Biblion Bible Commentary
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The Fire Shall Not Go Out
Leviticus 6:8-30
8 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, · WEB
A priest changes clothes to carry out ashes, and the one instruction repeated three times is that the fire must never be allowed to die.
The book turns from the worshiper to the staff, and the first duty described is cleaning.
The priest puts on linen, removes the ashes from the altar, and sets them beside it. Then he shall take off his garments, and put on other garments, and carry the ashes outside the camp to a clean place Leviticus 6:10–11.
The change of clothes is the interesting part. Holy garments are worn for the work at the altar and taken off for the walk out of the camp. The ashes are not rubbish — they are the remains of what was accepted, and they are carried to a clean place — but the man carrying them is outside his official capacity while he does it.
The ash removal is also the first job of the day, every day, for the highest office in the nation. Somebody has to shovel out yesterday's fire before anything else can happen.
Then the instruction the section is built around, and it is given three times in five verses.
The fire of the altar shall be kept burning on it Leviticus 6:9. The fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it, it shall not go out Leviticus 6:12. Fire shall be kept burning on the altar continually; it shall not go out Leviticus 6:13.
The repetition is the emphasis. That fire had come from God at the dedication Leviticus 9:24, and the priests' task is not to produce it but to keep it. Wood is laid on every morning; the flame itself is never rekindled, only fed.
The holiness of what is handled is then described in physical terms that a modern reader finds strange. Whatever shall touch its flesh shall be holy Leviticus 6:27. Blood splashed on a garment is washed in a holy place. An earthen pot used for boiling the offering is broken; a bronze one is scoured and rinsed Leviticus 6:28.
Porous clay absorbs and cannot be fully cleaned, so it is destroyed; metal can be scrubbed, so it is kept. The distinction is practical and it is applied to holiness rather than to hygiene, which is how this book consistently thinks: what has been in contact with the altar cannot simply be returned to ordinary use.
The last verse states the rule that explains chapter 4. Any sin offering whose blood went into the tent may not be eaten; it shall be burned with fire Leviticus 6:30. The priests eat what they handle at the altar, and never what has been carried inside.
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