He shall cut it into its pieces, with its head and its fat. The priest shall lay them in order on the wood that is on the fire which is on the altar,
Parallel Translations
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He shall cut it into its pieces, with its head and its fat. The priest shall lay them in order on the wood that is on the fire which is on the altar,
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And he shall cut it into his pieces, with his head and his fat: and the priest shall lay them in order on the wood that is on the fire which is upon the altar:
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And he shall cut it into its pieces; and the priest shall lay them, with its head and its suet, in order on the wood that is on the fire which is upon the altar.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Hebrew, into his pieces.
Hebrew, into his pieces.
Or, fat.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Lev 1:12 And he shall cut it into his…
Lev 1:12 And he shall cut it into his pieces, with his head and his fat: and the priest shall lay them in order on the wood that [is] on the fire which [is] upon the altar:
Ver. 12. In order.] {See Trapp on "Lev 1:8"}
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And he shall cut it into his pieces, with…
And he shall cut it into his pieces, with his head and his fat,.... Or "his body", as the Targum of Jonathan; this was to be cut in pieces in the same manner as the bullock; see Gill on Lev 1:6,
and the priest shall lay them in order on the wood that is on the fire, which is on the altar; See Gill on Lev 1:8.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 12. Cut it into his pieces] See Clarke…
Verse 12. Cut it into his pieces] See Clarke on Ge 15:10.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (12) With his head and his fat.—That is, “he…
(12) With his head and his fat.—That is, “he shall cut it into its pieces, and sever or cut off its head and its fat.” By a figure of speech not uncommon in Hebrew, one verb is connected with two substantives, though it only applies to one of the two, and a kindred verb has to be supplied for the second substantive to obtain the proper sense.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain
THE LEVITICAL SACRIFICES LITERALLY CONSIDERED
BY THE
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REV PROFESSOR ALFRED CAVE, B.A.
THAT man of steel, as he was called, Origen, the greatest of the great Fathers of Alexandria, had, to judge from his Eclogues and his Homilies on Leviticus, a very poor opinion of the literal interpretation of the ritualistic sections of the Book of the Law. The circumstantial and realistic observances of the Jew, based upon an unquestioning acceptance of the Levitical injunctions, were considered by Origen both inappropriate and useless. Nay, the literal interpretation of this diversified rubric made, he thought, cavillers and infidels; for it led some, to use his own words, to "despise the Law as a vile thing unworthy of the Creator," and others to "impiously condemn the Creator himself who could ordain such vile commands." Hence his so-called spiritual sense a gross misnomer, unless the spiritual is synonymous with the imaginative was Origen"s great panacea for all the apparent inanities of the sacred records, the infallible harmonizer of all its seeming contradictions. And his talented lead has, alas! been followed by only too many eminent successors. It was but an application of the same method of forcibly squaring Law with Gospel, when in the next age such moulders of opinion as Augustine and Ambrose descended the former to expound in his treatise, "De Isaak et Anima," the simple fact of Rebekah"s filling her pitcher at the well, as "the soul descending to the fountain of wisdom to draw the discipline of pure knowledge," and the latter to find a reference in circumcision to the resurrection of Christ, quae desideria carnalia aufert. Even when the reign of Augustine in Biblical hermeneutics gave way before the influence of that delicate exegete, Isidore of Hispala, whose work. "De Allegoriis," became a type of scriptural exposition in the Middle Ages, it was virtually the same allegorizing principle which was advocated and exemplified. Nor was the case different at the Reformation. When, at that epoch, the close study of Scripture became a vital necessity for the consolidation of belief, the writings of Melancthon and Luther, Zwingli and Calvin, abundantly testify to the predominant fondness for "spiritualizing;" whilst the subsequent history of the Lutheran and Reformed Churches further witnesses to the potency of these revered leaders, until spiritualizing blossomed into such amusing, if not appalling, extravagances as are to be found in Coccejus and his school. To Lurid, for example, Aaron"s rod that budded was a type of the rod out of the stem of Jesse; its supernatural greenness was a type of Christ"s supernatural conception; the mystery of its sprouting a type of the mystery of the birth of the Son of the Virgin; the night of its blossoming was a type of the night in which the miraculous birth of Christ occurred; there were three things on the rod, after the miracle, which were not there before leaves, flowers, and fruits, whereby the threefold work of the Redeemer is prefigured; and, not to linger further upon this illustration, in the preservation of the rod within the holy of holies we have foreshadowed, he supposed, the passing of the risen Christ into the heavens, there to await the advent of his elect. Could exegetical caprice go further?
That this "spiritualizing" method of interpretation has fallen somewhat into disrepute is due to an unexpected source of enlightenment. "It is an ill wind that blows no one good," and a more vivid conception of the historical character of the Old Testament has been one of the good things which the ill wind of rationalism, with its microscopic and carping criticism of the letter, has blown to the Christian Church. When the rationalists frigidly maintained that the Old Testament was but a collection of the historical records of Judaism, to be regarded in the same light as a collection of the archives of Greece say, or Rome, the Church could at least cheerfully accept one part of the contention, and believe that the Old Testament was a historical record. Thus the Old Testament came to be studied for itself, as well as for its connection with the New. Thus the Old Testament came to be considered at least as worthy of examination for its own sake, and apart from its relation to Christianity, as the sacred books of Mahomet or Zoroaster, Kakya-Mouni or Buddha. In fact, it is now readily acknowledged that the most repulsive details of the ceremonial law, to say nothing of the splendid eloquence of the prophets, are facts in religious history deserving of close investigation as such. Largely thanks to the indirect influence of the rationalistic movement, the Jews are now seen to have had a distinctive religion of contemporary as well as prospective value.
To trace the outline of that Old Testament faith, to authenticate the credibility and the historical character of its records, to contrast that faith with the other religions of the world, to demonstrate its advance upon the creeds of heathendom and towards the creed of Christ, such a task of elucidation, comparison, and defence is one of the pressing needs of our day, to be satisfied only by the use of all modern appliances, and in view of all modern scholarship. One prominent phase of that Old Testament religion is that of Mosaism, or the religion of the Hebrews as far as it can be deduced from the Pentateuch. Further, of Mosaism the Levitical sacrifices form no unimportant section. To study the nature and significance of these Levitical sacrifices, as they are in themselves, rather than in their connection with Christianity, is the aim of this introduction. In other words, our purpose is to prosecute the literal interpretation of the injunctions of the Law which bear upon these sacrifices, and to see whither such interpretation will conduct us. The Levitical sacrifices will approve themselves a religious cultus not unworthy to be designated Divine.
The course which will be pursued is as follows. A classification of the Levitical sacrifices will first be given. Next, some principles will be deduced from the letter of Scripture by which the comprehension of the Levitical sacrifices will be facilitated. Thirdly, an application will be made of the principles thus deduced to the elucidation of the entire scheme of the Levitical sacrifices. Fourthly, the relation of this sacrificial worship to that of the patriarchal age will be pointed out. Fifthly, the relation of this sacrificial worship to the sacrificial views of the New Testament will call for some remark. And lastly, a few words may be bestowed upon the bibliography of the subject.
And at this point the writer may advisedly call attention to the different standpoint he here assumes to that occupied in his work upon "The Scriptural Doctrine of Sacrifice." To put that standpoint briefly, he would say that, whereas his view of the Jewish sacrifices was previously more analytic, he aims in this introduction at a synthesis, at building up into a consistent whole the numerous details of the Mosaic ritual, and displaying thereby the salient and instructive characteristics of the Levitical sacrificial cultus. Let the writer state, however, once for all, that where he has expressed any details of that cultus in as fitting and accurate language as he is capable of in his earlier work, he has not gone about to seek a new dress for old facts, but has freely used his previous materials. Where, therefore, passages occur in inverted commas, without the mention of the name of an author, it will be understood that the writer quotes from his earlier work.
A. THE CLASSIFICATION OF THE LEVITICAL SACRIFICES.
At the outset it is necessary to classify the numerous sacrificial rites of the old covenant with some accuracy. An indispensable preliminary to such a classification is a precise definition of "sacrifice." According to the usage of the Old Testament, the most general term for sacrifice is qorban. This word was employed in the Law to describe the genus of which sacrifices of all kinds were species. It is expressly predicated of the burnt offering, the peace offering, the thank offering and the votive offering, the sin offering, the trespass offering, the Passover, the sacrifice of the Nazarite on the expiry or breach of his vow, the whole range of national sacrifices, the firstfruits, and even offerings made to Jehovah of the spoils of battle. Qorban is manifestly the generic Hebrew term, equivalent to our English term sacrifice. The important thing, therefore, in defining "sacrifice" in a scriptural sense is to ascertain the customary Biblical significance of this term. Not to delay upon philological considerations, which may be studied by the curious in the Appendix to the writer"s previously mentioned work, suffice it to say that this Hebrew word is expressly used and translated by an unequivocal Greek word in a passage in the seventh chapter of St. Mark"s Gospel. That passage runs thus: Ea h th mhtri Korban o estin dwron o ea :" "If a man shall say to his father or his mother, Qorban, that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me". (Mar_7:11) This korban o estin dwron" settles the meaning of the Hebrew sacrificial technicality once for all, at the same time as the insertion of the Hebrew word throws light upon the unfilial pleading alluded to. Qorban, the equivalent of the English word sacrifice in general, is a gift to God. The usage of the LXX is identical. A sacrifice in the Levitical sense was a gift, or offering, or presentation made to Jehovah. Ewald was, therefore, perfectly at liberty to call abstinence from labour upon the sabbath a sacrifice of rest; nor would it be inconsistent with the usage of the Pentateuch to call obedience to the legal injunctions concerning the seventh year and the year of jubilee by the name of sacrifice, or to regard a scrupulous adherence to the Levitical laws of food a self-denial of the nature of a sacrifice. In the large majority of cases, however, a distinction was perceptible. A sacrifice, in the legal sense, was, it is true, a presentation to Jehovah. But in the stricter sense of the word a presentation could not be indiscriminately made either as regards time or place. Especially is emphasis laid in the Law upon the place of presentation. It is at the place where Jehovah consents to record his Name, at the one appointed place for Divine worship, that sacrifices in the stricter sense can alone be made. Whilst, therefore, Ewald is etymologically correct, it is doubted by many whether he is not inconsistent with the usage of the Law when he designates those offerings sacrifices which were not presented at the one appointed place where man might meet with his Maker. It is true that the usage for which Ewald contends, according to which prayers, and charity, and abstinence, and obedience, may be termed sacrifices, is common to the books of the prophets and of the New Testament, whereas, on the other hand, the legal application of sacrifice seems to be almost restricted to offerings associated with the courts of the Lord. Kurtz avoids the difficulty by dividing the Levitical sacrifices into sacrifices in general and altar sacrifices an unnecessary distinction, apt to conceal their common significance.
Defining sacrifice, then, in accordance with both usage and etymology, as a gift, a presentation to God, a surrender to God of what has cost the offerer something, a material embodiment of the self-sacrificing spirit, and remembering that in the large majority of cases at least these sacrifices were associated with the holy places, the several ordinances of the Mosaic Law in reference thereto will arrange themselves under the following classes. There were the national sacrifices, or those presented in the name of the entire Jewish people by their representatives. There were the official sacrifices, or the specific acts of worship by presentation prescribed for the ecclesiastical and political orders. And there were the personal sacrifices, which were made by individual suppliants of the Heavenly Majesty. To the enumeration of the several varieties under each of these three divisions we now proceed, after uttering a proviso. When we speak of the Levitical sacrifices we do not mean those which are recorded in Leviticus simply, but those contained in any of the legal portions of the Pentateuch. The Book of Leviticus does not contain the entire Mosaic ritual; its legal provisions are supplemented by parts of Exodus and Numbers. Indeed, it is doubtful whether the sharp separation of the Leviticus from the other parts of the Pentateuch is not of very late date. Apparently, to judge from the Jewish rolls of the Law, what we now call the Book of Leviticus was simply sections twenty-four to thirty-three of the Torah, the first division of the Hebrew Scriptures.
I THE NATIONAL SACRIFICES. Sacrifice, as a form of Divine worship, was not confined under the Law to individuals, whether among the priests or the populace. The nation as such was identified with sacrificial observances. A national rejoicing was regarded as possible, and therefore a national thank offering. The chosen people were supposed to be collectively capable of humiliation and confession of sin, and therefore of a national atonement. Similarly, a national self-surrender to the will of Jehovah was deemed to be frequently appropriate, and hence national burnt offerings were consumed in the national behalf. This national identification with the Levitical sacrifices is a prominent characteristic of the Jewish Church.
The national offerings consisted:
1. Of the serial offerings, or those daily, weekly, and monthly sacrifices ordered to be presented in the nation"s behalf.
2. Of the festal offerings, or the ceremonial appropriate to the several exceptional days of sacrificial observance.
3. Of the offerings for the service of the holy place; and
4. Of some extraordinary offerings instituted in response to a widely felt need for worship or humiliation at extraordinary seasons.
1. The serial offerings. Every day, morning and evening, the priests were bidden to effect, in the name of the congregation, the burnt offering of a lamb of a year old, and to present therewith its appropriate meal offering and drink offering. (Exo_29:38-42 Lev_6:1-4 Num_28:3-8) The presentation was made according to the customary ritual for burnt offering. From the regularity of its succession this daily burnt offering is also called the "continual" or "continuous" burnt offering. (Exo_29:42 Num_28:6; comp. Dan_8:11) The only additional feature of this daily offering to which attention need be called is the probability of a direct association with the people at large by a peculiarity of ritual. According to rabbinic tradition, the nation was expressly represented in the court of the Lord"s house by certain dmm yvena, or permanent officials, who performed the customary rites of the imposition of their hands upon the victim, and its slaughter. Should this tradition simply refer to the days of Zerubbabel"s temple, still that later practice must point back to some earlier form of national representation.
Every sabbath the daily burnt offering was doubled night and morning. (Num_28:9, Num_28:10)
On the first day of every month, or on the new moon as it was called, two young bullocks, a ram, and seven lambs, with the prescribed meal and drink offerings, were ordered to be offered, in addition to the continuous burnt offering; a kid was also to be killed for a sin offering. (Num_28:11-15) The new moon was also emphasized by a rousing blast upon the silver trumpets. (Num_10:10) Further, on the new moon of the seventh month, dignified pre-eminently with the name of the Feast of the Blast of Trumpets, an additional burnt offering was to be made of a bullock, a ram, and seven lambs, in addition, that is, to the offering of the month and the daily burnt offering. (Lev_23:23-25 Num_29:1-6)
2. The festal offerings. Following the order of the Levitical calendar, the several festal or solemn seasons were Passover, the Paschal Feast, and Pentecost (or the Passover cycle), and the Day of Atonement, followed by the Feast of Tabernacles (or the cycle of the seventh month).
The Passover cycle. Even in the first celebration of the Passover, amidst all the idolatry and hardship of Egypt, there were features of sacrificial import. It was by Divine command that a lamb or kid, a male and physically immaculate, had been slain at sunset in every household, the sacred blood having been sprinkled with hyssop upon the posts and lintels of the front door. Also it was by Divine command that the victim was roasted whole, and hastily partaken of with loins girt and staff in hand Thus two features the blood ritual and the sacred feast were not without their sacrificial reference. And this reference was made yet more distinct when the perpetual celebration of the Passover was enjoined under altered conditions, and when the solemn feast of expectation became the solemn feast of reminiscence. Instead of being slain at home, the Paschal lamb was to be slain in the court of the tabernacle, and instead of being sprinkled upon the doorway of the offerer, it was to be sprinkled upon the altar of burnt offering. (comp. Ex 12 Deu_16:1-8 2Ch_30:16 2Ch_35:11; also Exo_13:3-10 Exo_34:18-21 Exo_23:4-8 Num_9:1-14 Num_28:16-25)
On the morning after the Paschal Supper, namely, on the fifteenth of the first month, the Paschal Feast commenced. It lasted seven days, the first day and the last partaking of the character of a sabbath; that is to say, work being interdicted, and a public assembly of the people at the one place of worship enjoined. This feast is known under two names. It is most frequently called in the Pentateuch the Feast of Unleavened Bread, from the circumstance that none but such bread was eaten by command throughout its course. It is once designated the Feast of the Passover in the Pentateuch. In after times these names were retained. At this feast, in addition to the abstention from leaven itself of sacrificial significance a peculiar ritual was ordered to be observed. Every day, after the offering of the customary burnt offering, a further offering by fire was made. Two bullocks, a ram, and seven lambs, with their accompanying meal and drink offerings, were to constitute the festal burnt offering, and one goat the sin offering; these offerings being repeated every day of the feast. The second day of the feast was also characterized by an additional act, not a little curious. Being the time of early harvest, a sheaf of the firstfruits was brought to the priest, who "waved" it before the Lord, presenting at the same time a lamb for a burnt offering, together with a fifth of an ephah of meal and a quarter of a hin of wine. (comp. Lev_23:9-14 Num_28:17-25)
Fifty days after the Paschal Supper came the Feast of Harvest to use one of the several designations of the final feast of the Passover cycle so called from the time of its observance. Another name for this feast was that of Firstfruits, a designation which is self-explanatory. From the fact that seven full weeks were allowed to elapse after the Passover before its celebration, it was also named the Feast of Weeks, or possibly this name refers to the whole period between Passover and Pentecost. The date of its occurrence also explains its later name, just mentioned, of Pentecost. The feast lasted but a day, and partook of the nature of a sabbath. This feast again has a special sacrificial ritual peculiar to itself, consisting of a meal offering, a burnt offering, a sin offering, and a peace offering: the meal offering being two loaves of leavened bread, to be offered as firstfruits; the burnt offering consisting of seven lambs, one ram, and a bullock, together with meal offerings and drink offerings; a kid constituting the sin offering, and two lambs the peace offering. The common details of the ritual of presentation were observed with two exceptions the two loaves and the two Iambs were simply waved before the Lord, and were not consumed by fire; they were "holy to the Lord for the priest". (comp. Lev_23:15-21 Num_28:26-31 Deu_16:9-12)
The cycle of the seventh month. The seventh month stood out in strong relief in the Jewish calendar. It opened, as we have seen, with the Feast of Trumpets, as if to awaken the nation year by year to the high importance of the days in which its lot was cast, and continued with blended solemnity and rejoicing, bringing in due course the great Day of Atonement, upon the tenth of the month, and the Feast of Tabernacles, or Ingathering, upon the fifteenth.
The ritual of the Day of Atonement was peculiarly sacrificial, and although there is combined therein not only offerings referring to national sins, but those of an official nature, it may tend to clearness if that ritual be described in order once for all. "The law concerning the Day of Atonement contains instruction as to the performance of the appropriate ritual, and as to its performance annually. The prescribed ritual was as follows: As a sacrifice for the priesthood, the high priest was to bring a sin offering of a bullock and a burnt offering of a ram; and as a sacrifice for the congregation, a sin offering of two he-goats and a burnt offering of a ram. The priest was to be clothed, not in his state costume, but in a dress entirely of white, to be put on after bathing the whole body, and not simply the hands and feet as customarily. This dress of white was not even the plain official dress of the ordinary priesthood, for that had a coloured girdle. Lots were then cast upon the two he-goats one lot for Jehovah and one for Azazel; and, according as the lots fell, so were they presented as living sacrifices before the altar. The ceremony of the expiation of the priesthood and the holy places then commenced. The bullock having been slain as a sin offering for himself and his house, the high priest filled the censer with embers from the altar of burnt offering and with incense, and placed the censer within the vail. Some of the blood of the ox was then sprinkled upon the mercy-seat and seven times upon the ground. Atonement was afterwards made for the nation. The he-goat was slain, and its blood, having been taken into the holiest, was sprinkled as the blood of the ox had previously been. The floor of the holy place was next sprinkled with blood, and the altars of incense and burnt offering. The expiation of the priesthood, tabernacle, and nation being now performed, an exquisitely symbolic act of forgiveness was gone through. The high priest placed both his hands upon the head of the live goat, confessed over it all the sins and transgressions of the people, and sent it away by a man who was standing ready into the desert. The high priest then removed his white garments, purified himself at the laver, and, having donned his official robes, offered the burnt offerings for himself and the people.
Further, the Feast of Tabernacles, time of wild and often libidinous rejoicing as it was, had its specific ritual of gifts and atonement, adjusted to the several days during which it lasted. Seven days long were the booths standing in the sacred court, and a kind of retrogression was observed in the sacrificial procedure. As on the other fast days, a goat was daily offered as a sin offering. The number of rams and lambs was doubled, being two and fourteen respectively. But it was in the number of bullocks that the distinguishing feature of the feast appeared. Seventy bullocks in all were offered, these being so distributed that, on the last day of the feast, seven were slain, eight on the day preceding, nine on the day previous to that, and so on, daily increasing by one until the total reached thirteen, the proportion slaughtered on the first day. (comp. Exo_23:16 Lev_23:34-43 Num_29:12-38 Deu_16:13-16 Deu_31:10-13)
1. The offerings for the service of the holy place. These offerings consisted of the holy oil for the daily replenishing of the lamps of the golden candlesticks, arranged "from evening to morning" by the priesthood; of the incense, peculiarly compounded, and daily burnt upon the golden altar; and of the twelve loaves, arranged in rows, with frankincense and libations of wine, to judge from the furniture of the table of shew-bread, which were laid before the Lord as a memorial at the beginning of every week, and eaten by the priests as "a most holy thing" at the close. In the present reference, the significant fact in connection with these offerings is that they were national rather than official, to say nothing of personal. For the materials thereof were selected from offerings representatively made by the people. Thus it is the children of Israel, and not the priests, who are bidden to bring pure olive oil for the lamps of the sanctuary. It would seem also that the constituents of the sacred incense were the gift of the people, seeing that in the first instance they were ordered to be provided by Moses, the representative of the tribes at large rather than of Levi. And, as regards the shew-bread, conceding that the number of its loaves did not point to the number of the tribes, as seems probable, it is expressly said, "every sabbath it shall be presented before Jehovah continually on the part of the sons of Israel, an eternal covenant". (Lev_24:8) Compare on the above statements, Exo_27:20 Lev_24:2 Exo_30:34-38 Exo_25:30 Lev_24:5-8 Num_4:7 Exo_27:12.
2. The extraordinary offerings. Amongst these offerings, in which we see the general theory of Old Testament sacrifice applied to unlooked-for waves of national sentiment, whether penitential or eucharistic, may be classed such abnormal offerings as those for the erection of the tabernacle; those at the consecration of Aaron; the surrender of their mirrors by the Hebrew women for the manufacture of the brazen laver; the sin offerings presented by the congregation in acknowledgment of some special sin of national bearing, such as the crimes of Korah and Achan; or the multi-rude of sacrifices slaughtered at the consecration of the temple. A very interesting series of instances, showing as they do a trial of old ordinances in new conditions, an application of the Law to changed circumstances, an apprehension of the spirit which is nobler than an obedience to the letter; and suggesting, as they undoubtedly do suggest, a variety of possible adaptations of the Law to religious ends not expressly contemplated.
II THE OFFICIAL SACRIFICES. Not only did the officials of the Jewish nation act as the religious representatives of the tribes in the manner just described, not only did they approach the Majesty on high as individual suppliants in the manner about to be described, but, according to the dictates of the Mosaic Law, there were sacrificial rites administered by them, neither in their representative nor in their individual capacity, but purely as officials. These rites pertained to the officials of Church and State and society at large, and may be conveniently classified according as they attached to the priests, the kings, the elders, and the ministering women.
1. The priestly offerings. Quite apart from their almost endless duties as the religious executive of the Israelites, there was a distinctive sacrificial cultus which belonged to the priests in their exceptional official functions. The following enumeration is exhaustive. There were special sin offerings to be made by any priest who had inadvertently erred in the discharge of his holy calling. (Lev_4:3) There was a specific offering of meal to be made by the high priest daily, morning and evening, within the outer vail. (Lev_6:14) The solemn expiation of the great Day of Atonement opened, as we have seen, with an atonement for the officiator and the whole priestly order. At the consecration of any high priest, priest, or Levite, characteristic offerings were enjoined, varying in costliness and manner in each case. Thus at the consecration of a Levite, the lowest grade in the hierarchy, there was a consecration itself called a sacrifice; (Num_8:13) after a process of purification, two young bullocks were offered, the one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. (Num_8:5-26) At the consecration of a priest, the intermediate ecclesiastical grade, two sets of three acts were performed: in the first place, the novice was specially purified, solemnly invested, and religiously anointed; and in the second place, a triple sacrifice was presented in his behalf, consisting of a bullock for a sin offering, a ram for a burnt offering, and a ram for a peace offering. (Exo_24:1 Exo_40:12-15 Lev_8:1-36) At the consecration, however, of the "anointed priest," or "the priest" par excellence, afterwards called the "high priest," a more elaborate ceremonial still was ordained, occupying seven days instead of one, and, whilst consisting of the same series of acts purification, investiture, anointing, and sacrifice, this last act showing as clearly as the investiture with the "golden garments" the exalted rank of the person concerned whereas for an ordinary priest one bullock formed a sin offering, for a high priest seven bullocks were offered on successive days. A further evidence of his exalted position may be seen in the sin offering to be made by the high priest upon any infringement of his official duty. "He was to offer an ox without blemish. Having performed the presentation, the imposition of the hand, and the slaughtering in the customary manner, he took a part of the blood into the tabernacle, and sprinkled it seven times "in the face of the vail of the holy," and having put some of the blood upon the horns of the altar of incense, he poured out the remainder at the bottom of the altar of burnt offering. The same fatty portions which were removed in the case of the peace offerings were afterwards lifted off the carcase and consumed above the daily burnt offering, the high priest carrying the rest of the carcase to a clean place before the camp, and burning it on wood with fire." A ceremonial of highly significant variations!
2. The offerings of the princes and the ruler. Express mention is made of elaborate offerings made at the dedication of the tabernacle "by the princes of Israel, heads of the house of their fathers gold and silver utensils, a goat apiece for a sin offering, and large burnt offerings and peace offerings. (Num_7:10-89) Express mention is also made of a sin offering for a ruler, whether judge or king. (Lev_4:22-26) Remembering, however, the special offerings of David and Solomon on set occasions, it would appear that the offerings just mentioned are simply instances of an adaptation of the sacrificial cultus to the sanctification of the chief officers of the State, and instances which any occasion of great penitence or gratitude might constitute into an inspiring precedent.
3. The offerings of the holy women. In this case again we seem merely to have an instance of a class of presentations capable of infinite repetition by sections of Jewish society. These holy women "served at the door of the tabernacle", (Exo_38:8 1Sa_2:22) not assisting, of course, in any of the ritual prescribed for the priests or Levites, but abiding apparently in a holy ministration of prayer and praise, fasting and sacrifice, like the saintly daughter of Phanuel; at least, such is the interpretation of these holy attendants suggested by the Septuagint, the Targum of Onkelos, Jerome, and many rabbis, as shown by Munster and Fagius in the "Critici Sacri.
III THE PERSONAL OFFERINGS. These are divisible into two classes the blood and the bloodless sacrifices, the former including the burnt offerings, the peace offerings, the sin and the trespass offerings; and the latter including the meat, or the meal, offerings, as they are better termed, the libations, the offerings of oil and incense, and a variety of oblations, such as the redemption moneys for every Israelite, the tithes, the firstlings, and the vows. Of these two classes in order; certain modifications of the blood and bloodless sacrifices under special circumstances may then be appended.
1. The blood sacrifices. The burnt offerings. Two points call for notice, namely, the injunctions concerning the victims to be slain, and those concerning the ritual to be observed in slaying. The victims varied with the wealth of the offerers. If the offerer was poor, a turtle-dove or pigeon sufficed to neutralize the command not "to appear before the Lord empty," and in the presentation of this humblest offering the officiating priest simply cleaned the birds and burnt them upon the accustomed altar. Richer offerings were such as an ox, a ram, or a goat, in the transformation of either of which into a sweet savour a more elaborate ritual was observed. This ritual is described at length because it was adopted in all burnt offerings, whether national, official, or personal. "The victim was brought to the altar by the offerer, who then forcibly laid his hand upon the animal"s head, and slaughtered it upon the north side. In the act of slaughtering, the blood was caught by the priest and swung against the four walls of the altar. The offerer then flayed the slaughtered animal, divided it, cleansed the intestines and the lower parts of the legs; whereupon the officiating priest, appropriating the skin, placed the several parts, with the head and fat, in order upon the wood, which had been previously arranged upon the ever-burning fire, and the whole sacrifice rose "as an offering of fire of a sweet savour unto Jehovah. A meal offering and a drink offering always accompanied this form of sacrifice (comp. chapter 1).
The peace offerings. In this case also emphasis must be laid upon the victims and the mode. With respect to the former, it might be a bull, a cow or a calf, a ram, a sheep or a lamb, a he-goat or a she-goat, the selection being regulated by the purse and the inclination of the offerer. As for the ritual, which mutatis mutandis was also observed in all the varieties of the peace offering, national, official, or individual, it in part resembled and in part differed flora that of the burnt offering. "The victim having been brought to the altar, the offerer laid his hand upon its head, slaughtered it (but apparently not on the north side) the priest meanwhile catching the blood and sprinkling it upon the altar flayed, divided, and cleansed it. The course subsequently followed was essentially different from that employed for the burnt offering. Instead of burning the animal entire, the offerer detached all the separable portions of fat, such as the flare, and that in which the intestines, kidneys, and liver are embedded; and in the case of sheep severed the fat tail; these portions were then burnt with the daily burnt offering. The breast was afterwards "waved" by a kind of horizontal movement, and given to the Aaronites, and the right leg was lifted or "heaved off" as a gift to the officiating priest. The remains of the carcase were carried away by the offerer, and a meal made of it in the sacred precincts of the tabernacle. Meat and drink offerings accompanied this form of sacrifice, one of the cakes of the meal offering always failing to the priest." Three occasions for the presentation of peace offerings are expressly mentioned: they might be made at special seasons of gratitude, and were then called thank offerings; they were presented when vows were made before the Lord, and were then called votive offerings; or they were voluntarily made at any time when there was a longing for the fellowship of Jehovah, being then called voluntary offerings. The laws of the peace offering are given in chapters 3 and Lev_7:11-36.
The sin offerings. Some of the characteristic features of the sin offering have been already passed under review in connection with the national and official offerings, and it has already become evident that the differentia of this class of sacrifices was to be found in a peculiar manipulation of the blood of the animal slaughtered. This fact becomes very evident indeed when we turn to the regulations concerning the individual sin offerings. "When a ruler or common Israelite sinned through ignorance, they were ordered to bring, on becoming conscious of their fault, the ruler an immaculate he-goat, and the Israelite an immaculate shaggy she-goat; in both cases the offerer then went through the customary process of laying on the hand and slaying, upon which the priest, having collected the blood, smeared some upon the horns of the altar, poured out the rest at the foot, and burnt the whole of the fat upon the hearth; the carcase fell to the priest. The sin offerings were slain where the burnt offerings were. It is also noteworthy that, whilst many victims might be offered as a burnt offering, the sin offering might never consist of more animals than one." It will be perceived upon a comparison of the several forms of sin offering, that the ritual observed was always the same in certain important points, such as the manipulation with the blood, the burning of the fatty portions, and the destination of the carcase (which always fell to the priest, either for his own use or to burn without the camp). For the law of the sin offering, consult chapter 4.
The trespass offerings. However similar in name, these formed a class quite distinct from the preceding class, and this distinction must be considered later on. At present it is sufficient to tabulate, as has been done in the other three classes, the sort of victims presented and the manner of their presentation. "In all cases the offering consisted of a ram, the blood of which, after the customary presentation, imposition of hands, and slaughtering, instead of being smeared upon the horns of the altar or taken into the holy place like the blood of the sin offerings, was simply swung against the side of the altar, the ritual being thenceforth the same as for the sin offering either of a ruler or common Israelite. This class of sacrifice was always accompanied by a recompense, which was considered as due to God and man; the discharge of the debt to God being effected by the placing by the priest of a fancy value upon the offered ram equivalent to the wrong done; and the human liability being discharged by the payment to the party wronged of the whole amount of the fraud, increased by a retributory fifth. The laws of the trespass offerings are given in Lev_5:14, etc., and Lev_6:1-7.
2. The bloodless sacrifices. These include the so-called meat offerings, the tithes and the firstfruits, both of which were solemnly presented before the Lord at the altar of burnt offering and consecrated, by a solemn dedication by fire of part to the Lord, and the other bloodless sacrifices which were not presented at the altar. Of these only the first class call for any further remarks.
The meat offerings were so called in the Authorized Version because meal was the staple food of the sixteenth century. Times and customs have now changed, and the word "meat" refers now to animal rather than vegetable food. It is now, therefore, advisable to speak of meal offerings, not meat offerings. These offerings were the Levitical vegetable sacrifices, and were preceded, with two exceptions the daily offering of the high priest and that which was substituted by the poor for the burnt offering by some form of blood sacrifice, either a burnt offering or a peace offering. "They consisted of fine wheaten flour, or of cakes of the same, variously prepared with oil, according to the culinary arts of the Jews, some being baked in a small oven like the Arab"s tannur, some being prepared on plates, and some in a skillet; they also occasionally consisted of roasted ears of corn. To all these "meat offerings" oil and salt were added, and to those which consisted of flour or grain incense also.... The ritual of presentation was very simple. The offerer brought the offering to the priest, who took a handful of the meal and oil with the incense, and burnt them on the altar, the remainder falling to the priest as "a thing most holy.
3. Certain modifications of the two previous classes enjoined under special circumstances. Not merely did the Law contain directions for individual sacrifices such as have been already described, but some specific adaptations were enjoined of the sacrificial ritual, in order to expressly connect certain states of mind and body with the scenic worship of the sanctuary. The occasion for these modified forms of ritual were the following; they are simply named for the most part, and the references given to the Law for fuller details:
Upon contact with a corpse (see Numbers 19 and comp. "Scriptural Doctrine of Sacrifice," page 74).
Upon the cure of a leper. The purification of a restored leper was divided into two series of acts performed after an interval of seven days, being at both times a modified sacrificial ritual (comp. chapter 14 and "Scriptural Doctrine of Sacrifice," page 75).
After parturition. The mother who had recovered from childbirth must present herself with a sacrifice at the altar. (see Lev_12:1-8)
After cessation of derangement of sexual organs. (see Lev_15:1-15 Lev_15:25-30)
In connection with the Nazarite vow. This vow of abstinence and continency was itself a form of sacrifice. It was also directly associated with the sacrificial ritual. Upon any unintentional defilement of a Nazarite by sudden death in his company, an offering was to be made of two doves, or pigeons, by way of atonement, and a lamb was to be brought as a trespass offering. There was also a peculiar rite to celebrate the expiry of his vow. (comp. Num_6:13-21)
At the so-called trial of jealousy, a solemn ordeal, by which conjugal infidelity was submitted to an awful sacrificial test. The suspicious husband brought the wife to the priest, together with an offering of barley meal, without oil or incense. The ordeal was this. The priest, taking some holy water from the laver, apparently in an earthen vessel in which he had mixed a little dust from the sacred court, and placing the meal in the woman"s hand, sware the woman according to an appalling formula, to which he says, "Amen, amen." Further, he wrote the formula in a book, and, having blotted it out with the holy water, caused the woman to drink the water. Nor was the ordeal even yet complete. There was a subsequent waving of the meal before the Lord, a burning of it upon the altar, and a second potation of the holy water. With this result, the thigh of the perjured woman rotted. (see Num_5:11-31)
B. SCRIPTURAL PRINCIPLES APPLICABLE TO THEELUCIDATION OF THE LEVITICAL SACRIFICES.
To the Christian mind, accustomed to accept instinctively as fundamental postulates the spirituality and universality of worship, it might well seem at first sight that so costly and complicated a ritual as has just been described was something less than Divine. Origen"s dilemma, that this cultus by presentation is either unworthy of its Creator, or its Creator is himself unworthy, seems to have some reason on its side. Nor does his escape from the dilemma appear at first blush irrational; it may seem better to some to inquire as to what these laws may be made to mean, rather than to investigate minutely what they seem to mean. Nevertheless, in real truth, it is needless to constitute one"s self a pupil of the philosophical eunuch of Alexandria. Ascetic rebellion against the actual condition of life providentially arranged for us is not the highest mark of sanctified wisdom, and quite another method of escape than Origen"s from the danger of the flesh may be pursued both in morals and in religion. As marriage may afford finer scope for the spiritual culture of life than celibacy, so a patient study of the reputed materialism of the Levitical sacrifices may issue in a more spiritual view of the Divine dealings than spiritualizing falsely so called. A little care and attention bestowed upon the actual teachings of Scripture show an exquisite adaptation to the needs of the Jew in the process of discipline to which he was divinely submitted. Indeed, a rational interpretation of the language of Scripture will elevate the Levitical cultus into so splendid an agent in the religious development of the chosen people, as not to be derogatory to Deity himself. At least, so we hope to show by an examination into the early records of the Pentateuch. By the sacrifice and offering which Jehovah did not for himself desire, he yet satisfactorily educated, as we shall see, a people to whom the higher revelation in the body could be made. Nay, however Judaism may fall short of Christianity, it is beyond all comparison with any other religious system developed during the world"s course. A worship which could train and satisfy a David and an Isaiah, a Jeremiah and an Ezekiel, must be preeminent amongst the non-Christian faiths. The task we now place before ourselves, therefore, is to educe from the Old Testament certain general principles which may be applied to the comprehension of the Levitical sacrifices. What light the Jew had upon the rites he was bidden to perform, we are now to gather into a focus. If the labour be great, it will not be unremunerative; in this toil, too, there will be profit. The inquiry will conveniently range itself under the following heads: We shall first elicit from Scripture some fundamental ideas common to the whole of the Levitical sacrifices; we shall next investigate the significance attached by Scripture to the varied, yet ordained, ritual of those sacrifices; thirdly, we shall ascertain the meaning associated by Scripture with the several varieties of these sacrifices; and lastly, we shall consider the significance of the several feasts and fasts to the celebration of which the sacrificial ritual was accommodated. These details settled, it will then be possible to regard the Levitical sacrifices as a whole. The application of these leading principles to the multitudinous injunctions previously classified will then be easy, and the result, it is believed, will be at once stimulating to faith and evocative of devout thankfulness.
Here a caution may be not unwisely interpolated. It possibly calls for explicit statement that, when we speak of scriptural principles of sacrifices and of principles deducible from the Scriptures, we do not refer to proof texts merely. The interpretation and application of Scripture is not so facile. However poorly the writer has succeeded in his aim, that aim itself is to base the interpretation of the Levitical sacrifices upon a series of complete inductions from the scriptural data, including, as they do, the implications of philology and the suggestions of general usage, possibly the hints derivable from a trained sense, as well as the numerous passages for which chapter and verse can be given. Scriptural archaeology is only inexpugnable when it consists of perfect inductions from Scripture, and perfect inductions must summarize tenor in addition to positive statements of facts.
1. Certain fundamental ideas common to the Levitical sacrifices. The idea underlying the generic term "qorban. After what has been already said upon the meaning and Biblical usage of this term for all forms of sacrifice, whether bloodless or marked by the effusion of blood, whether presented at the altar or without discrimination of place, little further need be added. All the Levitical sacrifices were gifts to Jehovah. They gave tangible expression to the innate sentiments of every worshipper down to the lowest grade of the fetichist, that it is necessary to attest the self-denial of his soul by some gift which the hand can bring; a sentiment which Jehovah not only sanctioned in the Jew, but demanded when he said, "Thou shalt not appear before me empty." He who brought a qorban made a presentation. Undoubtedly the problem of the Levitical sacrifices is like one of those intricate locks which only a combination of keys can open. One master-key has been discovered in this idea of qorban. Whatever else the Levitical sacrifices were, they were presentations to Jehovah, sacrifices symbolic of self-sacrifice.
The idea underlying the term" kipper" and its several forms. This technical term and its derivatives are translated in the Authorized Version by atone and its derivatives. Without discussing the primary significance of the word, (f5) suffice it to say that "atone" in its scriptural sense means "to cover sin," in other words, to neutralize or conceal sin so that it should not offend the Deity to render the Divine wrath inoperative. To make an atonement, if we probe the Hebrew figure, "was to throw, so to speak, a veil over sin so dazzling that the veil and not the sin was visible, or to place side by side with sin something so attractive as to completely engross the eye. The figure which the New Testament uses when it speaks of the "new robe," the Old Testament uses when it speaks of atonement. When an atonement was made under the Law, it was as though the Divine eye, which had been kindled at the sight of sin and foulness, was now quieted by the garment thrown around it; or, to use a figure much too modern, yet equally appropriate, it was as if the sinner, who had been exposed to the lightning of the Divine wrath, had been suddenly wrapped round and insulated." So much for the idea of the word. In addition, let the precise association of the idea be remembered. This idea of atonement is expressly associated with the blood of the sacrifices in an important passage: "For the soul," it is said, in Lev_17:11, "of the flesh is in the blood, and I (the Lord) have given it you upon the altar to be an atonement for your souls: for the blood it atones by the soul." In other words, to avoid the lengthy controversy connected with this passage, it is at least alleged that the blood of every animal sacrifice has been appointed by God, for some reason of his own, as a means of neutralizing the sin of the Jew, because the blood is the life of the animal sacrificed. Four truths thus emerge, viz. first, the Levitical sacrifices had a power of atonement; secondly, that atonement was connected only with the blood sacrifices; thirdly, it was the effusion of blood which was declared to be a neutralizing of sin; and fourthly, this act of atonement was an act of substitution, that is to say, a forfeited human life was spared because of an animal life surrendered. Of course, we are not arguing either the reasonableness or irrationality of this fact; it is our present purpose simply to state it. Thus the second master-key to the Levitical sacrifices has been obtained. But although, to continue the figure, the door into the mysterious chamber is opened, the only available light is that which has followed our entrance; there are many windows to be unbarred and blinds to be lifted before the entire chamber is visible to its remotest corner and most secret recess. To this unbarring and illuminating we must now proceed.
The significance of the materials used in sacrifice. As our previous classification has shown, these materials were divisible into animal and non-animal offerings, or, to adopt the yet more significant technicalities, into blood and bloodless offerings. The ideas already educed render the interpretation of these two classes of material easy. The bloodless offerings were presentations simply; they were gifts made to Jehovah upon approach to him in worship; they were this and nothing more. The blood sacrifices were this and something more; they were both presentations and instruments of atonement; in addition to being the gifts of the offerer to Jehovah, they possessed the all-important blood which testified to the substituted life. In every case of animal sacrifice the blood spilt spoke of a substituted life, whilst in every case also the animal itself, of some value to the offerer, spoke of a presentation made. And it is this latter fact which elucidates another point in the Ceremonial of animal sacrifice, namely, the variety and the kind of victims enjoined. Offerings were only to be made of such animals as did not contradict the Levitical laws of food of such animals, therefore, as Jehovah could receive. Further, the victims were of very different value; a bullock was worth more than a cow, a cow than a calf, a calf than a ram, a ram than a sheep, a sheep than a lamb, a lamb than a pigeon, and a pigeon than a handful of meal; the gradation of animal became a gradation of gift. The more costly the gift the more self-sacrificing the offering.
The significance of the place of sacrifice. In the patriarchal age, it would appear, any place might be a place of special Divine revelation, and therefore a place where an altar might be erected; in the Levitical code, the legitimate place of sacrifice was more restricted. The large majority of offerings, as our previous description has already made evident, were ordered to be presented within the precincts of the one spot which Jehovah had consecrated by his presence. As it is said in Deu_12:5, Deu_12:6, "But unto the place which the Lord your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put his Name there, even unto his habitation shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come: and thither ye shall bring your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, and your tithes, and heave offerings of your hand, and your vows, and your freewill offerings, and the firstlings of your herds and of your flocks." And yet again, in verses 13, 14, "Take heed to thyself that thou offer not thy burnt offerings in every place that thou seest: but in the place which the Lord shall choose in one of thy tribes, there thou shalt offer thy burnt offerings, and there thou shalt do all that I command thee." And still more solemnly is the same injunction conveyed in Lev_17:3-9, "What man soever there be of the house of Israel, that killeth an ox, or lamb, or goat, in the camp, or that killeth it out of the camp, and bringeth it not unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, to offer an offering unto the Lord before the tabernacle of the Lord; blood shall be imputed unto that man; he hath shed blood; and that man shall be cut off from among his people: to the end that the children of Israel may bring their sacrifices, which they offer in the open field, even that they may bring them unto the Lord, unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, unto the priest, and offer them for slain offerings unto the Lord," etc. If apparent exceptions are seen in the case of Gideon, Manoah, David, and Elijah, it needs to be remembered that their aberrant practice was sanctioned by express Divine revelations; and so little was their example regarded as a type of permissible action, that when the Reubenites wished to build a second altar, all Israel grew furious, and was ready to put two tribes and a half to the sword. It is therefore evident that immense importance was attached under the Law to the place of sacrifice. That place was ordered in such a way that it always fell somewhere within the one sanctuary; and very significantly so, for there Jehovah was supposed and stated to be peculiarly present and approachable. There was a certain localization of the Deity according to the Mosaic Law, and the neighbourhood of the Shechinah was holy ground, as the Law itself represents Jehovah as saying. "And there I will meet" are the words of the Lord at the ordinance of the perpetual burnt offering at the door of tabernacle, "And there I will meet with the children of Israel, and the tabernacle shall be sanctified by my glory. And I will sanctify the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar: I will sanctify also both Aaron and his sons, to minister to me in the priest"s office. And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will be their God". (Exo_29:43, Exo_29:44) Let it be noted, however, that, whilst the whole sanctuary was the abode of Jehovah, approach to him was limited by two conditions: first, certain sections of the sanctuary were allotted to certain sections of the people, the high priest alone being allowed to enter the holy of holies, the priests" peculiar portion being the holy place, and the court being apportioned to the Jew; and secondly, the altars were, so to speak, the centres of the several sections, in which their significance was concentrated and from which their power radiated.
Thus we have express scriptural authority for saying that the various offerings were to be presented within the precincts of the holy place, each according to the status of the worshipper, because there Jehovah, the covenant God, had consented to reveal his Name, and be peculiarly present.
The significance of the officiating priests. Not only was the large majority of sacrifices ordered to be made at a certain place, but by the mediation of a certain ecclesiastical executive. The Jews at large were not priests unto God, they did their priestcraft by deputy; and from the days of their unanimous refusal of the more exalted office of Divine administration, the tribe of Levi was set apart for holy service. The preceding description of the legal commands has already shown how large a part the priest played in sacrificial worship, how minute a rubric instructed the priest in the dutiful discharge of his sacred functions. For our present purpose, the tribe of Levi as a whole may be ignored; it is simply needful to concentrate attention upon the priests proper, the descendants of Aaron, and their official head, the so-called high priest. Had the fact of the mediation of priests any doctrine to convey to the reverent and thoughtful worshipper? Most assuredly. The priests were middle-men; they had an exceptional privilege of Divine approach; they represented God to man, and man to God. Every sacrifice presented through the priest was presented to Jehovah by the appointed medium of legal access.
2. The significance of the several details of the sacrificial ritual. It is next necessary to consider the significance of the curious and precise ritual ordered to be adopted in sacrificial worship, and to see whether and how far religious truths were taught thereby. It will be seen that no prescribed act was meaningless, and that each stage in the elaborate act of worship had its own message to convey.
The act of presentation. The first stage in every act of sacrifice was the deliberate presentation of the offerer and his gift at the appropriate altar. Entrance into the court of the Lord"s house was not casual or heedless, but of set purpose. The offerer presented himself and his offering solemnly before the priest. Nor was this presentation a mere opportunity for an official examination into the fulfilment of the legal conditions of valid sacrifice, although the officiating priest was unquestionably bound to see that the victim had neither spot nor blemish nor any such thing. The presentation was itself a thoughtful religious act. Of what nature? Without entering upon the various replies which have been returned by Neumann, Keil, Kliefoth, Kurtz, and Wangemann, suffice it to say that the thebiah was a symbolical prayer for the privileges accruing to legal sacrifice. To come to the altar was to come to the Lord; to come with a willing and obedient mind, fulfilling the conditions of the Law, was to ask for a share in the promises thereto attached.
The imposition of the hand. The victim having been solemnly presented, "the offerer forcibly laid his hand upon its head; his hand, not his slave"s; his hand, not his substitute"s, nor his wife"s, but his own hand to retranslate what Outram extracted from the Talmud. There was a forcible imposition of the hand upon the head of the victim by the offerer, whoever he might be, whether priest or layman, king or elder. And this act was singularly eloquent. Again refraining from entering into the protracted controversy as to the meaning of the rite (discussed in the writer"s previous work), suffice it to say that this act was a dedication of the victim to the purpose for which it was brought. Perfunctory worship Jehovah would not have, and as the deliberate act of presentation kept the mind of the offerer awake to the importance of the rite in which he was engaging, so the deliberate act of the imposition of the hand kept the mind awake to the same great object. Just as the presentation said, "This is my deliberate act," so the imposition of the hand implied, "This is my deliberate gift.
The act of slaughter. This, be it observed, was always performed by the offerer (possibly assisted or guided by the Levites), and hence its significance. In offering an animal, he was bringing before God an atonement as well as a presentation. But atonement was by the blood, not by the living animal. Whilst, therefore, sacrifice as a gift was complete when the victim was dedicated to sacred purposes in the two first ritual acts already described and explained, sacrifice as an atonement was not complete until the blood was given to the priest. In the act of slaughter by his own hand, the offerer obediently brought before God the blood of atonement. The slaughtering was important as the consummation of the act of sacrifice by the presentation of the atoning blood before the Lord.
The heaving and waving. Sometimes a peculiar swinging of the offering was appended to the other acts of presentation, called "heaving" and "waving" (therumah and thenupha). This detail was enjoined in the consecration of the Levites and priests, in the vow of the Nazarite, in the offering of jealousy, in the cleansing of the leprous, in the thank offerings and the tithes. Nor are the movements themselves difficult to trace. "Heaving" was a perpendicular motion from below upwards, a swinging from earth towards heaven. "Waving" has been very differently understood. Some of the early Protestant exegetes regarded "waving" as making the sign of the cross, in which they found some mysterious reference to the crucifixion of Jesus; Hengstenburg and Bahr accept this interpretation whilst rejecting the inference. Gesenius, Thalhofer, Keil, Knobel, Schultz, and Oehler seem to regard thenupha as a mere synonym of thebiah, and as forming no distinct part of the ceremonial; in which view there is both truth and falsity, the "waving" being assuredly a part of the act of presentation, hut a part of the ritual distinctly emphasized. As Wangemann has pointed out, the compilers of the Mishna no mean authorities on the details of ancient worship regard this movement of heniph as a "going and coming," as if "waving" were a horizontal movement backwards and forwards. With this certain passages in the Old Testament coincide. Thus Isaiah calls the swinging of an axe "waving," as also the angry shake of the threatening finger. On the whole, therefore, this significant act of the officiator would seem to be a more emphatic presentation. The priest took the offering and "heaved" it towards heaven, as if presenting it to the Deity who had made the heavens his throne, and then returned the gift to the altar by a "waving "process, which only differed from the reverse of "heaving" by the exercise of force to counteract gravity, and place the limb or the firstfruits, for example, upon the altar.
The significance of the manipulations with the blood. Although this act varied in the several kinds of sacrifice, it was nevertheless invariably a more or less complete pouring forth of the life-blood before the Lord. The rabbinical interpreters of the Law divided the manipulation in question into three actslekicha, serika, and shepicha. To the collection of the blood in a silver bowl they gave the name of lekicha; the application of the blood so reserved to the altar they called serika; and the pouring out of the superfluous blood at the runnel of the altar, whence it flowed into the brook Kedron, they designated shepicha. This triple division is useful as showing the stages of the customary procedure. It was the second stage which was manifestly the important one, the first being a mere preliminary, and the third a mere consequent thereto. This serika, or sprinkling, varied with the sacrifice, sometimes being a sprinkling of the surface of the brazen altar, sometimes a smearing of the horns, and sometimes a general aspersion of all the holy places and their sacred utensils. It was always, however, a bringing of blood in contact with the altar, and thus before Jehovah. Upon the significance of this repulsive proceeding to modern eyes we are left in no doubt. The interpretation thereof is given in the passage which has already been quoted, (Lev_17:11) and concerning which, however interpreters may vary as to its exact purport, all are agreed that it defines the use of blood in the Law. "For the soul of the flesh," it runs, "is in the blood: and I (the Lord) have given it you upon the altar to be an atonement for your souls: for the blood atones by the soul." In other words, this verse asserts that the blood of the animal legally presented has been appointed by God as a means of atonement for human life, because that blood is really the life of the animal sacrificed, or, to put the same thing in other words, the blood or life of an animal has been graciously accepted by Jehovah (for some reason or other, and by some means or other) as a valid substitute for the life or blood of the sinful offerer. As Kahnis puts it, blood is life in compendio. By the blood manipulation one part of the twofold aim of animal sacrifice was completed, and a legal atonement was made for human sin.
The significance of the combustion upon the altar. In the blood manipulation, as has just been observed, the atoning aspect of animal sacrifices was complete; the two remaining rites were connected with the offerings as gifts to God. There was in every case a burning of the carcase, wholly or in part; this was the first of the remaining acts. The symbolism of this combustion is manifest. It was a sending of the gift to God. After arranging the divided or the selected portions of the carcase in the heaven-born fire which had issued forth from the Divine presence at the consecration of the tabernacle and had never been permitted to altogether expire, they were burned, that is to say, they were etherealized, and they rose to heaven as "a sweet savour." The rite bore a similar interpretation when it had reference to any of the bloodless offerings. To burn was to effectually present.
The significance of the concluding meal. In all offerings but the holocausts and certain forms of the sin offerings, the ritual ended in a sacrificial meal, enjoyed for the most part by the priesthood, but occasionally that is to say, in the case of peace offerings shared by the laity. Of necessity, when there was a consummating feast, the entire gift was not burnt; part was consumed by fire in symbolical gift to God, and part was retained. That this remnant commonly fell to the priesthood points to the significance of this closing act. The priests were the representatives of Jehovah; consumption by the priest was as much giving to God as consumption on the altar. There was a mystical union between Jehovah and his priests, and participation by the latter was participation by the former. In the peace offering there was a continuation of the same idea. For a time, the sacrificing family was admitted to the privileges of the priesthood. It consisted for a gracious season of priests unto God. As Kurtz has strikingly said, "Just as the effusion of blood betokened justification,... so the sacrificial meal told its tale of the unio mystica.
3. The significance of the several species of sacrifice. It will be convenient to reverse our previous order of exposition, and begin with
The bloodless offerings. In these, as their name minchoth implies, the fact of presentation is alone emphasized. They were gifts to God simply; they were not a means of atonement. The whole ritual of their offering was adapted to express that they were presentations alone. Their further significance varied with their material. They consisted always of the products of labour; they were therefore objective representations of so much self-sacrifice; and it is interesting to see how these pure gifts might be made from all the branches of human activity agriculture, stock-farming, arboriculture, merchandise, luxuries, even the spoils of battle and the titles of property.
The several blood sacrifices. These conveyed both the leading elements of Jewish worship. They were at once gifts and means of atonement. The ritual enjoined accentuated both features of blood manipulation and presentation. Further, whilst every blood sacrifice made both the aspects of sacrifice prominent, the materials ordered and the ritual enjoined adapted these fundamental facts to varying states of mind and inclination. The burnt offerings, and sin offerings, and trespass offerings, and peace offerings, were all means of adoring God, and covering sin as well; but in each species there was a special adaptation to the more vivid expression and satisfaction of some religious state.
The burnt offering is most nearly allied to the bloodless sacrifices. As its ritual shows most clearly, and as its name of holocaust implies, presentation is its leading characteristic; so far from the blood manipulation constituting a prominent feature, it seems to be, what it is in fact, a mere means to an end, a recognition of sinfulness lest the gift of man be despised. The variation too in the victims allowed points to the same fact to the relative value of gifts, and is a kind of Old Testament proclamation of the duty of proportionate giving; the poor man"s handful of meal, or pigeon, tells the same story as the widow"s mite. On the other band, the swinging of the blood collected by the priest against the altar is the least emphatic manner of procedure in atonement, whereas the burning of the whole carcase pointed most conclusively to the animal as a presentation to God.
In the sin offering, on the contrary, it is just the blood manipulation which is strongly emphasized. If the burnt offering was an atonement that it might be a gift, the sin offering was a gift that it might be an atonement. This inference is suggested by the name as well as the ritual. A sin offering was an offering for sin for sin of an accurately defined nature, sin bishgagah, sin of error, and not deliberate sin. As for the ritual, there is as distinct an accentuation of the blood manipulation as there is an evident withdrawal into the background of the ritual of gift, the carcase simply falling to the priest, or being unostentatiously burnt without the camp, as a thing which has performed its purpose elsewhere. Further, in connection with the ritual of the making a substitute for sin, it is important to notice the increase in the value of the substitute as the status of the offerer rose. There is a well-marked gradation in the victims commanded, from the comparatively worthless she-goat of the common Israelite to the more valuable he-goat of the ruler, and thence to the ox for the priest or the congregation. Again, be it observed that the sin offerings of individuals were not presentable for any sin, but only for the so-called sins of ignorance, error, weakness, whichever word may be most suitably employed for the frequent lapses of sanctified but depraved human nature. Sharply defined, therefore, sin offerings were gifts which were made for atonement of sins of ignorance, sins of ignorance, according to the Levitical conception, being any sins which did not wilfully contravene the dictates of Jehovah,
Similarly, the significance of the trespass offerings may be inferred from the ritual and the law of their presentation. From the former it is manifest that neither the element of gift nor of atonement was the prominent feature, but the element of restitution. In this class of sacrifice there was always an accompanying recompense, which was paid both to. God who has been offended by the trespass, and to man who has been defrauded. It was the fancy value which was put upon the ram and which expiated the wrongdoer before the Great Giver of all things, and it was the monetary indemnity which expiated the human fraud, which gave to this offering its peculiar place and value. And this inference is strengthened by noting certain special cases in which this form of offering was ordained. Trespass offerings were to be made upon unconscious negligence in such dues as tithes or firstfruits, upon an unintentional infringement of a Divine command, and upon any deceitful violation of the rights of property; thus, to translate the injunctions into more general terms, trespass offerings were to be made upon any forgetfulness of duty to God or duty to our neighbour. There was always present in this class of sacrifices the idea of retribution.
Similarly, in the peace offerings, it is again manifest that it is neither the fact of gift nor that of atonement which is uppermost, but that of the sacrificial meal. In this class, as in the preceding, the elements of presentation and atonement are but means to an end. The peace offerings were gifts and expiations that they might be feasts. The peace offering was the social offering, the sacrifice of friendship, where a man and his kindred might have loving fellowship with Jehovah and his priests. The burnt offering was the act of one in union with Jehovah, the peace offering of one who would cement union by communion. The peace offering was the Lord"s Supper of the old covenant.
4. The significance of the several feasts and fasts. The several feasts and fasts now call for consideration before we proceed to build up these numerous details into one consistent and instructive synthesis. The significance of these festal or penitential seasons must again be inferred from the scriptural records by means of a careful induction in each case.
The general import of these exceptional times and seasons in the Jewish calendar may be gathered from the name so frequently applied to them. They are called "holy convocations;" whereby is signified that they were not simply seasons of rest, a kind of Decadi, or Sansculottide, an atheistic day of rest, or popular festival; they were holy days as well as holidays. Nor were they, this name implies, like birth and marriage days, like Waterloo memorials and American Days of Independence, like Foundation Days and remembrances of a pious benefactor mere jubilant or regretful reminiscences of past events, such as the Divine pause after Creation, or the flight from Egypt, or the tenting-out at Succoth; they were religious in the sense of present participation in spiritual privilege; they were sacramental memorials. In short, the Jewish festivals (to use a convenient term not to be understood as excluding days of humiliation), whatever else they were, whether holidays or days of rest, were dedicated to religious exercises, and therefore became media for new experimental participation in the blessings of religious truth.
The sabbaths were times of holy convocation, and nothing more. They were pauses authoritatively demanded in the busy life of the world for spiritual as well as physical ends. They stood out amidst the days of the week as the Lord"s days, and as peremptorily as the fourth commandment bade "Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy," did prophets take up the strain, saying, "Moreover, I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that it is I the Lord that sanctify them." Of the same general sabbatic character the new moons partook, and the sabbatic and jubilee year also. They were times for holiness and congregation in addition to being seasons of rest. Without calling any special historical event to mind, they were "holy convocations," labour being remitted that religion might be the more engrossing.
The remaining festal times and seasons had an additional characteristic. Besides being "holy convocations," when there might be a general adoration of Jehovah, and a general remembrance of his goodness, and a general participation in the blessedness which the truths he had graciously revealed were calculated to impart, there was in these other feasts and fasts a particular remembrance of some special religious crisis in the national history, a particular celebration of some special act of Divine goodness, and a particular reception of some special Divine blessing. It Was as though each year there was again a remembrance of the principal needs of the religions life, together with the special Divine methods for ministering to those needs. In fact, as the sabbatic cycle of festivals was fitted to keep alive in the soul the general relations of the Jew to his covenant God, so the remaining festivals were individually adapted to fan the flickering embers of some single spiritual sense only too liable to expire. The several exceptional festivals were ordained to be at once holy convocations, sacred memorials, and blessed sacraments, and both history and precept are inadequately estimated if either element is disregarded.
Thus it is an insufficient interpretation of the Passover if it is spoken of simply as a remembrance of the first constitution of the released Hebrews. The Passover, as it was celebrated from year to year, was a re-enactment, a reiteration, a renewal of that ancient rite which inaugurated the Divine adoption of Israel as "a peculiar treasure, a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation," as Jehovah himself described the liberated Egyptian slaves. Passover was a time of solemn convocation and sacred reminiscence; it was also a repetition of that symbolic ritual by which the children of Israel were admitted into their peculiar relationship to the Deity, wherein they may feast as the ransomed sons of God. Briefly, Passover was a holy convocation, when the first Passover was recapitulated, and the nation again entered upon the amenities of Divine forgiveness and adoption. Or, yet more briefly, Passover was the Feast of Justification, "made year by year continually.
The days succeeding the Passover constitute one long festal season, commencing with the days of Unleavened Bread, and ending with the Feast of Firstfruits. Again we have an addition to the general significance of a festival for a special end. The justified nation is now submitting itself to rules of abstinence and habits of self-sacrifice. A not unsuitable name for this season would be the Feast of Consecration; or, to modify our previous form of speech, the Feast of Weeks, by which name the Old Testament seems sometimes to designate the whole period from Passover to Pentecost, was marked by special days of holy convocation, in which the first joys of national obedience and deliverance were reiterated, and the people admitted to the privileges of the Divine adoption testified to its blessedness by willing consecration of self and substance to Divine purposes. More briefly, the Feast of Weeks was the Feast of Consecration, "made year by year continually.
A similar line of remark is applicable to the great Day of Atonement. This day of humiliation was by no means a repetition of the Passover, as some have thought. It does not celebrate the entrance of the people upon covenant rights, nor the beneficial remembrance of that entrance; it is a fast and a penitential season for those who have been already admitted to the Divine intimacy. What else, then, could the Day of Atonement signify than the atonement demanded by the sinfulness inseparable even from the reconciled? What else could the Day of Atonement suggest than the permanent need of atonement even by a nation of priests? And what else did that day proclaim than the means divinely prearranged for meeting that evident need? The Day of Atonement was, as its name implies, that holy convocation in which the covenant people were cleansed from the sin contaminating their holiest service, "year by year continually, the Fast of Absolution.
Hence follows the meaning of that festival which formed the climax of the festive seasons of the year, the Feast of Tabernacles. Naturally enough it was jubilant and exultant; dances and singing and mirth were its natural accompaniments. For a time, at least, there was a joyous sojourn in the courts of the Lord"s house, and a kind of Paradise restored where man might hear the voice of God amidst the leaves of the trees in which the swallow had built a nest for herself. The season was a symbolic representation of the joy of the elect, who dwell in Jehovah"s temple fearlessly and gleefully. The Feast of Tabernacles, religiously regarded, was the Feast of the Joy of the Reconciled.
Such, at any rate, were the religious truths these festivals were fitted to convey, and the types of religious life they were adapted to gratify, mould, and objectify. Doubtless the picture drawn is ideal, as has been the whole delineation of the significance of the Levitical sacrifices. Undoubtedly also the realization was but rarely attained, and that not in the entire nation, but in the sanctified heart of some solitary worshipper like David or Ezekiel. Nevertheless, these Divine object-lessons were not without their value. They were at once an exercise and an embodiment of an indispensable form of educational religion. They were admirably qualified for a paternal education of a religious childhood, if they fell short of a personal culture of a religious manhood. Add the further truth, so clearly taught in the old covenant, of the preparatory character of Judaism, and this divinely given cultus by presentation and atonement was blessed and stimulating indeed, "a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ.
C. THE APPLICATION OF THE PRINCIPLES DEDUCEDTO THE ENTIRE SCHEME OF THE LEVITICAL SACRIFICES.
There is, alas! no royal road to the comprehension of the Levitical sacrifices, and in the esteem of the present writer it is only after a laborious, observant, protracted, and possibly wearisome journey through a wide realm of detail, that anything like sure approach can be made to a mastery of the difficulties of the way. A few jottings only of that journey have been given, a few impressions recorded in transit, but even now some advance can be made to the promised land of intelligibility. To speak without figure, a complete synthesis of the facts and interpretations already obtained could only result upon a full and exhaustive survey by the light of the principles deduced of the entire Jewish calendar of sacrifice. Such a survey is precluded by our limits; but some suggestive outlines thereof may now be drawn.
Let us suppose ourselves standing within the entrance of the court of the tabernacle or the temple as twilight is passing into dawn on the morning of the 1st of Abib, or, as it was afterwards called, the 1st of Nisan. For years the same round of ritual has been pursued, at once reminding the chosen people of their exceptional religious privileges and expressing with eloquent symbol the religious sentiments which so benevolent a religious system could evoke and educate, and once more the blank page of the new year is being presented for completion, and the services of the year are recommencing. Before our eyes the barefooted priests, who are to officiate in their course, are already preparing themselves for their solemn duties by ablution at the brazen laver, whilst, on the hearth of the altar of burnt offerings the remnants of the first evening sacrifice of the new year are still burning. The ceremonies of the day begin. First comes the continuous burnt offering. One of the elders of the people possibly presents himself in the people"s name at the altar, bringing with him the appointed lamb for the sacrifice and the appointed meat and drink offerings. He is seen to lay his hand with some force upon the victim"s head, thus dedicating it in the name of the entire people as a burnt offering in its behalf. He draws his knife and cuts its throat. The priest, who is ready with a basin, collects the streaming blood and dashes it as an atonement against the sides of the altar, then dissects and cleanses the carcase in the prescribed manner, and, laying the pieces in order upon the hearth, the morning oblation rises into the air, "a sweet savour unto Jehovah;" and once more the daily burnt sacrifice has been presented as an acceptable token and memorial of the nation"s consecration to Jehovah.
But the day is a new moon, a more emphatic and memorable day of grace, and a more elaborate offering is added to the ordinary daily presentation. The task of the national representative, whoever he may be, is not yet complete, and he again presents himself in the same place with two young bullocks, a ram, and seven lambs for a burnt offering, together with the prescribed offerings of meat and wine, and also with a kid for a sin offering. Analogy would suggest that the sin offering is first made. Again the offering is formally made to the priests at the brazen altar, clad as before in their white robes and parti-coloured girdles, but increased in number; again the hand is impressed upon the head of the victim; again the animal is slain in the nation"s behalf; again one of the priests, the accredited representatives of Jehovah, collects the blood of the slaughtered beast; but there the similarity of the ceremonial ends. According to the ritual ordained for the sin offering, some of the blood is more carefully smeared upon the horns of the altar, and is thus brought in more solemn memorial before the Lord, whilst the remainder is poured away, its end being achieved, at the base of the altar; some few portions of the fat are alone consumed by fire, the offering partaking more of the nature of an atonement than a gift, and for the same reason the rest of the carcase is not burnt within the sacred precincts of the holy place, but in some clean spot without the comp. Then follows the large monthly burnt offering before described, which puts the larger number of priests in requisition, the same form of ritual being gone through as in the case of the "continuous" sacrifice, and the same truth being signified with more display. Thus, at the opening year, the chosen nation is again reminded of its consecration, and reconsecrated to God in emphatic manner, the doctrine being simultaneously declared by the presentation of the sin offering as well as by the form of blood sacrifice, that even the best hours of religious acknowledgment in the most prominent days of a sanctified people are not untainted by sin, but call for humiliation and atonement.
The national offerings made, and the golden candlestick replenished in the holy place, the official offerings follow. The high priest, in his official robes of white and blue, "Holiness to the Lord" glistening in gold upon his mitre, his jewelled breastplate flashing and sparkling in the early sun, passes to the performance of his exalted functions, the bells and pomegranates at the fringe of his broidered tunic ringing as he goes to present his daily sacrifice. Now he burns his offering of meal at the altar of burnt offering, and, by a gift of his substance, consecrates himself anew to the Lord, no effusion of blood being in his case necessary, because of the peculiar holiness supposed to attach to his sublime office; now he advances to the holy place, and, drawing back the chequered curtain, "a thing of beauty and of glory," is hidden from view for a time, but within, we know, he is burning incense before the Lord on the golden altar, as a further testimony of priestly consecration presenting solemnly this exceptional holocaust without blood.
The personal offerings now succeed. These, of course, vary from day to day according to the number of those who are religiously impressed with the necessity of sacrifice, and according to the mode of impression. For, legally compulsory as several of the varieties of individual sacrifices were, there was an element of freedom in some, and of limitation in all; and as manifestly as the burnt offerings and peace offerings were purely voluntary, it is equally evident that the sin offerings and trespass offerings were largely influenced by time and space. A Jew who lived remote from Jerusalem, for example, might know the Law, but could not possibly fulfil it; thus there would be, even with the enthusiastically religious, a more probable remembrance and observance upon certain set occasions, such as the annual feasts. Nor must the hardness of the human heart be forgotten, and the rare virtue of living up to spiritual privileges. Still, the supposition is that we are standing in the court of the tabernacle on a New Year"s Day. Although not dignified with the importance of Pentecost or the great Day of Atonement, it is still a festal day, and offerings of many kinds will certainly be presented. At one hour, full of gratitude to God, and anxious for service and self-abnegation, a man brings his bull, or his ram, or his goat, for a burnt offering, according to his means and inclination, whilst his poorer neighbour presents his pair of pigeons. The customary ritual is gone through, each stage of which is symbolically expressive of the act an& method of consecration, until the holocaust rises "as an offering of fire of a sweet savour unto Jehovah," and the deed of personal consecration is complete. At another time it is an omission of some sacred duty which is to be remembered before the Lord, and in that obedience which is dearer even than sacrifice, an Israelite from the ranks is leading his spotless shaggy she-goat to the altar, when again the ceremonies of presentation, of imposition, and of slaughter are carefully gone through, each stage in the sanguinary proceeding having its own spiritual suggestiveness for the religiously minded, the blood is smeared upon the horns of the altar to bring the medium of atonement before the Lord, and, the expiation for the unwitting sin being ended, the offerer walks away, mentally at rest. Or perhaps it is a trespass offering which is being brought in repentant recollection of some deed of fraud, a kind of conscience money; in acknowledgment of wrong done to God as well as man, the substitutionary ram is presented and slain, whilst the story of the fraud is told over the head of the slaughtered beast, the priest placing a judicial value upon the wrong done to Jehovah, and accepting the ram in lieu thereof, a monetary recompense being made to the injured neighbour, Or it may be a peace offering which is brought by a whole family in joyful recognition of the Divine goodness, the priest being welcomed to the hallowed society; the victim is slain, and the sin present even in such united religious joy atoned; and the feast follows within the sacred precincts of the holy place a love feast indeed, a banquet where "the banner over them was love." Or, descending to the less frequent instances of the Levitical ceremonial, "now a Hebrew woman, but recently a mother, is modestly presenting herself with her offering of pigeons; and now the high priest is passing through the gate of the court, attended by a Levite carrying birds and scarlet wool and hyssop he has been summoned without the camp to examine a restored leper. Anon an application is made for the means of purifying some tent where the dead is lying. At one hour a householder is compounding for the property which he has voluntarily vowed unto the Lord; the next, a Nazarite, with unshorn hair and beard is presenting the prescribed sacrifices for release from his vow.
Such might have been the sights afforded to the observer by a single day. From early morning to the hour of the evening sacrifice there was oftentimes, we may assume, one long series of presentations by all grades of people and for all varieties of experience; and a similar course, was pursued the whole year round, as we shall presently detail at more length after a brief digression which is rather a further explanation.
To test the usefulness and the sufficiency of the explanatory principles already deduced, let attention be concentrated upon two of those peculiar ceremonies which might be occasionally witnessed, namely, that of the purification of the dead and that of the consecration to the priesthood.
Analyze, for example, the rites ordained for the purification of the dead interpret them by the light of the principles previously deduced and the ceremony would suggest some such series of thoughts as the following. The rite was a purification, and as such pointed to the great doctrine of original sin. It was a purification of an exceptionally solemn kind, and it was a purification of a solemn kind from its singular blending of the atoning with the cleansing element of the Levitical worship. Such is an induction from the various features in which the ritual resembled, and differed from, the general course of procedure. According to the Law, a dead body contaminated all in its vicinity. "To be in a tent at the time of the death of an inmate, to enter a tent where a dead body lay, to touch a corpse, a grave, or a bone, was to contract uncleanness for seven days." The process of purification was very arresting, from its peculiarity. Like most processes of purification, it was a form of aqueous ablution; but the water employed had been specifically prepared. A red cow was brought to the son or heir of the high priest, by the popular representatives, for slaughter without the comp. Very little ceremonial was observed, but all was singularly expressive. The blood was sprinkled seven times towards the tabernacle, and then the whole of the carcase not a part together with the skin and the blood and dung, was burnt; a little cedar-wood, hyssop, and scarlet wool being thrown into the fire. From the ashes the water of purification was prepared. When occasion called, the ashes were mixed with spring water, and sprinkled, by means of a bunch of hyssop, on the third and seventh day after defilement, upon the tent and the vessels and persons it contained; after the customary ablution of the person, the unclean became pure in the evening. After ablution also, all those who had had any share in the ritual, and who were thus rendered unclean, were also purified. Now, the use of water associates this curious rite with the other rites of purification, and therefore shows that, according to the Levitical conception, contamination by the proximity of death was regarded as a form of involuntary sin, which, like parturition, proclaimed the natural depravity of man, to be obviated by special ceremonial. But the peculiarities of ritual imparted a specific character to this form of purification. Not simply was water to be used, but running or spring water water at its greatest power of cleansing; living water, as the Hebrew expressively puts it. Further, this "water of iniquity" was a lye prepared by the admixture of these ashes of the red cow. What additional significance is thereby given? These ashes were loudly eloquent of atonement, and nothing but atonement. Let it be noted that this red cow was manifestly a kind of sin offering indeed, it is actually so called: did not the blood manipulation point to the same conclusion? but that it differs in many essential points from the sin offering proper. Like the latter, it was a national propitiation, and was therefore brought by the representatives of the tribes; but, unlike the latter, it consisted of a cow most probably that it be not confounded with the bullock enjoined for the sin offering for the congregation, and that at the same time its inferior grade be denoted. Then let it also be observed that this cow was in no sense a presentation, like the sin offering proper. It was not offered at the altar of burnt offering, but without the camp; no portions were reserved for priestly use. It was not submitted to the customary rites of presentation; even the skin and faeces were burnt, and not separated. In fact, this red cow was an atonement by substitution this, and nothing more. Its blood was sprinkled, like the blood of the sin offering, before the tabernacle seven times, thus bringing the appointed means of "covering" emphatically before Jehovah; scarlet wool blood-coloured wool was thrown into the flames when the carcase was burnt; nay, the very colour of the cow was selected as the colour of the blood which atoned; and so completely was the victim regarded as a substitute, that every ministrant at the ritual was rendered unclean thereby, and the high priest was precluded from officiating, lest he be incapacitated for his other exalted functions, and so his son, his nearest kinsman, and official representative took his place. Thus, in pictorial and impressive form, the momentous truths were inculcated of death as the punishment of sin ordained by the Divine anger, and of the counteraction of the influence of death by an appointed substitute. There is not a detail of the involved ritual which cannot be explained by the aid of such principles as we have deduced.
So, too, so elaborate a ceremonial as the consecration of a priest becomes at once lucid, brilliant, suggestive, and religious by the application of the principles in question. As we have seen, a bullock and two rams, unleavened bread and wheaten cakes, were brought to the door of the tabernacle, where the candidates to be initiated were washed with water, arrayed in official garments, anointed with the holy oil, atoned for by a sin offering, sanctified by a burnt offering, and admitted to fellowship by a peace offering. In one significant particular the ritual of this closing sacrifice differed from that customarily observed in sacrifices of the same class. After the habitual imposition of the hand, and slaughter, some of the collected blood was put upon the tip of the right ear, the thumb of the right hand, and the toe of the right foot, and was sprinkled upon the clothing of the newly ordained priest, in addition to the usual smearing of the horns of the altar. Now, as most investigators have pointed out, this consecration consisted of two sets of three acts. In the first place, there was a solemn purification, an express investiture, and a formal anointing; and in the second place, there followed a triple sacrifice in the noteworthy order of a sin offering, a burnt offering, and a peace offering. Every detail is luminous and has of itself a profound suggestiveness for the age contemporaneous, and although the minutiae of the rite only receive their full illumination in Christianity, they nevertheless conveyed many a valuable lesson to the Jew. In fact, in its adaptation of the general ritual of Levitical sacrifice to the ordination of priests, the prescribed ceremonial is a simple and intelligible object-lesson in the requisites of acceptable religious service. In the set washing with water we have, as Oehler put it, "a symbol of the spiritual purification without which none can approach God, at least to atone." In the investiture there is the visible assumption of the priestly office. In the anointing, the Divine seal is attached to such acceptance of office; whereas the sin inherent even in an accepted priest must be removed by a sin offering, upon which may follow the expressive sacrifices of consecration and fellowship. As for the varying features in the peace offering, where a different blood manipulation is gone through, what change could be more significant? Before admission to the communion of priests, and of the Deity whom the priests serve, there must be a specific atonement, and the atoning blood of the ram, "the ram of consecration," is placed not only in contact with the altar, but with the person and garments of the newly ordained priest, the very ceremonial signifying that the ear and hand and foot, which are to be swift to serve, must be atoned for before they are hallowed, and that the very garments of office must be cleansed before dedication to their sacred use.
With such daily observances, the Jewish year ran its course, the customary worship repeated evening and morning, in combination with the voluntary expression of religion by sacrifice, associating absolution, confession, and adoration with all the phases and grades of the national life. If the tribe of Levi sanctified itself by holy service in sacrifice, by the same means the farmer sanctified his toil, the mother her child, the father his skill, the prophet his calling, the singer his talent, the prince his government, and the elders their nation. Day by day these Levitical sacrifices were capable of proclaiming, in sanctuary, in palace, in market, in house, and in tent, religious truths of the highest importance. To this daily observance let the additional observances of the various festal seasons be added, and it will become yet more manifest how admirably this cultus of sacrifice at once educated and ministered to the Jewish phasis of religion.
From the 2nd of Abib to the 10th, the customary daily celebration of Divine service was observed, the interval being abnormally broken into solely by the increased consecration called for and symbolized by the double burnt offering of the sabbath. When God was especially remembered, man was to be especially consecrated. With the 10th of Abib came the Paschal feast, continued more or less till the Feast of Pentecost. And very full of spiritual suggestions was this opening festival of the year, every detail of the rites enjoined tending to deepen those suggestions. In its first institution, as we have seen, the Passover was a sacrificial admission to covenant rights, and every subsequent celebration thereof was at once a remembrance and a repetition of that initiatory ceremonial From this fundamental significance all the peculiarities of this sacrifice follow. Thus the Paschal lamb was neither a sin offering pure and simple nor a peace offering; it did not in many important points come beneath the laws of the acknowledged sacrificial ritual. It was a kind of inclusive sacrifice, which conveyed the prominent teaching of several forms of sacrifice under one suggestive form. Thus first and foremost the Paschal lamb was an atonement of so potent a nature as to arrest the destroying arm of the angel of death, and of so emphatic a ritual as to be brought more into contact with the several households of the tribes than was the case in any other festal season. The time allowed to elapse between the selection of the victim and its slaughter, the minute injunctions for the sprinkling of the blood upon the lintel and doorposts, the command that no bone of the lamb was to be broken, the strict command that what remained was to be burnt by fire, the rapid manner of partaking, all pointed to the offering as less intended for a feast than an atonement, and laid very exceptional stress upon the neutralizing power of the effused blood. Certain features of the feast were undoubtedly ordained because of the peculiar position of the Israelites in Egypt, and if that position be borne in mind, and the fundamental significance of the Passover as the great initiatory rite, all the superficial difficulties of the narrative are removed. It is, of course, not denied, but strongly believed, that there are features in this institution which nothing but the fulfilment of the type could perfectly explain, and which are the outcome of distinct Divine prevision; at the same time, it is contended that even so extraordinary a command as that of keeping the skeleton intact was intelligible to the Jew as a natural consequence of what he was able to apprehend of the meaning of the Passover. Possibly even this nineteenth century is a record of many facts likewise which seem to us to be of a present import only, which will only receive an adequate explanation in the light of a coming dispensation. Similarly with the following days of the Paschal feast and with the day of Pentecost, all the details of the injunctions relative thereto are nothing but exemplifications divinely prearranged of the leading fact taught thereby of the Feast of Consecration. Therefore, for example, was the pleasure of leavened bread eschewed; therefore were the firstfruits presented.
Nor need we go outside the principles already deduced for explanation of the remaining feasts and their observances. Pentecost past, the year rolled upon its course for a time, it is true, in a more level manner, the regularity of the daily celebration being only interrupted by the sabbatic and lunar formalities, every day, therefore, a kind of gospel being proclaimed of Divine mercy and forgiveness and reconciliation, with its invariable postulates of human sin and decadence, death and guilt. At length came the high season of the seventh month, heralded by the rousing blasts of the Feast of Trumpets.
The seventh month affords two very excellent tests of the adequacy of these principles of interpretation, namely, in their application to the elucidation of the great Day of Atonement and the Feast of Tabernacles. The ritual of the former need not be repeated; it was undoubtedly exceptional; it was as undoubtedly instructive; indeed, the more minute and accurate the investigation bestowed even upon the more trivial points of observance, the more harmonious does it appear, and the more didactic. At first sight, it may be allowed, the ceremonial shows a laboured and officialistic respect to a mass of legal detail, valuable as a testimony to ecclesiastical thoroughness in routine, and to little else. Viewed more closely, the ceremonial is a complete and balanced whole, exact and even concise, forcible as well as clear in the religious lesson it has to convey. That lesson, as we have seen, is the atonement possible for the sins of the redeemed, for, be it observed, the stranger and the foreigner had no part in the worship of this day of national humiliation. Carrying this principle in the mind, the entire series of acts yields up its meaning. Not a soul in the priestly tribe, however holy and exalted his function, not a utensil in the consecrated place, however sacred and sublime its use, but must be atoned for. Hence the mediators and the instruments of mediation must be first removed from beneath the ban of uncleanness and sin. The solemn proceedings are therefore commenced by the offering of the bullock in expiation of the holy places and ministrants. The high priest, who leads in officiating, may not even wear his official robes till the ceremonial of expiation is completed, but stands at the altar clothed in white; and, on the slaughter of the bullock, sprinkles the mercy-seat and the floors and the altars with the blood of atonement, and presents the blood before the Lord in atonement for his own sin and the sins of his kindred and tribe. The whole ritual is an emphatic act of atonement, as every detail shows. Atonement is likewise solemnly made by the blood of the ram in behalf of the nation. The remaining rite was an exquisitely symbolic act, declarative of forgiveness. Confessing over the head of the live goat the sins and iniquities of the entire nation, the high priest seemed to transfer those sins to the head of the animal, who bore them away from the dwelling-place of Jehovah, and carried them into the abode of Azazel. The sins were removed as well as covered. Now the priest may assume his golden garments; now the people may present acceptable sacrifice; now burnt offerings may typify the national consecration.
The ritual of the Feast of Tabernacles is somewhat less intelligible; nevertheless, its secret was also largely open to the thoughtful and devout Jew. It very expressively followed the more serious service of the Day of Atonement, and gave visible and pleasant expression to the joy of the elect, who have been redeemed at the Passover, consecrated at Pentecost, and absolved at the great day of national expiation. This feast ended, the climax of the doctrinal teaching by symbol had been reached, and the year was brought to a close by the common series of daily, weekly, and monthly sacrificings.
Now, in view of this didactic sacrificial cultus, at once so eloquent and so disciplinary, it would certainly be interesting to inquire what contributions were thereby made towards a system of revealed religion. It would also be interesting to ask with what arguments the pious Jew would combat the assaults of disbelievers in what he regarded the Divine origin of his sacrificial creed. Nor could it be by any means impracticable, whilst it certainly would be of value, to frame both a systematic and apologetic theology of Judaism, in which such notes as the laws of purification and the injunctions for blood sacrifice, the significance of the priesthood and the explanation expressly assigned to the tabernacle, might, by an intellectual effort of no severe kind, be made to disclose the inmost messages of their symbolism, and become part of a concatenated doctrine of Old Testament theology, of its doctrine of sin and of salvation, of its doctrine of God and of man. But after all, it is the practical aspect of this Old Testament faith which most calls for admiring regard. Its theological implications are of interest to the theologian, its practical implications are of human interest. And practically regarded, these Levitical sacrifices are noteworthy, first, as a means of religious education, and next as a means of religious satisfaction. They evolved religious sentiment, and they appeased it. However superficially this sacrificial cultus be regarded, it assuredly proclaimed such truths as these: the sinfulness of man (extending too beyond the bounds of volition, and affecting the race), the Divine alienation consequent thereupon, the need of atonement, its possibility, its method, the acceptability of the service of the reconciled. All these truths which, to judge from Christianity, constitute the essentials of a religion adapted to man were taught by arresting symbolism and an imposing ceremonial. They were equally capable of educating up to a high degree of religiousness and of ministering to the religious needs so matured. They affected too the whole range of life, training the Church, sanctifying the State, penetrating the home, and affecting the individual. They interwove the essentials of religion with all the relationships, duties, sorrows, and pleasures of life. According to its own ideal, the Jewish nation was a theocracy where reconciled rebels gave their every allegiance to the King of kings acceptably.
Thus, historically regarded, and without trespassing upon or forestalling the later revelations made by Christ and his apostles, the Levitical sacrifices are seen to be a profound recognition of the wants of man, and a response to his deepest needs. The Levitical sacrifices declared unmistakably, from the hour of their first promulgation, the necessity there was for atonement, and the Divine provision for that necessity. Indeed, it is simple truth to say that there is not a feature of the Levitical sacrifices which does not accentuate in some way, either the fact of estrangement from God with its large disabilities, or the fact of reconciliation to God with its large privileges. To how enormous an extent their teaching relied for confirmation and potency upon Christianity, we shall presently see; just now the point upon which it is necessary to insist is the value of Judaism as a religious system apart from Christianity. The system was, alas: ideal. The Jew seldom realized and never exhausted its magnificent possibilities.
Nevertheless, how immense was its practical value, let the hundred and nineteenth psalm testify, with its hundred and seventy-six verses in praise of this very Levitical system, which the Psalmist is glad to recall, and which he feels it no exaggeration to describe mass of commandments, laws, testimonies, statutes, though it be as a fitting guide of youth, an object of great delight, a mine of wonders; as the rule of the free and the song of the exile; as sweeter than honey and more valuable than riches; as life, light, and health; a pleasant subject of meditation in this world and also in the eternity of Jehovah.
D. RELATION OF THE LEVITICAL SACRIFICES TO THESACRIFICES OF THE PATRIARCHAL AGE.
Contrasting this detailed and expressive system of Levitical sacrifice with the brief records of the pre-Mosaic age, it would appear that the later cultus differed from the earlier in authority, in complexity, in centralization, in doctrine, and in practical value.
As regards the authority of the Levitical sacrifices, they are expressly ascribed to a Divine origin. "And Jehovah said unto Moses" is the almost invariable formula with which the several legal sections begin. In this there is a marked distinction from the days of the great fathers of the Hebrew nation. Whatever Divine influences were brought to bear upon Abel in the first recorded sacrifice and it is easy to exaggerate those influences to the detriment of the inspiriting teaching of the narrative it is manifest that from that time onwards the ever-growing system of worship by sacrifice was almost wholly a human development. "Almost wholly," we say, for sacrificial revelations were given to Noah and Abraham, but the one was simply an exhortation to sacrifice, and the other a correction of an erroneous inference. In fact, the patriarchal sacrifices are apparently representative of pure ethnic sacrifices, whereas the Divine acknowledgment and improvement of human religious ideas testify at once to the hardness of the human heart and to the gracious condescension of Jehovah.
So it is likewise evident that the Levitical sacrifices were an advance upon the patriarchal in complexity. Hereditary priests have taken the place of the father of the family, and all the various ceremonial of the court, the holy place, and the holiest, in all the mutations of the Jewish year, have superseded those two simple varieties mentioned in earlier times, the burnt offering and the festal offering which were adapted on occasion, as best they could be, to all the changing and contrasted emotion of the religious life.
A third difference between the two dispensations is seen in the later localization. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, wherever God had revealed himself and made his presence known, could present their offerings of praise, and erect their holy places. The Levitical sacrifices are legitimate, so testifies the whole Pentateuch, at one sanctuary alone. There being a localization of Deity, or rather of his gracious presence, acceptable sacrifice must be offered in the neighbourhood of the mercy-seat.
There is a clearness too in the doctrinal implications of the Levitical rites, which is conspicuously absent from the earlier forms of worship. No such array of parallel principles can be inferred from the Genesis as has been deduced from the Exodus and the Leviticus. The acceptability of sacrifice, as a testimony to self-sacrifice even, has very much less evident sanction for Abraham than for Moses. The point is so certain that attention needs simply be drawn thereto. To an additional point, however, it is necessary to refer with some distinctness; the patriarchal cultus was a worship by presentation, the Levitical cultus was a worship by atonement as well. No reference is made in the Genesis, whether direct or indirect, by express statement, by ritual, or by any mention of a special manipulation of the blood of the victims offered, to the Levitical doctrine of expiation by blood. Animal sacrifices were made, it is true, but only because stock-farming as well as agriculture formed part of the staple labour of the ancestors of the Jewish nations, and gifts might be therefore made from the former as well as the latter, or because animal food was eaten by them as well as vegetable. The evidence would seem to be conclusive that not only did the Almighty, according to the testimony of the Pentateuch, adopt the results of human religious thought and practice, giving them at the same time a wider bearing and a more assured interpretation, but that he added to that interpretation the very significant doctrine peculiar to Judaism of the atonement for sin by the blood of a substituted victim.
And of course all these differences culminated in a difference of practice. The educational value of the religion of Moses was higher than that of the pre-Mosaic age, because more accurate and minute in doctrinal significance, just as, for the same reason, its value was increased as a discipline. A more developed and sound theology is always the cause of a profounder and more useful religious education, and a purer and more satisfying religious worship.
E. RELATION OF THE LEVITICAL SACRIFICES TO THE CHRISTIAN SACRIFICES.
The religions of Moses and Jesus Christ both agree and differ in their sacrificial teaching.
They agree in dividing their doctrine of sacrifice into two parts; their doctrine of presentation and their doctrine of atonement, according to both presentation being possible and atonement necessary. They also agree in asserting that atonement must precede sacrifice.
They differ in the material, directness, and timeliness of presentation, and in the method and frequency of atonement. To take the latter points first. The New Testament teaches that atonement is made for human sin by the substitution of the life of Jesus for that of the sinner. As Peter expresses it, "Christ, who his own self carried up our sins in his own body to the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live unto righteousness." Or, as Paul put it, adopting the Jewish synonym of blood for life, "Christ Jesus,... whom God set forth to be a propitiation, through faith, by his blood;" and according to the nature of the case this atonement or propitiation is made once for all. The Old Testament teaches that the Jew is atoned for by the blood, or life, of an animal substitute, which is so far from being presented once for all, that life must be effused on every occasion of worship. Similarly as regards the doctrine of presentation, there is a change of teaching: in the Old Testament, certain prescribed forms of offering are alone allowed, and the man is accepted because of the offering of his substance; in the New, self is more important, and the offering is accepted because of the man. There is an alteration in another respect: the New Testament demands no priestly mediation like that of the tribe of Levi in approaching the Majesty on high. And in yet a third respect there is a change: the offering of a reconciled heart may be made at any time and in any place at the free suggestion of the worshipper, and without legal restriction.
Without entering, therefore, upon abstract doctrinal discussion, and judging solely by the facts presented by the sacrificial conceptions of the two dispensations, they are manifestly connected, and that as the higher and the lower in a prearranged system of development. There is in Christianity an evident growth in reasonableness and freedom. In Christianity the fetters of Judaism are snapped, and its unintelligible features are explained. As Augustine said, "In the epoch of the old covenant the new lay latent, as a fruit does in a root," or, in the language of more modern times, we may say, the New Testament sacrifices are antitypes of those of the Old. In a word, judged by the definition of final cause, Christianity is the final cause of Judaism.
F. THE LITERATURE OF THE LEVITICAL SACRIFICES.
From the voluminous literature upon the Levitical sacrifices the following treatises are selected as of especial importance:
I BIBLICAL DICTIONARIES AND CYCLOPEDIAS. See the relative articles in Herzog, "Realencyklopadie;" Riehm, "Handworterbuch des Biblischen Alterthums;" Smith, "Dictionary of the Bible;" Winer, "Biblisches Real-Worterbuch.
II COMMENTARIES. Baumgarten, "Theologischer Commentar zum Pentateuch," two volumes, Kiel, 1843, 1844; Hirsch, "Der Pentateuch Uebersetzt und Erklart," Frankfort, 1878, five volumes (valuable for its rabbinic lore); Joule, "Notes on Leviticus," London, 1879; Kalisch, "Leviticus," especially Essay A, London, 1867; Knobel, "Exodus und Leviticus," 1857 (a second edition, edited by Dillmann, which is almost a new work, was issued last year).
III BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGY AND THEOLOGY. De Wette, "Lehrbuch der Hebr-Judischen Archaologie," 4th edit., Leipsig, 1864; Ewald, "Die Alterthtimer des Volkes Israel," 3rd edit., Gottingen, 1866 (English translation, 1876); "Die Lehre der Bibel yon Gott, oder Theologie des Alten und Neuen Bundes," four volumes, Leipsig, 1871-1875; Fairbairn, "The Typology of Scripture," two volumes, 5th edit., 1870; Hofmann, "Der Schrift-beweis," 2nd edit., three volumes, Nordlingen, 1857; Hoffmann, "Abhandlungen uber die Pentateuch-Gesetze," Berlin, 1878 (valuable for its acquaintance with the synagogal literature); Jatho, "Blicke in die Bedeutung des Mosaischen Cultus," Hildesheim, 1876; Keil, "Handbuch der Biblisehen Archaologie," 1st half, 1st edit., 1858, 2nd edit., 1875; Kliefoth, "Liturgisehe Abhandlungen," volume 4., 2nd edit., 1858; Litton, "The Mosaic Dispensation," the Bampton Lecture for 1856; Lowman, "Rationale of the Ritual of the Hebrew Worship," London, 1748; Maurice, "The Doctrine of Sacrifice," new edit., London, 1879; Oehler, "Theologie des Alten Testament," volume 1, Tubingen, 1873 (translated into English, 1875); Saalsehutz, "Archaologie der Hebraer," two volumes, 1855, 1856; Salvador, "Histoire des Institutions de Moise et du Peuple Hebreu," two volumes, 3rd edit., Paris, 1862; Schafer, "Die Religiosen Alterthumer der Bibel," Munster, 1878; Schultz, "Alttestamentliche Theologie," volume 1, Frankfurt, 1869 (2nd edit., adapting results to the hypothesis of Graf and Kuenen, 1878); Steudel, "Vorlesungen uber die Theologie des Alten Testament," Berlin, 1840; Spencer, "De Legibus Hebraeorum et earum Rationibus," 1st edit., 1685; Tholuck, "Das Alte Testament im Neuen Testament," Gotha, 6th edit., 1868; Umbreit, "Die Sunde, Beitrag zur Theologie des Alten Testament," Gotha, 1853.
IV MONOGRAPHS ON THE LEVITICAL SACRIFICES. Bahr, "Symbolik des Mosaischen Cultus," in two volumes, Heidelberg, 1837 (the first volume of a second and largely altered edition was issued at the close of 1875, but upon the doctrine of sacrifice all that has appeared is in the first edition); Hengstenberg, "Die Opfer der Heiligen Schrift," Berlin, 1859 (translated as an Appendix to his "Commentary on Ecclesiastes," in the Foreign Theological Library); Kurtz, "Der Alttestamentliche Opfercultus," Mittau, 1862 (translated in Foreign Theological Library); Outram, "De Sacrificiis," 1st edit., London, 1677 (translated into English, 1817); Stockl, "Liturgie und Dogmatische Bedeutung der Alttest. Opfer, Insbesondere in ihren Verhaltnisse zur Neutest. Opfertheorie," 1848; Wangemann, "Das Opfer nach Lehre des Heiligen Schrift," two volumes, Berlin, 1866.
V REVIEW ARTICLES ON THE LEVITICAL SACRIFICES. De Chareney, "Fragments sur la Symbolique Hebraique," in the Revue de Linguistique, April 1879; Listov, "Was Bedeutet im Mos. Cultus das Versohnen," in the Theological Tidskrift, 1878; Mannheimer, "Der Mosaismus im Gegensatz zum (Egyptenthum," Judisches Literaturblatt, 1878; Marbach, "Das Blut, eine Theologische Studie," in Hilgenfeld"s Zeitschrift fur Wissenschaftliche Theologie, 1866; Neumann, "Die Opfer des Alten Bundes," in the Deutsche Zeitschrift fur Christl. Wissenschaft, 1852, 1853, and 1857; Park, "The Divine Institution of Sacrifice," in the Bibliotheca Sacra, January 1876; Riehm, "Der Begriff der Suhne im Alten Testament," in the Studien und Kritiken, 1877.
VI MONOGRAPHS ON RELATED THEMES. Auber, "Histoire et Theorie du Symbolisme Religieuse," four volumes, Paris, 1872; Ebrard, "Die Lehre vonder Stellvertretenden Genugthuung in der Heiligen Schrift Begrtindet," Konigsberg, 1856; Klaiber, "Die Neutest. Lehre von der Sunde und Erlosung," Stuttgart, 1836; Kuper, "Das Priesterthum des Alten Bundes," Berlin, 1866.
VII JEWISH AND TALMUDIC LITERATURE. The tractates "Sebachim" and "Menachoth;" Ugolino, "Thesaurus Antiquitatum Sacrarum." The writings of Philo, especially the "De Victimis" and the "De Victimas Offerentibus." Numerous extracts in Buxtorf, "Lexicon Chaldaicum et Talmudicum;" Godwyn, "Moses and Aaron;" Carpzov, "Apparatus Criticus;" the works of Lightfoot, especially his "Temple Service in the Days of our Saviour;" and Reland, "Antiquitates Sacree." The commentary upon Leviticus of Raschi, edited by Berliner, 1856, and Schlossberg"s "Sirra," 1862.
For a brief statement and criticism of the several schools of interpretation, the reader is referred to the chapter upon the Theories of the Old Testament Sacrifices reviewed in my work on Sacrifice.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 General Information:
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Yahweh continues telling Moses what the people must do.
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Then he must cut ... made to him by fire
For Lev 1:12-13 see how you translated many of these words in Leviticus 1:7-9.
Then he must cut it
Here "he" refers to the person offering the sacrifice. It can be stated in second person. AT: "Then you must cut it" (See: First, Second, or Third Person)
Then the priest will offer the whole, and burn it on the altar
"Then the priest will burn everything on the altar"
it will produce a sweet aroma for Yahweh
Yahweh being pleased with the sincere worshiper who offered the sacrifice is spoken of as if God were pleased with the aroma of the burning sacrifice. See how you translated this in Leviticus 1:9. (See: Metaphor)
it will be an offering made to him by fire
Yahweh tells Moses that the priests must burn their offerings with fire. This can be translated in active form. AT: "it will be a burnt offering to me" or "it will be a burnt offering to Yahweh" (See: Active or Passive)
translationWords
priest
altar
burnt offering
Yahweh
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.