Leviticus 1:7

Lev 1:7 And the sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire upon the altar, and lay the wood in order upon the fire:

Ver. 7. Fire upon the altar.] That fire from heaven {Lev 9:24} - which the heathens apishly imitated in their vestal fire - typing either the scorching wrath of God seizing upon Christ, or the ardent love of Christ to his, and their zeal for him.

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 1:7. The sons of Aaron shall put fire — The fire was originally kindled from heaven, when the first sacrifices were offered, (Lev 9:24,) and was to be carefully preserved and kept burning, (Lev 6:13,) and therefore the expression of putting fire upon the altar is to be understood, not of kindling, but of feeding the fire with fresh fuel, or disposing and putting it in order.

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

Verse 7. Put fire] The fire that came out of the tabernacle from before the Lord, and which was kept perpetually burning; see Le 9:24. Nor was it lawful to use any other fire in the service of God. See the case of Nadab and Abihu, Lev 10:1; Lev 10:2.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(7) And the sons of Aaron.—The priests are to put the fire upon the altar, because they offered the sacrifice upon the altar. This applies to the first burnt offering which was offered upon the newly-erected altar, since afterwards the fire was always burning, and was never allowed to go out (Lev_6:13).

And lay the wood.—No other fuel but wood was allowed for the altar, and no one was allowed to bring it from his own house, but it had to be the wood of the congregation. (Comp. Neh_10:34; Neh_13:31.) It had to be of the best kind; worm-eaten wood or timber from pulled-down buildings was not allowed.

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

7. shall put fire upon the altar] According to Lev_6:9-13 the fire is kept burning upon the altar.

lay wood in order] The verb ‘lay in order’ here and in Lev_1:8 is different from ‘lay’ in Lev_1:4. The wood was collected and brought by the people (Neh_10:34).

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And the sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire upon the altar,.... The fire of the altar originally came down from heaven, and consumed the sacrifice, and which was a token of God's acceptance of it, see Lev 9:24 and this fire was kept burning continually upon the altar, Lev 6:12 and yet the Jewish writers say, it was the command of God, according to this passage, that fire should be brought from another place and put here; Jarchi's note on the text is,"though fire came down from heaven, it was commanded to bring it from a common or private place:''and Maimonides (r) says the same thing, and so it is often said in the Talmud (s); and this, as Gersom observes, was not done by any but a priest in the time of his priesthood, or when clothed with his priestly garments; and so in the Talmud it is said, that the putting fire upon the altar belonged to the priesthood, but not flaying or cutting in pieces (t): this fire denoted the wrath of God, revealed from heaven against all unrighteousness and ungodliness of men, and which is the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels, and all the workers of iniquity; and which Christ endured for his people in human nature, when he bore their sins, and became a whole burnt offering for them:

and lay the wood in order upon the fire; the wood for the sacrifice was an offering of the people, brought to the temple at the times appointed, Neh 10:34 where was a place called , "the wood room", or "wood chamber", and which was in the northeast part of the court of the women; and here such priests as had blemishes wormed the wood, or searched the wood for worms; for whatsoever wood had a worm found in it, it was not fit to be laid upon the altar; and it was from hence the priests fetched the wood and laid it on the altar (u); for a private person might not bring it from his own house for his offering (w), though it was provided by the congregation (x), and brought thither by private persons; and it might be any sort of wood but that of the vine and olive (y), which were not used, because they did not burn well, and were soon reduced to ashes; and because such a consumption would be made of such useful trees hereby, that there would be no wine or oil in the land of Israel, so necessary for private and religious uses. The Vulgate Latin version renders it, "the pile of wood being laid before": that is, before the fire was put upon the altar; but this is contrary to the text, for the wood was laid upon the fire, and therefore the fire must be first; the case seems to be this, the fire was first kindled, and then the wood laid in order upon it.

(r) Hilchot. Tamidin, c. 2. sect. 1. (s) T. Bab. Erubin, fol. 63. 1. Yoma, fol. 21. 2. & 53. 1. (t) T. Bab. Yoma, fol. 26. 2. Vid. T. Bab. Zebachim, fol. 18. 1. (u) Misn. Middot, c. 2. sect. 5. (w) Issure Mizbeach, c. 5. sect. 13. T. Bab. Cholin, fol. 27. 1. (x) T. Bab. Menachot, fol. 22. 1. (y) Misn. Tamid, c. 2. sect. 3. & T. Bab. Tamid, fol. 29. 2.

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

Put fire upon the altar - This must specifically refer to the first burnt-offering on the newly-constructed altar. The rule was afterward to be, “it shall never go out,” Lev 6:13.

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

Fire. Hebrew and Septuagint place the fire first, then the wood. It was the sacred fire which was never extinguished, but removed from the altar in marches, (chap. iv. 13,) perhaps in a censer or pan. (Haydock)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Or,

dispose the fire, i.e. blow it up, and put it together, so as it might be fit for the present work. For the fire there used and allowed came down from heaven, Lev 9:24, and was to be carefully preserved there, and all other fire was forbidden, Lev 10:1, &c.

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

7. Put fire upon the altar — So long as the altar was stationary the fire was never to go out. See note on Lev_6:13. When the altar was transported, the fire was probably carried in a censer and put on the altar in its new location. See note on Num_4:16.

Lay the wood — Such a ritual could not be executed in the dessert of Sahara. Wood still abounds in the Sinaitic Peninsula, and charcoal has for centuries been the chief article of export.

In order — The sacrifice was to be made with decency and deliberation.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The priest shall put fire upon the altar. The fire once kindled was never to be allowed to go out. (Lev_6:13) Unless, therefore, these words refer to the first occasion only on which a burnt sacrifice was offered, they must mean "make up the fire on the altar" or it might possibly have been the practice, as Bishop Wordsworth (after Maimonides) supposes, that fresh fire was added to the altar fire before each sacrifice.

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

General Information:

Yahweh continues telling Moses what the people must do so their offerings will be acceptable to him.

will put fire on the altar and place wood to feed the fire

This may mean that the priests placed hot coals on the altar, then placed the wood on the coals. Or you may need to reorder this as in the UDB. AT: "will put wood on the altar and light a fire" (See: Order of Events)

to feed the fire

This is an idiom that means to keep putting wood in the fire. Translate this idiom so it is understood that the fire on the altar must be kept burning. AT: "to keep the fire burning" (See: Idiom)

But its inner parts and its legs he must wash with water

The person would do this before giving the pieces to the priests to place on the altar. You can state this at the end of Leviticus 1:6.

inner parts

This is the stomach and intestines.

he must wash

Here "he" refers to the one making the offering.

It will produce a sweet aroma for me

Yahweh being pleased with the sincere worshiper offering the sacrifice is spoken of as if Yahweh were pleased by the aroma of the burning sacrifice. (See: Metaphor)

an offering made to me by fire

Yahweh is telling Moses that the offerings are to be burnt with fire. This can be stated in active form. AT: "a burnt offering to me" (See: Active or Passive)

translationWords

Aaron

priest

fire

altar

burnt offering

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

אש … ‎ונתנו AND [THE SONS OF AARON …] SHALL PUT FIRE [ON THE ALTAR] — Although the fire descended from heaven, it was nevertheless a religious duty to bring also some fire of profane origin (Sifra, Vayikra Dibbura d'Nedavah, Chapter 5 10; Yoma 21b; cf. Rashi on Leviticus 10:2 and Note thereon).

בני אהרן הכהן THE SONS OF AARON THE PRIEST — They shall place the fire on the altar as sons of Aaron the priest: implying that Aaron should always minister in his priestly dignity (i. e. when attired in his priestly garments), consequently if he officiated in the garments of an ordinary priest his service is invalid (Sifra, Vayikra Dibbura d'Nedavah, Chapter 5 9; Zevachim 18a).

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.