22:1–2 The Lord continues his instructions to the priesthood, charging it to guard the holiness of priestly portions and sacrificial offerings. God’s holiness that sanctifies his covenant people requires that he be respected in the treatment of the sacred gifts to prevent the desecration of his holy name (21:6, 12; 22:32).

22:3–7 Priests who are ritually unclean in any manner by which any Israelite may become unclean must abstain from their regular priestly portions. Offerings dedicated to the Lord are holy, and no one who is ritually unclean may eat them. Physically impaired priests, though unable to perform the sacrificial ministry at the altar, are still entitled to the dedicated food portions, which are their livelihood (21:22). A priest with ritual impurity, however, is sternly admonished from eating the food portions and profaning that which is holy.

Anyone with either major impurities (22:4a) or minor impurities (vv. 4b–7) must go through the necessary purification rites in order to be able to come in contact with holy things. This holds true for laymen as well as for priests (7:20–21).

22:8 The restrictions here are stricter than they are for laymen and resident aliens (cf. comments on 17:15), which is in keeping with the higher ritual standards for priests elsewhere (cf. 21:1–4, 7). Priests must be especially diligent to maintain holiness.

22:9 The privilege of serving the Lord in his courts must be tempered by respect. Priests must guard against an overfamiliarity with the things of God and the temptation to think that the laws of the sanctuary do not apply to them. Those who treat the holy food portions as common will die, a consequence not too far from their experience or imagination (10:2).

22:10–11 Priestly families are fed by designated portions from the Lord’s table. Any member of the priestly household can eat of the holy offerings. A guest from a nonpriestly family or a hired worker who is temporarily in the priest’s home does not qualify. A non-Israelite slave who has been brought into the household may eat of the food because he has become part of the priestly family (25:44–46).

22:12–13 A priest’s daughter is entitled to portions from fellowship and votive offerings and any firstfruits that are brought home, but not to the holiest food (meat from the sin and guilt offerings or bread of the presence), which must be eaten in the sacred precincts of the tabernacle (Num. 18:11–19). If she marries a man outside the priestly clan, her husband’s land will sustain them. If she becomes widowed or divorced with no children who can inherit their father’s land and support her, however, she returns to her father’s household for sustenance.

22:14–16 If someone not of the priest’s immediate household accidentally eats from the dedicated offerings, his mistake can be rectified by paying back the monetary value (or in kind) of the priestly portion and adding a fifth. He will also need to offer a ram for misappropriating the Lord’s holy things according to the law of the guilt offering (Lev. 5:14–16). Priests are responsible for what occurs in their home and are admonished to respect the holiness of the sacred gifts even when outside the boundaries of the sanctuary. Their table is an extension of the Lord’s table and should be guarded appropriately. Failure to do so will result in guilt for laymen in “eating their holy things” (22:16), that is, eating the holy things they had brought as sacrificial offerings to the Lord.

22:17–20 This section begins with a reminder to the priesthood and all worshipers that burnt offering sacrifices must be without defect to be acceptable, even if they are voluntary and not expiatory offerings. Up until this point sacrificial instructions have specified that animals must be tamim: whole, perfect, and “without blemish” (1:3; 3:1; 4:3; 5:15, et al.). The Lord adds to these instructions by enumerating blemishes that disqualify sacrificial animals. Offerings must conform to all the Lord’s requirements to be accepted, so that in turn the worshiper may be accepted by the Lord (1:4; 19:5; 23:11). The theme of favorable acceptance strongly resonates throughout the remaining sacrificial laws (22:19, 20, 21, 23, 25, 27, 29).

Resident aliens are invited to offer sacrifices to Israel’s God (17:8–9). It is the hope, as they live among God’s people and experience the Lord’s kindness through the covenant community (19:10, 33–34; Deut. 16:13–15), that they will be drawn to worship (1 Kings 8:41–43).

22:21–23 The instructions now turn from burnt offerings to peace offerings. The list of blemishes that disqualify a sacrificial animal from being offered on the altar corresponds directly to priestly blemishes that disqualify them from service (Lev. 21:18–20). The altar is holy and may be approached only by those who are whole. That both priest and sacrifice should be required to approach the Lord in perfection is not surprising. What is unexpected, however, is that the twelve blemishes forge an explicit association between priests and sacrificial animals through parallel blemishes.

The description proceeds in the order by which a priest might inspect an animal for ritual fitness: head, limbs, hide, and, finally, genitals. Both lists begin with blindness and end with genital damage, with a greater number of eye defects listed for priests and more testicular injuries for animals:250

TABLE 3.6: Priestly and Animal Blemishes

Certain exceptions can be made: an animal with a contracted or extended limb can be offered as a freewill peace offering, but not as a votive (dedicated) peace offering. Freewill offerings are a voluntary gift beyond the required tithe or firstfruits. A dedicatory vow, on the other hand, is the promise to devote something or someone to the Lord in answer to prayer (ch. 27). In keeping with the joyous spirit of the freewill offering’s spontaneous nature a worshiper can sacrifice either a male or female animal and even one that is lame. A worshiper who has vowed to dedicate an animal to the Lord, however, has the time to select a healthy one to make good on his promise (cf. Mal. 1:7–8, 14).

22:24–25 The prohibition of offering an animal whose testicles are damaged may be related to Deuteronomy 23:1: “No one whose testicles are crushed or whose male organ is cut off shall enter the assembly of the Lord.” Since the sign of the covenant is worn on the male organ, the organ must be whole (Gen. 17:10–11).251

Israelites are not to offer a blemished sacrificial animal purchased from a foreigner. This does not ban the purchase of whole and unblemished sacrifices, as we may assume is the case with David, who purchases animals from Ornan the Jebusite to make an acceptable offering to the Lord (1 Chron. 21:21–27).

22:26–28 A newborn animal is to remain with its mother for seven days before it can be offered in sacrifice. On the eighth day it is an animal in its own right, independent of its mother and beginning life on its own, much like a male child, who is received into the covenant community through circumcision on the eighth day (12:3; Ex. 22:30).252 Even after a newborn reaches maturity, it is not to be slaughtered on the same day as its mother. Israelites caring for their herds and flocks must be closely aware of family relationships to follow such a law. These commands have been taken as reflecting humanitarian concerns (cf. Ex. 23:5, 10–12; Deut. 22:6–7; Prov. 12:10).

22:29–30 A sacrifice made in thanksgiving must be consumed on the same day it is offered. Since the concern of these laws is to guard the holiness of offerings, it is possible that the time restriction will encourage worshipers to feast on holy ground in the vicinity of the tabernacle. This will prevent the meat from being brought into the common context of the household and becoming profaned. A holy meal is not to be confused with a common one.253

22:31–33 The concluding exhortation reminds Israelites that they have been redeemed from Egypt in order to find life in covenant relationship with the Lord. In this way he has set them apart as his own and given them a holy status and calling (“I am the Lord who sanctifies you”). They live out that calling as they obey his charge to “keep” (Hb. shamar) the Lord’s commands, a charge that ties chapters 18–22 together (18:1–5, 24–30; 19:37; 20:7–8, 22–26). To “keep” (shamar) was Adam’s priestly task in guarding the holiness of the garden sanctuary (Gen. 2:15). Israel is to guard the holy things of God brought to the tabernacle sanctuary by not treating them as common. In guarding them the Israelites set the Lord apart as the Holy One of Israel, the one worthy of holy worship by his holy and redeemed people.