What if I told you that the grain offering is not a grain offering? In most English Bible translations, Leviticus 2 is about grain or cereal offerings. That is the standard translation of the Hebrew word mincha in this context. However, this Hebrew word is not always used for grain offerings. Both Cain and Abel’s sacrifices are also called a mincha, and of course Abel’s mincha, which God accepted, was an animal and not grain. In fact, God rejected the grain mincha. Even more importantly, a mincha is not always a sacrifice and is not always given to God. In 1 Kings 4:21 (which is 5:1 in Hebrew), people all over Solomon’s kingdom bring him a mincha as an expression of their loyalty and service to him. Malachi 1:11 describes a day of worldwide worship of Yahweh, and during that time, people will bring a pure mincha to him from every corner of the globe. In other words, the mincha is a tribute in these contexts, or a gift expressing loyalty.
In fact, four hints suggest that the idea of tribute is the best explanation of Leviticus 2 as well. First, verse 13 says three times that the mincha must be offered with the salt of the covenant of your God. The simplest explanation for this phrase is that the salt is to remind the Israelites of the covenant they have with their God. Thus, the salt mixed in with the grain would remind the worshiper who he or she should be loyal to. Second, this would also make sense of the mincha being described as having a “memorial portion,” specifically the part that is given to God and burned. What is to be remembered when you bring a tribute to God? It isn’t spelled out, but my suggestion is that remembrance in the context of the covenant is about remembering to be loyal to him. Third, verse 11 says that there should be no leaven in the mincha, which was a symbol of sin and death. So the tribute Israel brings him should be free of sin, another expression of complete loyalty. Fourth and finally, two kinds of mincha in Leviticus 2 have frankincense mixed with them, an expensive spice that is used as a tribute by the Magi of the east in Matthew 2 when they give it to Jesus. The costly nature of the mincha would have been fit for a king. The other four kinds of mincha would have allowed even the poor to bring tribute to Yahweh.
It is true that all the different kinds of mincha in Leviticus 2 are grain, but that does not mean that the word mincha refers to grain. It does not. It just happens that God prescribes grain to be the thing that would remind them to be loyal to him as they brought offerings to his dwelling place. The mincha is a tribute offering, an expression of commitment to God and a way to remind Israel that they should be loyal to him alone.
