Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

BURNT OFFERING

One of the most common forms of Israelite sacrifice (Heb. ʿôlâ, lit., “ascending”). As this kind of offering was consumed by fire, the term undoubtedly refers to the smoke which ascends from the altar. Similar offerings in Ugarit were called šrp (“consumed by fire”). Some translations refer to ʿôlâ as a “whole offering,” because the sacrifice was completely consumed; however, this can generate confusion with the term kālîl, which is also applied to offerings. Moreover, as the skin of the ʿôlâ could be kept by the priest, “burnt offering” seems the better alternative.

There was no one particular occasion for burnt offerings. Some were included in the cultic calendars, and a lamb was to be made a daily burnt offering. We also find burnt offerings offered in thanksgiving (Exod. 18:12), as expiation for guilt (Lev. 5:7; Job 1:5), to fulfill a vow (Lev. 22:18; Judg. 11:31), in connection with divination (1 Sam. 7:9), to seek the Lord’s favor (2 Sam. 24:25), as part of the consecration of the priests (Exod. 29), and apparently to consecrate an altar (Judg. 6:26; 2 Sam. 24:25). Some of the situations which call for a burnt offering were thus prescribed, while others were freewill offerings.

The distinction between burnt offering and other offerings is that it was a gift which was totally devoted to the Lord, not being consumed by humans. Several have suggested that the phrase ʿōlôṯ ûšĕlāmîm (“burnt offerings and fellowship offerings,” e.g., Judg. 20:26) encompasses the entire sacrificial system.

The animals sacrificed as burnt offerings were to be from the flock or herd (e.g., goats, rams, lambs, calves, bulls, oxen) or birds. They were always male and without defect. It is significant that only domesticated animals were sacrificed. Wild animals or game, even if considered clean, were never offered. In addition to animals, the term is applied to the plunder of towns which were to be destroyed for worshipping false gods, and is also the term used for Isaac in the story of the testing of Abraham (Gen. 22). Agricultural products were sometimes burned along with the burnt offering (e.g., Exod. 29:25).

The place for making a burnt offering was an altar, not a temple. Since every temple had an associated altar, this distinction is not always obvious, but altars without temples were common in the early periods. Burnt offerings were rarely, if ever, made indoors. The ritual of hand-laying (laying a hand on the head of the sacrificial animal) was part of Israelite burnt offering customs (except for birds). Biblical prescriptions call for the animal to be skinned and quartered, with the priest keeping the skin (e.g., Lev. 7:8), but some evidence suggests that an earlier Israelite practice might have been to burn the entire animal, including the skin.

Burnt offerings are extremely ancient, undoubtedly predating written history. If there is any significant controversy to be found regarding them, it would be in speculation concerning their origin. The fact that they do not appear in preserved Sumerian, Akkadian, or Egyptian documents suggests that burnt offerings were not common, perhaps unknown, in Southern Mesopotamia and Egypt. They are well attested in Canaanite, Hittite, and Greek records. One of the more commonly held explanations is that the practice developed in conjunction with the domestication of animals as a way of dealing with guilt associated with the necessity of slaughtering animals under one’s care.

Bibliography. G. A. Anderson, Sacrifices and Offerings in Ancient Israel. HSM 41 (Atlanta, 1987); J. Milgrom, Leviticus 1–16. AB 3 (New York, 1991), esp. 133-77.

William R. Scott

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

BURNT OFFERING

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)