Leviticus 2:1-16·~2 min

Laws for Grain Offerings

The chapter opens with the basic grain offering: fine flour with oil and frankincense, brought to the priests. A memorial handful is burned to the LORD, and the rest belongs to Aaron and his sons as a most holy portion.

“¹When anyone brings a grain offering to the LORD, his offering must consist of fine flour. He is to pour olive oil on it, put frankincense on it, ²and bring it to Aaron’s sons the priests. The priest shall take a handful of the flour and oil, together with all the frankincense, and burn this as a memorial portion on the altar, a food offering, a pleasing aroma to the LORD. ³The remainder of the grain offering shall belong to Aaron and his sons; it is a most holy part of the food offerings to the LORD.

The law then names several prepared forms of the grain offering, whether baked, griddled, or cooked in a pan, each made from fine flour and oil without leaven. However it is prepared, the priest presents it, burns its memorial portion, and keeps the remainder as a most holy share.

⁴Now if you bring an offering of grain baked in an oven, it must consist of fine flour, either unleavened cakes mixed with oil or unleavened wafers coated with oil. ⁵If your offering is a grain offering prepared on a griddle, it must be unleavened bread made of fine flour mixed with oil. ⁶Crumble it and pour oil on it; it is a grain offering. ⁷If your offering is a grain offering cooked in a pan, it must consist of fine flour with oil. ⁸When you bring to the LORD the grain offering made in any of these ways, it is to be presented to the priest, and he shall take it to the altar. ⁹The priest is to remove the memorial portion from the grain offering and burn it on the altar as a food offering, a pleasing aroma to the LORD. ¹⁰But the remainder of the grain offering shall belong to Aaron and his sons; it is a most holy part of the food offerings to the LORD.

The offering is then marked by prohibition and requirement: leaven and honey are not burned on the altar, though firstfruits may still be brought, and every grain offering must be seasoned with salt, the salt of God's covenant.

¹¹No grain offering that you present to the LORD may be made with leaven, for you are not to burn any leaven or honey as a food offering to the LORD. ¹²You may bring them to the LORD as an offering of firstfruits, but they must not go up on the altar as a pleasing aroma. ¹³And you shall season each of your grain offerings with salt. You must not leave the salt of the covenant of your God out of your grain offering; you are to add salt to each of your offerings.

The chapter closes with instructions for a firstfruits grain offering made from crushed new grain roasted on the fire, with oil and frankincense added. As before, the priest burns the memorial portion to the LORD.

¹⁴If you bring a grain offering of firstfruits to the LORD, you shall offer crushed heads of new grain roasted on the fire. ¹⁵And you are to put oil and frankincense on it; it is a grain offering. ¹⁶The priest shall then burn the memorial portion of the crushed grain and the oil, together with all its frankincense, as a food offering to the LORD.[’’]

Section summaryThis section describes how a grain offering is made and presented, from raw flour to baked or roasted grain. It keeps returning to the same pattern: a memorial portion rises on the altar to the LORD, and the remainder becomes a holy portion for the priests.

Role in the chapterThis section gives the chapter its full instruction, defining both the acceptable forms of the grain offering and the boundaries that govern it. Inside the chapter, it orders an ordinary gift of food into a holy act with shared portions, fixed exclusions, and covenant markers.