Leviticus 1:14

14 "'If his offering to the LORD is a burnt offering of birds, then he shall offer his offering of turtledoves, or of young pigeons.

Leviticus 1:14 Meaning and Commentary

Leviticus 1:14

And if the burnt sacrifice for his offering to the Lord be
of fowls
As it might be for the poorer sort, who could not offer a bullock, nor a sheep, or a lamb, ( Leviticus 5:7 ) ( 12:8 ) :

then he shall bring his offering of turtledoves, or of young
pigeons;
the Jewish writers all agree, that the turtles should be old, and not young, as the pigeons young, and not old; so the Targum of Jonathan, Jarchi, Aben Ezra and Gersom ^F12; the latter gives two reasons for it, because then they are the choicest and easiest to be found and taken: no mention is made of their being male or female, either would do, or of their being perfect and unblemished, as in the other burnt offerings; but if any part was wanting, it was not fit for sacrifice, as Maimonides ^F13 observes. These creatures were proper emblems of Christ, and therefore used in sacrifice, whose voice is compared to the turtle's, and his eyes to the eyes of doves, ( Song of Solomon 2:12 ) ( 5:12 ) and who is fitly represented by them for his meekness and humility, for his chaste and strong affection to his church, as the turtledove to its mate, and for those dove like graces of the Spirit which are in him.

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FOOTNOTES:

F12 Vid. T. Bab. Cholin, fol. 22. 1, 2.
F13 Issure Mizbeach, c. 3. sect. 1, 2. Vid. Misn. Zebachim, c. 7. sect. 5. & Maimon. & Bartenora, in ib.

Leviticus 1:14 In-Context

12 He shall cut it into its pieces, with its head and its fat. The Kohen shall lay them in order on the wood that is on the fire which is on the altar,

13 but the innards and the legs he shall wash with water. The Kohen shall offer the whole, and burn it on the altar. It is a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor to the LORD.

14 "'If his offering to the LORD is a burnt offering of birds, then he shall offer his offering of turtledoves, or of young pigeons.

15 The Kohen shall bring it to the altar, and wring off its head, and burn it on the altar; and its blood shall be drained out on the side of the altar;

16 and he shall take away its crop with its filth, and cast it beside the altar on the east part, in the place of the ashes.