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Atomic Bible
Leviticus 7:11-21·~1 min

The Peace Offering

The law of the peace offering begins with the thanksgiving sacrifice, which is presented with unleavened and leavened breads. A portion goes to the priest, and the meat must be eaten the same day.

N11ow this is the law of the peace offering that one may present to the LORD: 12If he offers it in thanksgiving, then along with the sacrifice of thanksgiving he shall offer unleavened cakes mixed with olive oil, unleavened wafers coated with oil, and well-kneaded cakes of fine flour mixed with oil. 13Along with his peace offering of thanksgiving he is to present an offering with cakes of leavened bread. 14From the cakes he must present one portion of each offering as a contribution to the LORD. It belongs to the priest who sprinkles the blood of the peace offering. 15The meat of the sacrifice of his peace offering of thanksgiving must be eaten on the day he offers it; none of it may be left until morning.

Vow and freewill offerings may be eaten on the first and second day, but anything left to the third day must be burned. Meat eaten on the third day makes the offering unacceptable and brings guilt on the eater.

16If, however, the sacrifice he offers is a vow or a freewill offering, it shall be eaten on the day he presents his sacrifice, but the remainder may be eaten on the next day. 17But any meat of the sacrifice remaining until the third day must be burned up. 18If any of the meat from his peace offering is eaten on the third day, it will not be accepted. It will not be credited to the one who presented it; it shall be an abomination, and the one who eats of it shall bear his iniquity.

Meat that becomes unclean must be burned, while clean people may eat what remains clean. Anyone unclean who eats from the LORD’s peace offering, or touches uncleanness and then eats, is cut off from the people.

19Meat that touches anything unclean must not be eaten; it is to be burned up. As for any other meat, anyone who is ceremonially clean may eat it. 20But if anyone who is unclean eats meat from the peace offering that belongs to the LORD, that person must be cut off from his people. 21If one touches anything unclean, whether human uncleanness, an unclean animal, or any unclean, detestable thing, and then eats any of the meat of the peace offering that belongs to the LORD, that person must be cut off from his people.”

Section summaryThis section distinguishes thanksgiving, vow, and freewill peace offerings by the breads brought with them and by how long their meat may be eaten. It then guards the meal’s holiness by forbidding uncleanness and threatening exclusion for those who defile it.
Role in the chapterIt explains how the peace offering becomes a shared sacred meal without losing its holiness. The section orders both celebration and boundary, showing that fellowship with the LORD must remain clean.