John Gill Commentary Leviticus 2

And when any man will offer a meat offering to the Lord ,
&c.] Or, "when a soul", and which Onkelos renders "a man", so called from his more noble part; and, as the Jews say, this word is used because the Minchah, or meat offering here spoken of, was a freewill offering, and was offered up with all the heart and soul; and one that offered in this manner, it was all one as if he offered his soul to the Lord ^F19 : there were some meat offerings which were appointed and fixed at certain times, and were obliged to be offered, as at the daily sacrifice, the consecration of priests, the waving of the sheaf (Exodus 29:40Exodus 29:41) (Leviticus 6:20) (23:13) but this was a freewill offering; therefore it is said, "when any man will offer"; the Hebrew word (hxnm) , "a meat offering", may be derived from (hxn) , "to bring" or "offer", and so is a name common to offerings of any sort; or from (xynh) , to "recreate" and delight, it being of a sweet savour to the Lord, as other offerings were; others derive it from (xnm) , a root not in use, and in the Chaldee language signifies a gift or present, in which sense this word is used, (Genesis 32:13Genesis 32:20)

his offering shall be of fine flour ;
of flour of wheat, (Exodus 29:2) for, as the Jews say, there is no fine flour but wheat, and this was for the meat offering, (1 Chronicles 21:23) and this was to be of the finest of the wheat; for all offerings, whether private or public, were to be of the best, and to be brought from those places which were noted for having the best; and the best places for fine flour were Mechmas and Mezonicha, and the next to them were Caphariim, in the valley; and though it might be taken out of any part of the land of Israel and used, yet it chiefly came from hence ^F20 ;

and according to the Jewish writers ^F21 ; the least quantity of fine flour used in a meat offering was the tenth part of an ephah, which was about three pints and a half, and a fifth part of half a pint: Christ was prefigured by the meat offering; his sacrifice came in the room of it, and put an end to it, (Psalms 40:7Psalms 40:8) (Daniel 9:27) whose flesh is meat indeed, the true meat or bread, in distinction from this typical meat offering, (John 6:55) the fine flour denotes the choiceness, excellency, and purity of Christ; the dignity of his person, the superiority of him to angels and men, being the chiefest, and chosen out of ten thousand; the purity of his human nature being free from the bran of original corruption, and the spotlessness of his sacrifice: and fine flour of wheat being that of which bread is made, the principal part of human sustenance, and what strengthens the heart of man, and nourishes him, and is the means of maintaining and supporting life; it is a fit emblem of Christ, the bread of life, by which the saints are supported in their spiritual life, and strengthened to perform vital acts, and are nourished up unto everlasting life, and who, as the meat offering, is called the bread of God, (Leviticus 21:6Leviticus 21:8) (John 6:33)

and he shall pour oil upon it ;
upon all of it, as Jarchi observes, because it was mingled with it, and it was the best oil that was used; and though it might be brought from any part of the land of Israel, which was a land of oil olive, yet the chief place for oil was Tekoah, and the next to it was Ragab beyond Jordan, and from hence it was usually brought ^F23 ; and the common quantity was a log, or half a pint, to a tenth deal of fine flour, as Gersom asserts from the wise men, and to which Maimonides ^F24 agrees;

and Gersom on the place observes, that it is proper that some of the oil should be put in the lower part of the vessel, and after that the fine flour should put in it, and then he should pour some of it upon it and mix it: the oil denotes the grace of the Spirit poured out upon Christ without measure, the oil of gladness, with which he was anointed above his fellows, and from which he has the name of Messiah or Christ, or Anointed; and with which he was anointed to be prophet, priest, and King, and which renders him very desirable and delightful to his people, his name being as ointment poured forth, (Psalms 45:7) (Song of Solomon 1:3)

and put frankincense thereon ;
on a part of it, as Jarchi's note is; and according to him, the man that brought the meat offering left an handful of frankincense upon it on one side; and the reason of this was, because it was not to be mixed with it as the oil was, and it was not to be taken in the handful with it ^F26 ; and the quantity of the frankincense, as Gersom says, was one handful: this denoted the sweet odour and acceptableness of Christ, the meat offering, both to God and to his people: it is an observation of the Jewish writers, that the pouring out of the oil on the fine flour, and mixing it with it, and putting on the frankincense, might be done by a stranger, by any man, by the man that brought the meat offering, but what follows after the bringing of it to the priest were done by him ^F1 .

FOOTNOTES:

• F19: Jarchi, Aben Ezra, & Baal Hatturim, in loc.
• F20: Misn. Menachot, c. 8. sect. 1.
• F21: Jarchi & Gersom in loc.
• F23: Misn. Menachot, c. 8. sect. 3.
• F24: Hilchot Maaseh, Hakorbanot, c. 13. sect 5.
• F26: Vid T. Bab. Sotah, fol. 14. 2.
• F1: T. Bab. Menachot, fol. 9. 1. & 18. 2. & Pesachim, fol. 36. 1. & Jarchi in loc.

And he shall bring it to Aaron's sons, the priests
And this is all that he did with it; he left it with the priest, who carried it to the altar, to the southwest horn of it ^F2 : the order of bringing it, according to Maimonides ^F3 , was this,

``a man brings fine flour from his house in baskets of silver or of gold or of other kind of metals, in a vessel fit to be a ministering vessel; and if it is a meat offering of fine flour, he puts it into a ministering vessel, and sanctifies it in a ministering vessel;'' then did what follows:

and he shall take thereout his handful of the flour thereof, and of
the oil thereof ;
as mixed together: the Jews say ^F4 , this was done with the right hand, which is very likely, that being generally used in this way: the Talmudists thus describe the manner in which the handful was taken; the priest stretched out his three fingers over the palm of his hand, and gathered the handful in the plate or pan, and parted it off with his thumb above, and with his little finger below; and this was the most difficult piece of service in the sanctuary ^F5 : though Maimonides ^F6 rejects this notion of difficulty, and says it was done in the common way, in which men take up a handful of anything: but Bartenora says ^F7 , it was not in the usual way, but much as before described: the priest put the sides of his fingers into the flour, and gathered the flour with the sides of his fingers within his hand, and took of the flour only three fingers' full, upon the palm of his hand, and no more; and that it might not be heaped or go out, he pared it off, above with his thumb, and below with his little finger; and this he affirms, according to the Gemara, and what his masters had taught him, was one of the hardest pieces of service in the sanctuary:

with all the frankincense thereof ;
this was not taken along with the handful of flour and oil; for if there was ever so small a quantity of frankincense in the handful it was not right ^F8 ; for the frankincense, when brought, was put on one side of the fine flour, and when the handful was taken, then that was taken altogether, and put upon it:

and the priest shall burn the memorial of it upon the altar :
that is, he was to burn the handful of fine flour and oil with the frankincense, as a "memorial"; either to put the Lord in mind of his lovingkindness to his people, and of his covenant with them, and promises unto them, to which the allusion is, (Psalms 20:3) or to put the offerer in mind of the great sacrifice of Christ, who was to be offered for his sins, and to be a meat offering to him: this was the part the Lord had in this offering, and which related to his worship, as the word used sometimes signifies, as De Dieu has observed:

[to be] an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the Lord ;
(See Gill on Leviticus 1:9).

FOOTNOTES:

• F2: T. Bab. Sotah, ib. & Meaachot, fol. 8. 2.
• F3: Hilchot Maaseh Hakorbanot, c. 13. sect. 12.
• F4: Misn. Menachot, c. 1. sect. 2.
• F5: T. Bab. Menachot, fol. 11. 1.
• F6: In Misn. Menachot, ib.
• F7: In ib.
• F8: Misn. ib. & Jarchi in loc.

And the remnant of the meat offering shall be Aaron's and
his sons'
Which not only shows the care taken by the Lord for the maintenance of the priests, from whence the apostle argues for the support of ministers of the Gospel, (1 Corinthians 9:13 1 Corinthians 9:14).

It also denotes that such who are made priests unto God by Christ, have a right to feed upon Christ the meat offering by faith; who is that altar and meat offering, which none but such have a right to eat of:

it is a thing most holy of the offerings of the Lord made by fire ;
some offerings with the Jews were only holy things, or, as they call them, "light" holy things, comparatively speaking; others were heavy holy things, or most holy; or, as it is in the original, "holiness of holiness", the most holy of all.

And if you bring an oblation of a meat offering baken in
an oven
This is another kind of meat offering, or in another form; the former was only fine flour and oil mixedtogether, and frankincense put on it, but this was made up into cakes, and baked in an oven, and not inanything else, according to the Jewish tradition {i}; he that says, lo, upon me be a meat offering baked inan oven, he may not bring that baked otherwise; and this meat offering was made into cakes and wafers, andthen baked, as follows: and

[it shall be] unleavened cakes of fine flour mingled with oil, or
unleavened wafers anointed with oil ;
which according to the Jews were made after this manner ^F11 ; the priest put the oil into a vesselbefore the making of it, then put the fine flour to it, and put oil upon it, and mixed it, and kneaded it,and baked it, and cut it in pieces, and put oil upon it, and mixed it, and again put oil upon it, and tookthe handful, and it was the fourth part of an hin of oil that was divided into the several cakes; the cakes,they say, were obliged to be mixed, and the wafers to be anointed; the cakes were mixed, but not the wafersthe wafers were anointed, and not the cakes.

The oil denoted the grace of the Spirit of God in Christ, and in his people;and being unleavened, the sincerity and truth with which the meat offering, Christ, is to be upon.

FOOTNOTES:

• F11: T. Bab. Menachot, fol. 75. 1.

And if your meat offering be an oblation [baked] on a pan , &c.] Which had no edge or covering, and the paste on it hard, that it might not run out:

it shall be of fine flour unleavened, mingled with oil ; signifying the same as before.