Leviticus 3:2

2 And he shall lay his hand on the head of his offering, and kill it at the door of the tabernacle of meeting; and Aaron's sons, the priests, shall sprinkle the blood all around on the altar.

Leviticus 3:2 Meaning and Commentary

Leviticus 3:2

And he shall lay his hand upon the head of his offering
"His right hand with strength", the Targum of Jonathan says; perhaps both his hands were imposed; the Septuagint and Arabic versions read it in the plural number, "hands"; this same rite was used in the sacrifice of burnt offering, (See Gill on Leviticus 1:4); which might be done in any place in the court where it was slain, only with this difference: according to Maimonides F4, there was no confession of sin made at laying on of hands upon the peace offerings, but words of praise were spoken:

and kill it at the door of the congregation;
it seems as if it was not the priest, but the owner that brought it, and laid his hands on it, that killed it; and so the last mentioned writer says, that slaying the peace offering by a stranger was right; and as he and others F5 say, it might be slain in any part of the court; it was not obliged to be slain in the north part of it, as the burnt offering was, ( Leviticus 1:11 )

and Aaron's sons the priests shall sprinkle the blood upon the
altar round about;
in like manner as the blood of the burnt offering was, and it was done with two sprinklings, which were as four {f}; (See Gill on Leviticus 1:5) this was typical of the blood of Christ, called "the blood of sprinkling".


FOOTNOTES:

F4 Maaseh Hakorbanot, c. 3. sect. 15.
F5 Misn. Zebachim, c. 5. sect. 7.
F6 Misn. ib.

Leviticus 3:2 In-Context

1 'When his offering is a sacrifice of a peace offering, if he offers it of the herd, whether male or female, he shall offer it without blemish before the Lord.
2 And he shall lay his hand on the head of his offering, and kill it at the door of the tabernacle of meeting; and Aaron's sons, the priests, shall sprinkle the blood all around on the altar.
3 Then he shall offer from the sacrifice of the peace offering an offering made by fire to the Lord. The fat that covers the entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails,
4 the two kidneys and the fat that is on them by the flanks, and the fatty lobe attached to the liver above the kidneys, he shall remove;
5 and Aaron's sons shall burn it on the altar upon the burnt sacrifice, which is on the wood that is on the fire, as an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the Lord.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.