Leviticus 2

Leviticus chapter two details the regulations for the meat offering, which primarily consists of fine flour, oil, and frankincense. A portion is burned on the altar as a memorial, while the remainder is designated for the priests. The chapter also specifies various preparations, such as baked in an oven or pan, and prohibits leaven and honey, while requiring salt in all meat offerings.

Leviticus chapter two outlines the divine instructions for the meat offering, a voluntary oblation to the LORD. The standard offering comprises fine flour, oil, and frankincense, from which the priest takes a handful as a "memorial" to be burned on the altar, yielding a "sweet savour." The remaining portion is designated as "most holy" for Aaron and his sons, the priests, for their consumption. The chapter further elaborates on specific preparations, including offerings baked in an oven as unleavened cakes or wafers, those prepared in a pan, or in a fryingpan, all requiring fine flour and oil. A strict prohibition is placed on the inclusion of leaven or honey in any fire offering. Conversely, every meat offering must be seasoned with salt, referred to as "the salt of the covenant of thy God," signifying its enduring nature. Finally, instructions are provided for meat offerings of firstfruits, which involve green ears of corn, oil, and frankincense, with a memorial portion burned upon the altar.

Leviticus chapter two provides comprehensive statutes concerning the meat offering, also known as the grain or meal offering, which is presented voluntarily to the LORD. The fundamental form of this offering involves fine flour, upon which oil is poured and frankincense is added. The worshipper brings this offering to the priests, who then take a portion—a "handful of the flour thereof, and of the oil thereof, with all the frankincense thereof"—to burn upon the altar as a "memorial." This act constitutes "an offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the LORD." The substantial remainder of the meat offering is then given to Aaron and his sons, the priests, as "a thing most holy of the offerings of the LORD made by fire," for their sustenance. The chapter proceeds to detail variations in the preparation of the meat offering. If baked in an oven, it must be unleavened cakes of fine flour mingled with oil, or unleavened wafers anointed with oil. Offerings prepared in a pan are to be of fine flour, unleavened, mingled with oil, and parted into pieces with more oil poured thereon. Similarly, offerings from a fryingpan are made of fine flour with oil. Regardless of the preparation method, these offerings are brought to the priest, who burns a memorial portion on the altar as a sweet savour, with the rest belonging to the priests. A crucial prohibition is established: no meat offering brought to the LORD shall be made with leaven or honey, as these are not to be burned in any fire offering. However, an exception is made for oblations of firstfruits, which may be offered to the LORD but are not to be burned on the altar for a sweet savour. A universal requirement for all meat offerings is the addition of salt, specifically referred to as "the salt of the covenant of thy God," emphasizing its essential and enduring nature. The chapter concludes with specific instructions for a meat offering of firstfruits, which involves green ears of corn, dried by fire and beaten out of full ears, upon which oil and frankincense are placed. The priest then burns a memorial portion of this offering, including the corn, oil, and frankincense, as an offering made by fire unto the LORD.