Wafers

Wafers (Hebrew raqiq) were thin, unleavened cakes used in a number of Mosaic offerings and rituals. They appear in the account of the manna, which the Israelites described as tasting like "wafers made with honey" (Exodus 16:31). In the Levitical system, unleavened wafers anointed or spread with oil were prescribed as a meat offering (Leviticus 2:4) and as an accompaniment to certain peace offerings and the consecration of the Nazirite's vow (Numbers 6:15, 19). They also featured in the ordination ceremony of Aaron and his sons (Exodus 29:2, 23; Leviticus 8:26). The wafer's thinness and unleavened character made it suitable for these uses — the absence of leaven signifying purity and the absence of corruption. The same Hebrew term underlies the Passover unleavened bread, connecting all these ritual uses to the theme of purity before God.