The Fire Shall Not Go Out
8 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 9 “Command Aaron and his sons, saying, ‘This is the law of the burnt offering: the burnt offering shall be on the hearth on the altar all night until the morning; and the fire of the altar shall be kept burning on it. 10 The priest shall put on his linen garment, and he shall put on his linen trousers upon his body; and he shall remove the ashes from where the fire has consumed the burnt offering on the altar, and he shall put them beside the altar. 11 He shall take off his garments, and put on other garments, and carry the ashes outside the camp to a clean place. 12 The fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it, it shall not go out; and the priest shall burn wood on it every morning. He shall lay the burnt offering in order upon it, and shall burn on it the fat of the peace offerings. 13 Fire shall be kept burning on the altar continually; it shall not go out. 14 “‘This is the law of the meal offering: the sons of Aaron shall offer it before Yahweh, before the altar. 15 He shall take from there his handful of the fine flour of the meal offering, and of its oil, and all the frankincense which is on the meal offering, and shall burn it on the altar for a pleasant aroma, as its memorial portion, to Yahweh. 16 That which is left of it Aaron and his sons shall eat. It shall be eaten without yeast in a holy place. They shall eat it in the court of the Tent of Meeting. 17 It shall not be baked with yeast. I have given it as their portion of my offerings made by fire. It is most holy, as are the sin offering and the trespass offering. 18 Every male among the children of Aaron shall eat of it, as their portion forever throughout your generations, from the offerings of Yahweh made by fire. Whoever touches them shall be holy.’” 19 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 20 “This is the offering of Aaron and of his sons, which they shall offer to Yahweh in the day when he is anointed: one tenth of an ephah of fine flour for a meal offering perpetually, half of it in the morning, and half of it in the evening. 21 It shall be made with oil in a griddle. When it is soaked, you shall bring it in. You shall offer the meal offering in baked pieces for a pleasant aroma to Yahweh. 22 The anointed priest that will be in his place from among his sons shall offer it. By a statute forever, it shall be wholly burned to Yahweh. 23 Every meal offering of a priest shall be wholly burned. It shall not be eaten.” 24 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 25 “Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, ‘This is the law of the sin offering: in the place where the burnt offering is killed, the sin offering shall be killed before Yahweh. It is most holy. 26 The priest who offers it for sin shall eat it. It shall be eaten in a holy place, in the court of the Tent of Meeting. 27 Whatever shall touch its flesh shall be holy. When there is any of its blood sprinkled on a garment, you shall wash that on which it was sprinkled in a holy place. 28 But the earthen vessel in which it is boiled shall be broken; and if it is boiled in a bronze vessel, it shall be scoured, and rinsed in water. 29 Every male among the priests shall eat of it. It is most holy. 30 No sin offering, of which any of the blood is brought into the Tent of Meeting to make atonement in the Holy Place, shall be eaten. It shall be burned with fire.
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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