2 He shall bring it to Aaron's sons, the priests; and he shall take his handful of its fine flour, and of its oil, with all its frankincense; and the priest shall burn its memorial on the altar, an offering made by fire, of a pleasant aroma to Yahweh.
*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.
Better: "And he shall bring it to Aaron's sons, the priests; and the (officiating) priest shall take from it," etc.
Memorial - The regular name not only for the portion of the מנחה mı̂nchāh which was burned on the altar Leviticus 2:9, Leviticus 2:16; Leviticus 5:12; Leviticus 6:15; Numbers 5:26, but for the frankincense which was laid upon the showbread Leviticus 24:7. It is the word which is applied to the prayers and alms of Cornelius, Acts 10:4.
His handful of the flour - This was for a memorial, to put God in mind of his covenant with their fathers, and to recall to their mind his gracious conduct towards them and their ancestors. Mr. Ainsworth properly remarks, "that there was neither oil nor incense offered with the sin and jealousy offerings; because they were no offerings of memorial, but such as brought iniquities to remembrance, which were neither gracious nor sweet-smelling before the Lord." Numbers 5:15; Leviticus 5:11. In this case a handful only was burnt, the rest was reserved for the priest's use; but all the frankincense was burnt, because from it the priest could derive no advantage.
And he shall bring it to Aaron's sons the priests: and (b) he shall take thereout his handful of the flour thereof, and of the oil thereof, with all the frankincense thereof; and the priest shall burn the (c) memorial of it upon the altar, [to be] an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD:
(b) The priest.
(c) To signify that God remembers him that offers.
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 (b): the order of bringing it, according to Maimonides (c), 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 (d), 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 (e): though Maimonides (f) 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 (g), 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 (h); 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, Psalm 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.
(b) T. Bab. Sotah, ib. & Meaachot, fol. 8. 2. (c) Hilchot Maaseh Hakorbanot, c. 13. sect. 12. (d) Misn. Menachot, c. 1. sect. 2. (e) T. Bab. Menachot, fol. 11. 1. (f) In Misn. Menachot, ib. (g) In ib. (h) Misn. ib. & Jarchi in loc.
shall burn the memorial--rather, "for a memorial"; that is, a part of it.
He shall take - That priest to whom he brought it, and who is appointed to offer it. The memorial - That part thus selected and offered; which is called a memorial, either to the offerer, who by offering this part is minded, that the whole of that he brought, and of all which he hath of that kind, is God's to whom this part was paid as an acknowledgment. Or to God, whom (to speak after the manner of men) this did put in mind of his gracious covenant and promises of favour, and acceptance of the offerer and his offering. A sweet savour unto the Lord - And so are our spiritual offerings, which are made by the fire of holy love, particularly that of almsgiving. With such sacrifices God is well - pleased.
*More commentary available at chapter level.