6:8–9 The Lord’s speech to Moses addresses the priests who serve at the altar. This is the torah, (“law” or “divine ritual instruction”) given to the priests for carrying out their duties in handling holy things.78 Priests who have been instructed in the law are responsible for embodying it and teaching it to Israel—how to distinguish between clean and unclean, divide the holy from common, and live within the boundaries set by the Lord (10:10–11). A priest’s duty is to safeguard the Lord’s holy worship (Ezek. 22:26; Mal. 2:6–7).

Each day at the tent of meeting the burnt offering is sacrificed as the first and last act of worship (Ex. 29:38–42). Since the procedure for making an offering has already been articulated for the worshiper (Lev. 1:1–17), the ritual instruction to the priests covers how to dispose of its remains, giving special attention to the tending of the altar’s fire. The whole burnt offering must be left on the altar to be consumed fully by the fire that never goes out (cf. 6:12–13). It is always burning and always ascending as a pleasing aroma before the Lord.

6:10–11 The priest who handles the remains of the daily offering is attired in a white linen tunic and undergarments for propriety as he ascends the altar to remove the ashes and set them by its east side (Ex. 28:42–43). The linen garments are laid aside when the priest steps outside holy ground and exits the camp to dispose of the ashes. His ceremonial dress has been consecrated for service, sprinkled with the blood of the ordination sacrifice and holy oil (Ex. 29:8–9, 21). It is holy and must remain in a holy space (Ex. 28:2; Ezek. 44:19).

Dress is instrumental in ritual performance. The graded spheres of holiness in Israel’s sacred tent are signaled by fabric, color, and weave, as cloth demarcates ritual boundaries and defines spheres of service. In keeping with this the priesthood is clothed in fabrics reflective of its sphere of ministry. Priests who serve in the outer court are dressed in tunics and caps of twined linen corresponding to the linen outer hangings that set apart holy ground from the camp surrounding it (Ex. 27:9). The high priest’s layered dress corresponds to the linen of the outer court as well as the sanctuary’s elaborate fabrics of blue, purple, and scarlet yarns interwoven with gold; he is invested with divine authority to minister within all the holy spaces of the Lord’s dwelling place (Exodus 28). The Lord’s servants cross the boundaries of holy and common. It is because of their ability to do so that they can represent Israel before the Lord and the Lord to his covenant people.

6:12–13 Live coals that have been left smoldering overnight are stoked into a holy fire in the morning (Lev. 6:9, 12, 13; Ps. 134:1). The altar’s fire is never to go out but burns perpetually, aided by the addition of the fat of the peace offerings throughout the day. The command to keep the fire burning is repeated, drawing attention to the fire’s importance in sacrificial ministry. While there is no explicit reason given in these preliminary instructions to worship, we see that the fire is lit by the Lord himself at the inauguration of public worship. In the first theophany since Sinai the Lord descends as fire to consume the offerings on the altar and validate visibly the priestly ministry at the tabernacle (Lev. 9:24).

The fire burns “continually” as one of the ongoing rites of tabernacle worship that are performed regularly and uninterruptedly. These include the morning and evening burnt offering accompanied by a grain offering (Ex. 29:38–42), the lighting of the golden lampstand in the Holy Place (Lev. 24:1–4), the burning of fragrant incense (Ex. 30:7–9), the setting out of the showbread on the golden table (Ex. 25:30), and the continual grain offering of the priests (Lev. 6:20; Num. 4:16). To these may be added the high priest’s ministry of bringing Israel to remembrance before the Lord at the appointed times of worship through his ceremonial dress (Ex. 28:29–30, 38). These are the daily rituals and physical signs that testify of the Lord’s abiding and committed covenant presence among his people. The ongoing regular rites reflect the worship that is his in heaven as it has come to earth. Indeed, with the exception of the showbread set out weekly on the Sabbath, these rites are performed twice daily, creating a continuous flow of offerings on the altar, light in the tent, and incense wafting heavenward throughout the day. This is worship without ceasing.

6:14–15 The grain offering is addressed next since it is offered on the altar as part of the daily offering at the tent of meeting. The instructions rehearse Leviticus 2:2–3 in scripting how the priests must offer a memorial portion of a handful of grain mixed with oil, along with frankincense. The instructions detail where the grain must be eaten, all the while emphasizing its holiness. Priestly consumption is part of the ritual process.79

6:16–18 After the token handful of grain is offered on the altar the Lord assigns the remainder to the priests as their daily portion (2:3, 10). The use of “portion” is telling, as it is the typical way of referring to the land allotments given to the rest of the tribes of Israel. Although Levi has no share in the land, it receives its daily bread from God’s table, as he assures the Levites in his own words: “I am your portion and your inheritance among the people of Israel” (Num. 18:20).

The grain is “most holy,” meaning two things: (1) it cannot be taken out of the sacred precincts but must be eaten in the area of the courtyard beside the altar (Lev. 10:12–13), and (2) it must be eaten only by the priests who minister there. The priestly instructions include as an aside that this holds true for the sin and guilt offerings as well; they are in the category of most holy. That which is most holy is consumed in the Lord’s presence, therefore priests may not share it with their households as the peace offering (7:34–35). Later, special rooms in the temple complex are reserved for the priests’ consumption of the most holy offerings (Ezek. 42:13).

The explanation that “whatever touches them [the offerings] shall become holy” allows for different readings. Grammatically, it can be interpreted in one of two ways: anyone who touches this flesh will become holy (i.e., contract holiness from the holy meat) or must be holy (i.e., be in the appropriate ritual state in order to consume holy food). Since the context of these laws relates to the priestly portions of sacrificial offerings, it is best to understand these instructions as underscoring that only those who are holy can consume the sacrificial food portions. This is closely related to another set of instructions directed to the priesthood: no priest who has come in contact with uncleanness “may eat of the holy things until he is clean” (Lev. 22:4) nor “eat of the holy things unless he has bathed his body in water” (22:6). Israel’s sacred tent features graded levels of holiness in space, persons, and offerings, and it is the priesthood’s role to ensure boundaries are not breached when consuming the sacrificial portions.

6:19–21 On the day the high priest is ordained to serve at the altar and every day thereafter he is to offer a tenth of an ephah of flour, approximately a day’s ration of about 1 dry gallon (2.2 l), on behalf of himself and his sons. The flour is soaked in oil, cooked on a griddle, and broken into pieces. Half of it he offers in the morning and half in the evening to accompany the daily burnt offering (Ex. 29:40–41).

6:22–23 It is the privilege of every high priest who will succeed Aaron to offer the priestly grain portion as an expression of homage to the Lord who provides for the priestly family its daily bread (Lev. 2:3; 24:9). It is a daily tribute (Hb. minkhah) of loyalty.80 The crumbled grain is wholly consumed on the altar. No one may eat of it. This daily offering allows the priests to join their worship to that of the nation’s in tangible symbols of devotion.

6:24–26 The sin offering is to be slaughtered in the same place as the burnt offering, that is, on the north side of the altar (1:11). The officiating priest is given the meaty portions after the fat is separated for burning on the altar and the entrails and legs for burning outside the camp (4:11–12). Since the meat is “most holy,” he must eat it in the courtyard’s holy area and so stay within the appropriate ritual boundaries for the food’s most holy status (cf. 10:12).

The expression “the priest who offers it for sin” is unique in Leviticus, focusing attention on the priest who serves at the altar on behalf of the worshiper. Instructions given to the Israelites on bringing a sin offering likewise highlight the priest’s role as the one who makes atonement for the sinner and pronounces the Lord’s forgiveness (cf. 4:20, 26, 31, 35). Therefore, the command in 6:25, that the officiating priest must consume the sin offering, must serve a purpose. Derek Kidner proposes the reason for this may be that, as the priest eats the sacrifice, he representatively enacts the Lord’s acceptance of it.81

6:27–28 In the course of presenting the sin offering the blood applied to the horns of the altar and poured at its base may spatter the priest’s garments (cf. 4:25). He is to wash his garments “in a holy place.” The concern that comes through is to keep that which is holy in the holy sphere, taking care in how holy meat and its blood are handled. It is reiterated that whatever, or whoever, touches the offering must be holy.

The vessels in which sacrificial meat is cooked must be cleansed thoroughly after being used for a meal that was “most holy.” Ceramic pots, which are porous with permeable boundaries, are broken and put out of use. Bronze vessels, whose boundaries are nonpermeable, are scoured, polished clean, and rinsed in water. To wash garments and pots ensures that whatever is most holy will not be brought into contact with the common.82

6:29–30 The meat of an individual’s sin offering may be eaten by the male priests who have been consecrated to serve at the altar and are at a level of holiness in keeping with the offering. The exception is with a sin offering made on behalf of the high priest or the congregation, whose blood has been brought into the Holy Place (4:11–12, 21). It may not be eaten.