Leviticus 3:4

the two kidneys, and the fat … by the loins Between the kidneys and the backbone are thick layers of fat. These may be seen in the carcases of sheep and lambs in butchers" shops; the omentumand the liver are generally removed before they are exposed for sale.

the caul upon the liver Here and in Leviticus 3:10; Leviticus 3:15, Leviticus 4:9; Leviticus 7:4; Exodus 29:13; the caul of the liverExodus 29:22; Leviticus 8:16; Leviticus 8:25; Leviticus 9:19; the caul from the liverLeviticus 9:10. The Heb. word translated -caul" occurs only in these passages, and A.V. has the preposition -above" in all of them. By -caul" is here meant the membrane known as the small omentum, which covers the liver, the reticulum jecorisof Vulg. Jerome probably obtained the meaning from his Hebrew teachers. Mediaeval Jewish commentators interpret in the same way, or, as A.V. mg. renders, -midriff."

But Moore in Enc. Bib.iv. p. 420 bhad expressed his opinion that the lobus caudatusof the liver is the part indicated by the Heb. text. In an Article contributed to Orient. Studien Th. Nöldeke gewidmet(1906) ii. 761 ff. he examined fully the renderings of the LXX. and other versions, quotations from the Mishna and other Jewish authorities, and shewed that the oldest tradition supported this interpretation. The Heb. literally translated is the redundance upon the liver which he shall take away along with the kidneys. Something connected with the liver, but in the nature of an appendage, which can be removed when the kidneys with the fat enclosing them are taken away, is indicated. From the right lobe of the liver of a sheep projects upwards an excrescence like a finger lying close to the right kidney fat, reaching about halfway up the kidney, which can easily be separated from the liver when the kidney with its surrounding fat is removed according to the directions in Leviticus 3:3. It is called (Tal. Bab. Tamid31 a) -the finger of the liver," a more descriptive title than -the nut," given to it by the modern butcher. Anatomists call it lobus caudatus, and it appears to be clearly indicated by the Heb. yôthéreth, redundance, and the directions which imply its proximity to the kidney.

The LXX. translate, ὁ λοβός, and as there are several lobes in the liver, this was by some interpreted to mean the great upper lobe. But Greek writers who refer to divination by means of the liver (Eurip. Electra, 827 f., Aesch. Eumen. 155 f., Prom. Vinc.509 f., and other references in Moore's Article) employ λοβός to denote lobus caudatus, which was observed with special care by the haruspex. Latin writers employ the phrase caput jecoris, and Cicero, de Divin.ii. 13 says that it is regarded as a most unfavourable omen if this part of the liver is not found. When Agesilaus (Xen. Hellenica, iii. 4. 15) desired to know whether the omens were favourable to an advance with his army, the animal's liver was found defective in this respect; whereupon he retreated to the coast. The renderings of Targ. and Peshitto (for which see Moore) confirm the conclusions already drawn.

For the significance of the parts reserved for sacrifice, as the seat of life and passions, see Rel. Sem.2 pp. 379 f. The agreement between Semite, Greek, and the aboriginal Australian as there shewn should be particularly noted.

The description given above applies to the carcase of a sheep as exposed in the shops with the head downwards. The liver with the lobus caudatushas been removed, but the place where it rested against the right kidney can be seen. The -right" is that opposite to the right hand of the person looking at it, and is the right side of the sheep when alive and on its legs; -upwards" would then be -horizontally."

It is interesting to note that earlier English versions observe the distinction of prepositions as in R.V. and though in Exodus 29 they render -the kal of the lyver," they have the word -ab(o)unda(u)nce," with variation of spelling, instead of -kal" in Lev. The Bishops" Bible (1568) has -kall" throughout.