iiiiburger's BE; •Begriibnis bei den Hebraern' I'RE^; Edersheiin, Sketches of Jewish Social Life^ p. 161 ff. ; Thomson, Land and Book; Bender, 'Beliefs, Rites, and Customs of the Jews connected with Death, Burial, and Mourning,' in JQR, 189i and 1S95. GEORGE MiLLIGAN.
BURNT-OFFERING is a word of rare occurrence in XT ( Mk 12-', He 10«- «). This is probably due to the fnit that th« more generic word for sacrifice [Hvaia] is cciniiiioiily used, since the distinctions of the Old Covenant, which was vanishing away, did not require to be perpetuated in the NT Canon. It is probable, however, from the train of thought, that in some instances the sacrifice which was prom- inently before the mind of the writer was the liurnt-offering (Ro 12'). And though not named, it is latent in certain passages (see below). It is known in the OT as the rh'n 'olah : more rarely and partly in poetical passages as the S'^? Icdlil ; in Ps 5P' both terms are used. The most common LXX rendering is oXoKai>ru^a, and in this form it appears in the NT. The 'blah is connected with a root meaning ' to ascend,' the idea being, prob- ably, that the essence of the sacrifice ascended to heaven in the smoke ; kalU, witli a root meaning 'to be complete,' an idea reproduced in the LXX translation. Details of the rite mav be found in Lv \. 6S" 8's-2'. Unlike most sacriHoes, it was to Ije wliolly burnt (Lv 1'), the skin only falling to till' I'l i' -I .■! - III- ]iiTiiuisite.
Ti iiix w-as the principal sacrifice of
till- ^1 ' ' nation, and continued as such till
till' .1. -:iin ii .n Ml the Temple by Titus. It was offered, tin- \i(tim being a male yearling sheep, every morning and evening (Ex 29^-^2) ; hence its Mishnic name tclm'trl, tlie perpetual offering. In addition, on Sabbaths, new moons, the lirst day of the si'\enth month, the three great feasts, and the Day of Atonement, other victims were ofl'ered (\u '2,S f.). Burnt-offering was associated with other sacrifices (Lv 9^-* 15"'), could be offered for individuals, even Gentiles, and even for the Roman
emperor (Jos. Wars, II. xvii. 2). The altar stood in the court of the priests in front of (eastward of) tlie Temple building. The offering was made [lublicly, in the presence not merely of the large group of ministering priests, but also of ' the men of station,' representatives of what may be called the Jewish laity.
Although tlie word is nowhere recorded as being spoken by Christ, and only once as spoken to Him, it must lie remembered that His connexion with burnt-offering was, of necessity, more intimate than the mere oc^currence of the word suggests. As a Jew, acquainted with the OT, He could not have been unacquainted with the Pentateuchal legislation on this point ; nor is it conceivable that as a visitor to the Temple He failed to be a wit- ness of this rite. The altar on wliich burnt-offer- ing was offered, from its gi-eat .size, its frequent u.se, and its standing visibly in the court of the priests, was emphatically 'the altar,' and it was before this that He directed the offending brother to leave his gift (Mt 5^). At the Presentation in the Temple (Lk 2^\ cf. Lv 12«-S) the second of the turtle doves was intended for a burnt-offering (the other bird forming the usual sin-offering at such a time) ; it was the ottering of the ix>or, and the ritual is described in Lv 1'^-". The 'i'emple tax to which He contributed was in part used for the provision of burnt-oflerings (Mt 17^).
The two occasions on which, in NT, the burnt- offering is refeiTed to, emphasize the imperfect and transitoiy character of the OT sacrificial system, and the spiritual, perfect, and abiding character of that whicli superseded it. In Mk 12** the scribe inferred from our Lord's teaching as to the first commandment, that to love God with all the heart and one's neighbour as oneself was 'much more than all whole burnt-offerings and sacrifices,' and was for this commended as ' not far from the king- dom of (Jud.' In He 10'-*, where only besides the word occurs, while the writer dwells on many points of the Temple, its furniture, and its service, he fails to apply the burnt-ottering vei-y closely to • tlie redeeming work of Christ. But he quotes Ps 40" as declarin" that the Divine pleasure lies not in ' victim and Slinhah ' (Delitzsch, in loc. ), and infers the superiority of Christ's obedience to any expiatory sacrifice (sin -offering) or dedicatory sacri- fice (burnt-oflering) presented by means of an ani- mal victim. His obedience is the burnt-offering that has enduring value and needs no repetition.
LiTEnATCRE.— Articles on 'Bumt-o£ferinff' and 'Sacrifice' in Bible Dicfio)iane.s of Hastings, Smith, ana Eticyc. Bibl. ; Bible A rch(eolofi!/ of Keil, Nowack ; Kurtz, Sacrifiaat System <\fOT; OT Theology of Schultz, Oehler ; Cave, Scriptural Doctrine o/ Sacrifice ; Edersheim, The Temple : lis Ministrt/, etc. ; Girdle- stone, Sj/noiti/ms o/OT; Schurer, HJFu. i. 278fl.
J. T. L. Maggs. BUSH (/SiTos).- Mk 12=" II Lk 20"* refers to the 'Burning Bush' (Ex S--^\ Dt 33i« where LXX uses piro! to tr. njp of the original). Before the [probably medioeval] division into chapters and verses it was not easy to cite Scripture with pre- cision. ' In or at tlie Bush ' (AV in Mark and Luke respectively) means not ' beside that memor- able bush,' but 'in the passage in Scripture de- scribing the theophany in the bush ' (R V, ' in tfic 2Jlace concerning tiie Bush ').