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Leviticus

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Chapter 1

1 Then the Lord called to Moses and spoke to him from the Meeting Tent: 2 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘When someone among you presents an offering to the Lord, you must present your offering from the domesticated animals, either from the herd or from the flock. 3 “‘If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he must present it as a flawless male; he must present it at the entrance of the Meeting Tent for its acceptance before the Lord. 4 He must lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it will be accepted for him to make atonement on his behalf. 5 Then the one presenting the offering must slaughter the bull⁠ before the Lord, and the sons of Aaron, the priests, must present the blood and splash the blood against the sides of the altar, which is at the entrance of the Meeting Tent. 6 Next, the one presenting the offering must skin the burnt offering and cut it into parts, 7 and the sons of Aaron, the priests, must put fire on the altar and arrange wood on the fire. 8 Then the sons of Aaron, the priests, must arrange the parts with the head and the suet on the wood that is in the fire on the altar. 9 Finally, the one presenting the offering must wash its entrails and its legs in water, and the priest must offer all of it up in smoke on the altar—it is a burnt offering, a gift of a soothing aroma to the Lord.⁠ 10 “‘If his offering is from the flock for a burnt offering—from the sheep or the goats—he must present a flawless male, 11 and must slaughter it on the north side of the altar before the Lord, and the sons of Aaron, the priests, will splash its blood against the altar’s sides. 12 Next, the one presenting the offering must cut it into parts, with its head and its suet, and the priest must arrange them on the wood that is in the fire on the altar. 13 Then the one presenting the offering must wash the entrails and the legs in water, and the priest must present all of it and offer it up in smoke on the altar—it is a burnt offering, a gift of a soothing aroma to the Lord. 14 “‘If his offering to the Lord is a burnt offering of birds, he must present his offering from the turtledoves or from the young pigeons. 15 The priest must present it at the altar, pinch off its head and offer the head up in smoke on the altar, and its blood must be drained out against the side of the altar.⁠ 16 Then the priest must remove its entrails by cutting off its tail feathers, and throw them to the east side of the altar into the place of fatty ashes, 17 and tear it open by its wings without dividing it into two parts. Finally, the priest must offer it up in smoke on the altar on the wood which is in the fire—it is a burnt offering, a gift of a soothing aroma to the Lord.

Texts in conversation

Compare Leviticus 1:9 and Onkelos Leviticus 1:9

Hebrew Bible · Targum

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Summary

Leviticus describes the burnt offering producing a “sweet smell,” language that suggests God experiences pleasure like a human. The Aramaic translation in Targum Onkelos changes it so the offering is “accepted,” softening the human depiction of God.

Passages

Leviticus 1:9

Hebrew Bible
8 Then the sons of Aaron, the priests, must arrange the parts with the head and the suet on the wood that is in the fire on the altar. 9 Finally, the one presenting the offering must wash its entrails and its legs in water, and the priest must offer all of it up in smoke on the altar—it is a burnt offering, a gift of a soothing aroma to the Lord. 10 “‘If his offering is from the flock for a burnt offering—from the sheep or the goats—he must present a flawless male,
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Leviticus

Onkelos Leviticus 1:9

Targum
8 And the priests, the sons of Aaron, shall arrange the limbs and the head and the fat on the wood on the fire which is on the altar. 9 But he shall wash its internal organs and legs with water; and the priest shall burn all of it on the altar as an entire burnt offering, an offering to be received with acceptance before the Lord. 10 And if his offering is from the flock, of the sheep or the young of the goats for a burnt offering, he shall bring an unblemished male.
50–500 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Onkelos Leviticus

References

"... Scripture's anthropopathic 'sweet savor' is introduced in Genesis 8:21 and reappears, among other places, in 1 Samuel 26:19 and Amos 5:21. The phrase expresses divine pleasure with the Israelite performance (Sifra, Ibn Ezra, and Rashi). The Akkadian cognate and the Hebrew root mean 'soothing.' Onkelos and Pseudo-Jonathan's 'that is accepted with pleasure' explains Scripture's metaphor 'sweet savor' and reflects Sifra's interpretation, but it does not remove the portrait of God having a human emotion. Accordingly, Maimonides understands 'pleasure' to refer to the human who must perform the sacrifice in a proper manner. The targumic change reoccurs in verses 13 and 17 ..."
Israel Drazin and Stanley M. Wagner, Onkelos on the Torah, Leviticus: Understanding the Bible Text (Jerusalem: Gefen, 2008), 4–5.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Leviticus 1:9 and Onkelos Leviticus 1:9

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