Frying-pan

The frying-pan (Hebrew marhesheth, a "boiler" or "deep pan") was a cooking vessel used in the preparation of grain offerings in the tabernacle and temple ritual. Leviticus 2:7 specifies that the grain offering baked in a frying-pan (or deep pan) was to be made of fine flour with oil, and Leviticus 7:9 confirms that such prepared grain offerings belonged to the priest who offered them. The vessel likely refers to a shallow earthenware or metal pan used for frying rather than the modern deep frying-pan, though the precise form of ancient culinary vessels varies by period and region.

The inclusion of various methods of grain preparation in Leviticus 2 — the oven (verse 4), the griddle (verse 5), and the frying-pan (verse 7) — indicates that the grain offering could take a variety of forms, with the priestly regulations covering each type. The grain offering (minchah) accompanied animal sacrifices and expressed dedication and covenant loyalty to God independent of animal blood, making it accessible to worshippers of limited means.