Human SacHjicex, of which OT contains some record, come under the category of the Burnt-offering. That they occurred in the heathen stage through which tlie progenitors of the Hebrews passed in prehistonc times, can hardly be questioned. The practice prevailed throughout Semitic heathendom ; it la abundantly vouched for among the Arabs and the Carthaginians, and it was in use among the Moabites (2 K 3^). The story of the sacrifice of Isaac (Gn 2211) clearly implies that the custom had been deeply rooted in the past ; the history of Jephthah furnishes an indubitable instance from the period of the Judgea (Jg ll*^ff-): *iid its persistence down to a late period may be collected from various prophetic references (Mic 67, Jer 731, Ezk 2026 2337). The main point in dispute is whether 'human sacrifices were an essential element of the Mosaic cultus* (Ghillany), or whether they 'were excluded from the legitimate worship of Jehovah ' (Oehler). The argument for the legitimacy of the practice would be considerably stronger if we could regard as huiiian sacrifices the slaving of Zebah and Zalmunna by Gideon (Jg si»'i), and of Agag by Sanmel (1 S 1633, cf. 2 S 21^) : but these acts m.ay be assigned to the different category of executions. In the case of Jephthah it is hard to suppose that he expected other than a iiuman beinij to come forth to meet him, and the most that can be said is that the narra- tive seems to recognize in the issue a merited punishment. The manifest moral of the sacrifice of Isaac is that the practice wae 'an alien element repudiated by conscious Jahwism' (Hol- zinger on On 221'' 20). As to the commarnlroent of Ex 22'-»,— 'the firstborn of thy sons Shalt thou give unto me,'— it is an exegetical possibility that the words point to human sacrifice ; but as a normal demand of OT religion, and indeed of any Bane religion, it iB inconceivable (see art. PaiKSTS add LBViru, p. 70'').
SACRIFICE
SACRIFICE
335
(c) The Corenant-Bacrifice iaclosely relat«<l to the Peace-offering, fclthouifh it may be considered to be intermedial* between the n^i' and the njj. The pecuharity Hea partly in the specific object,— which in to seal a compact, partly in the rilual. Ac- cordinif to antique practice tlie lonnution of a covenant or an alliance waa sealed by a variety of rites. One form is the Bprinklincof each party with the other's blood, or the coinDiing- Ung of the blood of both by smearing it upon stones. In a second form animal blood is employed. Another is the partition of a carcase, with the paisiii^'eoi the covenantinij parties between the divided parts. Of the latter custom there is an evident trace in 1 S 11'. After being chosen as king, Saul ' took a yoke of oxen and cut them in pieces, and sent them throughout all the borders of Israel.' In the text it is interpreted as a threat of a like fate being visit«d upon rebels ; but the form, which is reminiscent of the passage through a sundered %ictim, rather conveys an invitation to the tribes to join with him in a cove- nant. The form is also recognizable in the ritual employed in God's covenant with Abraham (Gn 15). A heifer, a ram, and a she-goat are sundered in twain; and after nightfall a flaming torch, which clearly represents God in its action, passes between the divided pieces. Another noteworthy feature oi the narra- tive is that at first birds of prey descend upon the carcase and are driven away— not improbably a deliberate repudiation of the ancient practice of exposing the god's portion to he consimied bv wild creatures (v."). The second important instance of the Covenant-sacrifice connects itself with the usage of cementing an alliance by an interchange of blood. At the making of the covenant between Jehovah and His emancipated people, Burnt- offerings and Pea';e-offering8 are sacrificed; and in connexion with the burnt-offering, as it would seem, Moses pours half of the blood upon the altar for God, while the other half is sprinkled on the peojile (Ex 240 »). in this ti-pe of sacrifice a different idea from tnat of propitiating God by a gift is clearly preserved —that, ^iz., of the establishment of communion of Ufe through assimilation of the same blood.
id) V-fjetahle nfcrings were later in origin, and in less repute, but must have fonned an important division of the offerings at the sanctuaries. Meal, baked into cakes, was doubtless a common form of oflering (Jg 6^^, 1 S 1^). The most interesting example of this class is the bukwkkbad (o^r? ^O!?* *?""* I^utioi,
c(. Lv 24W-)- Tl'i^ ofTering, even as regards the number of the loaves, is anticipated in the far older Babylonian ritual (Zini- nicm, lieitrage). The ritual in the first stage followed the method of exposure — the bread being laid out on a table in the sanctuarj- ; but the Divine portion is conveyed to the Deity in •he end by being allotted to the priests. The vegetable ofTer- Ings. it should he added, were often associated with animal offerings. The Book of the Covenant prohibits the use of leavei:cd bread in connexion with the Sacrificial Feast (Ex 2;il«). (e) The Libation was originally a libation of blood, possibly at a later stage of milk and of water (1 S 7'^ 2 S 23if> preserve a recollection of the latter), but in tlie historical period the chief material is oil, wliich also naturally went along with the cereal ofTerings. The rarity of the mention of the libation of wine, which was certainly" in use, is not improbably connected with the incongruity to more elevated thought of the idea of ofTering to God a festal" banquet, and also with offlcial opposition to the excesses to which the prominence of this element led (1 S l''*). Tliere could not be wanting an instinct that the hbation of wine was most in harmony with the unethical genius of heathendom.