Leviticus (6:8 - 7:38)
Jehovah then availed upon Moses to convey to Aaron and his sons these instructions: "This the procedure for conducting the burnt offering: The burnt offering should remain upon the Sacrificial Altar all night, and the fire should be kept burning till morning. At that time, the priest, robed in the sacred linen garments (and linen undergarments) of the priesthood, should clean the ashes of the burnt offering from the top of the altar and deposit them to the side of the altar. Then, after he has divested himself of his priestly garments and changed into everyday clothes, the priest should carry the ashes to a place outside the camp that is ritually pure. The altar fire must always be tended so that it will never go out. Every morning the officiating priest should put more wood on the fire and prepare the burnt offering upon the altar. Then, the fat of the sacrificial animal is to be burnt as a peace offering. (And remember: the altar fire must be kept burning at all times and must not be allowed to go out.)
"This is the procedure for conducting the cereal offering: Aaron and his sons are to present this offering to Jehovah in front of the Sacrificial Altar. The officiating priest should take a handful of the finest flour moistened with oil and seasoned with frankincense and burn a token portion of it upon the altar. It will create an aroma most pleasing to Jehovah. The priests, Aaron and his sons, may eat what remains of the flour, but it must be baked into unleavened cakes and eaten in the Sanctum or in the courtyard of the Tabernacle. (Remember: it must not be prepared with yeast.) I have allowed the priests this, their share of the sacrifice, as a reward for their services to me, for it is most holy, like the sin offering and the guilt offering. Any male descendant of Aaron is entitled to partake of it; that will remain their perpetual right down through the generations. But it must not be touched by anyone or anything that is not holy.
"On the day that Aaron and his sons are anointed as priests, they must present to Jehovah an ordination offering of a one tenth of an ephah of the finest flour, sacrificing half of it in the morning, half in the evening. The flour should be prepared as cakes, well soaked in oil and cooked on a griddle. The cakes should be broken into pieces and presented as a sacrifice to Jehovah; it will create an aroma very pleasing to him. In every generation, Aaron's successor must perform this same sacrifice. This cereal offering will, by everlasting law, belong to Jehovah and, therefore, must be entirely burned on the altar; none of it should be eaten.
"This is the procedure for conducting the sin offering: The animal to be sacrificed as a sin offering should be slaughtered before the Sanctum where burnt offerings are made. This is a sacred ritual. The priest who makes this offering should partake of it in the Sanctum or in the courtyard of the Tabernacle. It must not be touched by anyone or anything that is not holy. If blood from the sacrificed animal splatters on someone's clothes, the stained garment must be washed in a sacred place. If an earthen pot is used to boil the sacrificial meat, then it must afterwards be broken. If the pot is of bronze, then it should be scoured and thoroughly rinsed with water. As it is holy, the meat of the sacrificed animal may be eaten by any male member of the priest's family. However, the sin offering may not be eaten if its blood was used in an atonement ritual in the Sanctum. In such case, the entire carcass must be incinerated on the altar.
"This is the procedure for conducting the guilt offering, a very holy ritual: The animal to be sacrificed as a guilt offering should be slaughtered before the Sanctum where burnt offerings are made. Its blood should be splattered on all sides of the altar. All the fat should be presented as a sacrifice, as well as the broad tail, the fat surrounding the internal organs, the two kidneys and the fat around them in the loins, and the long lobe of the liver, which is to be removed with the kidneys. They should be burned by the priest as a sacrifice to Jehovah. This is the guilt offering. Any male member of the priest's family may eat the flesh of the sacrificed animal, but must do so in the confines of the Tabernacle, for it is holy.
"The same rules apply to both the guilt and the sin offering. The sacrificial animals belong the priest who is making atonement with Jehovah through them. And so the priest who makes a burnt offering will own the hide of the sacrificed animal. Any cereal offering, whether baked in an oven or cooked in a pan or on a griddle, belongs to the officiating priest. Uncooked cereal offerings, whether dry or soaked in oil, however, belong equally to all the Tabernacle priests, (who are descendants of Aaron).
"This is the procedure for conducting peace offerings that one may make to Jehovah: If you are making an offering of thanksgiving, the customary animal sacrifice must be accompanied by offerings of unleavened bread -- thin cakes of flour mixed with cooking oil, wafers upon which oil is spread, and cakes of the finest flour soaked in oil, all made without yeast. Loaves of unleavened bread must accompany the peace offering of thanksgiving. A sample of each type of bread should be offered as a sacrifice to Jehovah. It will then belong to the officiating priest, the one who will splatter the blood of the peace offering against the altar.
“Meat from the thanksgiving offering must be eaten on the day of the sacrifice; nothing should remain by the morning of the next day. If, however, the sacrifice is a votive or voluntary offering, then, while the meat may be consumed on the day of the offering, left-overs may be eaten on the following day. Whatever remains, though, should be thoroughly burned on the third day. If any meat from the peace offering is eaten on the third day, then the person making the offering will be rejected by Jehovah: he will receive no credit for his sacrifice, the meat will become ritually impure, and anyone who eats it will be guilty of a sin.
"Meat that has come into contact with anything ritually impure should not be eaten, but must be burned. As for meat that has not been made impure, anyone ritually pure may eat it. But anyone who is not ritually pure that eats the meat from the peace offering meant for Jehovah, that person should be ostracized by the community. Anyone who touches something impure, whether it be human waste, or an impure animal or insect and then eats the meat of the peace offering meant for Jehovah, should also be ostracized.
"Also instruct the people of Israel that they must never eat fat, whether it comes from cattle, sheep, or goats. The fat of animals killed or predated by wild animals should not be eaten, though it can be used in other ways. Anyone who eats fat from an animal sacrificed as a burnt offering to Jehovah, should be ostracized by the community. Even at home (wherever it may be) you should never consume blood of any sort, whether from birds or animals, and anyone who does so should be ostracized.
"And tell them that when they present a peace offering to Jehovah, they should bring part of it themselves as a sacrifice to Jehovah. With their own hands they should make an offering of food to Jehovah, bringing the fat and the breast, which they should lift up and wave as an offering before the altar of Jehovah. The fat will be burned upon the altar, while the breast will belong to Aaron and his sons. You should give the right thigh to the priests as a contribution. It must always be given to the officiating priest who presents as a sacrifice the blood and fat of the peace offering. The breast, the waved offering, and the right thigh of the sacrifice are always to be set aside for Aaron and his priestly descendants. The right of the priests to claim a part of the sacrifice has been established at the time that they were chosen to serve Jehovah. On the day they were anointed, Jehovah demanded that the priests always be given these portions of the sacrifices and it should remain so down through the ages."
These were the instructions for the burnt offering, the cereal offering, the sin offering, the guilt offering, as well as the ordination offering and the peace offering, that Jehovah conveyed to Moses on Mount Sinai when he commanded the Israelites to make sacrifices to him in the desert of Sinai.
Notes
1. Apparently an important rule is that the fire beneath the Sacrificial Altar should always be tended so that it may never go out. It is a very widespread custom, from all parts of the globe and among many religions and cults, that sacred flames must never be extinguished, symbolizing as they do eternal devotion. The altar fire may also be said to embody the spirit of the deity that consumes the burnt sacrifice.
2. The prerogatives of Aaron, his family, and descendants, the sole claimants to the office of Jehovan high priest, are emphasized and forcefully reiterated. One suspects that the priesthood was defensive in justifying these prerogatives, no doubt against criticism and challenge. By asserting that these prerogatives are demands and commands of their god, the priests have the final word in the argument. The rituals detailed in the Torah promote the interests of the priestly class and one gains the impression that much of the text is self-serving propaganda of the priest/authors.
3. Worshipers of Jehovah can give nothing to their god save earthly food. It is all a people on a primitive level of civilization could give. Food was sustenance, and offering it to others represented generosity and hospitality. (It would be in a later time that food would suggest gluttony and indulgence.) In Christianity, the sacrifice is replaced by prayers of thanksgiving and praise, a commitment to good works, and, one supposes, the erection of magnificent houses of worship.
4. The prohibition against eating fat is curious, but arises from the custom that the fat of sacrificial animals belongs to Jehovah. It is well established that lean meat is more healthy than fatty meat, but a certain amount of fat exists in all meat. How strictly enforced the prohibition against the consumption of animal fat could be is a matter of conjecture.
5. One tenth of an ephah is equivalent to two quarts or two pounds.
6. Peace offerings may be of three types, thanksgiving, for blessings received from Jehovah, votive, in fulfillment of an oath to Jehovah, or voluntary, offerings made from choice and not because of any specific obligation.
7. One who is guilty of offenses such as eating fat or blood, or eating sacrificial meat when ritually impure is, literally, to be “cut off (karet or karath in Hebrew) from his people.” But what does this mean? What is the specific punishment referred to? The term seems to have been used in somewhat different ways throughout the biblical text, so it’s impossible to come to a definite conclusion as to the precise meaning. Some translations cop out and leave the wording as is, totally unclear to the reader. Karet can mean anything from a forcible separation from the body of the religious community to a divine sentence of premature death, extirpation of the family line, and eternal damnation. It has also been suggested that it means as well the denial of an afterlife (but at this point in the Bible there has been no specific reference to any kind of afterlife, except vague ones about joining one’s ancestors). Although karet is asserted to be a punishment inflicted only by Jehovah and not by men, in this context it seems likely that the religious authorities, acting in the place of Jehovah, would exact some punishment upon violators. That punishment would most likely have been ostracism or banishment. Therefore, I have concluded the best translation here is ostracized by the community, although I have previously used banished from the community in other contexts. Perhaps I am incorrectly softening the text, but it seems preposterous that even the ancient Hebrews would think that someone should die and be eternally damned merely because he was caught munching on a piece of fat, or insist on stringing somebody up because his steak was too rare.
Thursday, April 10, 2014
Thursday, April 3, 2014
Guilt Offerings
(Leviticus 5:14- 6:7)
Jehovah then told Moses, "When one of your people unintentionally commits a sin by violating anything that is held sacred by Jehovah, then, as a guilt offering, he must bring for a sacrifice a ram from the flock, one without defect, or else produce an amount of silver sufficient to purchase one. (The value of the silver will be determined by the weights used at the Tabernacle.) Damage to any sacred property should paid for, plus a charge of 20%. This payment should be given to the priest, who will make atonement by means of the guilt offering of the ram, so that the transgressor will then be forgiven.
"If any of you sin unintentional by violating any of Jehovah's commandments and committing acts that have been forbidden, that person is nevertheless guilty and liable to punishment. He must therefore bring to the priest a ram without defect (or else a quantity of silver to buy one). Through its sacrifice the priest will make atonement for the inadvertent sin and the transgressor will be forgiven by Jehovah. This, too, will be a guilt offering, (for that person is guilty of having sinned against Jehovah).
“You have sinned and have betrayed Jehovah if you:
“Deceive or deal falsely with your neighbor in regard to financial matters or to property he has entrusted to your possession,
“Steal from or rob your neighbor,
“Defraud or cheat your neighbor,
“Not admit that you have found lost property,
“Lie or make false claims when you have taken a solemn oath to tell the truth,
“Or commit similar wrongs in dealings with your neighbors.
"When guilt has been established, the transgressor must return whatever was stolen, acquired by fraud, or obtained by swearing falsely. He must restore to the owner what was entrusted to him or whatever lost property he may have found and appropriated. In additional to a full restitution, a payment of 20% above the value of the goods must be given to the owner at the time the guilt offering is made. This guilt offering should consist of a ram from the flock, one without defect. The transgressor should present it to the priest or else purchase a ram of equal value. Through its sacrifice the priest will make atonement for him, and transgressor will be forgiven by Jehovah for the sins he has committed."
Notes
1. Here we have introduced the legal concept of punitive damages, restitution of stolen or damaged property plus 20% being required.
2. The process of atonement in Leviticus consists of establishment and acknowledgment of guilt, restitution to victims, plus punitive damages, and a sacrifice to Jehovah, with the sacrificial animal furnished by the transgressor and the Jehovan priests doing the bloody deed. On the other hand, in Christianity, atonement demands repentance on the part of the sinner and a resolve to sin no more. Instead of the sinner finding forgiveness from Jehovah through a sacrifice, the Christian finds forgiveness through the savior Jesus Christ when he has repented and promises to sin no more. One gains the impression from Leviticus that sin can be paid for, that as long as a person has an endless supply of rams, he can pretty much sin as often as he likes -- rather like a foul-mouthed person feeding the swear jar.
3. Stealing is mentioned here, because it is not one the Ten Commandments. I have concluded that the 8th Commandment, famously, but incorrectly translated as "Thou shalt not steal," actually pertains to kidnapping, abducting free men and selling them into slavery. This makes sense. Kidnapping is regarded by us as a capital offense, while, except for the case of horse thieving in the Old West, stealing is not. Abduction and enslavement would have been regarded as a very serious crime by the ancient Hebrews as well, far less an offense than stealing, and worthy of being including as one of the ten worst moral transgressions. Here the penalty for stealing is merely the restitution of stolen property, plus 20% and a ram sacrifice to Jehovah.
4. The concept of "finders, keepers, losers, weepers," is not accepted here. One is obligated to return loss property. To keep such property is rightly regarded as tantamount to stealing.
5. So far there is no reference to any sort of secular government among the Hebrews. Criminal as well as moral infractions are dealt with by the priesthood. Punishment mostly consists of the obligation to make sacrifices, which, if not empowering and enriching the priestly class, does provide it with good meals.
6. Silver, used here to purchase the sacrificial rams, is regarded as legal tender, although money, in the sense of coinage, would not exist for many hundreds of years. It is unclear in what form the silver is used in transactions, and whether the reference is anachronistic is moot.
Jehovah then told Moses, "When one of your people unintentionally commits a sin by violating anything that is held sacred by Jehovah, then, as a guilt offering, he must bring for a sacrifice a ram from the flock, one without defect, or else produce an amount of silver sufficient to purchase one. (The value of the silver will be determined by the weights used at the Tabernacle.) Damage to any sacred property should paid for, plus a charge of 20%. This payment should be given to the priest, who will make atonement by means of the guilt offering of the ram, so that the transgressor will then be forgiven.
"If any of you sin unintentional by violating any of Jehovah's commandments and committing acts that have been forbidden, that person is nevertheless guilty and liable to punishment. He must therefore bring to the priest a ram without defect (or else a quantity of silver to buy one). Through its sacrifice the priest will make atonement for the inadvertent sin and the transgressor will be forgiven by Jehovah. This, too, will be a guilt offering, (for that person is guilty of having sinned against Jehovah).
“You have sinned and have betrayed Jehovah if you:
“Deceive or deal falsely with your neighbor in regard to financial matters or to property he has entrusted to your possession,
“Steal from or rob your neighbor,
“Defraud or cheat your neighbor,
“Not admit that you have found lost property,
“Lie or make false claims when you have taken a solemn oath to tell the truth,
“Or commit similar wrongs in dealings with your neighbors.
"When guilt has been established, the transgressor must return whatever was stolen, acquired by fraud, or obtained by swearing falsely. He must restore to the owner what was entrusted to him or whatever lost property he may have found and appropriated. In additional to a full restitution, a payment of 20% above the value of the goods must be given to the owner at the time the guilt offering is made. This guilt offering should consist of a ram from the flock, one without defect. The transgressor should present it to the priest or else purchase a ram of equal value. Through its sacrifice the priest will make atonement for him, and transgressor will be forgiven by Jehovah for the sins he has committed."
Notes
1. Here we have introduced the legal concept of punitive damages, restitution of stolen or damaged property plus 20% being required.
2. The process of atonement in Leviticus consists of establishment and acknowledgment of guilt, restitution to victims, plus punitive damages, and a sacrifice to Jehovah, with the sacrificial animal furnished by the transgressor and the Jehovan priests doing the bloody deed. On the other hand, in Christianity, atonement demands repentance on the part of the sinner and a resolve to sin no more. Instead of the sinner finding forgiveness from Jehovah through a sacrifice, the Christian finds forgiveness through the savior Jesus Christ when he has repented and promises to sin no more. One gains the impression from Leviticus that sin can be paid for, that as long as a person has an endless supply of rams, he can pretty much sin as often as he likes -- rather like a foul-mouthed person feeding the swear jar.
3. Stealing is mentioned here, because it is not one the Ten Commandments. I have concluded that the 8th Commandment, famously, but incorrectly translated as "Thou shalt not steal," actually pertains to kidnapping, abducting free men and selling them into slavery. This makes sense. Kidnapping is regarded by us as a capital offense, while, except for the case of horse thieving in the Old West, stealing is not. Abduction and enslavement would have been regarded as a very serious crime by the ancient Hebrews as well, far less an offense than stealing, and worthy of being including as one of the ten worst moral transgressions. Here the penalty for stealing is merely the restitution of stolen property, plus 20% and a ram sacrifice to Jehovah.
4. The concept of "finders, keepers, losers, weepers," is not accepted here. One is obligated to return loss property. To keep such property is rightly regarded as tantamount to stealing.
5. So far there is no reference to any sort of secular government among the Hebrews. Criminal as well as moral infractions are dealt with by the priesthood. Punishment mostly consists of the obligation to make sacrifices, which, if not empowering and enriching the priestly class, does provide it with good meals.
6. Silver, used here to purchase the sacrificial rams, is regarded as legal tender, although money, in the sense of coinage, would not exist for many hundreds of years. It is unclear in what form the silver is used in transactions, and whether the reference is anachronistic is moot.
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
Instructions Concerning Sin Offerings
(Leviticus 5:1 - 5:13)
"If you are aware of a public inquiry into a crime that you’re a witness to or possess knowledge of and you fail to come forward to give testimony, you are guilty of a crime and are liable to punishment.
"If you are unaware that you’ve exposed yourself to anything ritually impure (whether it be the carcass of an impure wild animal or beast of the field, or even an insect), you have nevertheless become impure and have acquired guilt. Similarly persons are impure and tainted by guilt if they have exposed themselves unwittingly to human impurity. And if a person utters a oath thoughtlessly or rashly, whether the purpose be good or bad -- regardless of what the person swears the oath about -- that person is also guilty of a sin. In all of these cases, the offending person must, when he becomes aware of his guilt, make atonement for the sin he has committed. This can be done by bringing to the altar of Jehovah a female of the flock, either a goat or a lamb, as a sin offering through which the priest can make atonement for you.
"If you cannot afford a lamb, you may bring to the altar instead two doves or young pigeons to atone for the sin that has been committed -- one for a sin offering, the other for a burnt offering. You should bring them to the priest, who will present the first as a sin offering. He will wring the bird's neck, but without severing the head from its body. He will sprinkle some of the blood of the sin offering against the side of the Sacrificial Altar and then pour out the remainder of the blood at the base of the altar. This will be the sin offering. The second, sacrificed according to proper procedure, will comprise the burnt offering. In this way the priest will atone for you, and you will be forgiven for the sin you have committed.
"If you cannot afford the two doves or young pigeons, you may bring instead a tenth of a ephah of the finest flour to serve as a sacrifice. Since this is to be a sin offering, do not put oil or frankincense on it. You should bring it to the priest, who will scoop out a token amount of flour and place it upon the altar to be burnt with the food offerings made to Jehovah. This will be a sin offering. In this way the priest will atone for you, and you will be forgiven for the sin you have committed. (The remainder of the flour will belong to the priest, as is customary with cereal offerings.)"
Notes
1. In the first sin/crime mentioned here, the obligation to testify, a compelling moral question is touched upon. Unfortunately, the text is somewhat ambiguous: it can be read two ways. (Most translations, being of little help, leave the precise meaning vague.) In the first rendering, a person that has been called to testify is obligated to tell what he knows about the crime being investigated or judged. Or, secondly, a person is obligated to come forward, that is, without being summoned, to tell what he knows. The difference is not insignificant. I have concluded the latter, more strict interpretation is valid, that someone witnessing or having knowledge of a crime should not remain silent, but should report all he knows to the authorities. It is refreshing, amid so much ritualistic nonsense, that the text presents a sound and universally applicable moral principle, even if it seems to place little emphasis on it.
2. The sinfulness of rash oaths is curious. One who makes an oath and does not fulfill it is not here condemned, but only one who makes an oath imprudently or inadvertently, perhaps a promise that cannot be fulfilled, a frivolous vow -- it's not clear what is meant.
3. However inexplicable it may be to moderns, the concept of ritualistic purity seemed to have been quite important to the ancients generally and to practitioners of most primitive religions. Slaughtering an animal upon an altar in order to make one clean after you've touched a dead animal doesn't derive from sense or logic. Why not wash your hands instead?
4. It seems to have been in the interest of the Jehovan religion to create as many sins as possible, so that the priests can be ever busy making sacrifices, keeping the congregation dependent upon their services, and collecting their share of the food offerings. The abundance and complexity of Jehovan law is calculated less to make worshipers righteous in their behavior than in creating a large number of sinners who will need to seek atonement from a priestly class that is thereby able to maintain a considerable control over the population and maintain an enhanced stature in society.
5. An ephah is a dry measurement equal to 9 gallons. One tenth of an ephah, therefore, would be a little less than a gallon -- one heck of a lot of flour. How much would be burned upon the altar is an open question, but one imagines the priests would want to save for themselves as much of the flour as they could get away with.
"If you are aware of a public inquiry into a crime that you’re a witness to or possess knowledge of and you fail to come forward to give testimony, you are guilty of a crime and are liable to punishment.
"If you are unaware that you’ve exposed yourself to anything ritually impure (whether it be the carcass of an impure wild animal or beast of the field, or even an insect), you have nevertheless become impure and have acquired guilt. Similarly persons are impure and tainted by guilt if they have exposed themselves unwittingly to human impurity. And if a person utters a oath thoughtlessly or rashly, whether the purpose be good or bad -- regardless of what the person swears the oath about -- that person is also guilty of a sin. In all of these cases, the offending person must, when he becomes aware of his guilt, make atonement for the sin he has committed. This can be done by bringing to the altar of Jehovah a female of the flock, either a goat or a lamb, as a sin offering through which the priest can make atonement for you.
"If you cannot afford a lamb, you may bring to the altar instead two doves or young pigeons to atone for the sin that has been committed -- one for a sin offering, the other for a burnt offering. You should bring them to the priest, who will present the first as a sin offering. He will wring the bird's neck, but without severing the head from its body. He will sprinkle some of the blood of the sin offering against the side of the Sacrificial Altar and then pour out the remainder of the blood at the base of the altar. This will be the sin offering. The second, sacrificed according to proper procedure, will comprise the burnt offering. In this way the priest will atone for you, and you will be forgiven for the sin you have committed.
"If you cannot afford the two doves or young pigeons, you may bring instead a tenth of a ephah of the finest flour to serve as a sacrifice. Since this is to be a sin offering, do not put oil or frankincense on it. You should bring it to the priest, who will scoop out a token amount of flour and place it upon the altar to be burnt with the food offerings made to Jehovah. This will be a sin offering. In this way the priest will atone for you, and you will be forgiven for the sin you have committed. (The remainder of the flour will belong to the priest, as is customary with cereal offerings.)"
Notes
1. In the first sin/crime mentioned here, the obligation to testify, a compelling moral question is touched upon. Unfortunately, the text is somewhat ambiguous: it can be read two ways. (Most translations, being of little help, leave the precise meaning vague.) In the first rendering, a person that has been called to testify is obligated to tell what he knows about the crime being investigated or judged. Or, secondly, a person is obligated to come forward, that is, without being summoned, to tell what he knows. The difference is not insignificant. I have concluded the latter, more strict interpretation is valid, that someone witnessing or having knowledge of a crime should not remain silent, but should report all he knows to the authorities. It is refreshing, amid so much ritualistic nonsense, that the text presents a sound and universally applicable moral principle, even if it seems to place little emphasis on it.
2. The sinfulness of rash oaths is curious. One who makes an oath and does not fulfill it is not here condemned, but only one who makes an oath imprudently or inadvertently, perhaps a promise that cannot be fulfilled, a frivolous vow -- it's not clear what is meant.
3. However inexplicable it may be to moderns, the concept of ritualistic purity seemed to have been quite important to the ancients generally and to practitioners of most primitive religions. Slaughtering an animal upon an altar in order to make one clean after you've touched a dead animal doesn't derive from sense or logic. Why not wash your hands instead?
4. It seems to have been in the interest of the Jehovan religion to create as many sins as possible, so that the priests can be ever busy making sacrifices, keeping the congregation dependent upon their services, and collecting their share of the food offerings. The abundance and complexity of Jehovan law is calculated less to make worshipers righteous in their behavior than in creating a large number of sinners who will need to seek atonement from a priestly class that is thereby able to maintain a considerable control over the population and maintain an enhanced stature in society.
5. An ephah is a dry measurement equal to 9 gallons. One tenth of an ephah, therefore, would be a little less than a gallon -- one heck of a lot of flour. How much would be burned upon the altar is an open question, but one imagines the priests would want to save for themselves as much of the flour as they could get away with.
Friday, March 21, 2014
Sin Offerings
(Leviticus 4:1 - 4:35)
Jehovah said this to Moses, "Tell the Israelites that whenever someone unintentionally commits an act that Jehovah has forbidden, it should be dealt with in this manner:
"If it is the high priest who has transgressed (therefore bringing guilt upon the whole community), he must make a sin offering to atone for his sinful act. This offering to Jehovah should be a bull from the herd, an animal that is without defect. He should bring the bull to the entrance of the Tabernacle, lay hold of its head and slaughter it in front of the Sanctum. The high priest should take some of the bull's blood and bring it into the Sanctum. He should dip his finger into the blood and sprinkle it seven times before the curtains of the Inner Sanctum. The priest should dab some of the bull's blood upon the horns of the Incense Altar that stands before the Inner Sanctum and pour out the rest of it at the base of the Sacrificial Altar, which is positioned before the entrance to the Sanctum. Next, the priest should remove the fat from the carcass of the sin offering, that is, all the fat surrounding the internal organs, as well as the two kidneys and the fat around them on the loins, and the long lobe of the liver, which is to be removed with the kidneys. (This should be done in the same manner as with the bull of the peace offering.) The priest should then burn these upon the Sacrificial Altar. However, the rest of the bull, its hide, meat, legs, head, intestines, as well as the remainder of the internal organs, must be taken to a clean area outside the Tabernacle, to the place where ashes are dumped, there to be burned upon a wood fire.
"If the entire community has transgressed by unintentionally committing an act that Jehovah has forbidden and is unaware of the act, it should, when the transgression becomes known and the guilt realized, present before the Tabernacle a sin offering in the form of a young bull. The tribal elders should lay their hands upon the bull's head, and it should be slaughtered in front of the Sanctum. The high priest will take some of the blood of the slaughtered bull into the Sanctum. He should dip his finger into the blood and sprinkle it seven times before the curtains of the Inner Sanctum. The priest should then dab some of the bull's blood upon the horns of the Incense Altar that stands before the Inner Sanctum and pour out the rest of it at the base of the Sacrificial Altar, which is positioned before the entrance to the Sanctum. He should remove all the fat from the carcass and burn it on the Sacrificial Altar. All should be done with this bull as with the former sin offering. The priest will make atonement for the people, and they will be forgiven. The remains of the bull should be carried away from camp and disposed of by burning as was done with the aforementioned bull. This will be the communal sin offering.
"When it is a leader who is guilty of transgression, of unintentionally committing an act forbidden by his god Jehovah, he should, when the transgression becomes known and the guilt realized, present a male goat without defect as a sin offering. He should hold the goat by the head and slaughter it in front of the Sanctum where burnt offerings are customarily made. This will be a sin offering. The priest should dab some of the bull's blood upon the horns of the Sacrificial Altar and pour out the rest of it at the base of the Sacrificial Altar. He should burn the fat on this altar, as was done with the peace offering. In this manner the priest will make atonement for the leader, and the leader will thus be forgiven.
"When it is an ordinary member of the community who is guilty of transgression, of unintentionally committing an act forbidden by Jehovah, he should, when the transgression becomes known and the guilt realized, present a female goat without defect as a sin offering. He should hold the goat by the head and slaughter it in front of the Sanctum where burnt offerings are customarily made. The priest should dab some of the bull's blood upon the horns of the Sacrificial Altar and pour out the rest of it at the base of the altar. He should burn the fat on the Sacrificial Altar, as was done with the peace offering. This will produce an aroma very pleasing to Jehovah, and in this manner, the priest will achieve atonement for this person, who will thus be forgiven.
If the sin offering presented is a lamb, it should be a female without defect. The lamb should be held by the head and slaughtered in front of the Sanctum where burnt offerings are customarily made. The priest should dab some of the lamb’s blood upon the horns of the Sacrificial Altar and pour out the rest of it at the base of the altar. He should remove all the fat, as it was removed for the peace offering, and burn it on the Sacrificial Altar on top of the regular burnt offerings to Jehovah. In this way, the priest will achieve for this person atonement for his transgression so he will be forgiven.
Notes
1. The sin offerings discussed here are all for transgressions, violations of Jehovah's commandments and ordinances that are unintentional, or inadvertent. The Hebrews maintained a moral view that a sinful act was sufficient in itself to produce guilt in the actor. On the other hand, we believe that intent and state of mind is vital in accessing guilt; a person is generally not considered morally responsible for acts committed involuntarily, unknowingly or even accidentally, if no negligence is involved. In the Torah, intent, knowledge and aforethought seem to be beside the point in many, but not all instances. In Exodus, for example, the owner of an animal that damages a neighbor's property is not liable if he took precautions to pen his animal or was ignorant of the animal's untoward propensities. Here, however, a man seems to be totally responsible for his own actions, purposeful or not, with little ethical wiggle room.
2. Atonement for unintentional acts of moral transgression is not achieved by a resolution to be more aware, or careful, or fastidious or by a commitment to perform good deeds, or what we would call community service, but rather by merely killing an animal for Jehovah's benefit. This can only be inexplicable to the modern mindset, but not, apparently, to the ancient way of thinking. Imagine a contemporary scenario: in good faith an auto company manufacturers cars with faulty equipment that causes injuries and maybe deaths -- unintentional moral wrong. In lieu of lawsuits, the CEO of the offending company redeems himself by going into a church and slitting the throat of the family dog and sprinkling its blood upon the altar. He is then absolved of guilt. --- Obviously, we do not think along these lines.
3. Again we are reminded how God-awful bloody the holy places of Jehovan worship must have been with all these animals being slaughtered and blood being sprinkled and smeared about.
Jehovah said this to Moses, "Tell the Israelites that whenever someone unintentionally commits an act that Jehovah has forbidden, it should be dealt with in this manner:
"If it is the high priest who has transgressed (therefore bringing guilt upon the whole community), he must make a sin offering to atone for his sinful act. This offering to Jehovah should be a bull from the herd, an animal that is without defect. He should bring the bull to the entrance of the Tabernacle, lay hold of its head and slaughter it in front of the Sanctum. The high priest should take some of the bull's blood and bring it into the Sanctum. He should dip his finger into the blood and sprinkle it seven times before the curtains of the Inner Sanctum. The priest should dab some of the bull's blood upon the horns of the Incense Altar that stands before the Inner Sanctum and pour out the rest of it at the base of the Sacrificial Altar, which is positioned before the entrance to the Sanctum. Next, the priest should remove the fat from the carcass of the sin offering, that is, all the fat surrounding the internal organs, as well as the two kidneys and the fat around them on the loins, and the long lobe of the liver, which is to be removed with the kidneys. (This should be done in the same manner as with the bull of the peace offering.) The priest should then burn these upon the Sacrificial Altar. However, the rest of the bull, its hide, meat, legs, head, intestines, as well as the remainder of the internal organs, must be taken to a clean area outside the Tabernacle, to the place where ashes are dumped, there to be burned upon a wood fire.
"If the entire community has transgressed by unintentionally committing an act that Jehovah has forbidden and is unaware of the act, it should, when the transgression becomes known and the guilt realized, present before the Tabernacle a sin offering in the form of a young bull. The tribal elders should lay their hands upon the bull's head, and it should be slaughtered in front of the Sanctum. The high priest will take some of the blood of the slaughtered bull into the Sanctum. He should dip his finger into the blood and sprinkle it seven times before the curtains of the Inner Sanctum. The priest should then dab some of the bull's blood upon the horns of the Incense Altar that stands before the Inner Sanctum and pour out the rest of it at the base of the Sacrificial Altar, which is positioned before the entrance to the Sanctum. He should remove all the fat from the carcass and burn it on the Sacrificial Altar. All should be done with this bull as with the former sin offering. The priest will make atonement for the people, and they will be forgiven. The remains of the bull should be carried away from camp and disposed of by burning as was done with the aforementioned bull. This will be the communal sin offering.
"When it is a leader who is guilty of transgression, of unintentionally committing an act forbidden by his god Jehovah, he should, when the transgression becomes known and the guilt realized, present a male goat without defect as a sin offering. He should hold the goat by the head and slaughter it in front of the Sanctum where burnt offerings are customarily made. This will be a sin offering. The priest should dab some of the bull's blood upon the horns of the Sacrificial Altar and pour out the rest of it at the base of the Sacrificial Altar. He should burn the fat on this altar, as was done with the peace offering. In this manner the priest will make atonement for the leader, and the leader will thus be forgiven.
"When it is an ordinary member of the community who is guilty of transgression, of unintentionally committing an act forbidden by Jehovah, he should, when the transgression becomes known and the guilt realized, present a female goat without defect as a sin offering. He should hold the goat by the head and slaughter it in front of the Sanctum where burnt offerings are customarily made. The priest should dab some of the bull's blood upon the horns of the Sacrificial Altar and pour out the rest of it at the base of the altar. He should burn the fat on the Sacrificial Altar, as was done with the peace offering. This will produce an aroma very pleasing to Jehovah, and in this manner, the priest will achieve atonement for this person, who will thus be forgiven.
If the sin offering presented is a lamb, it should be a female without defect. The lamb should be held by the head and slaughtered in front of the Sanctum where burnt offerings are customarily made. The priest should dab some of the lamb’s blood upon the horns of the Sacrificial Altar and pour out the rest of it at the base of the altar. He should remove all the fat, as it was removed for the peace offering, and burn it on the Sacrificial Altar on top of the regular burnt offerings to Jehovah. In this way, the priest will achieve for this person atonement for his transgression so he will be forgiven.
Notes
1. The sin offerings discussed here are all for transgressions, violations of Jehovah's commandments and ordinances that are unintentional, or inadvertent. The Hebrews maintained a moral view that a sinful act was sufficient in itself to produce guilt in the actor. On the other hand, we believe that intent and state of mind is vital in accessing guilt; a person is generally not considered morally responsible for acts committed involuntarily, unknowingly or even accidentally, if no negligence is involved. In the Torah, intent, knowledge and aforethought seem to be beside the point in many, but not all instances. In Exodus, for example, the owner of an animal that damages a neighbor's property is not liable if he took precautions to pen his animal or was ignorant of the animal's untoward propensities. Here, however, a man seems to be totally responsible for his own actions, purposeful or not, with little ethical wiggle room.
2. Atonement for unintentional acts of moral transgression is not achieved by a resolution to be more aware, or careful, or fastidious or by a commitment to perform good deeds, or what we would call community service, but rather by merely killing an animal for Jehovah's benefit. This can only be inexplicable to the modern mindset, but not, apparently, to the ancient way of thinking. Imagine a contemporary scenario: in good faith an auto company manufacturers cars with faulty equipment that causes injuries and maybe deaths -- unintentional moral wrong. In lieu of lawsuits, the CEO of the offending company redeems himself by going into a church and slitting the throat of the family dog and sprinkling its blood upon the altar. He is then absolved of guilt. --- Obviously, we do not think along these lines.
3. Again we are reminded how God-awful bloody the holy places of Jehovan worship must have been with all these animals being slaughtered and blood being sprinkled and smeared about.
Friday, March 14, 2014
Peace Offerings
(Leviticus 3:1 - 3:17)
"If you are to make a peace offering and are sacrificing to Jehovah cattle from the herd, the animal should be without defect, whether it be male or female. You should grab the animal by the head and slaughter it at the entrance to the Tabernacle. Aaron's sons, the priests, will then sprinkle its blood against the sides of the Sacrificial Altar. As part of the peace offering food should be presented to Jehovah -- the internal organs and the fat connected to them, both kidneys with the fat surrounding them on the loins, and the long lobe of the liver, which should be removed with the kidneys. The priest will place these upon the sacrificed animal burning in the wood fire on top of the altar. The food offering will produce an aroma very pleasing to Jehovah.
"If your peace offering to Jehovah is an animal of the flock, it should be a male or female without defect. If you offer a lamb to Jehovah, then you should grab it by the head and slaughter it at the entrance to the Tabernacle. Aaron's sons, the priests, will then sprinkle its blood against the sides of the Sacrificial Altar. As part of the peace offering, food should be presented to Jehovah -- the fat of the entire broad tail, cut off at the backbone, the internal organs and the fat connected to them, both kidneys with the fat surrounding them on the loins, and the long lobe of the liver, which should be removed with the kidneys. These the priest will burn upon the altar as a food sacrifice, a burnt offering to Jehovah.
"If the offering to Jehovah be a goat, then you should grab it by the head and slaughter it at the entrance to the Tabernacle. Aaron's sons, the priests, will then sprinkle its blood against the sides of the Sacrificial Altar. As part of the peace offering, food should be presented to Jehovah -- the internal organs and the fat connected to them, both kidneys with the fat surrounding them on the loins, and the long lobe of the liver, which should be removed with the kidneys. These the priest will burn upon the altar as a food offering, producing an aroma very pleasing to Jehovah.
"All the fat is reserved for Jehovah. This is established as a permanent law to be observed by all future generations wherever they may live: you are forbidden to eat fat or blood."
Notes
1. The term "peace offering" is used today in a general, non-religious context. It is a gift to foster goodwill among rivals or enemies or to make amends after conflict. In this context it seems to be less a means for atonement and more as customary tribute to ensure Jehovah's continued favor and to foster the worshiper’s relationship with his god. Sacrifices were always a part of the relationship that ancient man had with his god. You do something for me, I do something for you. This is not, of course, an inequitable arrangement. The worshiper held up his end by making sacrifices, mostly by slaughtering livestock for the benefit of the god. To the literal minded, this cannot make much sense, even if others may find some satisfying symbolism in it. Does the god come down to earth and chow down at the altar. No. Does he absorb some spiritual energy from the slaughtered animals? How and why does he need to do so? Can he actually smell the aroma of the roasted flesh of the sacrificial victims, as Jehovah purportedly does? Does Jehovah do this through a physical presence? (Although ghostly smells have been often recorded, there is little evidence that spirit beings or entities on an astral plane can smell, even if they are able to see and hear.) And if Jehovah were God, or even a lesser spirit being, why would he be obsessed with such earthly and earthy sensations as the aroma of cooked meals? Shouldn't he be attracted to more exalted pleasures and find gratification in more productive and morally uplifting acts?
2. The fat of sacrificed animals is expressly reserved for the deity and forbidden to man. Jehovah is never shy about asserting his prerogatives, but why he should prefer fat to lean is a question. But there always be in the proclamations of Jehovah some prohibition of a trivial nature that will be promoted as an eternal law, the violation of which constitutes a deadly sin. This corresponds to the regimen of taboos that permeate primitive cultures. Such taboos are an intrinsic part of all societies at an early stage of development. Civilized man discards these taboos when he eventually realizes how childish and useless they are.
3. Blood and fat are forbidden for man to eat. Is this a general prohibition or does it pertain only to the meat of sacrificial victims? How strictly should the law be applied? Is there such a thing as a piece of meat that does not contain cooked fat and blood? A 100% lean, fatless, juiceless steak does not sound very appealing. Is that all that the followers of Jehovah are allowed to eat?
"If you are to make a peace offering and are sacrificing to Jehovah cattle from the herd, the animal should be without defect, whether it be male or female. You should grab the animal by the head and slaughter it at the entrance to the Tabernacle. Aaron's sons, the priests, will then sprinkle its blood against the sides of the Sacrificial Altar. As part of the peace offering food should be presented to Jehovah -- the internal organs and the fat connected to them, both kidneys with the fat surrounding them on the loins, and the long lobe of the liver, which should be removed with the kidneys. The priest will place these upon the sacrificed animal burning in the wood fire on top of the altar. The food offering will produce an aroma very pleasing to Jehovah.
"If your peace offering to Jehovah is an animal of the flock, it should be a male or female without defect. If you offer a lamb to Jehovah, then you should grab it by the head and slaughter it at the entrance to the Tabernacle. Aaron's sons, the priests, will then sprinkle its blood against the sides of the Sacrificial Altar. As part of the peace offering, food should be presented to Jehovah -- the fat of the entire broad tail, cut off at the backbone, the internal organs and the fat connected to them, both kidneys with the fat surrounding them on the loins, and the long lobe of the liver, which should be removed with the kidneys. These the priest will burn upon the altar as a food sacrifice, a burnt offering to Jehovah.
"If the offering to Jehovah be a goat, then you should grab it by the head and slaughter it at the entrance to the Tabernacle. Aaron's sons, the priests, will then sprinkle its blood against the sides of the Sacrificial Altar. As part of the peace offering, food should be presented to Jehovah -- the internal organs and the fat connected to them, both kidneys with the fat surrounding them on the loins, and the long lobe of the liver, which should be removed with the kidneys. These the priest will burn upon the altar as a food offering, producing an aroma very pleasing to Jehovah.
"All the fat is reserved for Jehovah. This is established as a permanent law to be observed by all future generations wherever they may live: you are forbidden to eat fat or blood."
Notes
1. The term "peace offering" is used today in a general, non-religious context. It is a gift to foster goodwill among rivals or enemies or to make amends after conflict. In this context it seems to be less a means for atonement and more as customary tribute to ensure Jehovah's continued favor and to foster the worshiper’s relationship with his god. Sacrifices were always a part of the relationship that ancient man had with his god. You do something for me, I do something for you. This is not, of course, an inequitable arrangement. The worshiper held up his end by making sacrifices, mostly by slaughtering livestock for the benefit of the god. To the literal minded, this cannot make much sense, even if others may find some satisfying symbolism in it. Does the god come down to earth and chow down at the altar. No. Does he absorb some spiritual energy from the slaughtered animals? How and why does he need to do so? Can he actually smell the aroma of the roasted flesh of the sacrificial victims, as Jehovah purportedly does? Does Jehovah do this through a physical presence? (Although ghostly smells have been often recorded, there is little evidence that spirit beings or entities on an astral plane can smell, even if they are able to see and hear.) And if Jehovah were God, or even a lesser spirit being, why would he be obsessed with such earthly and earthy sensations as the aroma of cooked meals? Shouldn't he be attracted to more exalted pleasures and find gratification in more productive and morally uplifting acts?
2. The fat of sacrificed animals is expressly reserved for the deity and forbidden to man. Jehovah is never shy about asserting his prerogatives, but why he should prefer fat to lean is a question. But there always be in the proclamations of Jehovah some prohibition of a trivial nature that will be promoted as an eternal law, the violation of which constitutes a deadly sin. This corresponds to the regimen of taboos that permeate primitive cultures. Such taboos are an intrinsic part of all societies at an early stage of development. Civilized man discards these taboos when he eventually realizes how childish and useless they are.
3. Blood and fat are forbidden for man to eat. Is this a general prohibition or does it pertain only to the meat of sacrificial victims? How strictly should the law be applied? Is there such a thing as a piece of meat that does not contain cooked fat and blood? A 100% lean, fatless, juiceless steak does not sound very appealing. Is that all that the followers of Jehovah are allowed to eat?
Thursday, March 13, 2014
Cereal Offerings
(Leviticus 2:1 - 2:16)
“Whenever a cereal offering is to be made to Jehovah, it should consist of the finest flour, moistened with oil and sprinkled with frankincense. The worshiper should deliver it into the hands of the priests, Aaron's sons. The priest will take a handful of the flour, seasoned with oil and frankincense, and put this token portion upon the altar fire. It will be a burnt offering that will produce an aroma most pleasing to Jehovah. The remainder of the flour will belong to Aaron and his sons, a very holy part of Jehovah's burnt offering.
“If grain is to be offered that has been baked in an oven, it should consisted of the finest flour, either thick loaves made without yeast, with olive oil mixed with the flour, or in the form of wafers, also made without yeast, but with the oil olive spread on it. If the cereal offering is fried on a griddle, it should be of the finest flour mixed with olive oil, but made without yeast. Crumble it into pieces, pour olive oil over it and it will be a cereal offering. And if the offering is cooked in a pan, it should also be of the finest flour mixed with olive oil. However the offering for Jehovah has been prepared, bring it to the priest who will present it at the altar. A portion of it will be burned upon the altar as a sacrifice. It will be a burnt offering that will produce an aroma most pleasing to Jehovah. The rest of the bread will be left to Aaron and his sons for food, a very holy part of Jehovah's burnt offering.
“Do not use yeast in preparing any of the cereal offerings, for neither yeast nor honey can be apart of any burnt offering to Jehovah. (They may be a part of the offerings of first fruits, but not offerings that will be burnt upon the altar.) Instead, season all your offerings with salt. By no means omit salt from the sacrificial offerings; do not forget it, for salt is a memorial to your everlasting pact with Jehovah, your god.
“If the cereal offerings you bring to Jehovah are from the first fruits of the harvest, then bring newly sprouted heads of grain that have been crushed and roasted. Pour oil and sprinkle frankincense upon them. The priest will take a token portion of this crushed grain, with the oil and frankincense, and burn it upon the altar as a sacrifice to Jehovah.”
Notes
1. It must be noted that the priests end up receiving the greater part of all the cereal offerings, flour, bread, wafers, etc., sacrificed to the god. The rights of the priests are made quite clear here. Indeed, no ancient priest, whether he be of Jehovah or any other god, could complain about the food that went along with the job. He would literally eat like a god. It was a major perquisite of the profession. The priestly class (and this extends to the Christian church for much of its history) had a material interest in communal piety. The more devoted and observant were members of the congregation, the more goodies, the more wealth accrued to the priesthood. However well intentioned the practice of making sacrifices, it was inevitably abused in nearly all religions. Sacrifices become a money-making enterprise, a racket, for the priests and an easy way for worshipers to get in their god's good graces. --- But it entailed the waste of a lot of good food.
2. Salt, required as a seasoning for the cereal offerings, was historically used for commemoration in many ancient cultures. And, as any laborer in the salt mines would tell you, it was a precious substance, so much so that Roman soldiers were paid off in salt -- thus the word "salary."
“Whenever a cereal offering is to be made to Jehovah, it should consist of the finest flour, moistened with oil and sprinkled with frankincense. The worshiper should deliver it into the hands of the priests, Aaron's sons. The priest will take a handful of the flour, seasoned with oil and frankincense, and put this token portion upon the altar fire. It will be a burnt offering that will produce an aroma most pleasing to Jehovah. The remainder of the flour will belong to Aaron and his sons, a very holy part of Jehovah's burnt offering.
“If grain is to be offered that has been baked in an oven, it should consisted of the finest flour, either thick loaves made without yeast, with olive oil mixed with the flour, or in the form of wafers, also made without yeast, but with the oil olive spread on it. If the cereal offering is fried on a griddle, it should be of the finest flour mixed with olive oil, but made without yeast. Crumble it into pieces, pour olive oil over it and it will be a cereal offering. And if the offering is cooked in a pan, it should also be of the finest flour mixed with olive oil. However the offering for Jehovah has been prepared, bring it to the priest who will present it at the altar. A portion of it will be burned upon the altar as a sacrifice. It will be a burnt offering that will produce an aroma most pleasing to Jehovah. The rest of the bread will be left to Aaron and his sons for food, a very holy part of Jehovah's burnt offering.
“Do not use yeast in preparing any of the cereal offerings, for neither yeast nor honey can be apart of any burnt offering to Jehovah. (They may be a part of the offerings of first fruits, but not offerings that will be burnt upon the altar.) Instead, season all your offerings with salt. By no means omit salt from the sacrificial offerings; do not forget it, for salt is a memorial to your everlasting pact with Jehovah, your god.
“If the cereal offerings you bring to Jehovah are from the first fruits of the harvest, then bring newly sprouted heads of grain that have been crushed and roasted. Pour oil and sprinkle frankincense upon them. The priest will take a token portion of this crushed grain, with the oil and frankincense, and burn it upon the altar as a sacrifice to Jehovah.”
Notes
1. It must be noted that the priests end up receiving the greater part of all the cereal offerings, flour, bread, wafers, etc., sacrificed to the god. The rights of the priests are made quite clear here. Indeed, no ancient priest, whether he be of Jehovah or any other god, could complain about the food that went along with the job. He would literally eat like a god. It was a major perquisite of the profession. The priestly class (and this extends to the Christian church for much of its history) had a material interest in communal piety. The more devoted and observant were members of the congregation, the more goodies, the more wealth accrued to the priesthood. However well intentioned the practice of making sacrifices, it was inevitably abused in nearly all religions. Sacrifices become a money-making enterprise, a racket, for the priests and an easy way for worshipers to get in their god's good graces. --- But it entailed the waste of a lot of good food.
2. Salt, required as a seasoning for the cereal offerings, was historically used for commemoration in many ancient cultures. And, as any laborer in the salt mines would tell you, it was a precious substance, so much so that Roman soldiers were paid off in salt -- thus the word "salary."
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
Burnt Offerings
(Leviticus 1:1 - 1: 17)
Jehovah summoned Moses to the Tabernacle and communicated this to him, "To the people of Israel give the following instructions: When you offer an animal sacrifice to Jehovah, it can either be from the cattle of the herd or from the sheep and goats of the flock.
"If you choose a burnt offering from the herd, it must be a male without any defects. It should be brought to the entrance to the Tabernacle, where it can be received by Jehovah. Place your hands upon the head of the animal, and it will be accepted in your place as a sacrifice of atonement. The young bull should be slaughtered in front of the Sanctum. Aaron (and his successors in the priesthood) should collect the blood and present it as an offering by splattering it against the sides of the Sacrificial Altar (which stands before the entrance to the Sanctum). The sacrificed animal will then be skinned and cut into pieces. The priests will start a fire upon the altar and put wood on it. The animal's head and strips of fat will be placed into the altar fire. The innards and legs should be washed first, but the priest will burn the entire animal upon the altar. This will be a whole burnt offering; its smoke will produce an aroma most pleasing to Jehovah.
"If you chose a burnt offering from the flock, be it goat or sheep, it must be a male without defects. Slaughter the animal in front of the Sanctum, on the north side of the altar. The priests (Aaron’s successors) will splatter its blood on the sides of altar. It will be cut up, and the pieces, including the head and strips of fat, will be put into the wood fire burning on the altar. The innards and legs should be washed first, but the priests will burn the entire animal on the altar. This will be a whole burnt offering; its smoke will produce an aroma most pleasing to Jehovah.
"If the offering to Jehovah is to be a bird, choose a dove or young pigeon. The priest will bring the bird to the altar, wring its neck and snap off its head and then burn it on the altar. However, he must first drain off the blood along the side of the altar. The crop should be removed and the bird plucked, with the crop and feathers discarded among the ashes at the east side of the altar. Grasping it by the wings, the priest should tear the bird open, but without pulling it apart. He will then put it into the wood fire burning on the altar. This will be a whole burnt offering; its smoke will produce an aroma most pleasing to Jehovah."
Notes
1. To modern sensibilities, this slaughter and gory proceedings of ritual sacrifice seem anything but holy, but one must keep in mind that blood sacrifices were an integral part of just about every ancient religion. The Jehovan priest was obviously required to have skill as a butcher -- and a strong stomach, but slaughtering animals would have been a part of everyday life, as it was for country folk everywhere until fairly recent times.
2. Although more will be spoken of it later, the burnt sacrifices were means of atonement. The sacrificed animal would always be taking the place of the human who presented it. This is an enduring concept, the death of one creature atoning for the sins of another; it is exemplified by Christ dying on the cross to atone for the sins of mankind, or at least the sins of those who accepted and worshiped him.
3. It is ambiguous in the text whether Jehovah spoke to Moses and expected these sacrifices to be made at the earlier Meeting Tent or at the new Tabernacle, whose construction was completed at the end of Exodus. Only the latter makes sense, although many translations, even many modern ones, say "meeting tent," or "tent of meeting." What, one might ask, was the point of going to all the trouble of building the Tabernacle with its first-rate sacrificial facilities, when the old primitive Meeting Tent was still going to be used? Obviously, the Tabernacle was meant -- unless we have here a contradiction between two original texts the furnished the basis for the Book of Leviticus. As has been suggested before, it was not really possible for the exiled, nomadic Israelites at the foot of Mount Sinai to have built the Tabernacle, which must have come into being at a later time, perhaps a much later time. Perhaps one text tells of the building of the Tabernacle at this point and another does not, but rather has Moses still communing with Jehovah in the Meeting Tent where the sacrifices are to take place. Perhaps these instructions in Leviticus do not assume the construction of the Tabernacle. An altar, though, is referred to and one imagines it is the fancy bronze one with the horns as described in Exodus. This is one of many contradictions in the text, not surely the most egregious.
4. The instructions on the preparation of the avian sacrifice in the Hebrew text are unclear, but it seems likely that it involved not only removal of the crop (which would contain undigested food) but plucking. Feathers were probably not consigned to the flames; the birds were probably divested of them beforehand, since the animals were skinned before they were sacrificed and burnt.
5. The priests (cohenim or kohanim) are referred to as Aaron’s sons. It means not only his sons, but all his successors. By Jewish law (Halakha) the priests were to be patrilineal descendants of Aaron. However, it should be noted that the Hebrew word “banim,” which is used here, can also mean “successors” and not merely sons or physical descendants.
6. All translations have the sacrificial animals slaughtered “before the Lord” or something similar (the Orthodox Hebrew Bible says “before Hashem”). It is unlikely, though, that it is meant that Jehovah would be physically present at every sacrifice and that the ceremony would be conducted in front of him, especially considering that Jehovah would not allow even Moses to glimpse his face. And would he really want to be splattered with blood? And if he were there merely in spirit, could the slaughtering really be "before him"? Surely what is meant is more figurative and yet more specific. No other translator seems to have caught on, but it seems very likely that “before the Lord” means before or in front of the place belonging to and sacred to Jehovah, here meaning the Sanctum, before whose entrance the Sacrificial Altar stood.
Jehovah summoned Moses to the Tabernacle and communicated this to him, "To the people of Israel give the following instructions: When you offer an animal sacrifice to Jehovah, it can either be from the cattle of the herd or from the sheep and goats of the flock.
"If you choose a burnt offering from the herd, it must be a male without any defects. It should be brought to the entrance to the Tabernacle, where it can be received by Jehovah. Place your hands upon the head of the animal, and it will be accepted in your place as a sacrifice of atonement. The young bull should be slaughtered in front of the Sanctum. Aaron (and his successors in the priesthood) should collect the blood and present it as an offering by splattering it against the sides of the Sacrificial Altar (which stands before the entrance to the Sanctum). The sacrificed animal will then be skinned and cut into pieces. The priests will start a fire upon the altar and put wood on it. The animal's head and strips of fat will be placed into the altar fire. The innards and legs should be washed first, but the priest will burn the entire animal upon the altar. This will be a whole burnt offering; its smoke will produce an aroma most pleasing to Jehovah.
"If you chose a burnt offering from the flock, be it goat or sheep, it must be a male without defects. Slaughter the animal in front of the Sanctum, on the north side of the altar. The priests (Aaron’s successors) will splatter its blood on the sides of altar. It will be cut up, and the pieces, including the head and strips of fat, will be put into the wood fire burning on the altar. The innards and legs should be washed first, but the priests will burn the entire animal on the altar. This will be a whole burnt offering; its smoke will produce an aroma most pleasing to Jehovah.
"If the offering to Jehovah is to be a bird, choose a dove or young pigeon. The priest will bring the bird to the altar, wring its neck and snap off its head and then burn it on the altar. However, he must first drain off the blood along the side of the altar. The crop should be removed and the bird plucked, with the crop and feathers discarded among the ashes at the east side of the altar. Grasping it by the wings, the priest should tear the bird open, but without pulling it apart. He will then put it into the wood fire burning on the altar. This will be a whole burnt offering; its smoke will produce an aroma most pleasing to Jehovah."
Notes
1. To modern sensibilities, this slaughter and gory proceedings of ritual sacrifice seem anything but holy, but one must keep in mind that blood sacrifices were an integral part of just about every ancient religion. The Jehovan priest was obviously required to have skill as a butcher -- and a strong stomach, but slaughtering animals would have been a part of everyday life, as it was for country folk everywhere until fairly recent times.
2. Although more will be spoken of it later, the burnt sacrifices were means of atonement. The sacrificed animal would always be taking the place of the human who presented it. This is an enduring concept, the death of one creature atoning for the sins of another; it is exemplified by Christ dying on the cross to atone for the sins of mankind, or at least the sins of those who accepted and worshiped him.
3. It is ambiguous in the text whether Jehovah spoke to Moses and expected these sacrifices to be made at the earlier Meeting Tent or at the new Tabernacle, whose construction was completed at the end of Exodus. Only the latter makes sense, although many translations, even many modern ones, say "meeting tent," or "tent of meeting." What, one might ask, was the point of going to all the trouble of building the Tabernacle with its first-rate sacrificial facilities, when the old primitive Meeting Tent was still going to be used? Obviously, the Tabernacle was meant -- unless we have here a contradiction between two original texts the furnished the basis for the Book of Leviticus. As has been suggested before, it was not really possible for the exiled, nomadic Israelites at the foot of Mount Sinai to have built the Tabernacle, which must have come into being at a later time, perhaps a much later time. Perhaps one text tells of the building of the Tabernacle at this point and another does not, but rather has Moses still communing with Jehovah in the Meeting Tent where the sacrifices are to take place. Perhaps these instructions in Leviticus do not assume the construction of the Tabernacle. An altar, though, is referred to and one imagines it is the fancy bronze one with the horns as described in Exodus. This is one of many contradictions in the text, not surely the most egregious.
4. The instructions on the preparation of the avian sacrifice in the Hebrew text are unclear, but it seems likely that it involved not only removal of the crop (which would contain undigested food) but plucking. Feathers were probably not consigned to the flames; the birds were probably divested of them beforehand, since the animals were skinned before they were sacrificed and burnt.
5. The priests (cohenim or kohanim) are referred to as Aaron’s sons. It means not only his sons, but all his successors. By Jewish law (Halakha) the priests were to be patrilineal descendants of Aaron. However, it should be noted that the Hebrew word “banim,” which is used here, can also mean “successors” and not merely sons or physical descendants.
6. All translations have the sacrificial animals slaughtered “before the Lord” or something similar (the Orthodox Hebrew Bible says “before Hashem”). It is unlikely, though, that it is meant that Jehovah would be physically present at every sacrifice and that the ceremony would be conducted in front of him, especially considering that Jehovah would not allow even Moses to glimpse his face. And would he really want to be splattered with blood? And if he were there merely in spirit, could the slaughtering really be "before him"? Surely what is meant is more figurative and yet more specific. No other translator seems to have caught on, but it seems very likely that “before the Lord” means before or in front of the place belonging to and sacred to Jehovah, here meaning the Sanctum, before whose entrance the Sacrificial Altar stood.
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