Bible Strands
Exodus 29:18
Then burn the entire ram on the altar; it is a burnt offering to the LORD, a pleasing aroma, a food offering to the LORD.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — God commands Moses to complete the priestly consecration ritual by placing the first ram on the altar after it has been washed and arranged with its head and pieces.
The words — The text employs הִקְטַרְתָּ (hiktar ta), "you will make smoke," and עֹלָה (olah), "burnt offering," to designate the total consumption of the ram as Yahweh's portion.
The thread — This instruction establishes the altar ritual for later sacrifices and aligns with Genesis 8:21 and Genesis 22:2, where God receives the smoke of a burnt sacrifice as a pleasing aroma.
Why it lands — The text requires the worshiper to surrender the entire animal without reservation, recognizing that complete destruction by fire constitutes the designated food offering to God.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And thou shalt burn the whole ram upon the altar: it is a burnt offering unto the Lord: it is a sweet savour, an offering made by fire unto the Lord.
Cross-references
- Genesis 8:21 When the LORD smelled the pleasing aroma, He said in His heart, “Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from his youth. And never again will I destroy all living creatures as I have done.
- Genesis 22:2 “Take your son,” God said, “your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah. Offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you.”
- Genesis 22:7 Then Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” “Here I am, my son,” he replied. “The fire and the wood are here,” said Isaac, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”
- Genesis 22:13 Then Abraham looked up and saw behind him a ram in a thicket, caught by its horns. So he went and took the ram and offered it as a burnt offering in place of his son.
- Exodus 29:25 Then take them from their hands and burn them on the altar atop the burnt offering as a pleasing aroma before the LORD; it is a food offering to the LORD.
- Leviticus 1:17 He shall tear it open by its wings, without dividing the bird completely. And the priest is to burn it on the altar atop the burning wood. It is a burnt offering, a food offering, a pleasing aroma to the LORD.
- Leviticus 9:24 Fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed the burnt offering and the fat portions on the altar. And when all the people saw it, they shouted for joy and fell facedown.
- 1 Samuel 7:9 Then Samuel took a suckling lamb and offered it as a whole burnt offering to the LORD. He cried out to the LORD on behalf of Israel, and the LORD answered him.
- 1 Kings 3:4 Now the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for it was the great high place. Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on the altar there.
- 1 Kings 18:38 Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the sacrifice, the wood, the stones, and the dust, and it licked up the water in the trench.