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Objects & worship

Fellowship offering

A sacrifice with portions burned on the altar and meat shared under specific rules.

Also called · peace offering · well-being offering

What it means

It could be offered for thanksgiving, to fulfill a vow, or freely. The specified fat was burned on the altar, while the breast and right thigh went to the priests.

Meat from a thanksgiving sacrifice had to be eaten on the day of the offering, with none kept until morning. Meat from a vow or free will offering could also be eaten the next day, but anything left on the third day had to be burned.

Only people who were ritually clean could eat it. Meat that touched something unclean had to be burned, and people in an unclean state were forbidden to eat the sacrificial meat.

How it appears in the Bible

Deuteronomy 27 calls for peace offerings, eating there, and rejoicing before God. Unlike a burnt offering, this sacrifice leaves meat for a meal, governed by rules about who may eat and when.