4. The animal thus conducted to the altar was next immolated, by cutting the throat and windpipe entirely through at one stroke; the blood being caught in a vessel, and sprinkled round about upon the altar. By this sprinkling the atonement was made, for the blood was the life of the beast, and it was always supposed that life went to redeem life. (Lev. i. 5-7.) The blood remaining after these aspersions, was poured out at the foot of the altar, either all at once, or at different times, according to the nature of the sacrifice offered. Around the altar there was a kind of trench into which the blood fell, whence it was conveyed by subterraneous channels into the brook Kedron. This altar being very high, is considered by Lamy as a type of the cross to which our Saviour was fixed, and which he washed with his precious blood. The victim being thus immolated, the skin was stripped from the neck; its breast was opened; its bowels were taken out, and the back bone was cleft. It was then divided into quarters; so that, both externally and internally, it was fully exposed to view. To this custom of laying open the victim, St. Paul has a very beautiful and emphatic allusion in one of the most animated descriptions ever written, of the mighty effects produced by the preached Gospel. (Heb. iv. 12, 13.) The word of God is quick and powerful, 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; for all things are naked and OPENED to the eyes of him to whom we must give an account. Previously to laying the sacrifice on the altar, it was salted for the fire (Lev. ii. 13.; Ezek. xliii. 24.; Mark ix. 46.); the law prohibiting any thing to be offered there which was not salted: and according to the nature of the sacrifice, either the whole or part of the victim was consumed upon the altar, where the priests kept a fire perpetually burning.1

5. Before the building of the temple, sacrifices were offered at the door of the tabernacle; but after its erection it was not lawful to offer them elsewhere. (Deut. xii. 14.) This prohibition took from the Jews the liberty of sacrificing in any other place. The victims might indeed be slain in any part of the priest's court, but not without its precincts: and there they were also obliged to sacrifice the paschal

291-294. In the very same words Nestor promises a similar sacrifice to Pallas Odyss. iii. 382.

Thus also VIRGIL. Georg. iv. 550.

Quatuor eximios præstanti corpore tauros,
Ducit, et intacta totidem cervice juvencas.

From his herd he culls,

For slaughter, four the fairest of his bulls;
Four heifers from his female stock he took,
All fair, and all unknowing of the yoke.

DRYDEN.

It is very probable that the Gentiles learnt their first sacrificial rites from the Patriarchs; and on this account we need not wonder to find so many coincidences in the sacrificial system of the patriarchs and Jews, and of all the neighbouring nations. (Dr. A. Clarke, on Numb. xix. 2.)

1 Harwood's Introd. to New Test. vol. ii. p. 220. Carpzov has assigned many devout and some fanciful reasons why salt was used in the Jewish sacrifices. Antiq. Heb. Gent. pp. 719-723.

lamb. All the victims were to be offered by day-light, and the blood was always to be sprinkled on the same day that they were slain; as it became polluted as soon as the sun was set. If, however, the sprinkling had been made in the day-time, the members and entrails of the victim might be consumed during the night. Subsequently to the time of Moses, indeed, altars were multiplied, but they fell under suspicion, although some of them, perhaps, were sacred to the worship of the true God. Nevertheless, on extraordinary occasions, some prophets, whose characters were above all suspicion, did offer sacrifices in other places than that prescribed by the Mosaic laws; as Samuel (1 Sam. xiii. 8-14., xvi. 1-5.), and Elijah. (1 Kings xviii. 21-40.)

6. The sacrifices of the altar were, in general, called by the Hebrews Korbanim, that is, offerings or oblations to God, from the Hebrew word harab, to approach or bring nigh. This term consequently denotes something brought nigh, in order to be dedicated, or offered to God, to whom the person offering thus had access in the way appointed by the law; and, therefore, at the close of the enumeration of all offerings by fire it is added (Lev. vii. 37, 38.), This is the law which the Lord commanded Moses in Mount Sinai, in the day that he commanded the children of Israel to offer or bring nigh their KORBANIM, that is, offerings or sacrifices of all sorts.1

The Jewish fire-sacrifices were of three kinds; viz.

i. The BURNT-OFFERINGS, or Holocausts, were free-will offerings wholly devoted to God, according to the primitive patriarchal usage. The man himself was to bring them before the Lord, and they were offered in the manner described in the preceding page. The victim to be offered was, according to the person's ability, a bullock without blemish, or a male of the sheep or goats, or a turtle-dove or pigeon. (Lev. i. 3. 10. 14.) If, however, he was too poor to bring either of these, he was to offer a mincha or meat-offering, of which an account is given in page 320. The Jews esteemed the burnt-offering the most excellent of all their sacrifices, not only on account of its superior antiquity, but also because it was entirely consecrated to God. In allusion to this, St. Paul exhorts Christians to present their bodies, or their whole selves, a living sacrifice to God. (Rom. xii. 1.) The burnt-offerings are in Hebrew termed (OLAH), which signifies to ascend; because this offering, as being wholly consumed, ascended, as it were, to God in smoke or vapour. It was a very expressive type of the sacrifice of Christ, as nothing less than his complete and full sacrifice could make atonement for the sins of the world.

ii. The PEACE-OFFERINGS (Levit. iii. 1.) were also free-will offerings, in token of peace and reconciliation between God and man; they were either eucharistical, that is, offered as thanksgivings for blessings received, or votive, that is, offered with prayers for the impetration of mercies. These offerings consisted either of animals, or of bread or dough; if the former, part of them was burnt upon the altar, especially all the fat, as an offering to the Lord; and the remainder was

1 Dr. Owen on the Epistle to the Hebrews, vol. i. Excrcitat. xxiv. p. 307.

to be eaten by the priest and the party offering. To this sacrifice of praise or thanksgiving St. Paul alludes in Heb. xiii. 15, 16. In votive peace-offerings the victims might be either male or female, provided they were without blemish. But in free-will peace-offerings either a bullock or a lamb, that hath any thing superfluous or lacking in its parts might be offered. (Lev. xxii. 23.) The parts of both, which were appropriated to the priests and Levites, were called heave or wave-offerings; because they were heaved or lifted up towards heaven, and waved to and fro, before they were eaten, in acknowledgment of the goodness and kindness of God, and also in token of their being consecrated to him. (Lev. iii. 1-6.; Exod. xxix. 26, 27.; Numb. xviii. 24-28.) The appointed seasons and occasions of the peace-offering were, 1. At the consecration of a priest. (Exod. xxix. 1-37.) 2. At the expiration of the Nazarite vow. (Numb. vi. 13-21.) 3. At the solemn dedication of the tabernacle and temple; and, 4. At the purification of a leper.

iii. SIN-OFFERINGS were offered for sins committed either through ignorance, or wilfully against knowledge; and which God always punished unless they were expiated. These offerings in general consisted of a sin-offering to God, and a burnt-offering, accompanied with restitution of damage (Levit. v. 2—19., vi. 1—7.), conformably to which our Lord requires previous reconciliation with an injured brother, including restitution, before the burnt-offering or gift would be acceptable to God. (Matt. v. 23, 24.) St. Paul (Eph. v. 2.) terms Christ's giving himself for us an offering (i. e. a peace-offering), and a sacrifice or sin-offering to God for a sweet-smelling savour. (Compare Lev. iv. 31.) In warm climates nothing is more refreshing than fragrant odours: and as, in the highly figurative language of the ancient Hebrews, smelling is used to denote the perception of a moral quality in another, God is said to smell a sweet savour from sacrifice, to signify that he perceived with pleasure the good disposition which the offerer expressed by such an act of worship. When, therefore, the Apostle tells us that Christ gave himself for us, an offering and a sweet-smelling sacrifice to God, he teaches us that Christ's sacrifice for us was highly acceptable to God, not only as a signal instance of obedience to his Father's will, but also on account of its happy influence in establishing the moral government of God. The sacrifices offered for the purification of lepers, as well as of women after childbirth (Levit. xii.; Luke ii. 24.), were reckoned among the sin-offerings, inasmuch as leprosy and the pains of child-bearing were considered as punishments for some particular sin; though both were accompanied by eucharistic sacrifices for the recovery of the persons offering them. Maimonides adds, that if the person who offered this sacrifice did not repent, and make public confession of his sins, he was not cleansed or purified by it.2

iv. The TRESPASS-OFFERINGS were made, where the party offering had just reason to doubt whether he had violated the law of God or not. (Levit. v. 17, 18.) They do not appear to have differed mate

1 Macknight on Eph. v. 2.

2 De Ratione Sacrificii, c. iii. n. 13.

rially from sin-offerings. In both these kinds of sacrifices, the person who offered them placed his hands on the victim's head (if a sinoffering), and confessed his sin over it, and his trespass over the trespass-offering; saying, "I have sinned, I have done iniquity, I have trespassed, and have done thus and thus, 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 person who brought it.2 In Isa. liii. 10. Jesus Christ is said to make his soul an offering for sin, DUN (ASHам), the very word used in the law of Moses to denote a trespass-offering.

II. All these sacrifices were occasional, and had reference to individuals; but there were others which were national and regular, DAILY, WEEKLY, MONTHLY, and ANNUAL.

1. The Perpetual or Daily Sacrifice was a burnt-offering, consisting of two lambs, which were offered every day, morning and evening, at the third and ninth hours. (Exod. xxix. 38-40.; Levit. vi. 9-18.; Numb. xxviii. 1-8.) They were burnt as holocausts, but by a small fire, that they might continue burning the longer. With each of these victims was offered a bread-offering and a drink-offering of wine. The morning sacrifice, according to the Jews, made atonement for the sins committed in the night, and the evening sacrifice expiated those committed during the day. This sacrifice was a daily expression of national as well as individual repentance, prayer, and thanksgiving.

2. The Weekly Sacrifice on every sabbath-day was equal to the daily sacrifice, and was offered in addition to it. (Numb. xxviii. 9, 10.)

3. The Monthly Sacrifice on every new moon, or at the beginning of each month, consisted of two young bullocks, one ram, and seven lambs of a year old, together with a kid for a sin-offering, and a suitable bread and drink offering. (Numb. xxviii. 11-14.)

4. The Yearly Sacrifices were those offered on the great annual festivals; viz. (1.) The paschal lamb at the passover, which was celebrated at the commencement of the Jewish sacred year; (2.) On the day of pentecost, or day of first-fruits; (3.) On the new moon, or first day of the seventh month, which was the beginning of their civil year, or ingathering of the fruits and vintage; and all these stated burnt-offerings were to be accompanied with a sin-offering of a goat, to show their insufficiency to "make the comers thereunto perfect" (Numb. xxviii. ; Heb. x. 1.); (4.) Lastly, on the day of expiation, or great day of atonement. As a particular account is given of these solemn festivals in the following section, we proceed briefly to notice the second general class of sacrifice; viz.

III. The UNBLOODY OFFERINGS, or MEAT-OFFERINGS (Lev. ii.), which were taken solely from the vegetable kingdom. They consisted of meal, bread, cakes, ears of corn, and parched grain, with oil and frankincense prepared according to the divine command. Regularly, they could not be presented as sin-offerings, except in the single case

1 Michaelis is of opinion that sin-offerings were made for sins of commission, and trespass-offerings for sins of omission. Commentaries, vol. iii. p. 96.

2 Dr. A. Clarke on Exod. xxix. 10.

of the person who had sinned being so poor, that the offering of two young pigeons or two turtle doves exceeded his means. They were to be free from leaven or honey: but to all of them it was necessary to add pure salt, that is, saltpetre.

IV. DRINK-OFFERINGS were an accompaniment to both bloody and unbloody sacrifices: they were never used separately, and consisted of wine, which appears to have been partly poured upon the brow of the victim in order to consecrate it, and partly allotted to the priests, who drank it with their portions of both these kinds of offerings. The Psalmist shows how the use of drink-offerings degenerated amongst idolaters, who in their superstitious rage made use of the blood of living creatures, perhaps of men, in their libations. Their DRINK-OFFERINGS OF BLOOD, says he, will I not offer. (Psal. xvi. 4.)

V. Besides the various kinds of sacrifices above described, there were some oblations made by the Jews consisting of incense, bread, and other things: which have been divided by Lamy into three sorts, viz. such as were ordinary or common; voluntary or free oblations; and such as were prescribed.

1. The ORDINARY OBLATIONS were,

(1.) The Shew-bread (Heb. bread of the face), which consisted of twelve loaves, according to the number of the tribes of Israel. They were placed hot, every sabbath-day, by the priests, upon the golden table in the sanctuary, before the Lord; when they removed the stale loaves which had been exposed for the whole of the preceding week. The priests alone were to eat the bread thus removed. David, however, through necessity broke through this restriction (1 Sam. xxi. 3, 4.), God preferring mercy to sacrifice, or, in the collision of duties allowing a positive to give way to a natural law. (Matt. xii. 7.) (2.) Incense, consisting of several fragrant spices, prepared according to the instructions given to Moses in Exod. xxx. 34-36. It was offered twice every day, morning and evening, by the officiating priest, upon an altar of gold, where no bloody sacrifice was to come, during which solemn rite the people prayed without in silence. (Luke i. 10.) But on the great day of expiation the high priest himself took fire from the great altar in a golden censer; and, on descending thence, he received incense from one of the priests, which he offered on the golden altar. During such offering the people prayed silently without; and to this most solemn silence St. John alludes in Rev. viii. 1., where he says that there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. To this oblation of incense the Psalmist refers (cxli. 2.) in his devotions, and explains his meaning by his application of it: Let my prayer be set forth in thy sight as the incense." As the smoke and odour of this offering was wafted into the holy place, close by the veil of which stood the altar of incense, so do the prayers of the faithful ascend upwards and find admission to the highest heaven."2 (Acts x. 4.)

p. 199.

Sir Isaac Newton on the Apocalyse, p. 264. See also Woodhouse on Rev. viii. 1. 2 Jones on the Fig. Lang. of Script. Lect. iv. towards the close. "The prayer of faith," VOL. III.

Y