Roots of Worship (Part 3): The Fellowship Offering

Quick Overview

Not every sacrifice is commanded; some are invitations. The Fellowship Offering was a voluntary act of gratitude or vow‑keeping, not a requirement. Worshipers would lay hands on an animal from their herd, burn the fat as God’s “food,” then share the breast and thigh with the priests. In Scripture, “fat” can be both abundance and the consequential hardness of heart, so this offering asked worshipers to give the richest portion back to God. It reminds us that true fellowship means dedicating our wealth and desires to the Lord and storing our treasure in heaven.

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I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. Ezekiel 36:26

Whereas the Burnt and the Grain Offering were mandatory offerings, the Fellowship Offering was not. One could practically live in harmony with God their whole lives, without once presenting the Fellowship Offering. A reason for presenting this offer would either be out of thanksgiving [Lev 7:12], freewill, or marking the fulfillment of a vow [Lev 7:16]. Professor Emeritus of Bible and Ancient Near Eastern Studies, Baruch A. Levine, points out that “thanksgiving offerings were appropriate for expressing one’s gratitude to God for deliverance from danger or misfortune.”¹ The connection between the Fellowship Offering and the fulfillment of vows is made by the writer of Proverbs 7 in saying “I’ve made fellowship offerings; today I’ve fulfilled my vows” [Prov 7:14] and when God instructs keepers of a Nazirite vow to take their shaved hair and “…put it on the fire under the fellowship sacrifice” [Num 6:18], marking the completion of the vow. Although not mandatory, this sacrifice was made by those dedicated to Yahweh and served as “…a pleasing aroma to the Lord” [Lev 3:5]. This should make its relevance and meaning important to those who desire to live a life close to Him.

Regulations for the Fellowship Offering

The regulations for this offering are primarily found in Leviticus 3. The offering could be an animal from the herd or from the flock, either male or female.

Instructions

To present the sacrifice, the offerer would, just as with the Burnt Offering, lay his hand on the head of the offering and slaughter it at the entrance of the tent of meeting. The priests will then sprinkle the blood on all sides of the altar. Since it was not allowed to place a burnt offering on the Incense Altar [Exod 30:9], this passage most likely refers to the Altar of Burnt Offering located in the Outer Court. After this, the priest would present a fire offering to the Lord, including all the fat of the animal: “The fat surrounding the entrails, all the fat that is on the entrails, and the two kidneys with the fat on them at the loins; he will also remove the fatty lobe of the liver with the kidneys” [Lev 3:3-4]. All this was to burn completely, along with the Burnt Offering. Because “all fat belongs to the Lord” [Lev 3:16].

Priestly Portion

The priest is to burn the fat on the altar, but the breast belongs to Aaron and his sons. Leviticus 7:30

Upon burning the fat on the altar, the priest would wave (hēnîp) the breast as a presentation offering (tĕnûpâ) before the Lord. Milgrom argues that “…hēnîp…means ‘lift, raise,’ and many a tĕnûpâ in the Bible will become clearer if we drop the usual interpretation ‘wave’ or ‘extend and bring back.’”² and points out that “…this dedication indicates the transfer of the offering from the profane to the sacred, from the offerer’s domain to God’s, and with certain most sacred gifts it constitutes an act that underscores a request made of God.”³ The offerer would then give the right thigh to the priest as a contribution. Together with the breast, “the son of Aaron who presents the blood of the fellowship offering and the fat will have the right thigh as a portion” [Lev 7:33]. Why specifically the breast and the thigh were chosen can so far only be speculated. Milgrom reasons that the thigh “...was choice meat, to judge by the fact that it was put aside by Samuel for Saul (1 Sam 9:24).”⁴ Considering this, it could simply be God’s way of providing for His anointed the priests.

Removal of the Fat

The key element of this sacrifice is clearly the fat (ḥēlev), which was to be burnt as an offering to God at all times. Even apart from the sacrificial context, the Israelites were never allowed to eat any blood or fat [Lev 3:17], as it was considered God’s “food” [Ezek 44:7]. “Although not regarded as choice food for humans, under normal circumstances, ḥelev was desired by God. From the cultic perspective, a food’s desirability was not a function of the usual dietary considerations but of its symbolic value. Deuteronomy 32:14, for example, refers to the finest quality of wheat as the “fat” of the wheat...”⁵ This choice of words is quite common in Scripture. For instance, when David tells God “You satisfy me as with rich food…” [Ps 63:5], the word used for “rich food” is again “ḥēlev.” However, when we read “the arrogant have smeared me with lies, but I obey Your precepts with all my heart. Their hearts are hard and insensitive, but I delight in Your instruction” [Ps 119:69], the word “insensitive” is also “ḥēlev.” This means we find both positive and negative associations with the word. History professor Christopher E. Forth notes that “…words like ḥēlebh take on negative implications when observed in the human body, especially for the well-to-do whose enjoyment of ‘fat things’ could lead to arrogance, selfishness, or financial ruin.”⁶ The connection here is that “insensibility was a primary trait of wealthy people who showed no compassion for the needy: they have been rendered insensate and dull by their own prosperity…”⁷ This idea of hardening the heart is also expressed when David claims the wicked “…have become hardened…” [Ps 17:10], literally meaning “have closed up their fat” in the original Hebrew.

Significance & Meaning

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. Ezekiel 36:26

When a rich ruler asked Jesus “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” [Luke 18:18], Jesus prompted him to keep the 10 commandments as he knows them. The ruler told Him “I have kept all these from my youth…” [Luke 18:21]. Hearing this, Jesus told him: “You still lack one thing: Sell all that you have and distribute it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.” [Luke 18:22]. This was not a requirement set by Jesus for salvation, just as the Fellowship Offering did not atone for the sins of God’s people as the Burnt Offering did. Jesus has done what is required for our salvation by keeping the commandments and being the offer for our sins. Now we can choose to bring God a Shelamim Offering, "better rendered ‘a sacred gift of greeting.’”⁸ God does not desire our leaven, because sin is inherently bad and needs atonement; but He does desire our fat. This is when we decide to dedicate our earthly wealth and possessions to Him, because “…those who want to be rich fall into temptation, a trap, and many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge people into ruin and destruction” [1 Tim 6:9]. This offering is not what saves us, but what keeps us from wandering away from the faith [1 Tim 6:10]. When we bring God our Fellowship Offering, we choose not to collect treasures on earth, but in heaven. “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” [Luke 12:34].

Footnotes

1. Baruch A. Levine, Leviticus, The JPS Torah Commentary (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1989), 42.

2. Jacob Milgrom, Leviticus 1–16: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary, vol. 3 of Anchor Yale Bible (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2008), 470.

3. Milgrom, Leviticus 1–16, 469.

4. Milgrom, Leviticus 1–16, 432.

5. Christopher E. Forth, “The Qualities of Fat: Bodies, History, and Materiality,” Journal of Material Culture 18, no. 2 (2013): 148, https://doi.org/10.1177/1359183513489496.

6. Forth, “The Qualities of Fat,” 148.

7. Levine, Leviticus, 16.

8. Levine, Leviticus, 15.

Bible translation: The Holy Bible: Holman Christian Standard Version. (Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers, 2009).