Leviticus 2 explained: Gifts of Flour, Oil and Grain

A gift of flour (vv. 1-3)

A worshipper brought fine flour and olive oil, two staples of everyday food in that land, with fragrant incense, a costly resin, placed on top. The priest burned a handful along with all the incense as a token portion standing for the whole gift, and the priests ate the rest in the holy area as their share.

Baked or cooked versions (vv. 4-10)

The gift could also arrive already cooked, as thick or thin loaves from an oven, on a flat griddle, or in a pan, always made with oil and no yeast. The same split followed: a token portion was burned, and the remainder went to the priests for their food.

No yeast or honey (vv. 11-12)

Yeast and honey could never be burned on the altar, though both could be given to the priests as part of harvest gifts. The text gives no reason, and suggestions include their link with spoiling, their use in other peoples' worship, or the memory of the bread without yeast eaten when Israel left Egypt.

The salt of the covenant (v. 13)

Every offering had to be salted. Salt keeps food from spoiling, and sharing salted meals sealed agreements in that world, so it pictured a lasting, faithful bond between God and the people.

First grain of the season (vv. 14-16)

At the start of harvest, someone could bring fresh heads of grain, roasted and crushed, with oil and incense. It seems to have been a voluntary early thanks for the crop, handled like the other grain offerings.

Key verse: Leviticus 2:2

Where Christians differ

Some Christians read the details of this offering, such as the fine flour, oil and lack of yeast, as pictures pointing to Jesus, while others see them mainly as an ancient way of giving thanks for food, without a hidden meaning in each detail.

Something to think about

When you have enough to eat, is there anyone or anything you feel thankful toward, and how, if at all, do you show it?