Research Notes for "The Spirit of Sacrifice"
"24 During the last watch of the night the Lord looked down from the pillar of fire and cloud at the Egyptian army and threw it into confusion." (Exodus 14:24, NIV)
" 34 Then the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 35 Moses could not enter the Tent of Meeting because the cloud had settled upon it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle." (Exodus 40:34-35, NIV)
" 15 On the day the tabernacle, the Tent of the Testimony, was set up, the cloud covered it. From evening till morning the cloud above the tabernacle looked like fire." (Numbers 9:15, NIV)
I will not offer to God that which costs me nothing…
The Angel then commanded Gad to tell David to . . . build an altar . . . on the threshing floor so he might offer appropriate propitiatory sacrifices. To do this it was necessary to acquire the threshing floor from Araunah, a Jebusite who lived just north of Jerusalem. Meanwhile Araunah had seen the Angel (v. 20) so when David approached him Araunah . . . bowed down and offered to give the threshing floor to David without price (vv. 21, 23). David refused his kind offer, however, and insisted that he could not offer anything to the Lord that had cost him nothing (vv. 22, 24). So the king paid Araunah 600 shekels of gold (ca. 15 pounds). However, according to 2 Samuel 24:24 David paid a much smaller amount (50 shekels of silver, ca. 11¼ pounds). This problem is explained by noting that the silver paid for the threshing floor and oxen (2 Sam. 24:24) and that the gold paid for the site, a large plot of ground apparently adjacent to the threshing floor.
21:26-22:1. After David built the altar he offered up burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, the former to plead God's forgiveness of his sin and the latter to speak of the renewal of unbroken covenant relationship which would follow. God's response was favorable as indicated by His answering with fire from heaven.
It was too late to save the 70,000 who had perished (21:14) but Jerusalem itself was spared by David's intercession (v. 27; cf. v. 16).
The chronicler noted that David took this response from the Lord as a sign that that place was now one of special significance. As a result he began to worship there regularly instead of going to Gibeon where the Mosaic tabernacle was located (cf. 16:39). David did not go to Gibeon, the historian says, because he was afraid of the sword of the Angel of the Lord (21:30). This probably means that David, as a result of this whole experience, now knew that Araunah's threshing floor, not Gibeon, was God's choice for the location of central worship. This is confirmed by the next verse (22:1): David solemnly proclaimed that this new site would now be the house of the Lord. When Solomon later built the temple it was on this same piece of land (cf. 2 Chron. 3:1), a place hallowed also because it was the Mount Moriah on which Abraham offered to sacrifice his son (Gen. 22).[1]
" And now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. 2 Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. 3 For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own," (2 Corinthians 8:1-3, NIV)
21:18–21 The place where the plague stopped. Araunah (the Chronicler's version of the name is actually 'Ornan') is one of the original Canaanite inhabitants of Jerusalem (see 11:4–5), but obviously he recognizes the Lord's angel and the Lord's anointed king (21:20–21). Knowing that the honour of the Lord is enhanced, not diminished, by these events, David is quite happy to ask for the use of this pagan's threshing-floor for the site of altar and temple.
The price noted here (21:25) may be for the entire temple site, as against the much smaller price noted in 2 Sa. 24:24 perhaps for the altar site alone. The Lord confirms the rightness of all this by sending fire from heaven (21:26) just as the angel confirmed Gideon's call (Jdg. 6:20–24). A more significant parallel is the fire that falls on the altar when the tabernacle is first set up (Lv. 9:24) and when the temple is finally consecrated (2 Ch. 7:1). The Lord's 'answer' (21:26, 28) explains his plan for the blessing of his people. Here are to be both the house, i.e. the place of the ark, representing divine grace, and also the altar, representing human response (22:1). As with Job, out of Satan's evil intentions comes great good (Jb. 42:12).[2]
They that go forth weeping, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again, rejoicing…
Especially underscore the reality of a free-will offering.
God's original word to Moses was to tell Pharaoh was that the Israelites needed to take a three day journey into the desert in order to "offer sacrifices to the Lord our God.." (Exodus 3:18) Pharaoh tried to get the Israelites to compromise and offer sacrifices "to your God here in the land…" (Exodus 8:25)
Exodus 12:27 – "…tell them, 'It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord…'"
Sacrifices provoked God's presence (Exodus 18:12)
No blood of sacrifice was to be offered to God along with any yeast… (Exodus 34:25)
Jesus commanded the cleansed leper to show himself to the priest and offer the sacrifice that Moses commanded…(Mark 1:44; Luke 5:14)
Joseph and Mary offered sacrifice when Jesus was born (Luke 2:24)
Free-will offerings
"37 (" 'These are the Lord's appointed feasts, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies for bringing offerings made to the Lord by fire—the burnt offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings required for each day. 38 These offerings are in addition to those for the Lord's Sabbaths and in addition to your gifts and whatever you have vowed and all the freewill offerings you give to the Lord.)" (Leviticus 23:37-38, NIV)
"21 "I hate, I despise your religious feasts; I cannot stand your assemblies. 22 Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them. 23 Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps. 24 But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream! 25 "Did you bring me sacrifices and offerings forty years in the desert, O house of Israel?" (Amos 5:21-25, NIV)
In contrast to false gods, the Lord did not need offerings and sacrifices for His food…!
"12 If I were hungry I would not tell you, for the world is mine, and all that is in it. 13 Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats?" (Psalm 50:12-13, NIV)
God does not need our sacrifices and our offerings, but we need to honor Him as Lord and experience His full blessings in our lives.
Harper's Dictionary suggests that Psalms 107 mentions four occasions for which a thank offering would be appropriate (successful passage through the desert, release from prison, recovery from a serious illness, or surviving a storm at sea.
Research Notes
Merriam-Webster Collegiate (11th Edition)
Definition | MW Collegiate Dict. (11th Ed.)
———————
1sac•ri•fice \ˈsa-krə-ˌfīs, also -fəs or -ˌfīz\ n
[ME, fr. AF, fr. L sacrificium, fr. sacr-, sacer + facere to make — more at do] 13c
1 : an act of offering to a deity something precious esp : the killing of a victim on an altar
2 : something offered in sacrifice
3 a : destruction or surrender of something for the sake of something else
b : something given up or lost 〈the sacrifices made by parents〉
4 : loss 〈goods sold at a sacrifice〉
5 : sacrifice hit
———————
2sacrifice vb
-ficed; -fic•ing vt 14c
1 : to offer as a sacrifice
2 : to suffer loss of, give up, renounce, injure, or destroy esp. for an ideal, belief, or end
3 : to sell at a loss
4 : to advance (a base runner) by means of a sacrifice hit
5 : to kill (an animal) as part of a scientific experiment vi
1 : to make or perform the rites of a sacrifice
2 : to make a sacrifice hit in baseball — sac•ri•fic•er n
Louw-Nida
B Offering, Sacrifice (53.16-53.27)
53.16 προσφορά, ᾶς f: that which is offered to God in religious activity—'offering, sacrifice.' οὐκέτι προσφορὰ περὶ ἁμαρτίας 'an offering to take away sins is no longer needed' He 10.18.
53.17 ἀναφέρωc: to offer up someone or something as a sacrifice (a technical term in the sacrificial system)—'to offer, to offer up, to make an offering.' ἀνενέγκας Ἰσαὰκ τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὸ θυσιαστήριον 'having offered up his son Isaac upon the altar' Jas 2.21.
53.18 ἀνάθημα, τος n: that which is dedicated exclusively to the service of deity—'offering.' τινων λεγόντων περὶ τοῦ ἱεροῦ, ὅτι λίθοις καλοῖς καὶ ἀναθήμασιν κεκόσμηται 'when some remarked about the Temple—how beautiful it is with its stones and offerings' (literally ' … that it was adorned with beautiful stones and offerings') Lk 21.5.
53.19 θύωa: to slaughter an animal in a ritual manner as a sacrifice to deity—'to sacrifice, to make a sacrifice.' ταύρους καὶ στέμματα ἐπὶ τοὺς πυλῶνας ἐνέγκας σὺν τοῖς ὄχλοις ἤθελεν θύειν 'he brought bulls and flowers to the gate, and he and the crowds wanted to make a sacrifice' Ac 14.13.
53.20 θυσία, ας f; σφάγιον, ου n: that which is offered as a sacrifice—'sacrifice.'
θυσία: παρέδωκεν ἑαυτὸν ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν προσφορὰν καὶ θυσίαν τῷ θεῷ 'he gave himself for us as an offering and sacrifice to God' Eph 5.2.σφάγιον: μὴ σφάγια καὶ θυσίας προσηνέγκατέ μοι 'it was not to me that you offered slain animals and sacrifices' Ac 7.42. The terms σφάγια and θυσίας semantically reinforce one another and are here combined essentially for emphasis.
53.21 ἱερόθυτος, ον: pertaining to being sacrificed to a deity—'what has been sacrificed, having been sacrificed to a deity.' ἐὰν δέ τις ὑμῖν εἴπῃ, Τοῦτο ἱερόθυτόν ἐστιν, μὴ ἐσθίετε 'if someone says to you, This food is something which has been sacrificed to a deity, do not eat it' 1 Cor 10.28.
In some cultures sacrificing is not practiced, and even the idea of killing an animal as a gift to a deity seems not only strange but even abhorrent. In such languages no special term is to be found for sacrifice, and it may therefore be necessary to use a phrase such as 'to kill an animal and give it to God' or 'to kill an animal in honor of God.' In such cases, however, it is obviously necessary to have some kind of supplementary note or glossary statement which will attempt to explain the significance and function of sacrifice in the Bible.
53.22 κορβᾶν (a borrowing from Hebrew): that which has been set aside as a gift to be given later to God, but which is still at the disposal of the owner—'gift to God, offering, corban.' ὑμεῖς δὲ λέγετε, Ἐὰν εἴπῃ ἄνθρωπος τῷ πατρὶ ἢ τῇ μητρί, Κορβᾶν … οὐκέτι ἀφίετε αὐτὸν οὐδὲν ποιῆσαι τῷ πατρὶ ἢ τῇ μητρί 'you teach that if a person says to his father or mother, This is corban … he is excused from helping his father or mother' Mk 7.11–12. In some languages it is important to translate 'corban' as 'what I have promised to later give to God.'
53.23 ἀπαρχήa, ῆς f: the first portion of something which has been set aside and offered to God before the rest of the substance or objects can be used—'first portion, first offering.' εἰ δὲ ἡ ἀπαρχὴ ἁγία, καὶ τὸ φύραμα 'if the first offering (or 'first portion') is consecrated, then so is the whole loaf' Ro 11.16.
53.24 ὁλοκαύτωμα, τος n: an animal which has been sacrificed to God and completely burned up on the altar—'whole burnt offering.' ὁλοκαυτώματα καὶ περὶ ἁμαρτίας οὐκ εὐδόκησας 'you are not pleased with the offering of animals burned whole to take away sins' He 10.6.
53.25 θυμιάω; θυμίαμαb, τος n: to burn aromatic substances as an offering to God—'to offer incense, to burn incense, incense offering.'
θυμιάω: ἔλαχε τοῦ θυμιᾶσαι 'he was chosen by lot to burn the incense offering' Lk 1.9.
θυμίαμαb : πᾶν τὸ πλῆθος ἦν τοῦ λαοῦ προσευχόμενον ἔξω τῇ ὥρᾳ τοῦ θυμιάματος 'all the people were praying outside during the hour of the incense offering' Lk 1.10.
53.26 ἄρτοι τῆς προθέσεως: (an idiom, literally 'bread of the placing forth') bread which was set out as an offering in the presence of God in the Tabernacle and later in the Temple—'bread offered to God, consecrated bread.' εἰσῆλθεν εἰς τὸν οἶκον τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ τοὺς ἄρτους τῆς προθέσεως ἔφαγον 'he went into the house of God, and they ate the bread that had been offered to God' Mt 12.4. In some languages ἄρτοι τῆς προθέσεως is rendered as 'bread placed before God' or 'bread placed in the presence of God.'
53.27 σπένδω: to pour out an offering as an act of worship or ritual observance—'to pour a libation, to pour out an offering.' ἀλλὰ εἰ καὶ σπένδομαι ἐπὶ τῇ θυσίᾳ 'but if I am to be poured out as an offering upon the sacrifice' Php 2.17. In some languages it may be almost meaningless to speak of 'a person being poured out,' and therefore it may be more appropriate to translate this expression in Php 2.17 as 'but if my blood is to be poured out upon the sacrifice.' In Php 2.17 and in 2 Tm 4.6 (the other occurrence of σπένδω in the NT), the contexts are highly figurative.[3]
Tyndale Bible Dictionary
OFFERINGS AND SACRIFICES Major ritual expressions of religious life with accompanying rites, such as libations, effusions, and sacred meals. The ideology expressed in Israel's ritual complex made its religion unique in the ancient Near East. The concepts of OT ritual also underlie NT theology with regard to sin and reconciliation to God through the atoning death of Jesus Christ.
Performance and Order of Sacrifices The main source for a description of the correct performance of sacrificial ritual is the opening section of Leviticus (Lv 1–7). It consists of two separate parts. The first (1:1–6:7) is didactic, dealing with two categories of sacrifice: those of a "pleasing odor," namely, the burnt (1:1–17), the grain (2:1–16), and the peace offerings (3:1–17); and the expiatory sacrifices, namely, the sin (4:1–5:13) and the guilt or trespass offerings (5:14–6:7). Attention is paid to the minute details of each ritual, and they are grouped according to their logical or conceptual associations.
The grain (or cereal) offering follows the burnt offering because it always accompanied it in actual practice (Nm 15:1–21; chs 28–29); it also went with the peace offering (Lv 7:12–14; Nm 15:3–4). Special emphasis is placed on burning the inward parts of a sacrifice on the altar to make a "pleasing odor to the Lord" (Lv 1:9, 17; 2:2, 9, 12; 3:5, 11, 16). When the Lord smelled the pleasing odor (Gn 8:21), it was a sign of divine favor; refusal indicated God's displeasure (Lv 26:31). The officiating priest evidently knew how to read the signs and would tell the offerer whether his sacrifice had been accepted (1 Sm 26:19; cf. Am 5:21–23).
The sin and guilt offerings were expiatory (Lv 4:1–6:7, 20). The situations requiring such offerings are listed, and special emphasis is laid on the handling of the blood in the ritual.
The second major section in this passage (Lv 6:8–7:38) stresses the administrative details for the various offerings. This section consists of a series of "instructions" for each type of offering pertaining to the distribution of the sacrificial materials. Some went to the priest(s), some went to the offerer, and others were burned on the altar or disposed of outside the camp. Those sacrifices designated as "most holy" were to be eaten only by qualified members of the priesthood (Lv 2:3, 10; 10:12–17; 14:13; Nm 18:9).
The burnt offering is discussed first because it was entirely consumed on the altar (and thus not eaten by anyone). After it, there follow the sacrifices distributed to the officiants (Lv 6:17, 26, 29; 7:1, 6), and at the end come the peace offerings, a significant portion of which was returned to the offender.
The order in which the sacrifices are treated in this passage also corresponds to their relative frequency in the rituals of the sacred calendar (Nm 28:19; 2 Chr 31:3; Ez 45:17). This would be particularly important for the priests and Levites on duty at the temple because they were responsible for the logistics of the daily sacrificial ritual, especially on the high holidays; management of the temple storehouse was a formidable task (1 Chr 23:28–32; 26:15, 20–22; 2 Chr 13:10–11; 30:3–19; 34:9–11).
Each section concerning a particular offering concludes with the logistic or administrative details peculiar to it. There then follows a summary of the matters treated thus far (Lv 7:7–10), and the section concludes with a treatment of the peace offerings (vv 11–36). The latter did not play a role in the sacred calendar except during the Feast of Weeks (23:19–20); on all other occasions, with the two exceptions of the Nazirite vow and the installation of the priesthood, peace offerings were purely voluntary sacrifices and thus not subject to any fixed bookkeeping.
In other biblical contexts, the sacrifices are listed according to the same "bookkeeping" or "administrative" order: burnt, grain, and drink; sin (or guilt); and sometimes peace offerings. An example is the roster of donations made by the tribal leaders for dedication of the altar (Nm 7). The information is organized like an everyday ledger from the temple storehouse; the summary classifies the animals as burnt, grain, sin, and peace offerings (vv 87–88) in accordance with the respective entries from each donor (vv 15–17). The Levitical scribe had two purposes for such a record: to credit the offerers and to record the treasures and food supplies coming in. Much of the foodstuffs being given as offerings was actually apportioned to the officiating priests (Nm 18:8–11; 2 Chr 31:4–19).
When prescriptions were made as to the type and number of offerings to be brought (e.g., Nm 15:24), the "bookkeeping" order is generally followed. This was true of the calendarial sacrifices; burnt and grain offerings and libations were listed, followed by a sin offering for each of the following: New Moon (Nm 28:11–15), each day of Passover (vv 19–22), the Festival of Weeks (Lv 23:18–19; 28:27–30), Trumpets (29:2–5), Day of Atonement (vv 8–11), and each day of the Feast of Tabernacles (vv 12–16).
For sacrifices required in specific cases, the instructions as to what offerings to bring follow this sequence (e.g., the purification of a woman after giving birth, Lv 12:6–8). Note also the offerings given at the successful termination of a Nazirite vow; the Nazirite brought burnt, sin, and peace offerings (with some special grain offerings, Nm 6:14–15). However, the priest conducted the actual ritual according to a different order; the sin offering was made first, followed by the burnt offering and finally the peace offering (vv 16–17). In the case of an incomplete vow, the first step was to offer a sin offering and then a burnt offering to renew the vow (v 11). The reconsecration of the Nazirite required a separate guilt offering—a distinct ritual act (v 12).
The description of the offerings made by the prince of Israel in the latter days presents the same contrast between the two orders of sacrifices. On festival holidays the prince brought burnt, grain, and drink offerings, but he offered them as sin, grain, burnt, and peace offerings (Ez 45:17). This second order of sacrifices in which the sin offering precedes the burnt offering was also followed in the rededication of the altar (43:18–27).
The same "procedural" sequence of sacrifices appears in other instances: the purification of the leper—guilt and sin offerings (Lv 14:19), followed by a burnt offering (vv 12–20); the man with a discharge—sin and burnt offerings (15:15); likewise the woman with a discharge (v 30). The same order is followed for the sacrifices on the Day of Atonement (16:3–6, 11, 15, 24).
The book of Leviticus furnishes two examples of the proper order in which sacrifices were offered. One is the ordination of Aaron and his sons. The sin offering came first and then the burnt offering (Ex 29:10–18; Lv 8:14–21). The focal point in this ritual was the sacrifice of ordination, or literally "installation," a special form of peace offering (Ex 29:19–34; Lv 8:22–29). The second passage is the formal inauguration of the sacrificial system at the tabernacle (Lv 9). The sacrifices for Aaron were sin and burnt offerings, followed by those for the people: sin, burnt, grain, and peace offerings (9:7–22).
The same sequence is followed at the cleansing and restoration of the temple in Jerusalem conducted by King Hezekiah (2 Chr 29:20–36). A great sin offering was first, followed by the burnt offerings accompanied by music and song. Then the king proclaimed that the people had committed themselves to the Lord; in this new state of purity they could now share in the sacrifices of devotion (burnt offerings) and thanksgiving (peace offerings).
The procedural order of the sacrifices embodies the OT ideology of how God may be approached. First, atonement for sin had to be made and then total consecration of self; these are symbolized by the sin and/or guilt offerings and the burnt and grain offerings, respectively. When these conditions were met, the offerer could express his continued devotion by more burnt offerings and also take part in the fellowship sacrifices (peace offerings) in which he himself got a large portion of the slaughtered animal (to share with his friends and the poor in his community; Dt 12:17–19).
Description of Sacrifices The ensuing description of the different types of sacrifice will treat them in accordance with the "procedural" order, that is, as symbolic stages in one's approach to God.
Expiation These two offerings were required for making atonement for sins and trespasses:
1. Sin offering (Lv 4:1–5:13; 6:24–30). Different animals were specified in accordance with the rank of the offerer. A high priest had to bring a young bull (4:3), as did the congregation as a whole (v 14), except when the matter was a ritual infraction (Nm 15:24). A ruler would bring a male goat (Lv 4:23), but a commoner could provide a female goat (v 28; Nm 15:27) or a lamb (Lv 4:32). If he was indigent, he could offer two turtledoves or two young pigeons (one of which would be a burnt offering; 5:7), or if he was extremely poor, he might even substitute a tenth of an ephah of fine flour (Lv 5:11–13; cf. Heb 9:22).
Sacrificial Offering According to OT law, a lamb or other animal was sacrificed in order that God's people could be forgiven of their sins.
The offerer brought the animal to the entrance of the temple court and laid his hand on it (Lv 4:4). He did not confess his sin in this act because the animal was not being sent away (cf. the goat for Azazel, 16:21); rather, he was identifying himself with the sacrifice. The offerer had to kill the animal on the north side of the altar (4:24, 29). The animals were never slaughtered on the altar proper. The officiating priest collected the blood; when it was a bull for himself or for the congregation, he sprinkled some of the blood before the veil inside the tent of meeting and put some on the horns of the incense altar (vv 5–7, 16–18). On the Day of Atonement he brought the sacrificial blood for himself and for the people into the Holy of Holies (16:14–15). From all other animals, the blood was applied to the horns of the altar of burnt offering (4:25, 30, 34); the blood of fowl was sprinkled on the side of the altar (5:9). Finally, the remaining blood from any offering was poured or drained out at the base of the altar (4:7).
The choicest of the internal organs, namely, the fatty tissue over and on the entrails, the two kidneys and their fat, and the appendage to the liver, were all offered to the Lord on the altar (Lv 4:8–10). The carcass and the other entrails were burned outside the camp when it was a bull for the priest or for the people. This was also true of the bull for the ordination of the priests (Ex 29:10–14; Lv 8:14–17). Otherwise, the priest who conducted the rites received the edible flesh as his portion. He had to eat it within the temple area, and its preparation was governed by strict rules of ritual purity (Lv 6:25–30; cf. 10:16–20). A sin offering of one male goat was presented at each of the sacred holidays: the New Moon (Nm 28:15), each day of Passover (vv 22–24), the Festival of Weeks (v 30), the Festival of Trumpets (29:5), the Day of Atonement (v 11), and each day of the Feast of Tabernacles (vv 16, 19). The high priest also offered a bull for himself and then sacrificed one of the two goats on the Day of Atonement. Certain purification rites required lesser sin offerings, namely, lambs or birds: childbirth (Lv 12:6–8), cleansing from leprosy (14:12–14, 19–22), and abscesses and hemorrhages (15:14–15, 29–30) or after defilement while under a vow (Nm 6:10–11).
2. Guilt offering (Lv 5:14–6:7; 7:1–7). The guilt or trespass offering was a special kind of sin offering (cf. 5:7) required whenever someone had been denied his rightful due. Reparation of the valued amount that had been defrauded had to be made, plus a fine of one-fifth (5:16; 6:5). The animal was usually a ram (5:15, 18; 6:6). The cleansed leper and the defiled Nazirite had to bring a male lamb (Lv 14:12, 21; Nm 6:12). The offerer apparently handled the sacrifice as he would a sin offering, but the priest had to sprinkle the blood around the altar (Lv 7:2). Viscera were burned on the altar as usual (vv 3–5). Some of the blood was then applied to the tip of the cleansed leper's right ear and to his right thumb and big toe (14:14). Again the priest received most of the animal's flesh for food (7:6–7; 14:13). A guilt offering was required whenever another party had suffered some loss. Ritual infractions, such as eating the "holy things" without proper authorization (5:14–19; 22:14), called for payment of the sum that should have gone to the Lord plus the fine of one-fifth that went to the priest (Lv 5:16; 2 Kgs 12:16). The leper belongs in this category, since during the time of his infection he was unable to render service to God (Lv 14:12–18). The same applies to the Nazirite who had suffered defilement while he was set apart to God by the vow; thus a guilt offering was required (Nm 6:12). Violation of another person's property rights could be expiated only by the guilt offering and its additional one-fifth. Such matters included cheating on deposits or security, robbery or oppression, failing to report the find of some lost property, or false swearing or failing to testify (Lv 6:1–5). Intercourse with a betrothed slave girl was also a violation of property rights (19:20–22). If the offended party was no longer living and had no surviving kinsmen, the payment went to the priest (Nm 5:5–10).
Consecration Offerings These rituals usually come to mind when one hears the word "offering." They represent acts of personal commitment that must accompany the repentance expressed in the sin and guilt offerings. They were also a prerequisite for the fellowship or communal sacrifices that might follow.
1. Burnt offering (Lv 1:3–17; 6:8–13). The burnt offering could be a bull, a sheep, or a bird. The offerer presented the animal, laid his hand on it, and killed it on the north side of the altar. The bird was simply given to the priest. The latter collected the blood, presented it before God, and then sprinkled it around the altar. When the offering was a bird, he wrung off its head and drained the blood at the side of the altar. Though the slaughtering and sprinkling of the blood relates the burnt offering to the expiatory sacrifices of the previous section, the main emphasis here is on killing the animal, washing its unclean parts, and then carefully arranging all of the pieces on the altar. All of this was then consumed on the altar as a pleasing odor to the Lord. Since burnt offerings were offered morning and evening, a good supply of wood by the altar was necessary. The officiating priest, dressed in proper garments, had to keep the fire burning continuously (6:8–13).
Burnt offerings played a prominent role in the sacrifices of the ritual calendar. The continual burnt offering was made twice a day, a male lamb morning and evening (Ex 29:38–42; Nm 28:1–8). Two additional lambs were sacrificed each Sabbath (Nm 28:9–10).
Except for these daily offerings, a sin offering of one goat was usually made along with the burnt offerings on the following holidays: For the New Moon at the beginning of each month, two young bulls, one ram, and seven male lambs were offered (Nm 28:11–14). The same were required for each day of the Passover festival (vv 19–24) and again on the Feast of Weeks (vv 6–29). On the Festival of Trumpets and the Day of Atonement, the requirement was one bull, one ram, and seven lambs (29:2–4).
The great Feast of Tabernacles was characterized by a series of elaborate burnt offerings, plus one goat per day as a sin offering. On the first day, 13 young bulls, 2 rams, and 14 male lambs were offered (Nm 29:12–16). Each successive day, the number of bulls was decreased by one until on the seventh day there were only seven (the rams and lambs remained the same; 29:17–25). On the eighth day the animals required for Trumpets and Atonement were offered, namely, one bull, one ram, and seven lambs.
Certain rituals of purification also required burnt offerings in addition to sin offerings: after childbirth (Lv 12:6–8), abscesses (15:14–15), and discharges (vv 29–30); or after defilement while under a Nazirite vow (Nm 6:10–11). Though it is not stated that grain offerings were required in these cases, they certainly were for the cleansing from leprosy (Lv 14:10, 19–22, 31) and the completion of the Nazirite vow (Nm 6:14–16).
2. Grain (Cereal) offering (Lv 2; 6:14–23). The Hebrew term referring to this particular offering means "gift," or "offering," including animals (Gn 4:3–5; Jgs 6:18; 1 Sm 2:17). But in the specific sacrificial context it signifies a combination of fine flour, olive oil, and frankincense that could be made up in the form of baked loaves, wafers, or morsels. The offering of firstfruits was to be crushed heads of new grain (Lv 2:14). No leaven or honey was permitted on the cakes, although those same commodities could be accepted as a firstfruit offering. They would not go to the altar but were given to the priest. The offerer had to bring the prepared loaves or wafers to the temple. The priest would burn one handful on the altar as its "memorial portion" (v 2), keeping the remainder for his own food (6:16; 7:9). But when the priest was making a grain offering on his own behalf, he burnt it all on the altar (6:22–23).
A grain offering was usually given with every burnt offering, especially those pertaining to the sacred calendar (Nm 28–29). The amounts of flour and oil were set according to the animal being sacrificed: three-tenths of an ephah of flour and one-half a hin of oil for a bull, two-tenths ephah and one-third hin for a ram, and one-tenth ephah plus one-fourth hin for a lamb (15:2–10). Other happy occasions for a grain offering included the cleansing of a leper (Lv 14:10, 20–21, 31; unspecified quantity of grain with a bird) and the successful consummation of a Nazirite vow (Nm 6:13–15).
Peace offerings were invariably followed by grain offerings (Lv 7:12–14; Nm 15:4). The priest received one of each pair of cakes or wafers. The remainder was returned to the offerer to be eaten with the flesh of the sacrificial animal at a place of his choice.
A special case where such offering was used was the one-tenth of an ephah of barley meal required in the jealousy ritual. It was to have no oil or frankincense (Nm 5:15, 18, 25–26). A very poor individual was permitted to bring one-tenth of an ephah of fine flour without oil or frankincense as a sin offering (Lv 5:11–13).
3. Drink offering (Nm 15:1–10). The standard libation was one-fourth of a hin of wine for a lamb, one-third for a ram, and one-half for a bull. The wine (Ex 29:40), also called "strong drink" (Nm 28:7), is probably an intentional substitute for the blood used by other nations (Ps 16:4). The libation was classed as a "pleasing odor" offering (Nm 15:7). As with the burnt offering, the entire drink offering was expended; nothing was given to the priest (28:7).
Drink offerings accompanied the daily offering (Ex 29:40–41; Nm 28:7) and the Sabbath offering (Nm 28:9), as well as the New Moon festival. Reference is also made to them in connection with the second and following days of the Feast of Tabernacles (29:18, 21); for the first day their absence is probably unintentional. The same might hold true for the Passover, Firstfruits, and Feast of Trumpets (Nm 28:16–29:11; cf. Ez 45:11). A libation was required for the rites concluding a Nazirite vow (Nm 6:17) but not for cleansing a leper (Lv 14:10–20).
Fellowship Offerings These sacrifices were voluntary on the part of the offerer and generally not imposed by regulations except for the Nazirite (Nm 6:17) and the Feast of Weeks (Lv 23:19–20). An offerer who had already fulfilled the ritual requirements for atonement and personal consecration was permitted to make a fellowship offering. Burnt offerings often accompanied the fellowship sacrifices as a further expression of devotion.
1. Peace offering (Lv 3; 7:11–36; Am 5:22). This is the basic class of all fellowship or communal offerings; the others are simply subclasses of the peace offering. In terms of holiness, or restrictedness, they were not so rigidly confined as the other offerings. Animals from the herd or flock, male or female (Lv 3:1, 6, 12), were permitted. The usual stipulation of freedom from blemish was in force, except in the case of the freewill offering, in which the animal could have one limb longer than the other (22:23). Unleavened cakes were also required, at least for the thank (7:12–13) and Nazirite (Nm 6:15–19) offerings. Each of these three types of peace offerings will be discussed below, with their special features.
The first parts of the ritual—the presentation and laying on of the hand—were identical to those of the other sacrifices. However, the animal was slaughtered at the door of the sanctuary courtyard and not on the north side of the altar (Lv 3:1–2, 7–8, 12–13; 7:29–30). The priest collected the blood and tossed it against the altar as he did with the burnt offering (3:2, 8, 13). The choice viscera were offered up as a "pleasing odor" (3:3–5, 6–11, 14–16).
The priest also received a certain portion of the offering. He was allowed to eat it in any ritually clean place and to share it with his family (Lv 7:14, 30–36; Nm 6:20), in contrast to his portion of other sacrifices, which he had to eat somewhere in the temple compound (Nm 18:10–11). He received one of the cakes and the breast as a wave offering and the right thigh as a contribution for the offerer. This latter is the so-called "heave offering"; the technical term developed from a root signifying "to be high" and meaning "that which is lifted up." The heave offering did not really represent a special kind of ritual ceremony.
The ritual act of the peace offering culminated with a fellowship meal. Except for those parts on the altar or given to the priest, the body of the animal was returned to the man who offered it. He had to prepare it as a communal meal for himself, for his family, and for the Levite in his community (Dt 12:12, 18–19). This would have to be at the official sanctuary (Dt 12:6–7, 11–12, 15–19; cf. 1 Sm 1:3–4) and the participants had to observe strict rules of purity (Lv 7:19–21; 19:5–8). It may be contrasted with the ritual slaughtering of animals for a banquet that was permitted at any local altar (Dt 12:16, 20–22). The flesh of the thank offering had to be eaten on the same day of the sacrifice (Lv 7:15), while that of the votive or freewill offerings could be finished off on the following day (vv 16–18). Whatever remained then had to be burned before the time limit expired.
Only three times is there a specific demand for a peace offering: in the Feast of Weeks (Lv 23:19–20), upon completion of a Nazirite vow (Nm 6:17–20), and at the installation of the priesthood (Ex 29:19–22, 28). Other public ritual occasions included the inauguration of the temple (1 Kgs 8:63; 2 Chr 7:5). Events on a national level that evoked the peace offering were the successful conclusion of a military campaign (1 Sm 11:15), the end of a famine or pestilence (2 Sm 24:25), confirmation of a candidate to the throne (1 Kgs 1:9, 19), or a time of religious revival (2 Chr 29:31–36). On the local level, they were offered at the annual family reunion (1 Sm 20:6) or other festive occasions, such as the harvest of the firstfruits (Ex 22:29–31; 1 Sm 9:11–14, 22–24; 16:4–5).
2. Wave offering. The first portion of the peace offering was "waved" before the Lord to signify that the priest was eating it as a representative of God (the actual motion evidently resembled the wielding of a saw or a staff, Is 10:15). The same technical term, "wave offering," was also used for other kinds of offering: precious metals donated for making the cultic artifacts (Ex 35:22; 38:29) and the guilt offering of the cleansed leper (Lv 14:12).
3. Freewill offering. These gifts, brought to the holy convocations that took place three times per year (Ex 23:16; 34:20; Dt 16:10, 16–17; 2 Chr 35:8; Ezr 3:5), were voluntary (Lv 7:16; 22:18, 21–23; 23:28; Nm 15:3; 29:39; Dt 12:6, 17). Like the voluntary offering, the freewill offering could be a burnt rather than a peace offering (Lv 22:17–24; Ez 46:12). If it was the latter, the flesh could be eaten on the second day but must be burned before the third (Lv 7:16–17). Unlike some other peace offerings, the animal being sacrificed could have one limb longer than the other (22:23).
4. Installation offering. This Hebrew term refers to the settings of precious stones (Ex 25:7; 35:9, 27; 1 Chr 29:2), so "installation" seems an appropriate translation. It had to do with "filling the hand," a ritual act that consecrated someone to divine service (Ex 28:41; cf. 32:29) and required ritual purity and spiritual devotion (2 Chr 29:31). The details of the original ceremony at the installation of the first priest is described in two passages (Ex 29:19–34; Lv 8:22–32).
See also Atonement; Cleanness and Uncleanness, Regulations Concerning; Feasts and Festivals of Israel; Tabernacle; Temple.[4]
Harper's Bible Dictionary (Extract from article on "Worship")
worship, the attitude and acts of reverence to a deity. The term 'worship' in the ot translates the Hebrew word meaning 'to bow down, prostrate oneself,' a posture indicating reverence and homage given to a lord, whether human or divine. The concept of worship is expressed by the term 'serve.' In general, the worship given to God was modeled after the service given to human sovereigns; this was especially prominent in pagan religions. In these the deity's image inhabited a palace (temple) and had servants (priests) who supplied food (offered sacrifices), washed and anointed and clothed it, scented the air with incenses, lit lamps at night, and guarded the doors to the house. Worshipers brought offerings and tithes to the deity, said prayers and bowed down, as one might bring tribute and present petitions to a king. Indeed the very purpose of human existence, in Mesopotamian thought, was to provide the gods with the necessities of life.
Although Israelite worship shared many of these external forms, even to calling sacrifices 'the food of God' (e.g., Lev. 21:6), its essence was quite different. As the prophets pointed out, God could not be worshiped only externally. To truly honor God, it was necessary to obey his laws, the moral and ethical ones as well as ritual laws. To appear before God with sacrifices while flouting his demands for justice was to insult him (cf. Isa. 1:11-17; Amos 5:21-22). God certainly did not need the sacrifices for food (Ps. 50:12-13); rather sacrifice and other forms of worship were offered to honor God as king.
Sacrifice: Ideal Israelite worship is depicted in the Priestly instructions of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers. Its most prominent feature is sacrifice. Sacrifices were brought as gifts to God; the Hebrew term for cereal offering also means 'present' (cf. Gen. 32:19, where Jacob offers a large present to Esau to win his favor) or 'tribute' (e.g., 2 Sam. 8:2). In addition, the blood of the sin and guilt offerings was used to cleanse the sanctuary.
The most important part of any animal sacrifice was the disposal of the blood at the altar. Whether dashed against its sides, or smeared on its horns, this ritual act made the sacrifice valid; in fact, it distinguished sacrifice from mere slaughter. Leviticus 17 requires all animals eligible as offerings to be sacrificed, rather than simply slaughtered (see vv. 3-4). In addition, the animal's suet (the hard fat on the entrails) and kidneys belonged to God and therefore had to be burned on the altar (Lev. 3:16). Only a priest could perform these essential acts since only he could officiate at the altar (Lev. 3:5, 11). In exchange for his services, the priest received some portion of the sacrifice.
Cattle, sheep, goats, doves, and pigeons were the only kinds of animals that could be offered, and vegetable offerings used wheat, barley, olive oil, wine, and frankincense. All offerings were salted (Lev. 2:13; cf. Ezek. 43:24). Sacrificial animals had to be unblemished; that is, they could not be diseased or injured or castrated (see Lev. 22:17-25).
The burnt offering (Lev. 1) was the commonest and most general sacrifice. Appropriate for atonement or thanksgiving, its purpose, basically, was to win God's favor. It was probably the oldest kind of sacrifice (mentioned throughout the Bible) and played a major role in public worship (Num. 28-29) and rites of cleansing (Lev. 12:6, 8; 14:19, 22; 15:15, 30; 16:24). The animal offered had to be male (except birds). The animal was entirely burned on the altar, except for the hide, which went to the priest (Lev. 7:8).
The peace offering (Lev. 3) was brought when one wished to eat meat. It could be a bull or a cow, or a sheep or a goat (male or female). The officiating priest received the right thigh, while the animal's breast was shared by all the priests (Lev. 7:31-34). The person bringing the sacrifice received the rest of the animal, which had to be eaten within one or two days (Lev. 7:15; 19:6-8).
The peace offering was further subdivided, according to purpose, into the thank offering, free-will offering, and votive offering (Lev. 7:11-18). Psalm 107 mentions four occasions for which a thank offering would be appropriate: successful passage through the desert, release from prison, recovery from a serious illness, or surviving a storm at sea. The votive offering was given to repay a vow (cf. 2 Sam. 15:7-8), while the free-will offering needed no special occasion. These offerings were distinguished ritually, in that the thank offering required different kinds of breads to accompany it (Lev. 7:12) and had to be eaten in one day, whereas the votive offering and the free-will offering could be left over one night and finished on the following day. Under no circumstances could a sacrifice be eaten after the second day (Lev. 7:15-18).
The ordination offering was a special type of peace offering, whose blood was used as part of the ritual ordaining the high priest. Like the thank offering, it had a bread accompaniment and had to be eaten on the same day that it was offered (Exod. 29:19-28, 31-34; Lev. 8:22-29, 31-32).
The term 'sin offering' is somewhat misleading. The purpose of this sacrifice (Lev. 4-5:13) was not to atone for any kind of sin, as the name seems to imply. Crimes against other people were dealt with by appropriate punishments that did not involve sacrifice, while deliberate crimes against God (done 'with a high hand') could not be sacrificially atoned for at all (Num. 15:30-31). Rather, the sin offering was used to cleanse the sanctuary of impurity. For this reason it was regularly offered at festivals (Num. 28:15, 22, 30; 29:5, 11, 16, 19). As a private offering, the sin offering (or, more properly, the purification offering) was brought when a person had unwittingly violated a prohibition (Lev. 4:2) or for rites of cleansing (Lev. 12:6; 14:19, 22; 15:15, 30; 16:3, 5; Num. 6:14, 16), or when one had forgotten to cleanse oneself (Lev. 5:2-3), or failed to fulfill a vow (Lev. 5:4), or had not responded to a public adjuration (Lev. 5:1). When both the sin offering and the burnt offering were to be offered, the sin offering always came first; the altar had to be cleansed before other sacrifices could be offered on it (cf. Lev. 9:7-21; 14:19).
The animals used for the private sin offering varied with the status of the offender. The high priest or community as a whole offered a bull; a ruler offered a male goat, while a lay person brought a female goat or a ewe. The ritual also varied: when the community (or the high priest who represented it) had transgressed, the sanctuary itself was defiled; it was cleansed by sprinkling some of the bull's blood in front of the sanctuary veil and smearing it on the horns of the incense altar (Lev. 4:5-7, 16-18). The bull's meat could not be eaten, so it was burned outside the camp (Lev. 4:12, 21). In the case of an individual, whether ruler or commoner, only the outer altar was defiled. It was cleansed by smearing the blood of the goat or ewe on the altar's horns, and the priest received the meat of the animal. In certain cases there was a provision for a less costly sin offering if the person were poor (Lev. 5:7-13; 12:8; 14:21-22).
The guilt offering (Lev. 5:14-6:7) was brought when one had desecrated some holy thing (Lev. 5:14) or perjured oneself (Lev. 6:2-5). Its purpose was the reparation of damages. The sacrifice consisted of a ram, offered in a manner similar to the peace offering (Lev. 7:2-7), but with the necessary addition of the offerer's confession of guilt, and the repayment of damages, plus a twenty percent fine. The priest who offered it received the meat (Lev. 7:7). Uniquely, this sacrifice could even be paid for in money (Lev. 5:18; cf. 2 Kings 12:16). It was always a private sacrifice.
In two special cases, that of the healed leper being cleansed and that of a Nazirite whose vow was desecrated by accidental contact with a corpse (which made one impure), the guilt offering was a male lamb (Lev. 14:12, 21; Num. 6:9, 12). Furthermore, in the leper's case, the blood of the guilt offering was also applied to the person's extremities as part of the cleansing ritual (Lev. 14:12-14, 25).
The cereal offering (Lev. 2) was a vegetable counterpart to the burnt offerings. It could be raw, in which case frankincense was added, or cooked in various ways (baked, boiled, fried), but it could not be leavened or sweetened (Lev. 2:11). Oil was present whether the offering was cooked or raw. The flour used was usually wheat (semolina), but barley flour or parched grain could also be offered (Lev. 2:14). When the cereral offering was a poor person's substitute for the animal sin offering, the flour was offered dry, without oil and incense (Lev. 5:11; cf. also Num. 5:15). Only a handful of the cereal offering (together with all the incense, if present) was burned on the altar; the remainder went to the priest (Lev. 2:2-3; 6:14-16). The sole exception was the priest's cereal offering; it was entirely burned since a priest could not profit from his own offering (Lev. 6:23).
According to Numbers 15 the burnt offering and the peace offering were normally accompanied by cereal offerings (mixed with oil) and wine libations ('drink offerings'). The amount of grain and wine depended on the type of animal being offered: the larger the species, the more grain and wine.
Temple Ritual: The daily ritual was as follows: every morning, the ashes on the sacrificial altar were cleared off and the fire was stoked (Lev. 6:10-13), and the daily burnt offering, a yearling male lamb, plus its accompanying cereal and drink offerings, was offered (Lev. 6:8-13; Exod. 29:38-42; Num. 28:3-8). The high priest, dressed in his priestly garments (Exod. 28:29, 30, 35, 38), entered the sanctuary, trimmed the oil lamps, and offered a specially formulated incense on the incense altar inside (Exod. 30:7-9, 34-36). Outside, he would offer a special cereal offering, composed of wheaten cakes cooked on a griddle (Lev. 6:19-23). In the evening, a second lamb was offered like the morning one, and the high priest again entered the sanctuary to trim the oil lamps (Lev. 24:1-4; cf. 1 Sam. 3:3) and burn incense. He would also offer the second half of the high-priestly cereal offering.
Such was the daily routine. Every Sabbath day two additional lambs were offered, like the daily ones (Num. 28:9-10). Also, the high priest would replace the twelve loaves of bread (the Bread of Presence), which were arranged in two rows on the table inside the sanctuary, with frankincense on top (Lev. 24:5-9; cf. 1 Sam. 21:1-6). At the beginning of each month (the new moon) and at all the festivals the priests blew trumpets (Num. 10:8, 10) and additional sacrifices were offered, both burnt offerings and a sin offering (which was always a male goat; see Num. 28-29). Festival days (or the beginning and end of week-long festivals) were days of rest, like the Sabbath (Lev. 23:7-8, 21, 24, 27, 35, 36).
On the Day of Atonement the people rested and fasted, and the high priest, wearing special garments for the occasion, performed the Day of Atonement ritual (Lev. 16), which cleansed the sanctuary of all impurity. It consisted of two sin offerings, one for the high priest and one for the people, whose blood was brought not only into the sanctuary but into the inner shrine itself, the Holy of Holies, where the Ark of God was kept. The high priest entered the Holy of Holies only after placing a pan of burning incense inside, to make a screen of smoke between him and the Ark (Lev. 16:13). After cleansing the sanctuary, the priest laid his hands on a living goat and confessed the people's sins, thereby transferring those sins to the goat, which was then sent away into the wilderness.
Donations: In addition to these public and private sacrifices, offered at regular seasons or at will, the people donated a tenth portion of their produce to the sanctuary. This tithe was given to the Levites, in exchange for their work in guarding and transporting the tabernacle (Num. 18:21-24). The Levites themselves gave a tithe of their tithe to the priests (Num. 18:26). Furthermore, the priests received the first fruits of all produce, including a sheaf of grain at the beginning of the harvest and two loaves of leavened bread at its end (Lev. 23:10-11, 17; cf. Num. 18:11), the firstborn of all livestock (Num. 18:12-13, 15-17), and the first part of the processed produce (flour, wine, oil; cf. Num. 15:17-21; 18:12).
People might also voluntarily donate items to the sanctuary, which would then belong to the priests. If persons or nonsacrificial animals were donated, only the monetary value was paid (Lev. 27:1-8). Land, tithes of vegetable produce, and nonsacrificial animals could also be redeemed from the sanctuary by the donor, by paying the value plus a twenty percent penalty (Lev. 27:13, 19, 31). An extreme form of dedication was 'devotion,' which, when applied to cities, involved complete destruction (Num. 21:2-3; cf. Josh. 6:17-21). Anything so devoted could not be redeemed; persons who were devoted had to be killed (Lev. 27:28-29).
A different kind of dedication of a person was the Nazirite vow (Num. 6). People who made this vow could not drink any alcoholic beverage or consume any product of the grapevine; nor could they cut their hair or shave. In fact, the hair was actually consecrated to God (Num. 6:5, 9, 18). The Nazirites were holy and hence were not supposed to become unclean. The vow was of limited duration, and at the end of the term a special ceremony was performed to return the Nazirite to ordinary, common status (Num. 6:13-20).
Ritual Purity: Persons participating in worship had to be ritually clean. Contact with a corpse (Num. 19) or animal carcasses (Lev. 11:8, 24-25, 31, 39), sexual emissions (Lev. 15), giving birth to a child (Lev. 12), and leprosy (Lev. 13) all caused a person to become unclean in various degrees. An unclean person could not eat sacrificial meat (Lev. 7:20), enter the sanctuary, or even handle tithes or other items belonging to God (Lev. 12:4). Cleansing was effected by bathing and washing one's clothes. Certain more severe states of impurity required additional rites of cleansing and might take several days to complete. Although one was excluded from worship, being unclean was not a crime. Failure to cleanse oneself after the period of impurity had passed, however, was sinful and necessitated bringing a sin offering (Lev. 5:2-3), since (prolonged) impurity defiled the sanctuary (cf. Lev. 16:19; Num. 19:20).
To be eligible to officiate in the sanctuary, priests were required not only to be clean but unblemished (Lev. 21:17-23). Furthermore, they could not officiate while drunk (Lev. 10:9) or mourning (Lev. 10:6). They had to be properly dressed (Exod. 28:40-43); and before officiating at either the altar or inside the sanctuary they were to wash their hands and feet (Exod. 30:18-21; priests did not wear shoes: cf. Exod. 3:5; Josh. 5:15).
Other Versions of Ritual Procedures: The book of Deuteronomy presents a slightly modified (though much less detailed) version of the system described by the Priestly texts. The principal difference lies in Deuteronomy's insistence on a single sanctuary for the entire land of Israel to which all sacrifices were to be brought (cf. Deut. 12:5-14). As a result, Deuteronomy permitted profane slaughter of animals for meat (Deut. 12:15 vs. Lev. 17:2-4), since for many Israelites the distance to the sanctuary was too great (Deut. 12:20-21). There were also other, relatively minor differences in detail in Deuteronomy, regarding the Passover (Deut. 16:2 vs. Exod. 12:5; Deut. 16:7 vs. Exod. 12:9), tithes (Deut. 14:22-29 vs. Num. 18), and the priests' share of sacrifices (Deut. 18:2 vs. Lev. 7:31-32).
Worship in Ezekiel's visionary temple (Ezek. 40-48) also differs somewhat from the Priestly system. For instance, Ezekiel calls for a purification of the temple on the first and seventh days of the first month, presumably in preparation for the Passover (Ezek. 45:18-20; cf. v. 21). He also mentions only a single daily burnt offering sacrificed each morning (Ezek. 46:13-15). Ezekiel's system was never actually put into effect, but it may reflect the thinking of certain priests of his time, since Ezekiel himself was a priest (Ezek. 1:3).
Patriarchal Period: Actual practice also deviated somewhat from the Priestly system outlined above. The worship practiced by the patriarchs knows nothing of all this. Their worship was simple and informal; they had no priests or temples. Rather, the patriarchs themselves offered burnt offerings at temporary altars they built themselves in the open (cf. Gen. 8:20; 12:7-8; 13:18; 22:13; 26:25). Jacob also worshiped by pouring a drink offering on a pillar he set up and by anointing it with oil (Gen. 28:18; 35:14). In later periods this would probably have been considered idolatrous (Exod. 23:24; Deut. 7:5; 1 Kings 14:22-23).
The Period of the Judges: During the time of the judges this type of worship continued to be practiced, but priests and temples were also known. Levites were considered the proper people to act as priests (Judg. 17:13), but individual Israelites continued to offer their own sacrifices on simple outdoor altars (Judg. 6:24-27; 13:19). There was a temple at Shiloh during this period, where the Ark of the Lord was kept until it was captured by the Philistines. The account in 1 Samuel 1-3 provides a glimpse of temple worship at this time: families such as Samuel's might go there for a yearly feast, where they would offer sacrifice like a peace offering and perhaps pray, as Hannah did. The priests there took a portion of the meat, whatever 'the fork brought up' (1 Sam. 2:13-14). As in Leviticus the animal's suet belonged to God. It was to be offered first, after which the priest could take his share. Eli's sons were condemned for disregarding this rule and thereby slighting God (1 Sam. 2:15-17).
First and Second Temple Times: Even after Solomon built the Temple in Jerusalem and installed the Ark there, the people continued to offer sacrifices at local outdoor altars ('high places'). After Solomon's death (924 b.c.), Jeroboam, king of Israel, built two shrines of his own at Bethel and Dan, for fear that the people, by worshiping in Jerusalem, would defect to the Davidic kings there (1 Kings 12:26-29). Jeroboam also appointed non-Levites as priests (1 Kings 12:31) and moved the Feast of Booths to the eighth month (1 Kings 12:32-33). The writers of Kings and Chronicles condemned both Jeroboam's shrines and the 'high places' as idolatrous (1 Kings 14:23; 15:14; 2 Kings 12:3; 14:4; 15:4). The 'high places' were too often associated with the pillars and other pagan practices (1 Kings 14:23-24; 2 Kings 15:3-4), while Jeroboam's shrines were condemned for the calf images he erected at them (1 Kings 12:31; 14:9). Under Josiah these 'high places' were finally eradicated, and worship was centralized at the Jerusalem Temple (2 Kings 23:5-9), as prescribed in Deuteronomy. However, the people continued to offer cereal offerings and incense privately, since there was no blood involved (cf. Jer. 41:4-5, where these offerings are brought to a ruined temple). This practice persisted even in Second Temple times.
An important element of Israelite worship hardly mentioned at all in the Pentateuch is that of prayer and song. Presumably the precise form of prayers or songs was not crucial to orthodox worship; the only recorded prayers are the priestly benediction (Num. 6:24-26) and prayers accompanying the offering of first fruits (Deut. 26:3-11) and tithes (Deut. 26:13-15). The Chronicler records the establishment of levitical singers in the Temple (1 Chron. 16:4-6), and many of the Psalms were probably composed for use in Temple worship. Individuals would naturally resort to the Temple to pray (cf. 1 Sam. 1:9-18; 1 Kings 8:22; 27-30), but prayer was a private matter and could be done anywhere. Fasting, too, was a private matter (e.g., 2 Sam. 12:16, 21-23), except on the Day of Atonement or when a special day of fasting was proclaimed (Joel 1:14; Ezra 8:21; 2 Chron. 20:3).
It is difficult to ascertain to what extent the rituals performed in Solomon's Temple corresponded to the instructions of the Pentateuch. For instance, there may have been only one daily burnt offering (cf. Ezek. 46:13-15) offered every morning, rather than two, with only a cereal offering presented in the evening (2 Kings 16:15; cf. Ezra 9:5; Ps. 141:2; Dan. 9:21; where the 'evening sacrifice' is literally the evening cereal offering). In Second Temple times, the Pentateuchal instructions were followed in detail in Temple worship. In addition, new festivals were added, two of which are mentioned in the Bible: Purim (Esther 9:20-22) and the Feast of Dedication (Hanukkah; cf. John 10:22-23).
A completely new institution of worship was added in the Second Temple period: the synagogue. Its origins are unknown, but it probably began among the exiles, who were otherwise unable to worship, since they were too far from the Temple. The people gathered at the synagogue on the Sabbath to pray and read the Bible, and the Scripture reading was interpreted and expounded in a short sermon (cf. Luke 4:16-29).
Early Christian Worship: In the nt 'worship' still means primarily 'bow down' but the word also translates Greek terms signifying service or piety. However, the external form of worship differs radically from that of the OT. Since the death of Christ constituted the perfect sacrifice, no more sacrifices were needed (Heb. 9:11-12, 24-26). Indeed, the entire institution of Temple, priesthood, sacrifice, and cleansing ritual became obsolete. Rather, the church itself, that is, all the believers, was at once temple and priesthood, inhabited by the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:19; Eph. 2:21-22; 1 Pet. 2:9).
As a result, Christian worship was internal rather than external. Only three rituals are known from the nt: baptism, communion, and the laying on of hands. However, for none of these do we have any explicit instructions describing how they are to be performed. Baptism initiated a person into the church; it consisted simply of immersion in water and was probably accompanied by a reference to Jesus, in whose name the person was baptized. The laying on of hands was associated with receiving spiritual gifts (Acts 8:17) or a special commission (Acts 13:2-3). Only communion was celebrated on a regular basis, to commemorate Jesus' death and as a joyous anticipation of the future kingdom feast (cf. Mark 14:25; 1 Cor. 11:26). It consisted of a simple meal of bread and wine over which a blessing was spoken (1 Cor. 10:16).
The first day of the week was a favorite day for Christian assembly (Acts 20:7; cf. 1 Cor. 16:2), though early Christians might also have met daily (Acts 2:46). At these meetings, there would be teaching, exhortation, singing, praying, prophesying, reading letters, and the 'breaking of bread' (probably communion; Acts 2:42, 46; 15:30; 1 Cor. 14:26; Col. 4:16). Above all, Christian worship was characterized by great joy and thanksgiving (cf. 1 Thess. 5:16-18). See also Feasts, Festivals, and Fasts; Patriarch; Priests; Tabernacle; Temple, The; Temples. S.R. [5]
Easton's Bible Dictionary
Sacrifice — The offering up of sacrifices is to be regarded as a divine institution. It did not originate with man. God himself appointed it as the mode in which acceptable worship was to be offered to him by guilty man. The language and the idea of sacrifice pervade the whole Bible.
Sacrifices were offered in the ante-diluvian age. The Lord clothed Adam and Eve with the skins of animals, which in all probability had been offered in sacrifice (Gen. 3:21). Abel offered a sacrifice "of the firstlings of his flock" (4:4; Heb. 11:4). A distinction also was made between clean and unclean animals, which there is every reason to believe had reference to the offering up of sacrifices (Gen. 7:2, 8), because animals were not given to man as food till after the Flood.
The same practice is continued down through the patriarchal age (Gen. 8:20; 12:7; 13:4, 18; 15:9–11; 22:1–18, etc.). In the Mosaic period of Old Testament history definite laws were prescribed by God regarding the different kinds of sacrifices that were to be offered and the manner in which the offering was to be made. The offering of stated sacrifices became indeed a prominent and distinctive feature of the whole period (Ex. 12:3–27; Lev. 23:5–8; Num. 9:2–14). (See ALTAR.)
We learn from the Epistle to the Hebrews that sacrifices had in themselves no value or efficacy. They were only the "shadow of good things to come," and pointed the worshippers forward to the coming of the great High Priest, who, in the fullness of the time, "was offered once for all to bear the sin of many." Sacrifices belonged to a temporary economy, to a system of types and emblems which served their purposes and have now passed away. The "one sacrifice for sins" hath "perfected for ever them that are sanctified."
Sacrifices were of two kinds: 1. Unbloody, such as (1) first-fruits and tithes; (2) meat and drink-offerings; and (3) incense. 2. Bloody, such as (1) burnt-offerings; (2) peace-offerings; and (3) sin and trespass offerings. (See OFFERINGS.) [6]
Altar — (Heb. mizbe<ah, from a word meaning "to slay"), any structure of earth (Ex. 20:24) or unwrought stone (20:25) on which sacrifices were offered. Altars were generally erected in conspicuous places (Gen. 22:9; Ezek. 6:3; 2 Kings 23:12; 16:4; 23:8; Acts 14:13). The word is used in Heb. 13:10 for the sacrifice offered upon it—the sacrifice Christ offered.
Paul found among the many altars erected in Athens one bearing the inscription, "To the unknown God" (Acts 17:23), or rather "to an [i.e., some] unknown God." The reason for this inscription cannot now be accurately determined. It afforded the apostle the occasion of proclaiming the gospel to the "men of Athens."
The first altar we read of is that erected by Noah (Gen. 8:20). Altars were erected by Abraham (Gen. 12:7; 13:4; 22:9), by Isaac (Gen. 26:25), by Jacob (33:20; 35:1, 3), and by Moses (Ex. 17:15, "Jehovah-nissi").
In the tabernacle, and afterwards in the temple, two altars were erected.
(1.) The altar of burnt offering (Ex. 30:28), called also the "brasen altar" (Ex. 39:39) and "the table of the Lord" (Mal. 1:7).
This altar, as erected in the tabernacle, is described in Ex. 27:1–8. It was a hollow square, 5 cubits in length and in breadth, and 3 cubits in height. It was made of shittim wood, and was overlaid with plates of brass. Its corners were ornamented with "horns" (Ex. 29:12; Lev. 4:18).
In Ex. 27:3 the various utensils appertaining to the altar are enumerated. They were made of brass. (Comp. 1 Sam. 2:13, 14; Lev. 16:12; Num. 16:6, 7.)
In Solomon's temple the altar was of larger dimensions (2 Chr. 4:1. Comp. 1 Kings 8:22, 64; 9:25), and was made wholly of brass, covering a structure of stone or earth. This altar was renewed by Asa (2 Chr. 15:8). It was removed by Ahaz (2 Kings 16:14), and "cleansed" by Hezekiah, in the latter part of whose reign it was rebuilt. It was finally broken up and carried away by the Babylonians (Jer. 52:17).
After the return from captivity it was re-erected (Ezra 3:3, 6) on the same place where it had formerly stood. (Comp. 1 Macc. 4:47.) When Antiochus Epiphanes pillaged Jerusalem the altar of burnt offering was taken away.
Again the altar was erected by Herod, and remained in its place till the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans (70 A.D.).
The fire on the altar was not permitted to go out (Lev. 6:9).
In the Mosque of Omar, immediately underneath the great dome, which occupies the site of the old temple, there is a rough projection of the natural rock, of about 60 feet in its extreme length, and 50 in its greatest breadth, and in its highest part about 4 feet above the general pavement. This rock seems to have been left intact when Solomon's temple was built. It was in all probability the site of the altar of burnt offering. Underneath this rock is a cave, which may probably have been the granary of Araunah's threshing-floor (1 Chr. 21:22).
(2.) The altar of incense (Ex. 30:1–10), called also "the golden altar" (39:38; Num. 4:11), stood in the holy place "before the vail that is by the ark of the testimony." On this altar sweet spices were continually burned with fire taken from the brazen altar. The morning and the evening services were commenced by the high priest offering incense on this altar. The burning of the incense was a type of prayer (Ps. 141:2; Rev. 5:8; 8:3, 4).
This altar was a small movable table, made of acacia wood overlaid with gold (Ex. 37:25, 26). It was 1 cubit in length and breadth, and 2 cubits in height.
In Solomon's temple the altar was similar in size, but was made of cedar-wood (1 Kings 6:20; 7:48) overlaid with gold. In Ezek. 41:22 it is called "the altar of wood." (Comp. Ex. 30:1–6.)
In the temple built after the Exile the altar was restored. Antiochus Epiphanes took it away, but it was afterwards restored by Judas Maccabaeus (1 Macc. 1:23; 4:49). Among the trophies carried away by Titus on the destruction of Jerusalem the altar of incense is not found, nor is any mention made of it in Heb. 9. It was at this altar Zacharias ministered when an angel appeared to him (Luke 1:11). It is the only altar which appears in the heavenly temple (Isa. 6:6; Rev. 8:3,4). [7]
Offering — an oblation, dedicated to God. Thus Cain consecrated to God of the first-fruits of the earth, and Abel of the firstlings of the flock (Gen. 4:3, 4). Under the Levitical system different kinds of offerings are specified, and laws laid down as to their presentation. These are described under their distinctive names. [8]
TDNT
thýō [to sacrifice], thysía [sacrifice], thysiastḗrion [altar]
A. Linguistic Data.
1. thýō. a. The basic sense is "to sacrifice," at first only burnt offerings, then all kinds. The LXX uses it for sacrifices both to God (Gen. 31:54) and to alien gods (Ex. 34:15), the NT only for pagan sacrifices (Acts 14:13; 1 Cor. 10:20). b. In connection with burnt offerings, the word also means "to immolate," then "to slay" (cf. in the NT Lk. 15:23; Acts 10:13). It is used for killing the Passover lamb in Mk. 14:12 (cf. 1 Cor. 6:7: Christ, our paschal lamb, has been slain). c. A third sense is then simply "to murder."
2. thysía. a. The "act of sacrifice." b. "Sacrifice" (a) literally, both pagan and OT (cf. in the NT Lk. 2:24; 1 Cor. 10:18), and (b) figuratively for the death of Christ as an offering to God (Eph. 5:2), and the Christian life as an offering of the self (Rom. 12:1), whether in gifts (Phil. 4:18), praise (Heb. 13:15-16), or sharing and doing good (Heb. 13:16).
3. thysiastḗrion as God's Altar a. Literally for the temple altars (Lev. 4:7 and in the NT Mt. 5:23-24; Lk. 11:5-6; 1 Cor. 9:13; Heb. 7:13; Rev. 11:1), for other cultic altars (Gen. 22:9-10; Jms. 2:21), and for the heavenly altar (Rev. 6:9 etc.); b. figuratively, but with no very specific reference, Heb. 13:10.
B. The Concept of Sacrifice in the NT.
1. The OT Presuppositions. The root of the OT concept of sacrifice is to be found in the reality of the covenant order. God in his historical self-revelation wills to have personal dealings with his people through sacrifice. Whether sacrifice be a gift to God, means of atonement, or expression of fellowship, it is oriented to God's presence in grace and judgment. The prophets contest it (Am. 5:21ff.; Is. 1:10ff.) and the Psalms reject it (40:6ff.; 50:8ff.) only when human achievement replaces personal encounter. If praise, obedience, faithfulness, and love are seen to be the true sacrifices (Pss. 40:6ff.; 50:14, etc.), these do not invalidate the cultic sacrifices, which may also be sacrifices of righteousness (Ps. 51:19).
2. The NT Evidence. In the Gospels Jesus does not pronounce judgment on the cultus. He accepts the altar and sacrifices as given factors in Mt. 5:23-24; 23:18ff. The call for mercy and not sacrifice simply follows the prophetic line (Mt. 9:13; cf. Hos. 6:6). If the temple and the cultus are secondary and will come to an end (Mt. 12:6; 26:61; Jn. 2:19), it is because Jesus himself will set up a new covenant which finds no place for cultic offerings. Paul realizes that fellowship with deity is the goal of sacrificial meals (1 Cor. 9:13; 10:18ff.), but in 1 Cor. 10:11ff. he gives no hint that the eucharist, in which we have fellowship with Christ's body and blood, is for him a sacrificial meal. In keeping with his theology of history and its schema of the old order and the new, he compares Christ as the paschal lamb of the new community to the paschal lamb of Israel (1 Cor. 5:7). Christ's atoning death is the antitype of the death of the lamb. Both in its nature and its effect, this death is pleasing to God. The figure of sacrifice, so familiar to Paul, helps him to understand it as the basic event of salvation. The same figure helps him to understand the Christian life. As believers we are to offer thanksgiving, or to offer ourselves as logikḗ latreía (Rom. 12:1). All that we do in faith, e.g., in ministry (Phil. 2:17b) or giving material help (Phil. 4:18), becomes thysía and leitourgía. 1 Peter is to the same effect when it calls Christians a holy priesthood (2:5) whose gifts are spiritual sacrifices as they offer back their lives to God (cf. 1:15). Hebrews uses the cultic concepts of the OT when it calls Christ the High Priest who makes expiation by his free self-offering. For all the parallels, however, the epistle sees a qualitative distinction inasmuch as the sinless and eternal Son, by his once-for-all and personal self-giving, accomplishes the inward cleansing and eternal redemption which fulfil the original purpose of OT sacrifice, i.e., personal fellowship with God. For this reason, the unique self-sacrifice of Christ abolishes as well as transcends the OT ritual. If the author uses the ritual as a means to portray Christ's work, he also finds that in the new covenant the literal offerings of the ritual are replaced by the obedience of Christ (10:5ff.; cf. Ps. 40) and the Christian ministry of praise and mutual service (13:15-16; cf. Ps. 50). In other words, total self-giving, first that of Christ, and then, on this basis, that of his people, is the true meaning of sacrifice.
3. The Historical Background: Later Judaism and Hellenism.
a. Later Judaism is strict in observing the laws of sacrifice but voices criticism as well as commendation. Sacrifices are good because they involve obedience to God's commands. Doing good, however, is also obedience and may indeed be regarded as sacrifice (cf. also fear of God and suffering on his behalf). Thus cultic sacrifice loses its special place and the way opens for Judaism to continue unshaken without it. If the cultus is second only to the law as one of the things on which the world rests, synagogue piety (i.e., repentance, a broken spirit, study of the law, benevolence, and prayer) is also sacrifice, and even though sacrifices cease, the sacrifice of thanksgiving will not cease to all eternity.
b. Hellenism inherits from the classical world, not the old view of sacrifice nor its spiritualizing, but the philosophical criticism of it. If only the good are worthy to sacrifice, and a pious life is more pleasing than a great offering, there is no thought that right conduct bears any relation to literal sacrifice. For some, true worship takes place in the sphere of the noús. For others, mystical prayer replaces offerings. Hellenistic Judaism adopts a figurative concept, regarding moral obedience as better than cultic observance in a possible fusion of philosophical and prophetic influences. Philo allegorizes the law of sacrifice and thereby spiritualizes it on mystical lines. If a right attitude of soul is necessary, the true point is that the outward form points beyond itself.
4. The NT Concept and the Early Church. In the first post-NT writings sacrifice is a plastic image for self-giving to God. The Epistle of Barnabas finds in Christ's death the counterpart of OT sacrifices, while the Martyrdom of Polycarp regards martyrdom as a sacrifice; fasting, benevolence, and prayer are sacrifices in the Shepherd of Hermas. Justin, with his typological view of OT and NT worship, calls the sacramental elements thysíai (Dialogue 41), though for him only prayers have the character of true sacrifices (117). The praise of creation is the supreme sacrifice in Athenagoras Supplication 13. Did. 14.2 alludes to Mt. 5:23-24 and Mal. 1:11 in connection with the eucharist, but an approach to eucharistic sacrifice emerges only with Irenaeus. [J. Behm, III, 180-90]
thṓrax → hóplon, panoplía[9]
Synonyms of the Old Testament
§ 5. The Sacrificial Feast.
We now come to the word Zevach (זבח), which is generally rendered sacrifice in the English, and θυσία, θύω, and θυσιάζω in the LXX. We certainly need greater uniformity of rendering for the Levitical terms than we possess at present. If the word sacrifice had been confined to the zevach, instead of being also occasionally applied to the minchah, the korban, the isheh, the chag or feast (Ps. 118:27, and Isa. 29:1), the todah or praise (Jer. 17:26, and 33:11), and the verbs ˒aseh and kathar, present controversies might have assumed a very much milder form. The R. V. unfortunately does not help us much here.
The idea of a sacrifice is instinctively connected in our minds with that of a priest; but this is a mistake. The verb zavach properly means to slay an animal for the purpose of food, and accordingly it is rendered kill or slay in Deut. 12:15, 21; 1 Sam. 28:24; 2 Chron. 18:2; and Ezek. 34:3. Although the verb has been also rendered to offer in thirty-seven passages, usually where the kindred substantive is found with it, yet in these passages it does not represent the act of the priest as such, but the act of the lay offerer, e.g. the head of the family, who presented and slew the animal before God's sanctuary. The word is generally used in connection with a sacred feast, in which the family or nation which offered the sacrifice (through their heads or representatives) proceeded to partake of the flesh of the victims, entering thereby into communion with God. Thus the zevach or sacrifice was utterly distinct from the ˒olah or ascending-offering, which was wholly burnt or turned into vapour, and from the sin-offering, which was partly burnt and partly eaten by the priest.
The various ceremonies connected with the sacrifice are described in Lev. 17:5–7 and other passages. A man brought an unblemished animal to the door of the sacred tent, pressed his hands on its head, and slew it. The priest, who in this and all other things acted on God's behalf, took the blood, which represented sensed the life of the animal (and therefore the life of the offerer), and shed it forth upon the altar as an atonement. He also burnt or vaporised the fat—to represent the fact that the richness or goodness of animal life proceeded from God, and was due to Him. A certain fixed portion of the flesh was then given to the priest, to be eaten by himself and his family, and the rest was eaten by the offerer and his household. Whether the feast was public or private, and whether the animal was offered by the elders of the nation or by the head of a family, these ceremonies were appointed in order to symbolise the union between God and man, who were thus made partakers of the same food. If it was impossible to perform the full rites connected with the sacrifice through distance from the 'tabernacle of the congregation,' or from the place which God should subsequently choose to put His name there, i.e. the Temple, one point at any rate was to be observed—the blood of the slain animal was to be poured upon the earth and covered with dust (verse 13).
There can be little doubt that the rites connected with the zevach were designed to produce a moral effect upon the children of Israel. Every time that they slew an unblemished animal for food they were reminded of God's merciful disposition towards them; they were thus stimulated to live in conformity with His law, and to deal mercifully with their poorer brethren. Nor can it be doubted that the death of the animal, followed by the sprinkling of the blood and the burning of the fat, would impress the pious Israelite with a recollection of the fact that sin brought death into the world, and that he himself had sinned. He would thus have what the Scripture calls 'a broken spirit' (Ps. 51:17); and his sacrifice would be a strong call to righteousness (Ps. 4:5), to obedience (1 Sam. 15:22), to joy (27:6), and to mercy (Hos. 6:6). Where the sacrifice had not this spirit, it lost all its value and significance.
The connection between the zevach and the making a Covenant is brought out in various parts of Scripture, the sharing in food being a symbol of the oneness of the eaters. See, for example, Gen. 31:54, and Ps. 50:5. The Passover and the Peace-offering, which were special kinds of zevach, are referred to below.
§ 6. The Altar.
The Hebrew name for an altar, מזבח (Mizbeach), is derived from zavach, and is literally a place of slaughter. It is rendered θυσιαστήριον in the LXX, except where a heathen altar is referred to, and then the Greek word βωμός is adopted. The primary idea which a Hebrew would attach to an altar would depend upon his view of the word zavach; according to Levitical usage, it would be the appointed place on which the blood of slain beasts was to be sprinkled and their fat burnt. In a short but interesting essay on the Jewish altar by David Mill, it is noticed that the Rabbinical writers used to regard it not only as God's table (see Mal. 1:7), but also as a symbol of mediation; accordingly, they called it a Paraclete, (פרקלט, Παράκλητος), i.e. an intercessor; it was regarded as a centre for mediation, peace-making, expiation, and sanctification. Whatever was burnt upon the altar was considered to be consumed by God, a guarantee that the offerer was accepted by Him.
It seems probable from the general use of Mizbeach for an altar, that in the Patriarchal age the animals which were offered to the Lord as burnt-offerings were laid on the altar and sacrificed (i.e. slain) there. The account of the burnt-offering in Gen. 22. exactly falls in with this supposition. In this matter, however, as in many others, the law of Moses departed from the earlier practice, while retaining the principal features of the system.
§ 7. Altar and Sacrifice in the N.T.
The word θύω is used in the N.T. both with respect to the slaying of the Passover Lamb and to the killing of animals for the purpose of food, i.e. Luke 15:23; Acts 10:13. The noun θυσίαoccurs several times in the N.T. with reference to Levitical rites, i.e. 1 Cor. 10:18; to the Christian life of self-sacrifice (Rom. 12:1; Phil. 2:17, 4:18; Heb. 13:16; and 1 Pet. 2:5); and to the sacrifice of Christ on the cross (Eph. 5:2; Heb. 9:26, 10:12).
The altar, θυσιαστήριον, is mentioned in about twenty passages, in most of which the Jewish altar is referred to. In 1 Cor. 10:18, St. Paul reminds the Corinthians that in the case of Israel those who eat the sacrifices become in so doing partakers of (or with) the altar. By this he means that while the altar (which represented God) had part of the victim, the sacrificer had another part; thus the sacrificial victim being consumed partly by God and partly by man, forms a bond of union between the one and the other.
In Heb. 13:10, the writer points out that there were certain offerings of which neither priest nor offerer might eat. They were not burnt, i.e. turned to vapour on the altar, but were entirely consumed, so that there was no communion with the altar or with God in these cases. 'We Jews,' the writer seems to say, 'have an altar with which neither the offerer nor the priests who minister in the tabernacle have a right to share. Where part of the blood of the victim was brought into the Holy Place as a sin-offering by the High Priest on the Great Day of Atonement, it was sprinkled on and before the mercy-seat or place of propitiation. In this case none of the body was eaten, the whole being utterly consumed in a clean place outside the camp.' He then applies this feature in the Levitical law to the Christian dispensation, and shows that we are in an analogous position. Christ's blood is presented in the Holy Place now as an atonement for us. His body, therefore, is to be devoted to consumption outside the camp. But what is His body? 'We Christians,' he implies, 'are the body of Christ; and as His crucifixion literally happened outside the city walls, so we are to go forth to Him bearing His reproach, sharing the ill-treatment He received, being mocked and jeered at by the world as it passes by, having no continuing city here, but seeking that city which is to come.'[10]
Hard Sayings of the Bible
4:3–4 Did God Favor Abel over Cain?
Does God have favorites? Does he show partiality for one over another—in this case, Abel over Cain? And does God prefer shepherds to farmers? If not, what was the essential difference between these first two sacrifices in the Bible?
The traditional interpretation says that the difference between Cain and Abel is that one offered a bloody sacrifice and the other did not. If this understanding is correct, why are neither we nor they given any specific instructions to that effect? Up to this point, that distinction had not been made. And even if a distinction between the use and absence of blood was in vogue at this early date, why are both sacrifices referred to throughout this whole narrative with the Hebrew term minḥâh, a "gift" or "meal offering"?
The answers to these questions are not as difficult as they may appear. There is only one point on which there can be legitimate puzzlement: nothing in this episode indicates that this is the inauguration of the sacrificial system. While it does appear that this is the first time anyone ever sacrificed anything, the text does not specifically say so. That will remain, at best, only an inference.
Actually, the supposition that Cain and Abel's father, Adam, originated sacrifices may be closer to the truth, since no command authorizing or requesting sacrifices appears in these first chapters of Genesis. The whole subject of the origins of sacrifice is one that scholars have debated long and hard, but the subject remains a mystery.
Even with this much caution, we must be careful about importing back into the times of Adam and Eve the instructions that Moses was later given on sacrifices. The word used to describe "sacrifice" throughout this episode of Cain and Abel is the word used in the broadest sense, minḥâh. It covers any type of gift that any person might bring. Consequently, the merit one gift might have over another does not lie in the content or type of gift—including the presence or absence of blood.
Of course, there was a problem with Cain's "gift"—he was the problem. Genesis 4:3 describes how Cain merely brought "some" of the fruits of the field. Nothing can be said about the fact that he, as an agriculturalist, naturally brought what farmers have to give. But when his offering is contrasted with Abel's, a flaw immediately shows up.
Abel gave what cost him dearly, the "fat pieces"—in that culture considered the choicest parts—of "the firstborn" of his flock. Abel could very well have rationalized, as we might have done, that he would wait until some of those firstborn animals had matured and had one, two or three lambs of their own. Certainly at that point it would have been possible to give an even larger gift to God, and Abel would have been further ahead as well. But he gave instead what cost him most, the "firstborn."
The telltale signs that we are dealing here with a contrast between formalistic worship and true worship are the emphasis that the text gives to the men and the verb it uses with both of them. In Genesis 4:4–5 there are four emphatic marks used with reference to the two brothers.
Literally, the Hebrew of verses 4 and 5 says, "And Abel, he brought, indeed, even he, some of the firstlings of his flock and some of the fat portions belonging to him. And the Lord regarded with favor Abel and [then] his offering. But unto Cain and [then] unto his offering, he did not have regard."
Clearly the focus of this passage is on the men. There are four emphatic elements in the text that mark this emphasis: first, the man's name; then the verb for "bringing" with the pronominal suffix; then the emphasizing particle gam; and finally the personal independent pronoun. It is difficult to see how the writer could have made it any more pointed that it was the men, and their hearts' condition, that was the determinative factor in God's deciding whose sacrifice was to be accepted. The text almost stutters: "And Abel, he, he also, he brought."
The verb shā˓âh means "to gaze," but when it is used with the preposition ˒el ("unto" or "toward"), as it is here, it means "to regard with favor." Ever since Luther, commentators have noticed that God's favor was pointedly directed toward the person first and then, and only then, toward the offering that person brought. Accordingly, this became the determinative factor in all worship: the heart attitude of the individual. If the heart was not found acceptable, the gift was likewise unacceptable.
It is true that an old Greek translation of this text rendered shā˓âh in Greek as enepyrisen, "he kindled." Apparently the translator wanted to say that on some occasions God did kindle acceptable sacrifices. But since there is a double object for this verb, namely, Abel and his sacrifice, this translation is unacceptable, for it would set the man on fire as well as the sacrifice!
That Cain's heart and not his offering was the real problem here can be seen from the last part of verse 5: "So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast"—literally, "it burned Cain greatly [or, to the core] and his face dropped."
God's displeasure with Cain revealed the sad state of affairs in Cain's heart. Instead of moving to rectify his attitude, Cain let it harden into murder. For the moment, however, anger hid itself in Cain's eyes—he avoided looking anyone in the eye. Averting his own gaze, he kept others from seeing (through the eye gate) what was in his heart.
Hermann Gunkel—who unwisely called this episode a myth—was truly unjustified in claiming this story taught that God loved shepherds but not farmers. Despite others who have followed Gunkel's lead, there is no proven connection between this narrative and any parallel stories in the ancient Near East of rivalries between shepherds and farmers.
Sacrifice in the Old Testament is not a "preapproved" way of earning divine credit. The principle behind it remains the same as it does for all acts of service and ritual in the Christian faith today: God always inspects the giver and the worshiper before he inspects the gift, service or worship.
See also comment on 1 samuel 15:22; psalm 51:16–17, 19.[11]
Introducing the Old TEstament
Sacrifice
To many people, this is the most characteristic activity of Old Testament worship. Certainly, it was a daily ritual in the Temple, but it was only one element among many. Modern Western people tend to give so much attention to it simply because it is generally remote from their own experience. To us, the gratuitous death of animals in the course of religious worship is something repugnant, and our understanding is not helped here by the fact that the Hebrew Bible never explains exactly why this form of worship was used. As with so many other things, it simply takes it for granted that everyone would know why sacrifice was an appropriate way to worship.
Sacrifice is a worldwide phenomenon, and is not restricted either to the Old Testament or the Middle East. Anthropologists have tried hard to understand the need for sacrifice in different cultural contexts around the world, and the general consensus is that to appreciate the importance of it, we need to return to the observations about 'holiness' with which we began this chapter. Wherever it is practised, sacrifice is always understood as a means of relating the visible, tangible world in which people exist to the invisible, intangible (and often uncontrollable) world in which God or the gods exist. It is a means whereby people can encounter the powerful 'holiness' that radiates out from the presence of God, without suffering the horrific consequences that would normally be expected to follow such an encounter. This is why animals (particularly domestic animals) were appropriate as sacrifices, for they are themselves living, have a close relationship to people, and could therefore serve as a suitable symbol of the worshippers.
Different faiths will have different understandings of the nature of sacrifice. For example, in many contexts it is thought of as a way of feeding the deities, though this is a view that the Old Testament rejects. The Israelite understanding of sacrifice was dominated by their perception of the meaning of holiness, which meant that an important function of sacrifice was concerned with securing ritual purity (Leviticus 11:1–15:33). At the same time, the moral dimensions of God's character were never far from view, and as time went on and the events of history made the need for forgiveness of wrongdoing more obvious, this came to be the predominant meaning that was attached to sacrifice (Ezekiel 45:18–25). This does not mean that sacrifice and the forgiveness of wrongdoing were linked only at a late date, for at an earlier period, even sacrifices that were not identified as 'sin offerings' could be accompanied by great repentance (Judges 20:26; 21:1–4; 1 Samuel 7:2–9; Job 1:5). The prophets and others often reminded the people of the need for true confession and repentance to accompany sacrificial worship (Psalm 51:16–19; Amos 5:21–24; Micah 6:6–8). As in so many other things, the actual practice of ancient Israel varied according to time and place, and there is no shortage of evidence indicating that traditional Canaanite styles of worship continued, even though they were opposed by the prophets as being alien to Israel's true faith (Jeremiah 44:24–25; Amos 5:25–27).
The Old Testament mentions many different types of sacrifice. In some ways, they defy comprehensive analysis, though anthropologists have identified three major types of sacrifice in more general use, and it will be helpful to use these divisions in our discussion here.
GIFT SACRIFICES
Sacrifices would often be given to God as a way of returning thanks for some particular benefit that the worshipper had received. The very first sacrifices mentioned in the Hebrew Bible were of this type (Genesis 4:3–4), as also was the sacrifice of Noah after the great flood had subsided (Genesis 8:20). At the other end of the story we find the exiles who returned from Babylon offering the same sort of sacrifices (Ezra 6:16–18), while they are also mentioned in many of the psalms (e.g. 54:6–7; 56:12–13). On other occasions, gift sacrifices might be offered in order to secure God's guidance for the future (1 Samuel 7:9), though quite often a gift sacrifice would be given as a simple expression of joy on the part of the worshipper (1 Samuel 6:14; 2 Samuel 6:17; Psalm 96:8). Such offerings would usually be given in their entirety to God, by being burned on the altar of the sanctuary—hence the alternative term that could be used to describe them, 'whole burnt offerings' (Leviticus 1:1–17). Offerings of grain could also serve the same purpose (Leviticus 2:1–16), while the annual offerings of the first-fruits of the crops were, in effect, gift sacrifices given to celebrate a successful harvest (Leviticus 23:1–25).
FELLOWSHIP OFFERINGS
Not all sacrifices were presented completely to God as whole burnt offerings. Often, only a part of the animal was burned on the altar, and the rest was eaten in a fellowship meal at the sanctuary, shared by worshippers and priests (Leviticus 3:1–17). A shared meal is a symbol of friendship throughout the world, but in this instance the worshippers of ancient Israel were doing more than simply expressing their mutual affection. For the most important event of their history, the covenant ceremony at Mount Sinai, had been accompanied by a fellowship offering like this (Exodus 24:1–8), and whenever this event was celebrated, a fellowship offering was usually at the centre of things (Joshua 8:30–35; 2 Samuel 6:17; 1 Kings 8:63–64). No doubt the same themes would be in the worshippers' minds whenever fellowship offerings were made. In these meals the people were constantly reminded of the keynote of their covenant faith: that they and God enjoyed a personal relationship, whose repercussions influenced the whole of life.
FORGIVENESS OF SINS
The Old Testament mentions two sacrifices that were designed to remove the barrier of wrongdoing that made fellowship between people and God impossible: the sin offering (Leviticus 4:1–5:13) and the guilt offering (Leviticus 5:14–6:7; Numbers 5:5–8). The precise difference between these two classes of sacrifice is not very clear, but in view of the way that God's holiness was equated with moral perfection, it is not surprising that sacrifice and forgiveness should have been related to each other in this way. Human wrongdoing broke the covenant relationship between God and people, but fellowship could be restored by the offering of an appropriate sacrifice.
An awareness of the seriousness of wrongdoing seems to have developed most fully in the later stages of Israel's history. The earlier prophets had found it difficult to convince the people that worship and behaviour belonged together, but then when the awful events of the exile had proved them right, everyone could see that disobedience to God was a real problem that needed to be dealt with. The Hebrew Bible never specifically discusses how a sacrifice was believed to deal with sin, but it seems to have been assumed that those who did wrong deserved to die (Ezekiel 18:20), and that a sacrifice could in some way substitute for the condemned sinner. Certainly, the blood of these sacrifices (representing the life of the animal) played an important part (Leviticus 17:11) and it was as this was daubed on the altar that the worshipper was pronounced to have been forgiven. Depending on the identity of the sinner, different altars would be used. There was one occasion when the whole nation was united in seeking forgiveness: the annual day of atonement (Leviticus 16:1–34; 23:26–32; Numbers 29:7–11). On this day, the blood of the sacrifices would be taken into the holy of holies itself, and applied to the top of the ark of the covenant. This was why the lid of the ark came to be known as 'the mercy seat'. After the exile it was replaced by a gold plate which served the same purpose. When the main sacrifices had been offered, a second ritual took place. This involved the selection of two goats, one to be sacrificed in the Temple and the other to be sent away into the desert beyond the boundaries of the inhabited land. The priest's hands were laid on the head of the goat which was to be sent out, and at the same time the sins of the nation would be confessed. These two procedures were quite different, but they both emphasized the same underlying conviction: that wrongdoing is a serious business as it disrupts fellowship between God and people. They were also a dramatic declaration that wrongdoing could be forgiven and obliterated from the lives of God's people just as surely as the goat was driven out into the desert, never to be seen again.
The annual festivals of Israel's year. The great Old Testament festivals have carried over into modern Judaism.[12]
BDAG
זֶ֫בַח S TWOT GK134 vb. slaughter for sacrifice (NH id., Ph. זבח; Assyrian zibû Dl 174 cf. Lotz 174; Arabic ذَبَحَ (ḏabaḥa), Sab. דֿבח CIS iv. 1, 2, ; 74 l. 11, 12; Aramaic דְּבַח, ܕܒܰܚ (dbaḥ), Ethiopic ዘብሐ (zabḥa)) Qal112 Pf. ז׳ 1 K 8:63; 13:2, זָבַחְתָּ Ex 20:24 + 3 times, זָבַחְתִּי Ez 39:19, זָֽבְחו Ex 34:15 Lv 17:5, זְבַחְתֶּם Ex 8:24, זָבַחְנוּ Ex 8:23; Impf. וַיִזְבַּח Gn 31:54 + 14 times; 2 ms. sf. תִּזְבָּחֶנּוּ Dt 15:21, 2 fs. sf. וַתִּזְבָּחִים Ez 16:20, 1 s. אֶזְבַּח ψ 116:17, אֶזְבְּחָה ψ 27:6; 54:8 Jon 2:10; 2 mpl. תִּזְבְּהוּ Lv 19:5 + 2 times, תִּזְבָּ֑חוּ Lv 22:29 + 2 times; 1 pl. נִבזְבְּחָה Ex 3:18 +, etc. (61 times Impf.); Imv. זְבַח ψ 50:14, זִבְחוּ Ex 8:21 ψ 4:6; Inf. cstr. זְבֹחַ 1 S 15:15 + 14 times, לִזְבּוֹחַ 2 Ch 11:16, בְּזָבְחוֹ 2 S 15:12; Pt. act. זֹבֵחַ Ex 13:15 + 8 times, זוֹבֵחַ Is 66:3, pl. זֹבְחִים Lv 17:5 + (20 times Pt.)—I. slaughter for sacrifice 8. c. acc. of a. kind of sacrifice ז׳ זֶבַח Gn 31:54 +, †פֶּכַח Dt 16:2, 5, 6, †שְׁלָמְים Dt 27:7 Jos 8:31, †תּוֹדָה ψ 50:14, 23, †עֹלוֹת ושׁלמים Ex 20:24 (E); cf. 23:18. b. victims, (α) animals †בָּקָר וָצֹאן 1 K 8:63 Nu 22:40, †צאן ובקר 2 Ch 18:2, †הַבְּרִיאָה Ez 34:3, †כָּל־פֶּטֶר רֶחֶם Ex 13:15 (J); †פָּרִים וְאֵילִים 1 Ch 15:26, שׁוֹר וָשֶׂה Dt 17:1; (β) mankind †בָּנִים וּבָנוֹת ψ 106:37 Ez 16:20, †זֹבְחֵי אָדָם sacrificers of mankind Ho 13:2 (so Ra AE Hi Wü MV men that sacrifice AV RV after Ki, so Pu Ew Ke Now Che SS). c. †תּוֹעֲבַת מִצְרַיִם Ex 8:22() (E), †מָשְׁחָת Mal 1:14. 9. absolute 1 S 1:3 + often 10. c. לְ of deity, †לְדָגוֹן Ju 16:23, †לַשְּׂעִירִם Lv 17:7 (H), †לַשֵּׁדִים Dt 32:17 ψ 106:37; other gods Ex 34:15 (JE) +; but usually ליהוה Ex 3:18 + 9 times JE, Lv 17:5; 19:5; 22:5 (all H, not elsewhere in P), Dt 15:21; 16:2; 17:1; 1 S 1:3 +; †לֵאלֹהֵי אָבִיו Gn 46:1 (E), לאלהים ψ 50:14, †לאדני Mal 1:14. 11. with local prep. בְּ Gn 31:54 (E) +, עַל Ex 20:24 (E) +; לפני Lv 9:4 (P) +, על פני השׂדה Lv 17:5 (H). II. slaughter for eating (connected also with sacrifice, as all eating of flesh among ancient Hebrews was sacrificial, RS 219) 1 S 28:24 (fat calf for Saul), Ez 34:3 (fat sheep for shepherds), 2 Ch 18:2 (sheep and oxen for Jehoshaphat, c. לְ of person); cf. Dt 12:15; v 21 (abs.), 1 K 19:21. III. slaughter in divine judgment Ez 39:17–19 c. acc. זִבְחִי (Gog and Magog as feast for vultures), 1 K 13:2 2 K 23:20 (priests of high-places on their own altars).
†Pi.22 Pf. זִבַּח 2 Ch 33:22, זִבְּחוּ ψ 106:38, זִבֵּ֑חוּ Ho 12:12; Impf. יְזַבֵּחַ Hb 1:16, יְזַבֵּ֑חוּ Ho 4:13, 14; 11:2 (7 times Impf.) Inf. cstr. לְזַבֵּחַ 1 K 12:32; Pt. מְזַבֵּחַ 1 K 3:3, pl. מְזַבְּחִים 2 Ch 5:6 + 8 times, מְזַבְּחוֹת 1 K 11:8;—sacrifice, 1. of the abundant sacrifices made to Yahweh by Solomon 1 K 8:5 = 2 Ch 5:6, and Hezekiah 2 Ch 30:22, and prob. intensive; but 2. elsewhere of sacrifice to other deities, possibly iterative in some cases, but certainly not in all: לַבְּעָלִים Ho 11:2, לֵאלֹהֵיהֶן 1 K 11:8, לַעֲגָלִים 12:32, לְחֶרְמוֹ Hb 1:16, לַעֲצַבֵּי כְנָ֑עַן ψ 106:38, לֵאלֹהֵי דַּרְמֶשֶׂק 2 Ch 28:23, לְכָל־הַפְּסִילִים 33:22; or in unlawful places עַל־רָאשֵׁי הֶהָרִים Ho 4:13 cf. v 14, בַּגִּלְגָּל 12:12, בַּבָּמוֹת 1 K 3:2, 3; 22:44 2 K 12:4; 14:4; 15:4, 35, 16:4 = 2 Ch 28:4. It is used without direct obj. Ho 4:14 and often; also c. acc. of victim שְׁוָרִים Ho 12:12 צֹאן וּבָקָר 1 K 8:5 = 2 Ch 5:6; sons and daughters ψ 106:38, זִבְחֵי שְׁלָמִים 2 Ch 30:22.
i. זֶ֫בַח S, TWOT GK, 162 n.m. Ju 16:23 sacrifice, ז׳ abs. Gn 31:54 +; cstr. Ex 34:25 +; זָבַ֑ח Lv 17:8 + 16 times; sf. זִבְחוֹ Lv 7:16 Ez 34:15, זִבְחֲכֶם Lv 19:6; pl. זְבָחִים Gn 46:1 +; cstr. זִבְחֵי Lv 17:5 +; sf. 3 mpl. זִבְחֵיהֶם Lv 17:5, זְבָחֵימוֹ Dt 32:38, זִבְחוֹתָם †Ho 4:19 etc.;—the common and most ancient sacrifice, whose essential rite was eating the flesh of the victim at a feast in which the god of the clan shared by receiving the blood and fat pieces. In the older literature it is distinguished from מִנְחָה and עֹלָה, in the later literature from חַטָּאת and אָשָׁם. †I. general name for all sacrifices eaten at feasts: Ph. זבח of an offering of bread and oil CIS i. 165. 12; 167. 8, cf. RS 205 (2nd ed. 222)— 1. of the God of Israel Gn 46:1 Ex 10:25; 18:12 (E) Ho 3:4; 6:6; 9:4 Am 5:25 Is 1:11; 19:21 Dt 12:27; 18:3 1 S 2:13, 29; 3:14; 6:15; 9:12, 13; 15:22(); 16:3, 5() 2 S 15:12 1 K 8:62; 12:27 2 K 5:17; 16:15 ψ 40:7; 50:8; 51:18, 19 Pr 15:8; 21:3, 27 Is 43:23, 24; 56:7 Je 6:20; 7:21, 22; 17:26; 33:18 Ez 40:42; 44:11 1 Ch 29:21, 21 2 Ch 7:1, 4, 5, 12 Ne 12:43 Dn 9:27 Ec 4:17. They should be זִבְחֵי צֶדֶק sacrifices of righteousness (offered in righteousness by the righteous) Dt 33:19 ψ 4:6; 51:21; זִבְהֵי הַבְהָבַי sacrifices of gifts to me (י׳) Ho 8:13; the temple is בֵּית זָבַ֑ח 2 Ch 7:12; they should not be ז׳ רִיב sacrifices of strife, where strife prevails Pr 17:1. 2. of other deities Ex 34:15 Nu 25:2 Dt 32:38 (JE) Ju 16:23 2 K 10:19, 24 Ho 4:19 Is 57:7 Ez 20:28; these are זִבְחֵי מֵתִים sacrifices to dead things (lifeless gods, opp. to י׳ as living) ψ 106:28. II. there are several kinds of זְבָחִים which are gradually distinguished: † 1. the covenant sacrifice, between Jacob and Laban Gn 31:54 (E), with God ψ 50:5 (cf. Ex 24:5 1 S 11:5). † 2. the passover זֶבַח חַג הַפֶּסַח Ex 34:25 (JE), זבח פסח Ex 12:27 (J); and prob. also זבחי Ex 23:18 (JE) = 34:25 (id.) † 3. annual sacrifice זֶבַח הַיָּמִים 1 S 1:21; 2:19; 20:6, cf. ז׳ מִשְׁפָּחָה sacrifice of the clan 1 S 20:29. † 4. thank offering ז׳ (הַ)תּוֹדָה Lv 7:12; 22:29 ψ 107:22; 116:17, which is given as ז׳ קָרְבָּנוֹ, זִבְחוֹ, הַזָּבַח Lv 7:16, 17; and as a variety of שְׁלָמִים Lv 7:13, 15; it is implied in זִבְחֵי תְרוּעָה ψ 27:6; yet זֶבַח is generic with תּוֹדָה 2 Ch 29:31(). 5. in ritual of H & P זבחים are defined by שׁלמים (q.v.) Lv 3:1 + 39 times Lv Nu, 1 S 10:8 1 K 8:63 2 Ch 30:22; 33:16 Pr 7:14, but sometimes (rarely) ז׳ alone is used in this sense, with or without suffix, where the meaning is plain from the context: Lv 17:5, 7, 8; 19:6; 23:37 (H) Nu 15:3, 5, 8 Jos 22:26, 29 (all P). These ritual offerings are of three varieties תּוֹדָה, נֶדֶר and נְדָבָה Lv 7:12, 16 (P); in the several lists זבחים are distinguished from תודות Am 4:4f. 2 Ch 29:31, from נדרים Nu 15:8 (P) Dt 12:6, 11 Jon 1:16, from נדבות Am 4:4 f. Dt 12:6 and from the more comprehensive שׁלמים Nu 15:8 Jos 22:27 (P). So also the sacrifice at the institution of the covenant at Horeb Ex 24:5 (JE) and the sacrifice at the installation of Saul 1 S 11:15 are defined as †זבחים שׁלמים. Thus ז׳ seems not only to be used for all these special forms but also to include other festal sacrifices not defined in the codes of law. The ritual was the same for the entire class. They were all sacrifices for feasts in which the flesh of the victim was eaten by the offerers, except so far as the officiating priests had certain choice pieces and the blood and fat pieces went to the altar for God. The sacrifice at the institution of the covenant at Horeb, the Passover victim, and the ram of consecration, were special, in that there was an application of a portion of the blood to the persons and things which were to be consecrated, Ex 12:22; 24:8 Lv 8:23. † 6. the slaughter of hostile nations is also a זֶבַח offered by God Himself, in which the vultures devour the flesh of the victims Is 34:6 Je 46:10 Ez 39:17(), 19 Zp 1:7, 8. 7. the verb used with זֶבַח is ordinarily זָבַח but others also are found e.g. †עָשָׂה Nu 6:17; 15:3, 5, 8 Jos 22:23 (P) 1 K 12:27; 2 K 5:17; 10:24 Je 33:18 (cf. Sab. עסי דֿבח Hal 148 DHM 1888, 374); †הֵבִיא Am 4:4 Dt 12:6, 11 Je 17:26, †הִגִּישׁ Am 5:25, †הִקְרִיב Lv 7:11, 16; 22:21 (all P), †עָבַד Is 19:21, †נָתַן Ec 4:17, יַעֲלָה עֹלָה אוֹ זֶבַח Lv 17:8 (H), בִּשֵּׁל ז׳ Ez 46:24, שָׁחַט אֶת־הָעוֹלָה וְהַזָּבַ֑ח Ez 40:42 cf. 44:11.
†ii. זֶ֫בַח S, TWOT GK, n.pr.m. a Midianite king Ju 8:5, 6, 7, 10, 12(), 15(), 18, 21() ψ 83:12, G Ζεβεε.
מִזְבֵּחַ S TWOT GK401 n.m. Jos 22:10 altar (Arabic مَذْبَحٌ (maḏbaḥun), place of slaughter, trench made by torrent, Sab. מדֿבח DHM 24); מ׳ abs. 2 K 18:22 + 223 times, הַמִּזְבֵּ֑חָה Ex 29:13 + 31 times; cstr. מִזְבַּח Ex 20:24 + 76 times, sf. מִזְבְּחִי Ex 20:26 + 7 times, מִזְבַּחֲךָ 1 K 8:31 + 3 times, מִזְבְּחֶ֑ךָ Dt 33:10; מִזְבְּחוֹ Ju 6:31 + 2 times; pl. מִזְבְּחֹת Nu 23:1 + 5 times, מִזְבְּחוֹת 2 K 21:3 + 23 times, sf. מִזְבְּחוֹתֶיךָ ψ 84:4, other sfs. 21 times;— 1. JE narrate that altars were built by Noah after leaving the ark Gn 8:20; by Abraham at Shechem 12:7, Bethel 12:8, Hebron 13:8, mt. in land Moriah 22:9; by Isaac at Beersheba 26:25; by Jacob at Shechem 33:20 (yet this perhaps mistake for מַצֵּבָה, being obj. of וַיַּצֶּב־שָׁם, not elsewhere with מזבח, cf. also Di), at Bethel 35:7, by Moses at Rephidim Ex 17:15, Horeb 24:4, by Balak at Bamoth Baal, Pisgah, & Peor Nu 23:1, 14, 29; by Joshua on Mt. Ebal Jos 8:30: the prophetic histories narrate that altars were built by Gideon at Ophra Ju 6:24; by a man of God at Bethel Ju 21:4; by Samuel at Ramah 1 S 7:17; by Saul after Michmash 1 S 14:35; by David on the threshing floor of Ornan 2 S 24:25 = 1 Ch 21:18, 1 Ch 22:1; that Solomon sacrificed on the altar at Gibeon 1 K 3:4 and built altars in the temple at Jerusalem 1 K 6:20; 8:64; that Jeroboam built an altar at Bethel 1 K 12:32 (which was destroyed by Josiah 2 K 23:15); and that Elijah repaired an ancient altar on Carmel 1 K 18:30. An altar in Egypt is predicted Is 19:19. All this accords with the law of the Covenant code Ex 20:24–26 which recognises a plurality of altars and prescribes that they shall be built of אֲדָמָה, or of unhewn stones, and without steps. So אֲבָנִים Dt 27:5 (JE), אֲבָנִים שְׁלֵמוֹת Dt 25:6 Jos 8:31, and twelve stones 1 K 18:31; cf. Is 27:9. The altar was also a place of refuge Ex 21:14 (JE) 1 K 1:50, 51; 2:28. 2. D prescribes one central altar Dt 12:5 f. 27; but no attempt to enforce this principle appears before Hezekiah (2 K 18:4, 22), and Josiah, whose reform is more effectual, 2 K 23:8–20. 3. P limits sacrifices to the altars of the tabernacle. A great altar was built E. of the Jordan, but it was according to P only as an עֵד after the pattern of the altar before the Tabernacle Jos 22:10–34. P describes two altars: a. the מִזְבַּח הָעֹלָה Ex 30:28; 31:9; 35:16; 38:1; 40:6, 10, 29 Lv 4:7, 10, 25(), 30, 34 = מ׳ הַנְּחשֶׁת Ex 38:30; 39:39, made of acacia wood plated with brass, 5 × 5 × 3 cubits in size, with four horns and a network of brass, on which all sacrifices by fire were made Ex 27:1–8; 38:1–7; b. מ׳ מִקְטַר קְטֹוֶת made of acacia wood plated with gold, 1 × 1 × 2 cubits in size, with four horns and a crown of gold Ex 30:1–6 = מ׳ הקטרת Ex 30:27; 31:8; 35:15; 37:25 = מ׳ הזהב Ex 39:38; 40:5, 26 Nu 4:11 = מ׳ קטרת הַסַּמִּים Lv 4:7; these altars are named elsewhere only in Chr. 1 Ch 6:34; 16:40; 21:29; 2 Ch 1:5, 6. 4. Solomon made two altars for the temple at Jerusalem: a. מ׳ הַנְּחשֶׁת for the court 1 K 8:64 (which was laid aside by Ahaz 2 K 16:14, 15, who made an altar after the model of one he saw in Damascus 2 K 16:11); in v 14 הַמִּזְבַּח הַנּ׳ (cstr. form c. art.) is erron., read prob. מִזְבַּח cf. Ges 127. 4 a ad ; this altar, according to Chr, measured 20 × 20 × 10 cubits 2 Ch 4:1; this מזבח (ה)נחשׁת also 7:7 & Ez 9:2; = מ׳ העולה 2 Ch 29:18, repaired by Asa 2 Ch 15:8; b. an altar of cedar, plated with gold, in the temple before the דְּבִיר 1 K 6:20, 22; 7:48; = מ׳ הזהב 2 Ch 4:19; = מ׳ הַקְּטֹרֶת 1 Ch 28:18; 2 Ch 26:16. 5. Ezekiel plans two altars for the new temple: a. a table of wood 3 × 2 cubits Ez 41:22; b. an altar for the court, prob. same dimensions as 4 a, with stairs Ez 43:13–17. 6. after the return Jeshua built an altar on the ancient site in the court of the temple Ezr 3:2. 7. besides these altars used in the worship of Yahweh, Ahab built an altar to Baal in Samaria 1 K 16:32; Ahaz made an altar on the roof of the upper chamber, and other kings of Judah made altars in the two courts, all of which were destroyed by Josiah 2 K 23:12. 8. the ancient and most common term for making altars was בָּנָה Gn 35:7 (E) 8:20 (J) Dt 27:5, 6 Ex 32:5 (JE) +, implying building material; other vbs. are הֵקִים 2 S 24:18 1 K 16:32 2 K 21:3 1 Ch 21:18 2 Ch 33:3; הֵכִין Ezr 3:3 (sq. עַל־מְכוֹנֹתָו֯); שִׂים Je 11:13; וַיַּצֶּב־ Gn 33:20 (but cf. 1); Nu 23:4 (E) has עָרַךְ arrange, prepare; עָשָׂה Gn 35:1, 3 Ex 20:24 (E) Gn 13:4 (J) Jos 22:28 1 K 12:33; 18:26; this becomes usual in P, Ex 27:1; 30:1; 37:25; 38:1, 30, so 2 Ch 4:1, 19; 7:7; 28:24. 9. the dedication of the altar was חֲנֻכַּת המזבח Nu 7:10, 11, 84, 88 2 Ch 7:9; it was anointed with oil מָשַׁח Ex 40:10 Lv 8:11 Nu 7:10 (all P). 10. removal of unlawful altars is expr. by נָתַץ Ex 34:13 (JE) Dt 7:5 Ju 2:2; 6:30, 31, 32 2 K 11:18; 23:12, 15; נִתַּץ (Pi) Dt 12:3 2 Ch 31:1; 34:4, 7; נֻתַּץ Ju 6:28; הָרַס Ju 6:25 1 K 19:10, 14; שִׁבַּר 2 Ch 23:17; הֵסִיר 2 K 18:22 = Is 36:7, 2 Ch 14:2; 30:14; 32:12; 33:15. 11. ministry at the altar was מִשְׁמֶרֶת הַמּ׳ Nu 18:5 Ez 40:46, cf. Nu 3:31 (P), מְשָֽׁרְתֵי מ׳ Jo 1:13; עָמַד עַל is said of officiating priest 1 K 13:1, עָלָה עַל Ex 20:26 1 S 2:28 1 K 12:33 + (cf. יָרַד Lv 9:22); sacrifices were usually offered עַל־הַמִּזְבֵּחַ Gn 22:9 Dt 12:27 +; v. especially the phrases with זָרַק Ex 29:16, 20 + (v. זרק); הִקְטִיר Lv 4:10 (v. קטר Hiph.); הֶעֱלָה Lv 6:3 + (v. עלה Hiph.) לְבַעֵר Ne 10:35; but בַּמִּזְבֵּחַ Gn 8:20 (J) Nu 23:2, 4, 14, 30 (E); one touching the altar is הַנֹּגֵעַ בַּמּ׳ Ex 29:37 (P); לפני המ׳ of placing, or standing before altar Dt 26:4 1 K 8:22; as acc.loc. הַמִּזְבֵּ֫חָה in phrases especially c. הִקְטִיר Ex 29:13 +, and הֶעֱלָה Lv 14:20. 12. the horns of the altar were especially for the application of the blood of the sin-offering in the ritual; sin is represented as graven לְקַרְנוֹת מִזְבְּחוֹתֵיכֶם Je 17:1; therefore of blood for cleansing it was said †נָתַן על קרנות המ׳ Ex 29:12 Lv 4:7, 18, 25, 30, 34; 8:15; 9:9; 16:18 (all P). An ancient custom is referred to, ψ 118:27 אִסְרוּ־חַג בַּעֲבֹתִ֑ים עַד־קרנות המזבח bind the festal victim with cords, unto the horns of the altar: Ainsworth paraphrases: 'that is, all the court over, untill you come even to the hornes of the altar, intending hereby many sacrifices,' so De; but Che 'bind the procession with branches, (step on) to the altar-horns,' that is in sacred procession round the altar. 13. the יְסוֹד (q.v.) is also referred to in the ritual of the sin-offerings in the phrases יָצַק אל יסוד Lv 8:15; 9:9 & שָׂפַךְ אל יסוד Ex 29:12 Lv 4:7, 18, 25, 30, 34 (all P) יִמָּצֵה אל יסוד Lv 5:9. 14. the altar was קֹדֶשׁ קָדָשִׁים Ex 29:37; 40:10 (P); but repeated sin-offerings were necessary to keep it pure and cleanse it from the pollution of the people in whose midst it was situated. This is expressed by חִטֵּא Lv 8:15 (P) Ez 43:22; כִּפֶּר Lv 16:20, 33 (P) Ez 43:26; קִדַּשׂ Ex 29:44; 40:10 Lv 8:15 Nu 7:1 (P); טִהַר 2 Ch 29:18.[13]
