Besides these public sacrifices, there were the volun- tary offerings which were made by every private indi- vidual who appeared before the Lord in Jerusalem, in accordance with the injunction in Exod. xxiii, 15; Deut. xvi, 16. The .Jewish canons ordained that this free- will - offering from every attendant at the sanctuary (n^'^XI) was to be a threefold one : 1, A burnt-offering of not less value than one meah silver = 16 grains of corn; 2, a festive offering, called Cha</igdh (see below), of not less value than two mcahs =32 grains of corn; and 3, a peace or joyful offering (Deut. xxvii, 7), the value of which was entirely left to be determined by the good-will of the offerer, according to Deut. xvi, 16. The last two were alike denominated peace-offerings. They were generalU' offered on the first day of the fes- tival, and if any one failed to bring them on this day, they might be brought on any other day of the festival ; but if they were neglected during the festival, they could not be offered afterwards {Chaf/igah, 1, 6; Mai- monides. Ililchoth Char/ir/ah, i, 4, 5). Those who con- tracted any legal impurity were not allowed to offer the Chnf/igdh (^lishna, Pesachim, vi, 3).
The special sort of sacrifice named above as connected with the Passover, as well as with the other great festi- vals, is called in the Talmud HS'^Jn {Chaf/igdh, i. e. " festivity"). It was a voluntary peace-offering made by private individuals. The victim might be taken either from the flock or the herd. It might be either male or female, but it must be without blemish. The offerer laid his hand upon its head and slew it at the door of the
sanctuary. The blood was sprinkled on the altar, and the fat of the inside, with the kidneys, was burned by the priest. The breast was given to the priest as a wave- offering, and the right shoulder as a heave - offering (Lev. iii, 1-5; vii, 29-34). Wliat remained of the vic- tim might be eaten by the offerer and his guests on the day on which it was slain, and on the day following ; but if any portion was left till the third day, it was burned (Lev. vii, 16-18; Pesach. vi, 4). The connection of these free-will peace-offerings with the festivals appears to be indicated in Numb. x. 10; Deut. xiv, 26; 2 Chron. XXX, 22, and they are included under the term Pass- over in Deut. xvi, 2: "Thou shalt therefore sacrifice the Passover imto the Lord thy God, of the flock and of the herd." Onkelos here understands the command to sacrifice from the flock to refer to the paschal lamb, and that to sacrifice from the herd to the Chagigah. But it seems more probable that both the flock and the herd refer to the Chagigah, as there is a specific command respecting the paschal lamb in ver. 5-7 (see De Muis's note in the Crit. Sac. ; and Lightfoot, Hor. Ileb. on John, xviii, 28). There are evidently similar references in 2 Chron. xxx, 22-24 ; xxxv, 7. Hezekiah and his princes gave away at the great Passover which he celebrated two thousand bullocks and seventeen thousand sheep; and Josiah, on a similar occasion, is said to have supplied the people at his own cost with lambs "for the Passover offerings," besides three thousand oxen. From these passages and others, it may be seen that the eating of the Chagigah was an occasion of social festivity con- nected with the festivals, and especially with the Pass- over. The principal day for sacrificing the passover Chagigah was the 15th of Nisan, the first day of holy convocation, unless it happened to be the weekly Sab- bath. The paschal lamb might be slain on the Sabbath, but not the Chagigah. With this exception, the Chagi- gah might be offered on any daj' of the festival, and on some occasions a Chagigah victim was slain on the 14th, especially when the paschal lamb was likely to prove too small to serve as meat for the party (Pesach. iv, 4 ; X, 3 ; Lightfoot, Temple Service, c. xii ; Keland, Ant. iv, c. ii, § 2).
That the Chagigah might be boiled, as well as roasted, is proved by 2 Chron. xxxv, 13, " And they roasted the passover with fire according to the ordinance ; but the other hoh"- offerings sod they in pots, and in caldrons, and in pans, and divided them speedily among all the people."
7. The mh of Nisan.— On the 16th, or the day after the holy convocation, called " the morroio after the Sab- bath'" [see Pentecost], the omer {"•'CV, th dpdy^iara, numipulus epicarum) of the first produce of the harvest was brought to the priest, to be waved before the Lord in accordance with the injunction in Lev. xxiii, 10-14— which was of barley, being the grain which ripened be- fore the wheat (Exod. ix, 31, 32; 2 Sam. xxi, 9; Ruth ii, 23 ; 2 Kings iv, 42 ; Manachoth, 84 a). The omer had to be from the best and ripest standing corn of a field near Jerusalem. The measure of an omer had to be of the meal obtained from the barley offering. Hence three seahs = on<i ephah, or ten omcrs, were at first gath- ered in the following manner : " Delegates from the Sanhedrim went [into the field nearest to Jerusalem] a day before the festival, and tied K)gether the ears in bundles, while still fastened to the ground, so that they might easily be cut. [On the afternoon of the 16th J the inhabitants of the neighboring towns assembled to- gether, that the reaping might take place amid great tumult. As soon as it became dark, each of the reapers asked, Has the sun gone down? To this the people re- plied, Yes. He asked again. Has the sun gone doAvn ? To this the peojile again replied. Yes. Each reaper then asked. Is this the scythe? To this the people replied. Yes. Is it the scythe ? Yes, was again the reply. Is this the box ? Yes, they replied. Is it the box ? Yes, was again the reply. Is this the Sabbath? Yes, it is the Sab-,