God’s Word Translation
Leviticus 3:1
1⌞The Lord continued,⌟ “If your sacrifice is a fellowship offering of cattle in the Lord’s presence, it must be a male or female animal that has no defects.
Leviticus 3:1 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And if his oblation be a sacrifice of peace offering, if he offer it of the herd; whether it be a male or female, he shall offer it without blemish before the Lord.
- New International Version (NIV)“ ‘If your offering is a fellowship offering, and you offer an animal from the herd, whether male or female, you are to present before the Lord an animal without defect.
- English Standard Version (ESV)"If his offering is a sacrifice of peace offering, if he offers an animal from the herd, male or female, he shall offer it without blemish before the Lord.
- New King James Version (NKJV)‘When his offering is a sacrifice of a peace offering, if he offers it of the herd, whether male or female, he shall offer it without blemish before the Lord.
Context of Leviticus 3:1
⌞The Lord continued,⌟ “If your sacrifice is a fellowship offering of cattle in the Lord’s presence, it must be a male or female animal that has no defects. 2Place your hand on the animal’s head. Then slaughter it at the entrance to the tent of meeting. Then Aaron’s sons, the priests, will throw the blood against the altar on all sides. 3From your offering remove the fat that covers the internal organs
Read all of Leviticus 3Leviticus 3:1 word by word
וְאִם־זֶ֥בַח שְׁלָמִ֖ים קָרְבָּנ֑וֹ אִ֤ם מִן־הַבָּקָר֙ ה֣וּא מַקְרִ֔יב אִם־זָכָר֙ אִם־נְקֵבָ֔ה תָּמִ֥ים יַקְרִיבֶ֖נּוּ לִפְנֵ֥י יְהוָֽה׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- And if his oblationקׇרְבָּןqorbân qûrbân · offeringH7133
- a sacrificeזֶ֫בַחzebach · sacrificeH2077
- of peace offeringשֶׁ֫לֶםshelem · peace offeringH8002
- if he offerקָרַבqârab · to present: bringH7126
- of the herdבָּקָרbâqâr · cattleH1241
- a maleזָכָרzâkâr · maleH2145
- or femaleנְקֵבָהneqêbâh · femaleH5347
- it without blemishתָּמִיםtâmîym · unblemishedH8549
- beforeפָּנֶהpânîym · face: beforeH6440
- the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
Cross-references for Leviticus 3:1
- Leviticus 7:11“These are the instructions for the fellowship offering that you must bring to the Lord.
- Leviticus 22:19The offering must be a male that has no defects from your cattle, sheep, or goats in order to be accepted.
- Exodus 20:24“You must build an altar for me made out of dirt. Sacrifice your burnt offerings and your fellowship offerings, your sheep, goats, and cattle on it. Wherever I choose to have my name remembered, I will come to you and bless you.
- Exodus 24:5Then he sent young Israelite men, and they sacrificed bulls as burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to the Lord.
- Exodus 29:28It is a permanent law that the Israelites give this portion to Aaron and his sons as a contribution. This will also be their contribution to the Lord from the fellowship offerings.
- Numbers 6:14They must bring these offerings to the Lord: a one-year-old male lamb as a burnt offering, a one-year-old female lamb as an offering for sin, and a ram as a fellowship offering. All of these animals must have no defects.
- Numbers 7:17and two bulls, five rams, five male goats, and five one-year-old male lambs as a fellowship offering. These were the gifts from Nahshon, son of Amminadab.
- Judges 20:26Then all the men of Israel and all the troops went to Bethel. They sat there and cried in the presence of the Lord and fasted that day until evening. Then they sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to the Lord.
- Judges 21:4The next day the people got up early. They built an altar there and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings.
- 1 Chronicles 21:26David built an altar for the Lord there and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. He called on the Lord, and the Lord answered him by ⌞sending⌟ fire from heaven on the altar for burnt offerings.
- Proverbs 7:14“I have some sacrificial meat. Today I kept my vows.
- Ezekiel 45:15You must take one sheep out of every 200 from the well-watered pastures of Israel. You must sacrifice them with grain offerings, burnt offerings, and fellowship offerings to make peace with the Lord, declares the Almighty Lord.
- Amos 5:22Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I won’t accept them. I won’t even look at the fellowship offerings of your choicest animals.
- Romans 5:1Now that we have God’s approval by faith, we have peace with God because of what our Lord Jesus Christ has done.
- Colossians 1:20God was also pleased to bring everything on earth and in heaven back to himself through Christ. He did this by making peace through Christ’s blood sacrificed on the cross.
- 1 John 1:3This is the life we have seen and heard. We are reporting about it to you also so that you, too, can have a relationship with us. Our relationship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.
Commentaries on Leviticus 3:1
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 1Peace-offering - שלמים shelamim, an offering to make peace between God and man; see on Leviticus 7 (note), and Genesis 14:18; (note).Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 1The peace-offering (like the burnt-offering, Leviticus 1:3, and the Minchah, Leviticus 2:1) is here spoken of as if it was familiarly known before the giving of the Law. “Peace-offering” seems preferable to “thank-offering,” which occurs in several places in the margin of our Bible. “thank-offering” appears to be the right name for a subordinate class of peace-offering.Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 1The peace-offering of the herd. (1-5) The peace-offering of the flock. (6-17) Verses 1-5 The peace-offerings had regard to God as the giver of all good things. These were divided between the altar, the priest, and the owner. They were called peace-offering, because in them God and his people did, as it were, feast together, in token of friendship. The peace-offerings were offered by way of supplication. If a man were in pursuit of any mercy, he would add…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1male or female: The whole burnt offering required male animals because it made atonement (Leviticus 1:3, 10). The less formal peace offering allowed both male and female animals (see also 4:28, 32). without blemish: The sacrificial animals had to be healthy. The only exception was the voluntary offering, which allowed a slight blemish (22:23).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-171. if his oblation be a sacrifice of peace offering--"Peace" being used in Scripture to denote prosperity and happiness generally, a peace offering was a voluntary tribute of gratitude for health or other benefits. In this view it was eucharistic, being a token of thanksgiving for benefits already received, or it was sometimes votive, presented in prayer for benefits wished for in the future. of the herd--This kind of offering being of a festive…Read the comment
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Leviticus 3
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
Commentaries