Old Testament · Leviticus 1–7

The five offerings of the Old Testament

Short answer: Leviticus 1–7 describes five main offerings. Three were voluntary gifts of worship: the burnt offering, the grain offering and the peace offering. Two were required to deal with sin: the sin offering and the guilt (trespass) offering. Each one is described with what was offered, its purpose and who ate it.

Chart comparing the five Old Testament offerings, burnt, grain, peace, sin and guilt, with their Hebrew names, what was offered, whether voluntary or required, purpose, who ate them and how each is fulfilled in Christ — The burnt, grain, peace, sin and guilt offerings of Leviticus 1–7 side by side.

⬇ Download 4K (PNG) ⬇ Pinterest size (1000×1500) 📌 Save to Pinterest

The infographic in text form

Offering	Hebrew	What was offered	Required?	Purpose	Who ate it	Fulfilled in Christ
Burnt offering	עֹלָה olah, "that which goes up"	A male bull, ram or goat without blemish, or doves and pigeons for the poor	Voluntary	Complete devotion to God, and atonement for the worshipper	No one: it was wholly burned on the altar	"an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour" (Ephesians 5:2)
Grain offering KJV: meat offering ("meat" meant food)	מִנְחָה minchah, "a gift"	Fine flour or baked cakes, with oil, frankincense and salt; no leaven or honey	Voluntary	Thanksgiving, and dedicating the work of one's hands to God	A handful was burned; the rest was eaten by the priests	"I am the bread of life" (John 6:35)
Peace offering NIV: fellowship offering	שְׁלָמִים shelamim, "peace, wholeness"	Any unblemished animal from the herd or flock, male or female, with bread	Voluntary (for thanksgiving, a vow or a freewill gift)	Fellowship with God, celebrated as a shared meal	The fat for God; breast and thigh for the priests; the rest for the worshipper's family	"having made peace through the blood of his cross" (Colossians 1:20)
Sin offering Some translations: purification offering	חַטָּאת chattat, "sin, purification"	By rank: a bull (priest or nation), a male goat (leader), a female goat or lamb (anyone); doves or flour for the poor	Required	Atonement and cleansing for unintentional sin	The priests, unless its blood was taken into the Holy Place; then it was burned outside the camp	"made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin" (2 Corinthians 5:21)
Guilt offering KJV: trespass offering	אָשָׁם asham, "guilt, reparation"	A ram without blemish, plus full repayment of the wrong and one-fifth more	Required	Atonement where something was owed, to God's holy things or to a neighbour	The priests, in a holy place	"thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin" (Isaiah 53:10, Hebrew asham)

Where to read them: burnt offering, Leviticus 1 and 6:8–13 · grain offering, Leviticus 2 and 6:14–23 · peace offering, Leviticus 3 and 7:11–34 · sin offering, Leviticus 4:1–5:13 and 6:24–30 · guilt offering, Leviticus 5:14–6:7 and 7:1–7.

The order of approach

When Aaron first served as priest, the offerings came in this order: sin offering, then burnt, then grain, then peace. Cleansing came first, then devotion, then fellowship. Leviticus 9:7–22