If his offering be a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish: he shall offer it of his own voluntary will at the door of the tabernacle of meeting before the LORD.
All Commentaries on Leviticus 1:3 Go To Leviticus 1
George Leo Haydock
AD 1849
A holocaust. That is, a whole burnt-offering; (olocauston) so called, because the whole victim was consumed with fire; and given in such manner to God as wholly to evaporate, as it were, for his honour and glory; without having any part of it reserved for the use of man. The other sacrifices of the Old Testament were either offerings for sin, or peace-offerings: and these latter again were either offered in thanksgiving for blessings received, or by way of prayer for new favours or graces. So that sacrifices were then offered to God for four different ends or intentions, answerable to the different obligations which man has to God: 1. By way of adoration, homage, praise, and glory, due to his divine Majesty. 2. By way of thanksgiving for all benefits received from him. 3. By way of confessing and craving pardon for sins. 4. By way of prayer and petition for grace and relief in all necessities. In the New Law we have but one sacrifice, viz. that of the body and blood of Christ: but this one sacrifice of the New Testament perfectly answers all these four ends; and both priests and people, as often as it is celebrated, ought to join in offering it up for these four ends. (Challoner) (St. Augustine, City of God viii. 17.; St. Chrysostom in Psalm xcv.)
We have an altar, (Hebrews xiii. 10,) on which the unbloody sacrifice is offered, (Matthew xxvi. 25,) as the blood of Christ was on the cross, Hebrews ix. 25. (Worthington)
