Leviticus 1:11

Lev 1:11 And he shall kill it on the side of the altar northward before the LORD: and the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall sprinkle his blood round about upon the altar.

Ver. 11. On the side of the altar northward.] Not eastward, as the heathen sacrifices: or to note the obscurity of the legal ceremonies.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Lev 1:11. Northward — Here this and other kinds of sacrifices were killed, (Lev 6:25; Lev 7:2,) because here seems to have been the largest and most convenient place for that work, the altar being probably near the middle of the east end of the building, and the entrance being on the south side.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Read verse 5.

Before the altar of the Lord.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

(11) On the side of the altar northward.—As the place for the refuse was on the east side (see Lev_1:16), as the laver stood on the west side, and as the ascent to the altar was on the south side, the north side was the most convenient for slaughtering the victims. This also applies to the sin and trespass offerings (Lev_4:24; Lev_4:29; Lev_4:33; Lev_6:25; Lev_7:2; Lev_14:13, &c.).

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And he shall kill it on the side of the altar northward before the Lord,.... This is a circumstance not mentioned in the killing of the bullock: Maimonides (g) says, there was a square place from the wall of the altar northward, to the wall of the court, and it was sixty cubits, and all that was over against the breadth of this, from the wall of the porch to the eastern wall, and it is seventy six cubits; and this foursquare place is called the "north", for the slaying of the most holy things; so that it seems this being a large place, was fittest for this purpose. Aben Ezra intimates, as if some respect was had to the situation of Mount Zion; his note is, "on the side of the altar northward", i.e. without, and so "the sides of the north", Psa 48:2 for so many mistake who say that the tower of Zion was in the midst of Jerusalem; and with this agrees Mr. Ainsworth's note on Lev 6:25 hereby was figured, that Christ our sin offering should be killed by the priests in Jerusalem, and Mount Sion, which was on "the sides of the north", Psa 48:2 crucified on Mount Calvary, which was on the northwest side of Jerusalem; as by the Jews' tradition, the morning sacrifice was killed at the northwest horn of the altar (h):

and the priests, Aaron's sons, shall sprinkle the blood round about upon the altar; See Gill on Lev 1:5.

(g) In Misn. Zebachim, c. 5. sect. 1. (h) Misn. Tamid, c. 4. sect. 1.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Northward before the Lord - That is, on the north side of the altar. See also Lev 4:24, Lev 4:29, Lev 4:33; Lev 7:2. This was probably an arrangement of some practical convenience. On the west side of the altar stood the laver; on the east side was the place of ashes (see Lev 1:16 note); and the south side, where appears to have been the slope by which the priests went up to the altar, must have been left clear for a path.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

This and other kinds of sacrifices were killed

on the side of the altar northward, Lev 6:25; 7:2, because here seems to have been the largest and most convenient place for that work, the altar being probably near the middle of the east end of the building, and the entrance being on the south side; so the north side was the only vacant place. Besides, this might design the place of Christ’s death, both more generally, to wit, in Jerusalem, which was

in the sides of the north, Psa 48:2; and more specially, to wit, on Mount Calvary, which was on the north and west side of Jerusalem.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

He shall kill it on the side of the altar, northward before the Lord. In the sacrifice of the bullock it is only "before the Lord" (verse 5). No doubt the same place is meant in both cases, but it is specified with more exactness here. On the western side of the altar was the tabernacle, on the east side the heap of ashes, (Lev_1:16) on the south side probably the ascent to the altar (see Josephus, "De Bell. Jud:," 5:5, 6); on the north side, therefore, was the most convenient slaughtering place, and this is probably the reason for the injunction.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

על ירך המזבח means ON THE SIDE OF THE ALTAR (cf. Rashi on Exodus 40:22).

'צפנה לפני ה NORTHWARD BEFORE THE LORD — but the law of slaughtering northward is not necessarily applicable in the case of a “Bamah” (i. e. an animal offered on a “Bamah” as an עולה need not be slaughtered at its north side, for it states here: northward before the Lord, the last words being used only of the Tabernacle and the Temple; cf. Zevachim 119b and Rashi on 'לפני ה‎ וסמך, v. 3).

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.