origin or precise character of the contemporary worship; what they denounce is the immorality and profligacy which had come to be associated with the popular worship, and the hypocrisy which imagined that effusive religiosity was a kind of compensation for unrighteous conduct.

3. The question has also been raised by criticism how far the levitical system was ever actually in operation. The sacrificial usage codified in the Pentateuch represents what was at least intended to be observed in the post-exilic temple. It is evidently a highly complex and artificial system, the product of a reforming movement, which attempted to restore and develope ritual praxis on the lines of ancient tradition 1. The peculiar form of the ceremonial prescribed in Leviticus is determined partly by the antiquarian tendency of the time, partly by the desire to give an adequate symbolic expression to a deepened spiritual experience. There is indeed every reason to suppose that the system existed in germ even at the earliest period of Israel's national history2; in outline it is represented in the ceremonies connected with the consecration of the priests, which probably represent a very ancient tradition. But in any case, whatever may have been the extent to which the sacrificial system was practically observed before the exile, it derived new significance from the Deuteronomic law of the one sanctuary. In ancient Israel sacrificial feasts were freely celebrated at local sanctuaries but with the concentration of religion at one central shrine, sacrifice, though it ceased to be the most vital element in popular worship, acquired special dignity and importance as a representative national service. It virtually served the purpose of an objectlesson to Israel during the period when prophecy was 1 Schultz, O. T. Theology, vol. i. p. 373; Robertson Smith, Religion of the Semites, pp. 198 foll.; O. T. in J. C., lect. xi.

6

2 Edersheim, Warburton Lectures, p. 239, declares that the nonobservance of the system in the wilderness was unquestionably a necessity imposed by the times.' Cp. Wellhausen, Prolegomena, p. 412.

silent. It put an end once for all to the practical heathenism against which the pre-exilic prophets had preached without avail; and it embodied in visible form prophetic teachings in regard to the nature and character of God, and the conditions of covenantal fellowship with Him. It is clear that the critical analysis of the Pentateuch relieves us of a difficulty. Had the sacrificial ritual been certainly prescribed in its present form by Moses we should have had to explain the fact that an elaborate system solemnly established under divine sanctions of the most stringent kind was practically ignored for centuries, and failed in great measure to effect its object, namely the restraint of the people from idolatry and apostasy1. On the other hand, if we accept the modern theory, the facts to be explained fall into their true place.

4. Lastly, it is noticeable that the chief feature distinctive of the levitical ritual is the development of piacular sacrifice. The simplicity and joyousness of primitive worship, reflecting to a great extent the conditions of an early age and the placid happiness of agricultural life, found appropriate expression in rites and festivals connected with the changing seasons of the year. But a religion of this type could not withstand the strain of prolonged disaster and adversity. Accordingly in the seventh century B. C. we find the development in Palestine of a more sombre species of worship, under the pressure of accumulated national calamities which appeared to betoken the abiding displeasure of the deity, and awakened a new consciousness of guilt 2. Thus the idea of the expiation of sin gradually tended to displace or modify the primitive conception of sacrifice as the creation or renewal of a life-bond between the deity and His worshippers 3. The levitical sin-offering is in all

1

Cp. Robertson Smith, O. T. in J. C. pp. 315 foll., 377. Cp. Ezek. xliii. 7; xliv. 6 foll.

2 Cp. Robertson Smith, Religion of the Semites, pp. 240, 374; O. T. in J.C. p. 380; Riehm, Einleitung in das A. T.vol. i. p. 351; Schultz, ii.p. 176. 3 Robertson Smith, Religion of the Semites, pp. 330, 333.

essential features identical with the ancient sacrament of communion in a sacred life ''; but the men of a later age were led to invest the ancient form of sacrifice with a new significance, in proportion as they came to realize more profoundly the inviolable holiness of Jehovah, the sinfulness of man, and the consequent need of priestly mediation.

The sin-offering then is an institution distinctive of the Hebrew cultus, but in other points there is close affinity between the sacrifices of Israel and those of other Semitic tribes. The true ideas latent in ethnic sacrifice appear in a purified and developed form in the levitical system: for instance, the conception of the sacrificial meal as a feast of communion with deity, and a means of participation in the sacred life of a victim. Again, the primitive idea that the offering is a tribute to the divine King or a meal conveyed to Him, underlies such phrases as 'the bread' or 'food of Jehovah 2. The last-mentioned idea, however, is carefully guarded by the doctrine that God has no need of such material gifts, whereas the pagan belief was that the deity literally feasted on the flesh of the victim, as it rose from the altar in the sublimated form of smoke or steam 3. In estimating indeed the moral effect of the levitical worship we have to bear in mind, first, the fact that the worshippers were for the most part deeply imbued with the characteristic teaching of the prophets; secondly, the fact that in post-exilic days sacrificial worship necessarily 'ceased to be the expression of everyday religion. Prof. Robertson Smith appositely remarks that 'the very features of the levitical ordinances which seem most inconsistent with spirituality . . . appear in a very different light in Robertson Smith, Religion of the Semites, p. 331.

1

2

יהוה לחם

—a name applied to sacrifice in general. See Lev. iii. 11, 16; xxi. 6, 8, 17; xxii. 25; Num. xxviii. 2 ; Ezek. xliv. 7; Mal. i. 7. Cp. Wellhausen, Prolegomena, pp. 61, 62. The phrase Bread of God in John vi. 33 seems to imply that the self-oblation of Christ gives perfect satisfaction to the Father. Cp. Eph. v. 2.

3 See Tylor, Anthropology, p. 365. Ps. 1. 9 foll. is a protest against this idea. Cp. Iren. Haer. iv. 18. 3; Westcott, Ep. to the Hebrews, pp. 286-287.

the age after the exile, when the non-ritual religion of the prophets went side by side with the Law, and supplied daily nourishment to the spiritual life of those who were far from the sanctuary 1.'

The above considerations may guide us in our survey of the levitical sacrifices. It only remains to bear in mind ex abundanti cautela that the completelyorganized system is the result of a long and slow development of traditional usages, each of which had its separate history 2.

We may proceed to deal first with the names and prominent features of the several sacrifices described in the Pentateuch.

The names most generally employed are two: a sacrifice is described in the priestly code as Qorban (LXX. Sopov), 'a gift,' or as Ish-sheh (Ovoía), an offering by fire.' The first is the wider and more primitive designation, and includes every species of oblation. The original meaning of the word seems to be 'something presented' or 'brought near' to a superior, and it corresponds to the most simple aspect of sacrifice as a tribute due to God. The second term, Ish-sheh, implies the established use of fire as a mode of consumption *. The remaining words for sacrifice become specialized by limitation of their usage. The most important distinction is that between Minchah (Ovoía), 'gift' or 'present,' which though applied to sacrifice in various passages, and even to an ordinary present, is in the priestly code restricted entirely to the meal or vegetable offering; and Zebach, 'slain

10. T. in J. C. pp. 378, 379.

2 The use of fire, for example, as a mode of consumption seems to have been introduced at a comparatively late stage in the evolution of Semitic sacrifice. That it was a subordinate feature seems to be implied in the name of the altar, П, ‘place of slaughter.' On the whole subject see Robertson Smith, Religion of the Semites, ch. x, and below, p. 238.

3 Wellhausen, Prolegomena, p. 61. The vb. " corresponds to ¡p. See Lev. i. 2; ii. 11; iii. 1, &c.

Lev. i. 9, 13, 17; ii. 2, 9, &c.; Num. xv. 3; xxviii. 8. 5 Gen. iv. 3-5; Num. xvi. 15; 1 Sam. ii. 17; Ps. xl. 6 (LXX. πpoσÞopú), &c. Cp. Gen. xxxii. 13 and 2 Sam. viii. 2, 6.

sacrifice,' which appears to be a more ancient designation than Minchah, implying nomadic conditions of life such as would ordinarily precede the settled habits of an agricultural people 1.

From these general names we pass on to consider the three main classes of sacrifice described in the levitical Law the sin-offering, with its special variety, the trespass or guilt-offering; the burnt-offering, which was invariably accompanied by a meal-offering and a libation of wine; and the peace-offering, including several species, such as the 'vow,' the 'praise-offering,' and the free-will oblation.' Each of these three main divisions of sacrifice is connected with either the renewal or the maintenance of covenant fellowship with Jehovah. The order, however, of their historical development is to be carefully distinguished from that of the detailed treatment in the book of Leviticus. When the three classes are mentioned together, the essential order of thought seems to be observed. First in order stands the sin-offering, implying the necessary expiation of guilt which might have severed the Israelite from the privileges of the covenant; next the burnt-offering, suggesting the idea of renewed selfdedication; and, lastly, the peace-offering, with its sacrificial meal, which was the seal as it were of

1 Robertson Smith, Religion of the Semites, p. 226.

2 Heb. O, 'sin' (LXX. Tepì áμaρrías), Lev. iv. 24, &c. DN, trespass' (LXX. TEрì TS λnμμeλeius) is scarcely distinguishable from the sinoffering. Cp. Lev. v. 6-8. See below, p. 238.

3 Heb. by (óλokaútwμa), 'that which ascends.' To this corresponds the vb. byn; cp. Ps. li. 19. Occasionally the poetical word, wholeoffering,' occurs (1 Sam. vii. 9; Deut. xxxiii. 10). With the burnt-offering were offered the meal-offering (7) and the drink-offering, or libation of wine (DJ).

4

*', 'slain-victim of Shelamim,' i.e. ' vows,' from vb. b,' pay' or 'discharge' (Robertson Smith, Religion of the Semites, p. 219 note), or preferably 'fullness' of salvation (so apparently Wellhausen, op. cit. p. 71, and Schultz, i. 378). The sing. w occurs only in Amos v. 22. name, according to Riehm, conveys the notion of unimpaired and perfect fellowship. The peace-offering is a symbol of peaceful and friendly communion with God (ATI. Theologie, p. 120).

The