Leviticus 2:1

This chapter provides instructions for the meat-offering, as it is called in this version, but "food-offering" is a better translation. The King James Bible, published in 1611, gave the rendition that is still followed in some versions, and, in those times, "meat-offering" meant exactly what "food-offering" means today. There has been, of course, a definite change in the meaning of some words, see John 4:33,34, where Jesus said, "My MEAT is to do the will of him that sent me," with the clear meaning that, "My FOOD is to do the will of him that sent me."

Despite the fact of there being no direct mention of it in this chapter, it appears to be almost certain that the FOOD-OFFERING or CEREAL-OFFERING "was usually accompanied by a burnt-offering or peace-offering."[1] All of the offerings mentioned in these chapters were ancient, already having been observed by people for centuries. It is believed that Melchizedek and even Cain offered the type of offering described in this chapter.[2] In fact, the clue to what, exactly, was wrong with Cain's sacrifice may lie right here. If indeed the food-offering was meant to be accompanied by a burnt-offering, the latter being an acknowledgment of sin and a plea of forgiveness, while the former was essentially an offering of thanksgiving, then Cain's great error might well have consisted primarily in his omission of the sin-offering, or burnt-offering. There is powerful evidence of this very thing in Genesis 4:7, where the word for "sin" should more properly be rendered as "sin-offering" (as is the case in Hosea 4:8; 2 Corinthians 9:21; and Hebrews 9:28).[3] Adam Clarke affirmed that, "I have observed more than a hundred places in the O.T. where the word here (Genesis 4:7) is used for sin-offering."[4]

In any case, it is a sad commentary upon human nature that it should require the most detailed instructions for approaching God in the area of those two most vital needs of the race of men, namely, forgiveness of sins, and a heart of thanksgiving and gratitude.

"And when anyone offereth an oblation of a meal-offering unto Jehovah, his oblation shall be of fine flour; and he shall pour oil upon it, and put frankincense thereon: and he shall bring it to Aaron's sons the priests; and he shall take thereout his handful of the fine flour thereof, and of the oil thereof, and with all the frankincense thereof. And the priest shall burn it as the memorial thereof upon the altar, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor unto Jehovah: and that which is left of the meal-offering shall be Aaron's and his sons': it is a thing most holy of the offerings of Jehovah made by fire.

Note that the ASV here uses "meal-offering" instead of "meat-offering" as in the KJV, or cereal-offering as found in later versions. The context reveals that the offering was the product of some edible grain prepared for cooking. The procedure here was quite simple:

(1) The worshipper brought a container filled with fine flour, the minimum amount being three and one-half quarts.[5] "There is only one word in the Hebrew text here rendered `fine flour'; and thus the rendition should be simply `flour'."[6]

(2) The worshipper poured oil upon the top of the flour,

(3) and then placed an appropriate amount of frankincense on the oil;

(4) next, the officiating priest took a handful of the oil and flour, being careful to lift all of the incense,

(5) and this whole handful of the offering was burnt upon the altar as a memorial or token of the entire offering as having been given to God.

The rest of the offering belonged to the priests, but the designation of it as "most holy" should be noted. "Food designated as most holy had to be eaten inside the sacred area by the priests; food that was holy in a lesser degree (Leviticus 7:11ff) could be eaten outside the sacred precincts by priests and their families, as well as by lay persons who were properly purified."[7]