Tyndale Open Study NotesLeviticus 2

The grain offering (Hebrew minkhah, meaning “gift” or “present”) allowed people to worship the Lord by giving a gift. It acknowledged the Lord's authority over the worshiper's life. People gave the grain offering with each whole burnt offering (Numbers 28:3–6, 12–13), sin offering (Numbers 6:14–15), and peace offering (Leviticus 9:4; Numbers 6:17). The grain offering provided bread for the priest's daily needs, as priests did not have farmland.

• fine flour was choice wheat flour, unlike common barley flour. See also 1 Kings 4:22; Ezekiel 16:13, 19.

• Israelites used olive oil for cooking, as lamp fuel, and for medicine and cosmetics. It represented the land's rich produce and God's provision (Deuteronomy 8:8).

• Like fine flour, Scripture often links frankincense with the tabernacle (Exodus 30:34; Leviticus 24:7) or the temple (1 Chronicles 9:29). Individuals also used this fragrant tree resin on special occasions (Song of Solomon 3:6; Matthew 2:11). It was a main ingredient in the holy incense burned in the Holy Place as a physical expression of worship (Exodus 30:34–38).

The priest burned the main part of the grain offering on the altar. This reminded the worshiper that the whole offering belonged to God.

• The remainder of the grain offering: They usually reserved a part of the fire offerings for the priest as food (see 6:16–17). Exceptions included:

  1. the whole burnt offering, where the priest only received the hide (see 7:8),

  2. offerings given by the priest for himself (4:3–12; 6:19–23), or

  3. offerings made for the entire community (4:13–21).

  In these cases, they completely burned the offering. The grain offering provided the priests with bread for their diet.

• most holy part (Hebrew qodesh qodashim, which means “holy of holies”): Both God and what belongs to God are holy. The most holy part refers to the priestly share taken from the holy offering and reserved for a special purpose. Numbers 18:8–10 uses this term for the priest’s share of any gifts dedicated to the Lord.

• They placed a large ceramic oven in a hole and lit a fire around it. Once the oven was hot, they baked flat cakes or wafers against its inner wall.

• unleavened: See study note on 2:11; see also Exodus 12:8.

A griddle was a flat stone or clay surface placed over a fire to heat it. Later, people made griddles from metal (Ezekiel 4:3).

The people fried dough in a pan with oil until it was crisp.

• leaven: The bread eaten in biblical times was like modern sourdough. What is often called leaven was wild yeast spores mixed into moist dough or flour. The leaven would grow, fermenting and becoming sour and raising the dough. They would save a portion of this sour dough to knead into future batches (Matthew 13:33).

  Unleavened bread was necessary for Passover (Exodus 12:8). This was to remember Israel's slavery in Egypt (Deuteronomy 16:3) and their quick departure (Exodus 12:34; 13:3). After the exodus, unleavened bread became altar bread. They could not burn leavened bread on the altar.

• honey: The Hebrew word debash may also mean "fruit nectar." It is unknown why they did not burn it. But it might relate to its use in pagan offerings, especially to underworld gods. If it means "fruit nectar," its link with wine and fermentation might have connected it with leaven, making it unsuitable for the altar.

  Yet, they could use both honey and yeast in first crop offerings (Leviticus 2:12). They would present loaves made with leaven with thank offerings (7:13). They gave them to the priest during the Festival of Harvest (23:17).

  In the New Testament, leaven becomes a spiritual symbol, highlighting its sour taste and how it spreads (Matthew 16:6, 11, 12; 1 Corinthians 5:6–8; see also Matthew 13:33).

as an offering of firstfruits: Offering the first crops involved giving the first part of the harvest (Leviticus 23:15–21; Numbers 28:26–31). Like the main portion of the grain offering, this act acknowledged that the entire harvest belonged to God (Leviticus 23:10–11; Exodus 22:29; 23:19; 34:26; Numbers 15:18–20; Deuteronomy 18:4–5; 26:1–2). It also recognized that the land itself, not just its produce, belonged to God. Israel was only the tenant (see Leviticus 25:23).

In ancient times, people considered salt as a symbol of what is permanent because salt preserved food. The salt of the covenant represented a lasting agreement renewed with each new generation (see study notes on Numbers 18:19; 2 Chronicles 13:5).