Leviticus 19:5

Lev 19:5 And if ye offer a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the LORD, ye shall offer it at your own will.

Ver. 5. At your own will.] Or, for your favourable acceptation, that God may graciously accept you.

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 19:5. At your own will — Or, According to your own pleasure, what you think fit; for though this sacrifice, in general, was required, it was left to their choice to determine the particulars. But the original word may be rendered, For favour to you; that is, in order to procure you the divine favour; or in such a manner as God has prescribed and will accept. And thus it is understood by Le Clerc, after the LXX., the Vulgate, Syriac, and Arabic versions.

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

Of your own accord.

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

if ye offer a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the Lord, ye shall offer it at your own will--Those which included thank offerings, or offerings made for vows, were always freewill offerings. Except the portions which, being waved and heaved, became the property of the priests (see Lev. 3:1-17), the rest of the victim was eaten by the offerer and his friend, under the following regulations, however, that, if thank offerings, they were to be eaten on the day of their presentation; and if a freewill offering, although it might be eaten on the second day, yet if any remained of it till the third day, it was to be burnt, or deep criminality was incurred by the person who then ventured to partake of it. The reason of this strict prohibition seems to have been to prevent any mysterious virtue being superstitiously attached to meat offered on the altar.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 5. Peace-offerings] See at the conclusion of Clarke's note "Le 7:38".

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

(5) And if ye offer a sacrifice.—From Lev_17:3-7, it will be seen that the Israelites were in the habit of sacrificing to idols the animals intended for private consumption, and that this practice gave rise to the enactment that when any of the three kinds of quadrupeds are to be slaughtered for daily meat, they should first be devoted to God as peace-offerings. Hence the transition here from the prohibition of idolatrous worship to the peace-offerings. The simple abstention from sacrifice to idols and offering them to God is not enough. If the Israelites bring a peace-offering to the Lord it must be offered in the prescribed manner.

Ye shall offer it at your own will.—Better, ye shall offer it for your acceptance (see Lev_1:3), that is, ye are to do it in such a manner as will secure for you the Divine acceptance.

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

5–8. See introd. note to ch.

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 if ye offer a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the Lord,.... Which were of three sorts, a thanksgiving, a vow, and a voluntary offering, Lev 7:11; the latter seems to be here meant, as appears by what follows:

ye shall offer it at your own will; a voluntary freewill offering, of their own accord, and not by force, as Aben Ezra; and in such offerings they were left to their liberty to offer what they pleased, it might be of the flock, or of the herd, a male or a female, Lev 3:1. The Targum of Jonathan is"for your acceptation;''that is, that should be offered, and in such a manner as to be accepted of you with God; which sense is countenanced by Lev 19:7; and becomes acceptable, when what follows about eating them is attended to.

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

Rather, ye shall offer it that you may be accepted.

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

Or, according to your own good pleasure, what you think fit; for though this in the general was required, yet it was left to their choice to determine the particulars. Lev 7:16. Or rather, to your acceptation, i.e. in such manner as it may be accepted by God on your behalf, which is explained in the next verse, and not in such manner as to lose the end you aim at, to wit, God’s acceptance; for if ye do otherwise than God hath prescribed, it shall not be accepted, as he adds Lev 19:7, but on the contrary severely punished, Deu 8.

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

5. Peace offerings — See chap. 3, notes, Lev_7:11-21, notes.

Own will — This may also be translated, acceptable or pleasing, “that ye may be accepted,” (R.V.) See Lev_1:3, note.

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

Vers. 5-8. The unsystematic character of this chapter is indicated by prohibitions under the fifth, fourth, first, and second commandments (verses 3, 4) being succeeded by a ceremonial instruction respecting the peace offerings, repeated from Lev_7:16-18. The words, ye shall offer it at your own will, should rather be, for your acceptance, as in chapter 1:3. In the seventh chapter a distinction is drawn between the peace offerings that are thank offerings, which must be eaten on the first day, and the peace offerings which are vow or voluntary offerings, which may be eaten on the first or second day. In the present resume this distinction is not noticed. Whoever transgresses this ceremonial command is to bear his iniquity and to be cut off from among his people, that is, to be excommunicated without any appointed form of reconciliation by means of sacrifice.

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

At your own will - Or, according to your own pleasure, what you think fit: For though this in general was required, yet it was left to their choice to determine the particulars.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

General Information:

Yahweh continues telling Moses what the people must do.

you must offer it that you may be accepted

This can be translated in active form. Possible meanings are 1) Yahweh will accept the person offering the sacrifice. AT: "you must offer it properly so that I will accept you" or 2) Yahweh will accept the sacrifice from the person. AT: "you must offer it properly so that I will accept your sacrifice" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information and Active or Passive)

It must be eaten

This can be translated in active form. AT: "You must eat it" (See: Active or Passive)

it must be burned

This can be translated in active form. AT: "you must burn it" (See: Active or Passive)

If it is eaten at all

This can be translated in active form. AT: "If you eat any of it" (See: Active or Passive)

it must not be accepted

To eat the offering after the designated time is against God and increases the guilt the offering was to cover. This can be translated in active form. AT: "You may not accept it for eating" (See: Active or Passive)

everyone ... must carry his own guilt

A person's guilt is spoken of as if it were a physical object that the person carries. Here the word "guilt" represents the punishment for that guilt. AT: "everyone ... is responsible for his own guilt" or "Yahweh will punish everyone ... for his sin" (See: Metaphor and Metonymy)

that person must be cut off from his people

A person being excluded from his community is spoken of as if he had been cut off from his people, as one would cut a piece of cloth or cut a branch from a tree. This can be translated in active form. See how you translated this in Leviticus 7:20. AT: "that person may no longer live among his people" or "you must separate that person from his people" (See: Metaphor and Active or Passive)

translationWords

sacrifice

fellowship offering

defile

guilt

holy

cut off

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

'וכי תזבחו וגו‎‎ AND IF YE SACRIFICE [A SACRIFICE OF PEACE OFFERINGS UNTO THE LORD, YE SHALL SACRIFICE IT TO BE ACCEPTABLE TO YOU] — This section is said only for the purpose of teaching us that their (the peace offerings’) slaughtering must not take place except with the intention that they should be eaten within this time (the time prescribed v. 6); for if its purpose were to fix the time for eating them it would be redundant, since it is already said (Leviticus 7:16) “But if the sacrifice of his offering be a vow, or a free-will offering [it shall be eaten the same day… and on the morrow” (Sifra, Kedoshim, Chapter 1 1).

לרצנכם תזבחהו YE SHALL SACRIFICE IT TO BE ACCEPTABLE FOR YOU — This means, from the very beginning the slaughtering shall be done with the intention to give Me satisfaction (i. e. to sacrifice it in a manner that is satisfactory to Me) so that it shall effect favour for you (לרצנכם). For if you have in connection with it (with the slaughtering) any intention which will invalidate it (the sacrifice) it shall effect no favour for you before Me.

לרצנכם thus means as much as apaisement in O. F., — “favourable acceptance”. This is the literal meaning of the verse. Our Rabbis, however, (taking the word in its primary sense of will, “intention”) learned from here as regards one who is handling (מתעסק) a sacrifice (קדשים) (when he does the act of Shechitah without the intention of doing this) that it becomes invalid, because it is required that he should intend to slaughter it (Zevachim 47a; Chullin 13a).

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.

He states, And when ye offer an offering of peace-offerings unto the Eternal etc., for after He prohibited the slaughtering of sacrifices, and all manner of worship to idols and to molten gods, and ordered that all Services be devoted to the Proper Name [i.e., the Tetragrammaton] exclusively, He stated here that when you shall bring an offering to the Eternal, it shall be lirtzonchem [“of your desire”], in order that your worship should be acceptable to Him and that He should be pleased with you, even as a servant reconciles himself to his master by doing all that he commands him to do, the expression [lirtzonchem] being similar to: ‘v’nirtzah’ (and it shall be accepted) for him to make atonement for him; but by the light of Thy countenance, because ‘retzitham’ (Thou wast favorable unto them). … And the meaning of the verse is to state that you are not to think that there is any benefit in idol worship, neither are you to do the service of the Glorious Name in order to receive a reward, but only to do His Will, for it is His simple Will that is proper and incumbent upon us [to do]. He states this with reference to the peace-offerings because they are of the lesser degree of holy offerings, which are eaten by the owners themselves [unlike the most holy offerings, such as the sin-offering, which may be eaten only by the priests, the verse thus saying] that the owners are to guard their thoughts, so that the offerings be brought with the proper intention, and this applies all the more so to the most holy offerings. Or it may be that [the verse here mentions peace-offerings] because peace-offerings are the [unique] attribute of Israel, just as our Rabbis have said: “Noachides did not offer peace-offerings.” The student learned [in the mysteries of the Cabala] will understand. And our Rabbis have said: “Lirtzonchem [literally: ‘to your intent’] slaughter the offering, meaning that you are to have the intention to slaughter it,” for if he merely “handles” an offering [i.e., if he does the act of slaughtering without the intention of so doing], he invalidates [the offering].

Ramban (Nachmanides) on the Tanakh — English translation: “Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

When you slaughter a peace-offering. This is connected to the previous verse, to express that we must not sacrifice to powerless gods but rather only to Hashem alone. The reason it uses the plural tense for “when you slaughter” [תזבחו] is because the Torah speaks about the usual circumstance in which many people will join to bring one sacrifice. It says “to be acceptable to you” to teach that they must bring the sacrifice with their free will and not by force.

Ibn Ezra on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Yalkut, Sifsei Chachomim Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009” (CC BY 4.0); and “Commentary of Ibn Ezra on Isaiah - trans. by M. Friedlander, 1873” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.