Leviticus 6:9 - Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Command Aaron and his sons Having instructed the people concerning the sacrifices to be brought by them, Moses now proceeds, at God's command, to direct the priests respecting several parts of their official services. This is the law of the burnt-offering Of the daily one, as the following words show, which may be better rendered, This burnt- offering shall be on the burning (the fire) upon the altar all night until the morning, and the fire of the altar shall be burning in it. The Vulgate, the Chaldaic, the Syriac, and Arabic versions are to this purpose. For, according to Calmet, “the priests watched all night, and put the sacrifice upon the altar piece by piece, consuming it by a slow and gentle fire, so that the sacrifice was burning on the altar from the evening, when the Jewish day began, till the morning. Then succeeded the morning sacrifice, which was in like manner consumed gradually, and kept burning till the time of the evening sacrifice; unless there were other sacrifices to come after, and then it was consumed more quickly, in order to make room for these extraordinary burnt-offerings.” It has already been observed, (Leviticus 3:5,) that when the sin-offerings or peace-offerings were offered, the fat of those parts of them that were appropriated to the altar were laid upon the daily sacrifice and consumed with it. Thus, there was not a moment, night or day, in which the sacrifice was not offered to God, to make atonement for the sins of the people; or rather, to represent the continual and extensively efficacious sacrifice of Jesus Christ the righteous, who abideth a priest continually, (Hebrews 7:3,) at the altar which is before the throne of God, (Revelation 8:3,) being himself the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, and having suffered in his own person the penalty due from divine justice to guilty sinners.