Charles Ellicott Commentary Leviticus 2:1

"And when any one 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:" — Leviticus 2:1 (ASV)

A meat offering. —Better, an oblation of a meat offering, as the same two words are rendered in Leviticus 2:4; Leviticus 2:13. The meat offerings which come next in the legal enumeration, and which occupy the whole of the present chapter, consisted of three kinds. The first is fine flour with oil and frankincense (Leviticus 2:1–3). The flour was of wheat (Exodus 29:2); it was double the value of the ordinary barley flour (2 Kings 7:1; 2 Kings 7:16; 2 Kings 7:18); and because of its use at the sacrifices, it formed part of the Temple stores (1 Chronicles 9:29; 1 Chronicles 23:29).

Shall pour oil upon it. —Oil being to the food of the Israelites what butter is to ours, the offerer is here commanded to put some of it into this preparation in order to make it more palatable to the priests who were to eat part of it . The frankincense was designed to counteract the offensive smell arising from the quantity of the flesh burnt there, as is evident from the following verse, where it is stated that it is wholly to be burnt.