Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
The law and rite of the guilt offering is described, and at verse 11, the peace offering, namely by whom and when each should be eaten. Then, at verse 23, God forbids the eating of the fat of all victims and of all blood. Finally, at verse 30, from the peace offering, He assigns the breast and the right shoulder to the sacrificing priest.
Vulgate Text: Leviticus 7:1-38
1. This also is the law of the guilt offering; it is most holy: 2. therefore in the place where the burnt offering is slain, the guilt offering also shall be slain; its blood shall be poured around the altar. 3. They shall offer from it the tail and the fat that covers the entrails, 4. the two kidneys, and the fat that is near the flanks, and the caul of the liver with the kidneys; 5. and the priest shall burn them upon the altar: it is an offering made by fire to the Lord for guilt. 6. Every male of the priestly lineage shall eat of this flesh in a holy place, because it is most holy. 7. As the sin offering is offered, so also the guilt offering; the law of both offerings shall be one: it shall belong to the priest who offers it. 8. The priest who offers the burnt offering victim shall have its skin. 9. And every grain offering that is baked in an oven, and whatever is prepared on a griddle or in a frying pan, shall belong to the priest who offers it: 10. whether mixed with oil or dry, it shall be divided in equal measure among all the sons of Aaron. 11. This is the law of the peace offering that is offered to the Lord. 12. If the offering is made in thanksgiving, they shall offer unleavened bread spread with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil, and fine flour baked and cakes mixed with oil; 13. also leavened bread, with the thanksgiving offering that is sacrificed for the peace offerings: 14. of which one shall be offered to the Lord as first fruits, and it shall belong to the priest who pours out the blood of the offering; 15. its flesh shall be eaten on the same day, and nothing of it shall remain until morning. 16. If anyone offers a victim by vow or voluntarily, it shall likewise be eaten on the same day; but if anything remains until the next day, it is permitted to eat it: 17. but whatever the third day finds, fire shall consume. 18. If anyone eats of the flesh of the peace offering on the third day, the offering shall become void, nor shall it benefit the one offering it: rather, whatever soul contaminates itself with such food shall be guilty of transgression. 19. Flesh that has touched anything unclean shall not be eaten, but shall be burned with fire: whoever is clean may eat of it. 20. The polluted soul that eats of the flesh of the peace offering that has been offered to the Lord shall perish from among its people. 21. And whoever has touched the uncleanness of man or beast, or of any thing that can pollute, and eats of such flesh, shall perish from among its people. 22. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 23. Speak to the children of Israel: You shall not eat the fat of sheep, ox, or goat. 24. The fat of a carcass that has died of itself, and of an animal that has been seized by a beast, you may use for various purposes. 25. If anyone eats the fat that ought to be offered as a burnt offering to the Lord, he shall perish from among his people. 26. You shall not consume the blood of any animal as food, whether of birds or of cattle. 27. Every soul that eats blood shall perish from among its people. 28. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 29. Speak to the children of Israel, saying: Whoever offers a peace offering to the Lord shall also offer a sacrifice, that is, its libations. 30. He shall hold in his hands the fat of the offering and the breast; and when he has consecrated both as offered to the Lord, he shall deliver them to the priest, 31. who shall burn the fat upon the altar; but the breast shall belong to Aaron and his sons: 32. the right shoulder also from the peace offerings shall go as first fruits to the priest. 33. Whoever of the sons of Aaron offers the blood and the fat shall also have the right shoulder as his portion. 34. For the breast of elevation and the shoulder of separation I have taken from the children of Israel, from the offerings of their peace offerings, and I have given them to Aaron the priest and to his sons as a perpetual statute from all the people of Israel. 35. This is the anointing portion of Aaron and of his sons from the offerings of the Lord, on the day when Moses presented them to serve in the priesthood, 36. and which the Lord commanded to be given them by the children of Israel as a perpetual statute throughout their generations. 37. This is the law of the burnt offering, and of the sacrifice for sin and for guilt, and for the consecration and the peace offering victims, 38. which the Lord established for Moses on Mount Sinai, when He commanded the children of Israel to offer their oblations to the Lord in the desert of Sinai.
Verse 1: This Also Is the Law of the Guilt Offering
There is a serious difficulty here, as to how the sacrifice for sin and the sacrifice for guilt are to be distinguished.
Sin is called in Hebrew chattat; the Septuagint renders it hamartia; guilt, however, is called in Hebrew ascam; the Septuagint renders it plemmeleian. The Hebrews interpret sin as that which is against the affirmative precepts, which they assert are as many in Sacred Scripture as there are bones in the human body, namely 248; guilt, however, they say is that which is against the negative precepts, which they count as many as there are days in the year, namely 365.
Genebrardus enumerates both individually at the end of his published Chronology. Secondly, conversely, St. Augustine here, Question XX, understands by sin the guilt of commission, and by guilt the fault of omission. So too St. Gregory, Homily 21 on Ezekiel: "This, he says, is the difference between sin and guilt: sin is to do evil, but guilt is to abandon the good, which must be observed with the utmost care." St. Gregory adds: "Or certainly sin is in deed, guilt in thought." So also most later writers, such as Lyranus, Abulensis, Isidorus Clarius, and Petrus Serranus. Others distinguish these differently. But I say that sin, when it is distinguished from guilt (for often these two are taken for the same thing, as is clear from chapters IV, V, VI), is that which is committed prudently and knowingly; guilt, however, is that which is done ignorantly, namely through imprudence, forgetfulness, or even lack of knowledge, especially of the law; as happens when someone is ignorant of the law or has forgotten it.
This is proved first, because Procopius here, and St. Jerome on Ezekiel chapter XL, verse 39, and indeed the Septuagint in the same place, distinguish them thus; for all of these render guilt as agnoian, that is, ignorance. Secondly, because our Interpreter renders it so in chapter V, the last verse, saying "Because through error he offended against the Lord." Thirdly, because the Septuagint here renders guilt as plemmeleian, which is the same as if you said aplemmeleian, that is, neglect of care, or ameleian, that is, negligence, as some here translate it: as happens when someone through negligence is ignorant of or forgets what the law prescribes, and what he himself ought to do. Fourthly, because St. Augustine also brings forward this opinion and proves it from Psalm XVIII, 13, and Psalm LXVIII, 6, and James IV, 17. These passages indeed seem to attribute sin to knowledge and guilt to ignorance.
You will say: How then did Moses, in chapter VI, the last verse, call the offering for the fault of the high priest or of the whole people a sin offering, when nevertheless in chapter IV, verses 2, 3, and 13, he said that this fault was one of ignorance?
I answer: He did this to show the gravity of the sin of the high priest and of the whole people, and that the ignorance of those who ought to know the law and easily can, and who are bound to teach it to others, should not be considered ignorance but knowledge. Add that here as elsewhere, sin is often confused with guilt and taken for the same thing.
Ribera answers differently in book IV of De Templo, chapter VI, namely that in the sin of the high priest and the people described in chapter IV, there is only ignorance of fact, as when someone does not know that what he takes belongs to another, or that what he eats is sacred, or that what he touches is polluted; but in guilt there is ignorance of the law, or rather guilt is called forgetfulness of the law and its provisions: for example, when someone does something he does not know is forbidden by law, or certainly does not remember the law. This answer is subtle and probable, but difficult to prove.
Verse 3: They Shall Offer from It the Tail
3. THEY SHALL OFFER FROM IT (the guilt offering) THE TAIL. -- By this tail, the sinner is tropologically admonished, "who desires to correct the slippery motions of his affections, to join to this purpose of his a persevering end," says Radulphus.
Verse 6: Every Male of the Priestly Lineage Shall Eat
6. EVERY MALE OF THE PRIESTLY LINEAGE SHALL EAT (may eat) OF THIS FLESH IN A HOLY PLACE. -- Properly, the guilt offering belonged to the offering priest, as did the sin offering. For the reason and law of both are the same, as is stated in verse 7. However, the one offering could give a portion of the offering to be eaten by other priests and their male children, but not to women.
Tropologically, in doing penance nothing should be womanish, but a strong sense and manly intention is required, says Hesychius. Read of manly and heroic penances in Climacus, step 5, which is on Penance.
Verse 8: The Priest Who Offers the Burnt Offering Shall Have Its Skin
8. THE PRIEST WHO OFFERS THE BURNT OFFERING VICTIM SHALL HAVE ITS SKIN, -- because from the burnt offering, which is entirely consumed by fire for God, nothing else remains to be repaid to the one sacrificing except the skin.
Tropologically, the skin is a symbol of patience, as is clear from Job II, 4, and Job XIX, 20, which is the priest's own virtue and garment. So says Hesychius. "If the mind, says St. Gregory, book V of the Moralia, is directed toward God with strong intention, whatever is bitter in this life, it esteems as sweet: all that afflicts, it considers rest." Hence the patient man is perfect, such as a priest ought to be: "For he, says St. Gregory, book V, chapter XIV, is truly perfect who is not impatient with the imperfection of his neighbor. For he who, unable to bear the imperfection of another, abandons patience, is himself a witness that he has not yet perfectly advanced. Hence in the Gospel, Truth says: In your patience you shall possess your souls. The patient man therefore possesses his soul, because he rules over all the motions of his mind by virtue. And the more laudably he conquers and breaks himself, the more strongly he shows himself unbroken, because when he overcomes himself in his pleasures, he prepares himself invincible against adversities."
Verse 10: It Shall Be Divided in Equal Measure among All the Sons of Aaron
10. WHETHER MIXED WITH OIL OR DRY, IT SHALL BE DIVIDED IN EQUAL MEASURE AMONG ALL THE SONS OF AARON, -- that is, divided equally among each, as the Hebrew, Chaldean, and Septuagint have it. Namely, so that each one has his own day and his own turns, during which, while ministering and performing the priesthood, he claims for himself everything that is offered, just as other priests do in their turns. Thus these words fit excellently with the preceding verse, in which God commanded that the grain offering should go to the offering priest. So say Radulphus, Lyranus, and Abulensis.
Others, like Hesychius, understand this verse as referring to uncooked fine flour, as if that were to be divided equally among all the priests; but they understand the preceding verse as referring to cooked fine flour, or cakes and loaves, which all went to the offering priest. But our translation barely supports this distinction, and the very nature of the thing: for according to it, it would be much more fitting and appropriate that loaves, if they are offered, be immediately distributed equally among each; but that raw flour be kept by the individual offerers for kneading.
Verse 12: And Baked Fine Flour and Cakes
12. AND BAKED FINE FLOUR AND CAKES. -- And here it is taken for "that is": for fine flour mixed and kneaded, when it is baked, that is, as the Hebrew has it, fried in a pan, is a cake, or fried wafer. So the Chaldean and Septuagint. Our Interpreter elsewhere calls a collyrida a crustula (small pastry).
Verse 13: Also Leavened Bread
13. Also leavened bread, -- not so that anything from them should be placed on the altar: for this was forbidden in chapter II, verse 11; but so that they might be offered to the priests as gifts for them to eat.
WITH THE THANKSGIVING OFFERING THAT IS SACRIFICED FOR THE PEACE OFFERINGS. -- In Hebrew: With the thanksgiving sacrifice of his peace offerings, that is, with the offering that is sacrificed in thanksgiving for peace, that is, for the health and benefits obtained from God. For the peace offering was of two kinds: one for obtaining peace, that is, health; the other for health already obtained, which is therefore called toda, that is, confession, praise, thanksgiving: hence the Greeks render it thysian aineseos, that is, a sacrifice of praise, by which God and God's majesty and beneficence are praised and celebrated. Either of these was again either spontaneous or votive.
Verse 14: One Shall Be Offered to the Lord as First Fruits
14. Of which (leavened loaves) one shall be offered to the Lord AS FIRST FRUITS, -- so that it goes not to God as a sacrifice, but to the priest who takes God's place, as food. The remaining loaves, through this one first one, were also considered as offered to the Lord.
Verse 16: If Anyone Offers a Victim by Vow or Voluntarily
16. IF ANYONE OFFERS A VICTIM BY VOW OR VOLUNTARILY, IT SHALL LIKEWISE BE EATEN ON THE SAME DAY. -- The first reason for this law was that no sacred food should be corrupted, lest, if these meats became rancid or putrid, the reverence of the sacrifices should be diminished. The second reason, because sacred food is not to be stored away in the pantry, but set before all the needy, says Philo and Theodoret, Question VII.
But why did the victim offered in thanksgiving have to be eaten on the same day, while one offered by vow or voluntarily could be eaten on the second day?
I answer: because the former thanksgiving offering was more worthy than the second offered by vow or voluntarily, for this reason: that the latter was drawn out by the necessity of a vow, or from the hope of obtaining some benefit; but the former burst forth from a grateful, generous, pious spirit, pouring out in praises of God.
The allegorical reason was that through various figures and observances the same thing was signified, namely that all the sacrifices of faith and good works must be completed and accomplished on the same day of this life, and that nothing is to be reserved for the third day of resurrection and eternity. For this is what is meant by what is said here: "Whatever the third day finds, fire shall consume." This is the same thing the Wise Man warns in Ecclesiastes IX, 10, saying: "Whatever your hand is able to do, work earnestly; for neither work, nor reason, nor wisdom, nor knowledge shall be in the netherworld, to which you hasten." So say Procopius, Bede, Radulphus, and Origen. For sometimes all time and all duration is divided into two days, one of the present life, the other of the future: sometimes into three, by allusion to the passion and resurrection of Christ, so that two days are of the present life, and the third day is of eternity and resurrection. Furthermore, Origen and Bede understand by the two days the two Testaments, new and old, namely the time of the Mosaic and Evangelical law, and by the third day they understand eternity.
Verse 18: If Anyone Eats of the Peace Offering on the Third Day
18. IF ANYONE EATS OF THE FLESH OF THE PEACE OFFERING ON THE THIRD DAY, THE OFFERING SHALL BECOME VOID, -- as if to say: By this subsequent transgression of this law, by which he reserves the sacred flesh until the third day, he will lose the grace which he merited from me by the earlier sacrifice and peace offering. Hence the Hebrew has: The one offering shall not be pleasing to me.
Verse 19: Flesh That Has Touched Anything Unclean
19. FLESH THAT HAS TOUCHED ANYTHING UNCLEAN SHALL NOT BE EATEN, BUT SHALL BE BURNED WITH FIRE. -- "Flesh," namely that offered to God, which after immolation is polluted in any way, shall not be eaten, but shall be burned, and this out of reverence for the sacrifices, with fire not sacred but profane, because it is no longer the flesh of a victim and sacrifice, since it is rejected from it on account of its uncleanness. I say flesh offered to God; for other flesh that was not sacred, even if it had touched something unclean, it was permitted to eat, as is clear from Deuteronomy XII, 15, 22. I say after immolation; for if before it, while being carried to the altar, the flesh of the victim had been polluted, it was indeed not permitted to offer and immolate it; yet it could be converted to any profane uses.
WHOEVER IS CLEAN MAY EAT OF IT, -- not the unclean flesh just mentioned: for that was ordered to be burned; but the peace offering, namely if it is not polluted but clean and such as it was when offered; for he has been treating of the peace offering from verse 11 up to this point.
Verse 20: The Polluted Soul That Eats of the Peace Offering
20. The polluted soul (a polluted man) that eats OF THE FLESH OF THE PEACE OFFERING THAT HAS BEEN OFFERED TO THE LORD SHALL PERISH FROM AMONG HIS PEOPLE, -- as if to say: A polluted man, if he dares to eat flesh consecrated to God, shall incur death by God's vengeance, either present death in this life, or eternal death in the next, if indeed he did it knowingly: but if he ate ignorantly, he shall be expiated by the sacrifice prescribed in chapter V, verse 3.
Verse 21: And Whoever Has Touched the Uncleanness of Man
21. AND WHOEVER HAS TOUCHED THE UNCLEANNESS OF MAN, -- namely feces and excrement: this man therefore, whether polluted in himself or if he has touched anything polluted, is barred from eating the peace offerings.
Verse 23: You Shall Not Eat the Fat of Sheep, Ox, or Goat
23. YOU SHALL NOT EAT THE FAT OF SHEEP, OX, OR GOAT, -- because these three are the animals that are sacrificed to the Lord, whence I claim their fat for myself, even if you slaughter them at home for eating, as is clear from verse 25.
Verse 24: The Fat of a Carcass May Be Used for Various Purposes
24. THE FAT OF A CARCASS THAT HAS DIED OF ITSELF, AND OF AN ANIMAL SEIZED BY A BEAST, YOU MAY USE FOR VARIOUS PURPOSES. -- He speaks here of the fat of an animal unclean for sacrifice but clean for eating.
For which note: Animals clean for sacrifice were only the three just mentioned, namely sheep, goat, and ox; but animals clean for eating, besides these three, were seven others, namely the buffalo, deer, roebuck, wild goat, oryx, antelope, and giraffe, about which see chapter XI. Now it was completely unlawful to eat the fat of animals clean for sacrifice, even if they were not actually sacrificed, as I said in the preceding verse. But it was also unlawful to eat the fat of the others, which were clean only for eating, if they were carcasses, that is, had died of themselves, or had been seized and killed by a beast, as will be clear from chapter XI, verse 31; yet it was permitted to use them for other purposes, as is said here: otherwise it seems to have been lawful to eat their fat, as I said in chapter III, verse 17. So says Abulensis.
Verse 25: If Anyone Eats the Fat That Ought to Be Offered
25. If anyone eats the fat that ought to be offered, -- namely the fat of the goat, sheep, and ox, which alone ought to be offered; for it was not permitted to offer any others. This is clear from the Hebrew and Chaldean, which have: If anyone eats the fat of a beast from which an offering is made before the Lord, he shall be cut off from his people; for the Hebrews could not eat any fat of a sacrificial animal, even if it was not actually sacrificed; but it all had to be burned for God, if the animal was slaughtered in Jerusalem, where the temple was, concerning which see Deuteronomy XII, 21.
Verse 29: Whoever Offers a Peace Offering Shall Also Offer Its Libations
29. WHOEVER OFFERS A PEACE OFFERING TO THE LORD SHALL ALSO OFFER A SACRIFICE, THAT IS, ITS LIBATIONS, -- namely, let him offer a grain offering or libation of fine flour, so that he may present to God a full banquet of flesh and flour, or bread, as I said in chapter II.
Verse 30: He Shall Hold in His Hands the Fat and the Breast
30. HE SHALL HOLD IN HIS HANDS THE FAT OF THE OFFERING AND THE BREAST: AND WHEN HE HAS CONSECRATED BOTH AS OFFERED TO THE LORD (not the priest, but the lay offerer), HE SHALL DELIVER THEM TO THE PRIEST. -- For the sacrifice of peace offerings was more relaxed than others: hence a large part of it went partly to the priests and partly to the offerers.
This was the rite of offering the peace sacrifice, as Rabbi Solomon and the Hebrews relate. First, the priest slaughtered the animal and cut it into parts. Second, he took the breast of the slain animal and its fats, and placed them on the hands of the lay offerer. Third, the priest placed his own hands beneath these hands and raised them up, then lowered them; and again moved them crosswise from right to left in the manner of a cross, toward the four regions of the world, to signify that God is Lord of the whole world. For this is the rite of tenupha, about which I spoke at Exodus XXIX, 26. Fourth, he burned the fat with the kidneys on the altar for God; then the offering priest took for himself the right shoulder and the breast. Finally, he returned the remaining flesh to the lay offerers, who ate it in the court of the tabernacle. For this eating was the completion and consummation of the peace sacrifice, just as the reception of the Eucharist is the consummation of the Eucharistic sacrifice. In like manner every other victim, as being sanctified to God, was to be eaten in the court of the temple, as is clear from chapter VI, verse 16, and chapter VII, verse 6. The same is signified by this law and the frequently repeated phrase: "You shall feast before the Lord," that is, in the court of the temple, as is clear from Deuteronomy XII, 12 and 18, and chapter XIV, verse 26, and chapter XVI, verses 11 and 14: for this sacred banquet was chiefly made from peace offerings. Hear the clear text on this matter, Deuteronomy XXVII, 7: "You shall immolate peace offerings, and eat there, and feast before the Lord your God."
Verse 34: The Breast of Elevation and the Shoulder of Separation
34. For the breast of elevation (which, namely, was offered up to God through the elevation of the tenupha just described) AND THE SHOULDER OF SEPARATION (namely, separated for God, so that it may be given to the priests in God's stead) I HAVE GIVEN TO AARON THE PRIEST AND TO HIS SONS. -- The symbolic reason why the breast and right shoulder from the peace offering went to the priest was that the breast signifies faith, sound doctrine, and heartfelt wisdom: the right shoulder or arm signifies constant action in accordance with faith and virtue, in both of which the priest ought to shine and instruct the people. So say Hesychius, Radulphus, and most aptly Origen, Homily 5, at the end, where he says: "What then is the priest's breast, and of what kind? Let it be full of wisdom, full of knowledge, full of all divine understanding, indeed full of God: what kind of arm? Great solicitude, labor, vigils, by which he converts the sinner, who then offers a saving sacrifice and gives thanks to God: in which sacrifice the breast becomes the priest's portion, to be a sign that the breast and heart, which formerly thought evil things, having been converted by the priest's labor, has received good thoughts, and has been so purified that it can see God; likewise the arm is a sign that he has turned his evil and sinister deeds to the right, so that they might be according to God." And St. Gregory, Part II of the Pastoral Rule, chapter III: "By divine law, he says, the priest receives the right shoulder in sacrifice as a separated portion, so that not only should his action be useful but also singular; and among the wicked he should not merely do what is right, but also surpass in the virtue of his conduct those well-doing subjects whom he exceeds by the honor of his order; for whom in eating also the breast with the shoulder is assigned, so that what he is commanded to take from the sacrifice, he may learn to immolate from himself, and not only think right things in his breast, but also invite his beholders to the sublime arms of action: let him desire no prosperity of the present life, let him fear no adversity." Indeed even the pagan Persius, Satire 2, wants the pontiffs to offer to the gods a well-ordered sense of right and sacred law of the soul, and holy recesses of the mind, and a breast steeped in noble honesty.
Verse 35: This Is the Anointing Portion of Aaron
35. THIS IS THE ANOINTING PORTION OF AARON AND OF HIS SONS FROM THE CEREMONIES OF THE LORD. -- In Hebrew it reads, from (that is, in, and in, that is, with) the fire-offerings of the Lord, that is, from the offerings made by fire, or burned with fire for the Lord, according to the rite and ceremony prescribed in chapter VI, verse 20, and more fully in Exodus XXIX. This is the epilogue of all the preceding.
Verse 36: As a Perpetual Statute
36. As a perpetual statute. -- In Hebrew, by perpetual ordinance, or perpetual law.
Verse 37: This Is the Law of the Burnt Offering
37. THIS IS THE LAW OF THE BURNT OFFERING. -- Six kinds of sacrifices already described are enumerated here: namely first, the burnt offering; second, the grain offering or meal sacrifice; third, the sacrifice for sin; fourth, the sacrifice for guilt; fifth, the sacrifice for the consecration of priests; sixth, the peace sacrifice. But, as I said in chapter II, properly there were only four kinds of sacrifice: for the sacrifice for guilt is referred to the sacrifice for sin; and the sacrifice for the consecration of priests is referred to all of them: for in it sacrifices of every kind were offered.
Verse 38: Which the Lord Established for Moses on Mount Sinai
38. WHICH THE LORD ESTABLISHED FOR MOSES ON MOUNT SINAI, -- that is, in the mountainous desert, and near the mountain that is properly called Sinai. For I said in chapter I, verse 1, that God gave these laws to Moses not on this mountain but in the tabernacle.