Leviticus 7:28-38
God assigns sacred portions of the fellowship offering to the priesthood as part of the covenant structure of worship.
28 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
29 “Speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘He who offers the sacrifice of his peace offerings to Yahweh shall bring his offering to Yahweh out of the sacrifice of his peace offerings.
30 With his own hands he shall bring the offerings of Yahweh made by fire. He shall bring the fat with the breast, that the breast may be waved for a wave offering before Yahweh.
31 The priest shall burn the fat on the altar, but the breast shall be Aaron’s and his sons’.
32 The right thigh you shall give to the priest for a heave offering out of the sacrifices of your peace offerings.
33 He among the sons of Aaron who offers the blood of the peace offerings, and the fat, shall have the right thigh for a portion.
34 For the waved breast and the heaved thigh I have taken from the children of Israel out of the sacrifices of their peace offerings, and have given them to Aaron the priest and to his sons as their portion forever from the children of Israel.’ ”
35 This is the consecrated portion of Aaron, and the consecrated portion of his sons, out of the offerings of Yahweh made by fire, in the day when he presented them to minister to Yahweh in the priest’s office;
36 which Yahweh commanded to be given them of the children of Israel, in the day that he anointed them. It is their portion forever throughout their generations.
37 This is the law of the burnt offering, the meal offering, the sin offering, the trespass offering, the consecration, and the sacrifice of peace offerings
38 which Yahweh commanded Moses in Mount Sinai in the day that he commanded the children of Israel to offer their offerings to Yahweh, in the wilderness of Sinai.
God assigns sacred portions of the fellowship offering to the priesthood as part of the covenant structure of worship.
This passage establishes the priestly portions assigned from the fellowship offerings and concludes the sacrificial instructions given at Sinai. It clarifies how certain portions of the offering belong to the LORD and how specific parts are given to the priests as their covenant provision.
Leviticus 7:28-38 concludes the priestly offering-regulation section that began in Leviticus 6:8. The immediate focus is the priestly distribution of the fellowship offering, especially the fat, breast, and right thigh. The passage then provides a formal summary of the offering laws, naming the burnt offering, grain offering, sin offering, guilt offering, ordination offering, and fellowship offering.
Leviticus 7:28-38 belongs to Israel's wilderness tabernacle instruction and concludes the priestly offering regulations before the ordination of Aaron and his sons. Israel stands at Sinai under the LORD's covenant command. The tabernacle sacrificial system is being ordered so that Israel may bring offerings to the LORD through the appointed priesthood. The fellowship offering involves both altar portions and priestly portions. The worshiper brings the fat and breast. The breast is waved before the LORD and assigned to Aaron and his sons. The fat is burned on the altar. The right thigh is given to the officiating priest. The command is given through Moses to the Israelites, with direct implications for worshipers and priests. It also identifies the portions assigned to Aaron and his sons. In the fellowship offering, the worshiper shares in a sacred meal, the LORD receives the fat portions on the altar, and priests receive designated portions. This passage regulates that distribution. This passage closes the offering laws of Leviticus 1-7 and prepares the priestly ordination narrative of Leviticus 8.
The Guilt Offering, Priestly Portions, and Holy Fellowship
Holy fellowship with the LORD requires holy sacrifice, holy eating, holy boundaries, and faithful priestly provision.