10-14. After the blood had been thus disposed | individuals only varied in some few trifling cir

of, the victim was flayed, deprived of the fat, and laid wholly naked and open; the various parts to be burned were then salted, and thrown into the fire to be utterly consumed, Lev. ii. 13; i. 8. To the custom of flaying the animal, and exhibiting its inward parts to full view, there is a most expressive and beautiful allusion in the Epistle to the Hebrews: "The word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight, but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do," iv. 12.* Such was the manner in which the bullocks, rams, and goats were sacrificed. The method of flaying the turtle-doves and the young pigeons was somewhat different. The person who brought these presented them to the priest, who offered up one of them for a sin-offering, and the other for a burnt-offering.

cumstances from this; except that the whole of the carcase, after the fat and inwards had been burned, belonged to the priest, Lev. vi. 24–29. We must not forget, while treating of the sinoffering, that our Saviour is often spoken of under that character, particularly in Rom. viii. 3; 2 Cor. v. 21; Heb. ix. 28. Indeed, in the Epistle to the Hebrews sin-offerings are clearly applied as types of Christ: "For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood was brought into the sanctuary by the high-priest for sin, were burnt without the camp; wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate," Heb. xii. 11, 12.†

3. Trespass-offerings were of two kinds; doubtful and undoubted. The former were offered in cases where the consciences of the offerers surmised that they had committed a sin, while their understandings were in doubt; the latter, like most other piacular sacrifices, were appointed for the purgation of certain corporeal impurities, as well as for the expiation of trespasses, properly so called. The cases in which they were offered were five; viz., for things stolen, unjustly gotten or detained; for sacrilege; for violating the chastity of a bondmaid; for a Nazarite; and for a leper, Lev. vi. 2—7; Numb. v. 5—8; Lev. v. 16; xix. 20-22; Numb. vi. 2—21; Lev. xiv. 12. The person who brought the sacrifice placed his hands on the head of the animal, between the horns, and confessed his sins, saying, "I have sinned, I have done iniquity, I have trespassed, and done thus and thus (specifying the sin of which he had been guilty), and do return by repentance before thee, and with this I make atonement." The animal was then considered as vicariously bearing the sins of the persons who presented it. The reader will recollect that our Lord is said (Isai. liii. 10) to have had his soul made "an

2. Sin-offerings were appointed for sins of ignorance against negative precepts (Lev. iv. 2, 13, 22, 27), either for the whole congregation, or for individual persons. It is true, there are some sin-offerings that do not exactly come under the description here given of them; such as the sinoffering of Aaron on his consecration (Lev. ix. 2); the sin-offering of the woman at her purification (xii. 6); and of the leper at his cleansing, xiv. 19. This, however, was their general character. Of the sin-offering for the whole congregation we have an account in Lev. iv. 13-21, where a young bullock being brought before the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, or, during the temple, into the court of the priests, the elders or heads of the tribes, as representing the people, laid their hands upon its head, and it was killed according to the form mentioned for the burnt-offering for sin ;" where the very same word is used offering. The blood was then taken by the priest into the holy place, where, having dipped his finger in it seven times, he sprinkled what adhered to it seven times before the veil; after which he returned to the court of the priests, ascended the altar, put some of the blood upon the horns at its corners, and poured out the rest at its foot. The fat was the only part of the animal that was offered on the altar; for the rest, including the skin, inwards, and even the dung, were carried forth to a clean portion of that place where the ashes of the altar were poured out, and burnt completely with fire. The sin-offering for

as is put for the trespass-offering. It is difficult to define the difference between the two classes of sins for which the two last-mentioned offerings were presented; viz., sins and trespasses. But whatever this difference consisted in, there were several points of difference between the sacrifices respectively designated by these terms. The sex of the victims, and the rites to be performed in the trespass-offerings, were altogether different from those prescribed for the sin-offerings. The former always consisted of rams and he-lambs, which were never used for the latter. The blood of the sin-offering was to be put on the horns of

See Magee on the Atonement, vol. i.; Illustrations, No. 27.

the altar (Lev. iv. 7, 18, 25, 30), and that of the trespass-offering was to be sprinkled on the sides of the altar (vii. 2). Sin-offerings also, as we have seen, were offered for the whole congregation; but trespass-offerings were only required from individuals. These two kinds of sacrifices had this point of resemblance, that they were considered as legitimately offered, only in compliance with the express command of the law; neither of them was ever admitted as a votive or voluntary oblation: that was peculiar to peaceofferings and burnt-sacrifices.

rites, about which there were some peculiarities. See Numb. vi. 15-20; Lev. vii. 31, 32.

5. Among the eucharistic oblations may also be placed the firstlings and the tithes. After the preservation of the first-born in Egypt, God declared that in memory of so singular a benefit, every first-born male, both of man and beast, should thenceforward be devoted to him, Numb. iii. 13. All male firstlings of beasts fit for the altar were to be sacrificed (Exod. xiii. 15 ; Numb. xviii. 17); and all male first-born children were to be redeemed by five shekels of money paid to the priests, Numb. iii. 47. This law is considered by the Jews as having no reference to the tribe of Levi, because all the males of that tribe were constantly devoted to the service of the sanctuary. The firstling of an ass was to be redeemed by the substitution of a lamb, or, that no one might derive any benefit from the sacrilege, his neck was to be broken, Exod. xiii. 13. The flesh of every firstling brought to the altar was wholly allotted to the priests, Numb. xviii. 17, 18. But if any firstling happened to have a blemish, it was not to be brought to the altar as a sacrifice, but to be given to the priests; and it was allowed to be eaten any where, not only by the priests themselves, but also by any other persons, Deut. xv. 21, 22. To the same order of sacrifices must also be referred those victims selected as the tithe of lambs, kids, and calves, Lev. xxvii. 32. The tenth of the herd and of the flock was every year to be devoted to the Lord, as a kind of thank-offering for all the advantages derived from cattle. It was to be solemnly offered to the Lord; if it happened to have any blemish, it might lawfully be eaten any where, but was not to be redeemed with money, nor to be exchanged for any other animal. But whatever was its condition, the whole of the flesh (according to Maimonides) belonged to the proprietor, and no part of it to the priests.

4. Peace-offerings comprehended thank-offerings, freewill-offerings, and offerings made in consequence of vows, Lev. vii. 12-16. The Hebrew word used for these denotes, as Dr. Clarke remarks,* to complete, or make whole; because by them that which was lacking was considered as being made up; and that which was broken-the covenant of God by his creature's transgressionwas supposed to be made whole. So that after such an offering, the sincere and conscientious mind had a right to consider that the breach was made up between God and it, and that it might lay confident hold on the covenant of peace. To this the apostle evidently alludes in Eph. ii. 1419: "He is our peace (i. e., our peace-offering) who has made both one, and broken down the middle wall; having abolished in his flesh the enmity," &c. (See the whole passage.) The common offerings in such cases were, either a he or a she-calf, a he or a she-lamb, or a goat (Lev. iii. 1, 6, 12), accompanied by the proper meat-offering. They were to be without blemish for vows and thank-offerings (xxii. 18-22); but a free-will offering might be either lacking or superfluous in its parts, ver. 22. Whichever kind of them was brought, the offerer laid his hand upon its head as an acknowledgment of guilt; after which it was killed before the tabernacle of the congregation; its blood was sprinkled on the altar round about; the fat, the kidneys, the caul, and the rump, if it was a lamb, being burnt on the altar (iii. 1-5); the breast, after it was waved, and the shoulder, after it was heaved, became the property of the priests, vii. 31-34; and the rest of the victim was eaten by the offerer, under the restrictions laid down in Lev. vii. 19-21, xxii. 30, xix. 5-8. The peace-offering for the whole congregation was made only once a year-at the feast of pentecost, when two lambs composed the sacrifice. The peace-offerings of individuals were of three kinds; viz., those offered without bread; those offered with bread; and the peace-offerings of the Naza-suffering and death of the victim substituted in

* Comment on Lev. vii.

IV. We have had occasion, in describing the various kinds of sacrifices, to notice some of the purposes for which they were designed. It will not be amiss, however, to state these more formally. The general design and uses of these sacrifices, then, were-(1) As an acknowledgment of receiving all their good things from the hand of God, and of his right in the whole of that of which they offered him a part; though to make this act the more significant and expressive, it was a part of almost every thing they had.-(2) To be a means of repentance and humiliation for sin, of the desert of which they were reminded by the

their room, and suffering in their stead.-(3) To typify that promised sacrifice of atonement which

the Son of God was to offer in due time, and to assist their faith in him.* Of the political use of many of the sacrifices we have spoken, in treating of the judicial law.

V. WE have already noticed four classes of offerings; we now pass on to a fifth class, known by the appellation of meat-offerings (mincha).

it was not lawful for any person to taste the new corn. Previous to the offering up of the firstfruits all was unclean; afterwards all was holy; and to this Paul alludes in Rom. xi. 16: "If the first-fruit be holy, the lump is also holy." These first-fruits were considered as giving a public and joyful assurance that the general harvest would soon be gathered in. How beautiful and striking is the same apostle's allusion to the ceremony of presenting this oblation, in the First Epistle to the Corinthians, in which place he argues and establishes the doctrine of a general resurrection, from the fact of the resurrection of Christ, as the firstfruits of them that slept! "Now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first-fruits of them that slept,” xv. 20. "Christ the first-fruits—afterwards they that are Christ's," ver. 23. By raising him, the head and representative of Christian believers, from the dead, and conducting him in

conducted through the streets of Jerusalem, from the grave to immortality, God has announced to the whole world, that his power, in like manner,

1. These offerings were composed of wheaten or barley flour; some with, and others without, the addition of wine. They were all to be mixed with oil, and invariably to be connected with some kind of victims, except in the case of the person who had sinned being so poor that he could not purchase two turtle-doves, or two young pigeons for an offering. The victims which God required to be always accompanied with meat-offerings were all the burnt-offerings of the whole congregation, with all those of individuals, and the peace-offerings selected from the flock of the herd; but none taken from birds, except when they were sub-glorious triumph, as the first-fruits were publicly stituted for a quadruped; nor any sin-offerings, except those offered by a purified leper, Numb. xv. 2, &c., xxviii. 29; Lev. xiv. 10, 31. The following are the portions prescribed for the meat-offer-will be displayed in re-animating all the dead, and ings:-For bullocks, three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mingled with half a hin of oil; for rams, two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour, mingled with a third part of a hin of oil; and for goats and female sheep, as well as for lambs and kids, both male and female, only one-tenth of an ephah of fine flour, mingled with the fourth of a hin of oil, Numb. xv. These were the general directions; but in Lev. xxiii. 10-13, we find that the lamb to be offered on the same day as the sheaf of the first-fruits was to be accompanied with two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour; and in chap. xiv. 10, we find a log ordered for three-tenth deals in the meat-offering of the leper; and in ver. 21, a log of oil is ordered to but one-tenth deal of fine flour, in the case of those lepers who were poor. The meat-offerings unaccompanied with any libations of wine were either for the whole congregation of Israel, or for particular persons. Those of the former kind were three; the omer, or sheaf of first-fruits waved before the Lord, the two loaves ordered on the day of pentecost; and the loaves called the shew-bread.

2. The omer of first-fruits was offered on the sixteenth day of the month Nisan, before the wheat had grown to a full ear, and before which

* See Lightfoot, Temple Service, chap. viii., sect. 1-4; Owen on the Hebrews, Exerc. xxiv. ; Jennings's Jewish Antiq., b. i., chap. 5; Lamy's App. Bib., b. i. chap. 7; Brown's Jewish Antiq., vol. i., pt. 4, sect. 2; Outram on Sacrifices, Diss. i., chap. ix.—xvii.

at the consummation of all things, gathering into his eternal mansion a universal harvest of all the saints. After the omer of barley had been waved before the Lord, a part of it was consumed on the altar, and the rest given to the priests, Lev. xxiii. 15-17.

3. The two loaves offered on the day of pentecost contained a tenth of an ephah each, made of the flour of new wheat, and were a thanksgiving for the bounties of the harvest which had been just gathered in. They were waved before the altar, and given entirely to the priests, it not being lawful to burn on the altar any thing containing leaven, Lev. vii. 13, 14.

4. The shew-bread, literally the bread of faces, so called from its position on the sacred table, in the outer sanctuary, where it was "set in order before the Lord," or "before the faces of Jehovah." was made of fine wheaten flour, two tenths of an ephah being allotted to each cake. The loaves were twelve in number, and were placed on the golden table, in two rows, six in a row, and pure frankincense put upon each row. They were to be removed and replaced by fresh ones every sabbath-day, when the removed ones were given to the priests, and the frankincense was burnt on the great altar, Lev. xxiv. 5-9. It is more difficult to ascertain the use of these, and what they represented, than almost any other emblem in the

+Harwood, Introduct., vol. ii., p. 307.

whole Jewish economy. Dr. Cudworth's opinion seems to be the most rational; viz., that with the other meat and drink-offerings, and the furniture of the tabernacle and temple, it was designed to show the Jews that God had in an extraordinary manner taken up his residence among them, these things forming part of his establishment as king of Israel.*

5. The meat-offerings for particular persons were as follow: (1) The daily meat-offering of the high-priest; half of which was offered in the morning, and the other half at night, Lev. vi. 20-22. (2) The meat-offering of initiation, which was offered by each priest on his entrance into office, and which was wholly burnt. (3) The sinner's meat-offering, or that substituted by a poor man for a sin-offering, Lev. v. 11. (4) The jealousy meat-offering, or the offering brought with the suspected wife, Numb. v. 15. It is worthy of notice, that this and the meat-offering of the first-fruits of the barley-harvest were the only offerings which were of barley; all the other kinds being of wheat. (5) The meat-offering of fine flour unbaked, which was prepared by pouring oil and frankincense upon it, Lev. ii. 1-3. (6) The meat-offering baked in the oven, which was either unleavened cakes of fine flour mingled with oil, or unleavened wafers anointed with oil, ver. 4. (7) The meat-offering baked in a which was fine flour unleavened, mingled with oil, separated in pieces, on each of which was poured oil, ver. 5, 6. (8) The meat-offering made in a frying-pan, and which was fine flour mingled with oil, ver. 7. (9) The wafers baked in the oven, which are classed with the cakes above, in No. 6. (10) The offerings of first-fruits by individuals at the feast of pentecost. With all the meat-offerings duly presented, salt was to be used (Lev. ii. 13), and, according to the Jews, was to be sprinkled on the offerings when laid on the altar. Salt possesses an agreeable savour, and the quality of preserving food from putrefaction:† hence, a durable covenant is called "a covenant of salt," Numb. xxviii. 19; 2 Chron. xiii. 5. no leaven, nor honey, was allowed in any offering. The latter was offered to Bacchus, among the heathen; and also to the infernal deities, and departed heroes.||

pan,

But

6. To the offerings that have been specified we must add, (1) The oblations of incense that used to be made in the temple; for though they are not usually classed with the meat-offerings, they must, nevertheless, be numbered with those sacrifices which were to be selected from inanimate things, and to be solemnly burnt in the service of God. The manner of offering this has been already noticed in treating of the service of the temple. We need only add, that it represented the prayers. of the people, while the priest, presenting them to God in the temple, prefigured Christ, now in the heavenly sanctuary, commending to God the prayers of the saints. See Rev. v. 8, viii. 3, 4. (2) The tithes of all the fruits of the earth, paid by every Israelite, and which Jerome divides into four sorts: Such as were paid to the Levites by the people, who were forbidden to eat any of their fruits till this had been paid, on pain of death; such as were paid by the Levites to the priests; such as were reserved for the banquets made within the precincts of the temple, to which the priests and Levites were invited; and such as were paid every three years for the support of the poor. See Numb. xviii. 21; Lev. xxvii. 30; Deut. xiv. 22, 23; Neh. xiii. 5, 10.§

7. The rule prescribed in the law for preparing and presenting meat-offerings was this: They were to be brought to the priest, who carried them to the altar, took a handful from each of them, as an oblation, salted it, and burnt it upon the altar. The remaining part became the property of the priesthood, and was eaten by those whose lot it was to serve, Lev. ii. 2, 8, 9, 10, vi. 14—18, x. 12, 13.

VI. The drink-offerings were nothing more than a certain quantity of wine, proportioned to the nature of the sacrifice they accompanied. After the sacrifice and the meat-offering were laid on the fire, the drink-offering was taken by the priest, and poured out like the blood, at the foundation of the altar, or around its top.¶

§ Lamy, Apparatus Biblicus, b. i., c. 7. ¶There is no doubt that the heathen borrowed their custom of offering meat and drink-offerings from the Hebrew ritual. The salted meal (meat-offerings) which they added to their victims, and which used also to be accompanied with wine, is thus referred to by Virgil: "And now the dreadful day was arrived; the preparations to sacrifice me were commenced, and + There is an allusion to this typical law in Mark ix. 49, 50;tion is, "Salt and barley, called salted meal, with which they the salted meal was ready.”—Æn. ii. 132. Servius's explanafor some remarks on which, see Critica Biblica, vol. ii., p. 624. See Calmet's Bib. Ency., art. "Salt ;" and Fragments to ditto, No. cxxx.

* See Dr. A. Clarke on Exod. xxv. 23, 30.

| Ovid. Fast., I. iii., 175; Strabo, Geog. I. xv.; Odys. x. 518 ; xi. 26, &c.

used to sprinkle the forehead of the victim, the sacrificial fire, and the knives." After the salted meal it was also customary to pour wine on the head of the victim, which by that ceremony was said to be macta or magis aucta, augmented, or more increased. This ceremony is thus referred to by Ovid: "Goat,