Buried in Leviticus 22's rules about blemished offerings, the Targum Jonathan inserts one of the most beautiful passages in all of Targumic literature—a theology of sacrifice rooted entirely in the merit of the patriarchs.
The Targum says: when Israel has sinned and has no flock to bring, a bullock shall be chosen "in memorial of the righteousness of the elder who came from the east, the sincere one who brought the calf, fat and tender, to Thy Name." This is Abraham, who served a calf to the three angels at Mamre (Genesis 18:7).
A sheep is chosen "in memory of the righteousness of him who was bound as a lamb on the altar, and who stretched forth his neck for Thy Name's sake, while the heavens stooped down and condescended, and Isaac beheld their foundations, and his eyes were blinded by the high things." Isaac saw the foundations of heaven during the Akedah—a mystical vision the Targum uses to explain why Isaac later went blind. He had looked at something no human was meant to see.
A goat is chosen "in memorial of the righteousness of that perfect one who made the savoury meat of the kid, and brought it to his father." Jacob, who deceived Isaac with goat meat, is not condemned but honored—his deception was righteous, and the goat offering commemorates it forever.
The chapter also contains the Targum's version of a divine attribute: "as our Father in heaven is merciful, so shall you be merciful on earth." This formulation—imitating God's mercy—is presented as the reason you must not slaughter a mother animal and her young on the same day.
Priests with impurities face severe consequences: approaching holy things while unclean means being "destroyed with a stroke of death before Me." The Targum raises the stakes: forty seahs of water for purification, sunset required before eating sacred food, and death for noncompliance.