Leviticus 1:1

New Catholic Bible

Footnotes

1. Leviticus 1:1 Different kinds of sacrifice were offered to the Lord in the Jerusalem temple. In them we find customs inherited from the period when the Hebrews lived a semi-nomadic way of life, as well as rites regularly practiced in Mesopotamia, Egypt, and especially in the land of Canaan. But the Israelite faith was able to purify the practices from all these influences and use them for the glory of the one true God (chs. 1–7).
2. Leviticus 1:1 The burnt offering as the perfect form of homage to God: the victim, which was without blemish, was entirely consumed in fire, that is, removed from the material universe so as to enter the world of God. The owner of the victim offered it, through the mediation of priests, as a pleasing fragrance to the Lord, an ancient Eastern expression which the Bible uses to signify that God accepts the victim (Gen 8:21). The pouring of the blood expressed the offering of the life.
3. Leviticus 1:1 Although these laws were composed long after Moses lived, the direct address form that is used throughout Leviticus implies that the laws embody the essence of what God taught him and wants the children of Israel to know.