Exodus 23:18

Thou shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread,.... This belongs to the feast of the passover; for, as all the Jewish writers agree, this sacrifice is the sacrifice of the

Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread; neither shall the fat of my sacrifice remain until the morning.

These clauses most understand of the passover, by comparing this place with its parallel, , where the passover is mentioned. But the words being here universal, by the laws of interpretation they ought to be universally understood, if they can bear that sense; which here they may, for both these clauses agree to other sacrifices. For as every sacrifice had a minchah, or a meat-offering of flour, attending upon it, and offered with it; so it was expressly cautioned, that no leaven should be in that minchah, . And the fat of every sacrifice was consecrated to God, , &c., and was presently to be burnt upon the altar, ,3. And for , what hinders but what is here more generally prescribed, may be there particularly applied to the passover? and that seems more reasonable, than to make him an idle repetition of the same tiring. And my sacrifice may be here put for my sacrifices, by the common enallage. Moreover, the two principal things which were offered to God in every sacrifice were blood and fat, ,11, &c. Neither shall the fat of my sacrifice remain until the morning: this, if understood of the passover, may seem superfluous, because nothing of it, neither fat nor lean, was to remain until the morning, , but all of it was to be eaten, even the purtenance thereof, , and that, for aught I see, without any exception of the fat, as there was in other sacrifices, Leviticus 16. And therefore in that parallel place, , where the passover is mentioned, there is not a word of the fat, but only it is said in the general, neither shall the sacrifice of the feast of the passover be left until the morning. And in that , where there is mention of the fat, it is manifestly restrained to the burnt-offerings, which are there distinguished from the passover, ,12.

Exodus 23:18 Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread; neither shall the fat of my sacrifice remain until the morning.Ver. 18. Of my sacrifice.] Especially of the passover. See Exodus 34:25 Leviticus 2:1-3.

(18) Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread.—Some regard this prohibition as extending to all sacrifices; but the majority of commentators limit it to the sacrifice of the Paschal lamb, which was the only sacrifice as yet expressly instituted by Jehovah. According to modern Jewish notions, leavened bread is permissible at the other feasts; at Pentecost it was commanded (Leviticus 23:17). The fat of my sacrifice.—Rather (as in the Margin), the fat of my feast. The fat of the Paschal lambs was burnt on the altar with incense the same evening. Thus the whole lamb was consumed before the morning. As the Paschal lamb is καὶἐξοχήν, “my sacrifice,” so the Passover is “my feast.”

Verse 18. The blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread] The sacrifice here mentioned is undoubtedly the Passover; (see Exodus 34:25); this is called by way of eminence MY sacrifice, because God had instituted it for that especial purpose, the redemption of Israel from the Egyptian bondage, and because it typified THE LAMB of GOD, who taketh away the sin of the world. We have already seen how strict the prohibition against leaven was during this festival, and what was signified by it. See on chap. xii. See Clarke on Exodus 12:19.

18. Two regulations respecting sacrifice, designed to guard a sacrifice against contamination by anything corrupt or tainted. 18a. Jehovah’s sacrifices not to be offered with leavened bread. Cf. the || Exodus 34:25; Leviticus 2:11; Leviticus 6:17; and the note on ch. Exodus 12:8. ‘In the earliest times bread was entirely unleavened. Flour or barley was mixed with water and kneaded in a “kneading-bowl” (Exo Exodus 8:3), and then baked into “unleavened cakes” (see on Exodus 12:8), such as are still the usual food of the Bedawin. In a more advanced stage of society the bread was made in this way only in cases of emergency (Genesis 19:3), or for purposes of ritual. The ordinary bread of the Hebrews was made lighter by fermentation’ (Kennedy, in EB. i. 604). The reason why leavened bread was prohibited for ritual purposes was, probably, partly because unleavened bread had the sanction of antiquity (Kennedy, ib. iii. 2753), partly because leaven, being produced by fermentation, was regarded as tainted with a species of corruption (ib. p. 2754; OTJC.2[194] p. 345; Rel. Sem. p. 203 f., ed. 2, p. 220 f.). Leavened bread was permitted only when the offering was not to be placed upon the altar, but eaten by the priests, Leviticus 7:13; Leviticus 23:17; Leviticus 23:20 end. [194] W. R. Smith, Old Testament in the Jewish Church, ed. 2, 1892.offer] lit. kill or slay (Deuteronomy 12:15), but the word (zâbaḥ ?) is nearly always used of slaying for sacrifice (cf. on Exodus 20:24). It occurs only here with ‘blood’ as its object. In the ||, Exodus 34:25 a, slaughter (shâḥ ?aṭ ?) is used: this is often said of the slaughter of an animal for sacrifice Exodus 29:11, Leviticus 1:5, &c.), but, like zâbaḥ ?, is not found elsewhere with blood’ as its object. The use of both words in this law is peculiar. 18b. The fat of a festal sacrifice,—which, like the fat of other sacrifices, as the most esteemed part of the animal, was regularly consumed in sweet smoke (see on Exodus 29:13) upon the altar (Leviticus 1:8; Leviticus 3:3 f. &c.), as an offering to the Deity,—is not to remain unburnt till the next morning (when it would in any case be stale, and in a hot climate might even be tainted). The fat meant is not all fat found in an animal, but specifically that about the kidneys and other intestines (Leviticus 3:3 f.: Rel. Sem.2[195] 379 f.; EB. ii. 1545; Driver and White, Leviticus in Haupt’s Sacred Books of the OT., illustr. opp. to p. 4). [195] W. R. Smith, The Religion of the Semites, ed. 2, 1894.the fat of my feast] Lit. of my pilgrimage (Heb. ḥ ?ag), i.e. of the animals sacrificed at my pilgrimages (cf. Malachi 2:3, Psalms 118:27 Heb.). The ||, Exodus 34:25 b, has ‘the sacrifice of the pilgrimage of the passover’; hence it is commonly thought that the reference (in both clauses) is to the passover (so already Onk., expressly in cl.a, and by implication cl.b).

The blood of my sacrifice - It is generally considered that this must refer to the Paschal Lamb. See Exodus 12:7, Exodus 12:11, Exodus 12:13, Exodus 12:22-23, Exodus 12:27.

18. Not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread — Literally, upon leavened bread. This refers especially to the sacrifice of the passover, as is seen by comparison of Exo 12:15; Exodus 12:18-20.