Leviticus 1:6

Leviticus 1:6

And he shall flay the burnt offering, and cut it into his pieces.

1. “And he shall flay the burnt offering…”

a. And he shall flay [Strong: 6584 pashat paw-shat'; a primitive root; to spread out (i.e. deploy in hostile array); by analogy, to strip (i.e. unclothe, plunder, flay, etc.):--fall upon, flay, invade, make an invasion, pull off, put off, make a road, run upon, rush, set, spoil, spread selves (abroad), strip (off, self).] [Gesenius: to spread oneself out, to rush upon, to attack, to put off,  strip off,  to cause to put off, to spoil, to cause to put off ones garments, to flay.]

b. burnt offering [Strong: 5930 `olah o-law' or mowlah {o-law'};  to go up, ascend. (Comes from the identical Hebrew word ‘olah’ * 5766 that means evil, iniquity, perverseness, wicked.)] [ Gesenius: what is laid on the altar, what is offered on the altar, ascent steps, iniquity.]

1). My personal belief is this: In the whole chapter there is a clear distinction in the particular duties of who does what during the sacrifice process. For example, between verses 4 through 6 there is a distinguishing between the offerer and the priest. “He” (the offerer) “shall kill the bullock”. “… and the priests, Aaron's sons, shall bring the blood…” Finally, “he” (the offerer), shall flay the burnt offering…” In light of that, I believe the offerer, the individual bringing the sacrifice not only kills the sacrifice but also cuts it in pieces, but also washes the legs and inwards. I believe this flows beautifully with the principle of identification in both the Old and New Covenants and our part, whether in the New or Old Covenants in the co-laboring together with God.

a). Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

b). Colossians 3:5-10 Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:

3:6 For which things' sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience:

3:7In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them.

3:8 But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.

3:9 Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;

3:10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:

2). In the New Covenant as there was in the Old, there are duties we have to fulfill and there are duties that only God can fulfill. We do not have the strength to be obedient in ourselves, but the grace of God does empower us to be obedient and it is our responsibility.

3). The Temple, Alfred Edersheim, p. 80. “The Rabbis mention the following five acts as belonging to the offerer of the sacrifice: the laying on of hands, slaying, skinning, cutting up, and washing the inwards. These other five were strictly priestly functions: Catching up the blood, sprinklingit, lighting the altar fire, ;aying on the wood, bringing up the pieces, and all else done at the altar itself.”

4). Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Book III, Chapter IX, Paragraph 1. “Suppose a private man offer a burnt offering, he must slay either a bull, a lamb, or a kid of the goats, and the two latter of the first year, though of bulls he is permitted to sacrifice those of a greater age; but all burnt offerings are to be males. When they are slain, the priests sprinkle the blood round about the altar: they then cleanse the bodies, and divide them into parts, and salt them with salt, and lay them upon the altar, while the pieces of wood are piled one upon another, and the fire is burning; they then next cleanse the feet of the sacrifices and the inwards in an accurate manner, and so lay them to the rest to be purged by the fire, while the priests receive the hides. This is the way of offering a burnt-offering.”

2. “…and cut it into his pieces.”

a. and cut it [Strong: 5408 nathach naw-thakh' a primitive root; to dismember:--cut (in pieces), divide, hew in pieces.]

b. into his pieces [Strong: 5409 nethach nay'-thakh from 5408; a fragment:--part, piece.]

1). The Temple, Alfred Edersheim, p. 80. “The Rabbis mention the following five acts as belonging to the offerer of the sacrifice: the laying on of hands, slaying, skinning, cutting up, and washing the inwards. These other five were strictly priestly functions: Catching up the blood, sprinklingit, lighting the altar fire, ;aying on the wood, bringing up the pieces, and all else done at the altar itself.”