the door of the tabernacle of the testimony, namely at the altar of holocausts (which was next to the tabernacle in which was the testimony, that is, the law or the tablets of the law in the ark), that is, at the side of the altar facing north, as is clear from chapter I, verse 11.
They Shall Pour the Blood round about upon the Altar
AND THEY SHALL POUR THE BLOOD ROUND ABOUT UPON THE ALTAR — Tropologically, those pour blood around the altar who cast away from themselves their corrupt affections and desire around the cross of Christ (that is, while they revolve in their mind the virtues of Christ): for our altar is Christ, upon whom we place whatever will be pleasing to the Father, and through whom we offer it.
Verse 3: The Fat That Covers the Entrails
3. AND THEY SHALL OFFER FROM THE SACRIFICE OF PEACE OFFERINGS AS AN OBLATION TO THE LORD, THE FAT THAT COVERS THE ENTRAILS — "Entrails" [vitalia], in Hebrew means the interior parts, namely the heart and the region around it, which are most essential for sustaining life, and when these are injured, we lose our life.
Verse 4: The Caul of the Liver
4. AND THE CAUL OF THE LIVER — This caul is the fat which, like a net, surrounds the liver. Hence in verse 15, it is called the fat of the liver.
Allegorically, Origen and Bede say: The fat covering the entrails is the soul of Christ, covering His divinity; the kidneys are the flesh of Christ: for Christ is our every sacrifice, both as peace offering and as holocaust and sin offering.
Tropologically, Radulphus says: "The fat," he says, "which covers the entrails, signifies the attachment we have to this life; the fat also which is inside indicates the love of those things which are possessed in this life, such as house, field, money, father, mother, and relatives, all of which, if they abound in this life, seem to make one happy: but God commands these to be offered to Him and burned"; although this is done with difficulty and with pain, so that, namely, one should prefer to lose those things and be turned away from them, rather than to depart from God and piety. "For he who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me," says the Lord.
The Kidneys
With the kidneys already named in this same verse. This is a pleonasm, or a Hebrew repetition of the same thing; for by "renunculi" [little kidneys] here is always understood the two kidneys which are in the loins, and therefore that God wished the kidneys to be burned to Him is clear from the Hebrew, the Septuagint, Josephus, and Philo, who consistently here and elsewhere translate nephrous, that is, kidneys. So also St. Basil reads it, in his book On Virginity, Origen here, homily 3, Theodoret here and in Question LXI on Exodus, Hesychius, Radulphus, Bede, Vatablus, and others; indeed even our Interpreter, who in this verse called them kidneys and little kidneys, in verses 10 and 15 calls them only little kidneys. Therefore kidneys and little kidneys are the same thing.
Tropological Meaning of the Kidneys and Liver
Tropologically the same authors, namely St. Basil, Theodoret, Hesychius, and Radulphus, by the kidneys understand the concupiscible appetite, especially of lust; for the kidneys are the vessels of generation, says Philo. Hence the Church prays: "Burn with the fire of the Holy Spirit our kidneys and our heart, O Lord, that we may serve You with a chaste body and please You with a pure heart."
The same authors by the caul of the liver understand the irascible power and appetite; for the liver is the source of blood, that is, of cruelty: these things, says Radulphus, those offering the peace offering, that is, people of middling virtue and married persons, ought not to cast them off entirely, but partly to offer them to God and devote them to divine things, and partly to mortify and restrain them, as St. Basil and Theodoret teach.
Verse 8: In the Vestibule of the Tabernacle
8. IN THE VESTIBULE OF THE TABERNACLE — at the entrance of the tabernacle, as I said at verse 2, namely before the Holy Place, at the altar of holocausts.
Verses 9-10: The Whole Tail with the Kidneys
9 and 10. And the whole tail with the kidneys. — Our Interpreter correctly translates the Hebrew, whatever more recent scholars, following the Chaldean, may translate differently: for the Hebrew reads thus literally: they shall remove the whole tail up to opposite the spine, that is, they shall remove the tail and so far as to remove at the same time the kidneys lying opposite the spine; for the spine, at the part where it is joined to the tail, supports the kidneys. So Cajetan. And this seems to be what the Septuagint intended here and at chapter VIII, verse 25, who instead of "tail" have "loin"; for they translate thus: kai ten osphyn amomos hos epi ton moschon, which the Interpreter of the Royal Bibles does not translate well as "and the unblemished loin with the flanks"; for it should be translated as "and the unblemished loin with the muscles" (for these are called ilea) internal, or with the internal flesh, to which the kidneys are attached; which is the same as if he said: Let them remove and offer to God the loin with the kidneys. Therefore, in the peace offering of a sheep, namely a lamb and a ram, as is clear from Leviticus IX, 19, it was peculiar that the tail was burned to the Lord; for this was not done if the peace offering was an ox or a goat. The tropological reason for this is given by Radulphus. The tail, he says, because it is the end of the body, is the symbol of the consummation and perseverance in holy and good works; God commands this to be offered in the sheep alone, because truly for sheep, that is, simple, thoughtless, and idle people, inconstancy is to be feared; but not for victims of goats, that is, repentant sinners; nor for victims of oxen, that is, the industrious, who, seeing the fruit of their labors, are nourished with great pleasure, and thus are sharpened and strengthened for their labors. Hence St. Gregory, in homily 25 on the Gospels, says: "By the precept of the law, the tail of the victim is commanded to be offered in sacrifice: for in the tail is the end of the body, and he sacrifices well who carries the sacrifice of a good work all the way to the end of the required action."
"Perseverance," says St. Bernard, epistle 129, "is the nurse of merit, the mediator to reward, the sister of patience, the daughter of constancy, the friend of peace, the bond of friendships, the tie of unanimity, the bulwark of holiness. Take away perseverance, and neither has service its reward, nor kindness its gratitude, nor fortitude its praise. It alone is that to which eternity is given, or rather which gives man back to eternity, as the Lord says: He who perseveres to the end shall be saved."
Verses 16-17: All the Fat Shall Be the Lord's
16 and 17. ALL THE FAT SHALL BE THE LORD'S BY A PERPETUAL RIGHT THROUGHOUT YOUR GENERATIONS AND IN ALL YOUR DWELLINGS — That is, so that no generation and no household can exempt itself from this law.
You Shall Eat Neither Blood nor Fat — On Blood
17. YOU SHALL EAT NEITHER BLOOD NOR FAT — Note: All blood was forbidden to the Jews, not only sacrificial blood, namely the blood of a victim, which is properly the subject here, as will soon be clear from the discussion of fat; but also any other blood, for example that of a sheep, goat, or deer that they slaughtered at home for eating. For they were required not to eat their blood, but to pour it out on the ground, as is clear from Deuteronomy XII, 16, and here chapter XVII, verse 13, where also in verse 11 the reason for this law is indicated, namely, that the life of the flesh is in the blood, that is, because blood is the vehicle, nourishment, and guardian of life and of the vital spirits; but life belongs to God alone: therefore it is fitting that blood also should go to God alone, even if it is not the blood of a victim; for if it is that of a victim, it is clear that it is most just that all of it should be offered in sacrifice to God, the author of life. So Theodoret. The second reason is that God wished to teach the Jews gentleness and to call them as far as possible from cruelty practiced against men. And so He forbade the eating of the blood of animals, in which the animal's life consists; but He permitted the eating of bloodless and lifeless flesh. So Hesychius and Abulensis. See what was said at Genesis IX, 4 and following. Hence the Apostles also forbade the first Christians, in Acts XV, 29, to eat blood, so that the Jews might more easily grow accustomed to the Gentiles and coalesce into one Church. For the Jews abhorred the Gentiles as barbarians because they ate blood.
You Shall Not Eat Fat at All
YOU SHALL NOT EAT FAT AT ALL — He forbids all fat to be eaten here, and God claims it for Himself. Understand by "fat" not that which adheres to flesh and is mixed with it, but that which is separately accumulated and compacted in the intestines. Again, understand the fat of a victim that was sacrificed, or that could be sacrificed. Therefore the Hebrews could eat no fat of a sheep, goat, or ox, even if it was slaughtered at home for eating, because these animals were clean for sacrifice and could be offered to God; but the fat of other clean animals which were not offered to God, the Hebrews could eat. And so they could eat the fat of the deer, buffalo, antelope, pygarg, oryx, and giraffe; for these were clean for eating but not for sacrifice, as will be clear from chapter VII. So St. Augustine here, Question II. The Jews, however, in order to observe this law more strictly, abstained from absolutely all fat, even of deer, buffalo, etc., and discarded it, as they are said to do even now. But the law does not command this.
The Reason for the Law on Fat
The reason for this law was that fat is most suited to fire, and is the best portion of the victim: therefore this was justly due to God, if it was the fat of a victim that had been sacrificed; but if it was the fat of a victim that had not been sacrificed but could have been, it was fitting that out of reverence for God they should abstain from this fat even though it had not been offered, because this fat came from animals that could be offered to God. And God willed this so that the Hebrews might always have the exercise of religion and the worship of God, and that they might honor and worship Him continually at home in this way as well. From this fat consecrated to God arose that phrase of Scripture which calls a sacrifice pleasing and worthy of God a "sacrifice of fat things," and prays that our holocaust may be made fat. For victims that are fleshy and well-fattened abound in fat and suet.
Tropological Meaning — The Fat of the Soul
Tropologically, as Hesychius and Radulphus say, the fat of the soul is the soul's desire, affection, devotion, and intention, which in every work by which we wish to please God and earn God's grace must be directed to God; whoever therefore in the good work he does seeks not God's glory but his own, or temporal gain, he steals and eats the fat that belongs to the Lord. Therefore those of middling virtue and married persons (who are signified by the peace offering) in their business affairs ought to offer to God at least this fat, namely this sincere intention; for through it, indifferent actions such as building, plowing, digging, etc., become holy and meritorious, and acts of religion, charity, etc. Few soldiers, farmers, or craftsmen know or realize this: hence for profit they tolerate much, they labor greatly, but in vain, because before God they will lack reward, since they have not directed their labors to Him. Let Pastors and Catechists therefore teach them this, so that with one and the same work, by reason of this pious intention by which they offer their work to God and undertake it for God's honor and love, they may acquire gains both eternal and temporal. "Just as a building," says St. Gregory, "rests on columns, and columns on their bases: so our life rests on virtues, and virtues subsist in the innermost intention." And again: "If once," he says, "the heart is corrupted in its intention, both the middle and the end of the ensuing action are securely possessed by the cunning enemy: for he sees the whole tree bearing fruit for him, whose root he wounded with the tooth of poison. With the greatest care we must watch, lest even the mind that serves good works be polluted by a reprobate intention." And St. Bernard, in his treatise On Precept and Dispensation, says: "In order that the interior eye be truly simple, I think two things are necessary for it: charity in the intention and truth in the choice; for how shall the eye be simple that, out of ignorance of truth, unknowingly does evil? For his eye is good, because pious; but not simple, because blind. And there is one who does good both willingly and understands prudently: his eye I would call simple, since neither good thing is lacking to him, neither good zeal nor knowledge; but that eye is wicked which, both perverse and blind, does good and believes it to be evil."
Apply the tropologies of these first three chapters also to the chapters that follow.
Final Note: Libation in the Peace Offering
Finally note: Just as in the holocaust, so also in the peace offering there was employed a libation of incense, salt, oil, wine, and flour, and this in a certain measure, and with the rite I described in the preceding chapter, verse 13, about which see more at Numbers XV, 4.