Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

ELEVATION OFFERING

A sacrificial offering. The precise meaning of Heb. tĕnûpâ has been disputed, since the LXX translators rendered it inconsistently. The traditional translation “wave offering” is unlikely and is better translated “elevation offering” because the hiphil verb hēnîp can be used for a fist outstretched to strike (Isa. 19:16) and because moving large offerings horizontally would be difficult (Lev. 8:27). Moreover, alleged Hittite parallels of waving motions occur in magical rituals, not in sacrifice; Egyptian examples of elevation offerings also exist.

Israelite priests performed this ritual within the temple precincts (“before Yahweh,” Exod. 29:24-25; Lev. 7:30; Num. 8:11, 21; but “to Yahweh” in Exod. 35:22; Num. 8:13) as part of the “sin offering” (ḥaṭṭāʾṯ; Lev. 9:21) and at the purification of persons with skin diseases (14:12). Gold dedicated to the building of the tabernacle underwent elevation as a mark of its consecration (Exod. 35:22; 38:24-29). The elevation of a sheaf of barley marked the end of the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the deconsecration of the grain crop (Lev. 23:15). At Pentecost an elevation offering of two loaves of bread opened a series of sacrifices (Lev. 23:17, 20). A similar procedure is featured in the ordeal of the accused adulteress (Num. 5:25) and in the ritual concluding the Nazirite’s vocation (6:20).

Elevating the offering apparently had several purposes. In most cases, and always when animal meat and fat constituted the sacrifice, the ritual marked a change in ownership of the sacrifice from the offerer to God, and its consecration for the presiding priest’s meal (Lev. 7:24-36) Major sacrifices such as the purification, holocaust, burnt, and “sin” offerings were not elevated because they already belonged to Yahweh. Moreover, the priest lifted only those parts of the carcass that he would eat (the breast and right shank), not the parts returning to the worshipper. Exceptions to these conditions exist in the grain offerings in Lev. 23; Num. 5, , all of which depart from the norm by being of barley rather than wheat and by lacking oil and incense. Also dissimilar is the offering for the person with scale disease, which cannot be paid in silver, unlike reparation offerings in other contexts.

The elevation offering could occur at various points of the ritual cycle: with grain offerings at the beginning (Lev. 23:15) and with meat and mixed offerings in the middle (Exod. 29:23-26; Num. 5:25; Lev. 14:12) or at the end (Exod. 29:27-28; Lev. 9:21) of the ceremony. Notably, the elevation offering marks the transition to the ritual exit (through blessing) in the inaugural service of the priest (Lev. 9:21), perhaps to signify his new right to preside at all sacrifices. The elevation of the offering thus marked important transitions in the ritual, especially prior to its climax.

Bibliography. B. A. Levine, Leviticus. JPS Torah Commentary (Philadelphia, 1989); J. Milgrom, Leviticus 1–16. AB 3 (New York, 1991).

Mark W. Hamilton

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

ELEVATION OFFERING

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)