26. As the mincha denotes a peculiar offering, whose laws ind ordinances are recorded, Lev. ii. 1, 2, etc., the matter of it was,— 1. 12D,. “soleth,” “ ance verse 7; hee sigs “the flour of wheat.” So it is expressed, Ezek. xvi. 18, 19. In one case, pyyy np, “farina hordeacea,” “barley meal” (so we render the word), was used, Num. v. 15. But 22, “kemach,” is properly “ bran,” “barley bran.” This was the offering in the case of jealousy; God appointing therein the use of barley, the worst of bread-corn, and the bran of it, the worst of that grain, prohibiting the addition of oil and frankincense, to testify his dislike of the matter, either in the sin of the woman or the causeless jealousy of the man, 2. 833, “biccurim,” “primee fruges, frugum primitie,” “ first-fruits;” that is, 238, “corn newly ripened in the ear.” 3. Ol. 4. Frankincense. 5. Salt, Lev. 11. 1-3, etc. And the use of two things is expressly forbidden, namely, leaven and honey, verse 11. Hereunto also be- longeth the 701, “nesek;” or “ drink-offering,” which was an addi- tion of wine unto some sacrifices, but never used separately. And the psalmist shows how this degenerated amongst idolaters, who in their
SECT. 26-28, | SACRIFICES OF THE OLD LAW. 539
superstitious rage made use of the blood of living creatures, it may be of men, in their “ libamina.” They had OF) 8303, “drink- offerings of blood,” which he abhorred, Ps. xvi. 4.
27. Now this offering was sometimes offered alone by itself, and then it was of the number of free-will offerings, whose law and man- ner are prescribed, Lev. ii. For the most part, it was annexed unto other sacrifices, and it was either stated and general, or occasional and particular. The stated meat-offerings, say some, concerned the whole congregation ; and they reckon up three of them:—1. The wave sheaf, Levy. xxiii, 10, 11; 2. The two wave loaves, verse 17; 3. The daily shew-bread, chap. xxiv. 5. But whereas we have showed that the 7M29, “ mincha,” was one of the OWS, or “a fire-offering,” and also that it was W712 YIP, “most holy,” Lev. ii. 10, these being neither of them, they belonged unto the terumah (of which afterwards), and were none of them mincha, or the meat-offering, properly so called. It is true, at the offering of the wave sheaf and the wave loaf there was a meat-offering offered unto God, consisting of two-tenth deals of soleth ; or wheat flour, mingled with oil, and the fourth part of an hin of wine for a drink-offering, which were burned in the fire, Lev. xxiii. 9-13; but themselves were a terumah, and not a mincha, The particular and occasional offerings of this nature are reckoned to be, —1. The poor man’s offering, Lev. v. 11; 2. The jealousy offering, Num. v. 15; 3. The offering of the priests at their consecration, Lev. vili. 26-28; 4. The high priest’s daily meat-offering, Lev. vi. 20; 5. The leper’s offering, Lev. xiv. 10; 6. The dedication offering, mentioned Num. vii. But some of these have a participation in the matter, but not in the nature of the especial mincha. The prin- cipal signification of this offering is expressed, Isa. Ixvi. 20, compared with Rom. xv. 16; Mal. i. 10, 11, compared with 1 Tim. ii. 8. And two things in it express the grace of the covenant; first, the handful that was for a memorial,—that is, to bring to memory the covenant of God; and, secondly, the salt, which declared it firm and stable.
28. Hereunto, as we have said, belongs the 192, “ nesek;” which, as directed in the law, was but one part of the mincha, and is not reckoned among the distinct species of offerings, as they are summed up, Lev. vii. 37: and the reason is, because under the law it was never offered alone by itself, but as an appendix unto burnt-offerings, sin-offerings, and peace-offerings, to complete the mincha, or meat- offering, that accompanied them. But of old, before the reforma- tion of sacrifices by Moses, it was a distinct offering by itself: Gen. xxxv. 14, “ Jacob offered a drink-offering,” that is, of wine, which was the primitive institution and practice. And it was always to be of wine, Num. xv. This, chap. xxviii. 7, is called 17¥, “shechar,” which although we generally translate “strong drink,” yet it ap- pears from hence to have been a strong, inebriating wine; and so
540 SACRIFICES OF THE OLD LAW. [EXERC. XXIV.
the most learned of the Jews suppose. We call this “nesek,” “a drink-offering,” in answer to the name we give unto the “ mincha,” “a meat-offering;” that is, offerings whose matter was of things to be eaten and drunk. It may be otherwise called “a pouring,” an offering poured out, “libamen,” a sacred effusion. And these offer- ings were most holy also, Lev. ii. 10.
29. These offerings of the fruits of the earth, as they were in use among the heathen, so the most learned of them did contend that they were far the most ancient kind of sacrifices amongst men, as Plato expressly, lib. vi. de Legib.; but we know the contrary from Gen. iv., where the first sacrifices in the world are recorded. The later Pythagoreans also condemned all other offerings, all that were én rav éunLuyay, “of living creatures,” as I have elsewhere showed out of Porphyry; though Cicero testifies of Pythagoras himself that he sacrificed an ox. And whatever was appointed in this meat- offering they also made use of. Their “ far,” “molasalsa,” obAdyura, —that is, “flour of wheat,” or barley mingled with water and salt,— is of most frequent mention amongst their sacred things: so also were their “ placentze” and “liba adorea,” their cakes made with flour, oil, and honey. What was their use to the same purpose of wine and frankincense, the reader may see at large in the seventh book of Arnobius adversus Gentes.