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1–9. The burnt offering and its ritual; offering of cattle. 10–18. Offering of small livestock. Lev.1:1. And the Lord called to Moses and spoke to him from the tabernacle of meeting, saying: Lev.1:2. declare to the children of Israel and say to them: Whenever one of you wants to offer a sacrifice to the Lord, then, if from livestock, you offer your sacrifice from large and small livestock. After the construction of the tabernacle, the Lord, fulfilling His promise to Moses to reveal His will to him and to manifest His presence over the ark of the covenant and its lid (kapporeth, Greek ἱλαστήριον - the throne of propitiation, mercy), gives His commands no longer from Mount Sinai, as before (Exodus 19.3, 24.16), and from the tabernacle, from the ark of the covenant, especially since almost all of the provisions of the book of Leviticus are connected with the sanctuary, and some of its departments are specifically assigned to the servants of the sanctuary (for example, Lev. 6:8-7:21). However, the general purpose of the laws of the book of Leviticus and the book itself in general is for the “sons of Israel” (Lev.1:2), as those called to priestly holiness (Exodus 19.5–6). Everything contained in the book. Levite, Moses received the commandments and laws of Jehovah, probably standing in the second part of the tabernacle, before the curtain of the Holy of Holies, where only the high priest could enter (Exodus 30.10; Lev.16:2, 12–13; Heb. 9.7). Lev.1:3. If his sacrifice be a burnt offering of herds, he shall offer it a male, without blemish; let him bring her to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, that he may find favor with the Lord; This is where the exposition of the laws concerning sacrifices begins: Lev.7:38. The purpose and meaning of the Old Testament sacrifices. Theodoret, like other church teachers, defines it as follows: “that God does not need anything, this, I think, will not be much contradicted by those who have little understanding. And that such sacrifices were also displeasing to Him, He revealed this through many prophets. But since the Israelites, having lived for a long time in Egypt, learned to make sacrifices to idols; then God allowed sacrifices to rid them of superstition. For the Israelites rejoiced in sacrifices (Exodus 32; Ezek. 16:6–7), rejoiced in the blood of the victims; therefore, he allowed them, satisfying such a wish. In addition to this, God controlled through this and other protective medicine for the Israelites, because he commanded them to sacrifice what the Egyptians idolized - from four-legged animals: a calf, a goat and a sheep, and from birds: a turtledove and pigeon chicks” (answer to question 1 in Leviticus). But, in addition to these negative motives, the Old Testament sacrifice, without a doubt, had a positive side, embodying the idea of ​​serving God, of course, in relation to the spiritual state of Old Testament humanity and in relation to the future world-redemptive sacrifice of Christ the Savior. The victim's common name is Hebrew. qorban, Greek δῶρον, gift (cf. Mk 7.11, κορβαν ὃ έστιν δῶρον); Aquila, Symmachus: προσφορὰ; Vulg.: hostia, oblatiö the idea of ​​a gift, devoting oneself and one’s property to God is fundamental to the biblical concept of sacrifice. R. Abarbanal pointed out the dual meaning of the term “korban” according to its word production (from the Hebrew qarab, to bring, to bring closer): the sacrifice is called korban: 1) because it is brought to the altar, and 2) because it produces a great rapprochement between the sacrificer and God. The burnt offering spoken of in Lev. 1 is a private sacrifice, offered by the voluntary vow or intention of individuals; Meanwhile, the sacrifices of sin (Lev. 4), guilt (Lev. 6) and cleansing (chap. Lev. 14.12–19) were strictly defined in known cases specified by the law. The burnt offering, being an expression of man's complete dedication of his personality to God, was also the most important among all types of sacrifice. The material used for blood sacrifices was generally cattle and small animals - sheep and goats; for the burnt offering it must be male, while in the sacrifices of gratitude (Lev.3.1–6) and sin (Lev.4:28, 32, 5:6) in other cases female animals were also allowed. In addition, in burnt offerings and in other cases, two breeds of birds were sacrificed: turtle doves and pigeons; their gender was considered indifferent. Heb. the name of the burnt offering: olah – ascending, i.e. completely offered up on the altar; ischscheh – burning, burned (mostly); calif - whole, perfect (i.e. burning), cf. Deut 33.10; Ps 50.21, Ps LXX: ὁλοκαύτωμα, Vulg.: holocaustum - a sacrifice in which the entire sacrificial animal is burned. The last thing in every sacrifice must be “without blemish”, tamim, LXX: ἄμωμον, i.e. i.e.: not have any of the defects listed in (Lev.22:21–23), - since only a completely healthy, viable and completely clean (the animal was thoroughly washed before the sacrifice) sacrificial animal could symbolize the strength and vitality of the sacrificial surrender of oneself to God on the part of the donor; the worthless animal was an intolerable insult to the majesty of Jehovah, the theocratic king of Israel, cf. Small 1.7–8, 13–14. Instead of the favor of Jehovah, a sacrifice made of unsuitable material would bring a curse on the one bringing it (Mal. 1.14). To make a sacrifice, the owner of the animal brought it to the entrance of the tabernacle of meeting (cf. Exodus 40.32), i.e., to the courtyard where the altar of burnt offerings was located. Next, Lev. 4–13, the sacrifice of herds and flocks consisted of the following acts. Lev.1:4. and he will lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and he will receive favor, for the atonement of his sins; After bringing the animal to the sanctuary, the sacrificer expressed his need, desire or duty to make a sacrifice to Jehovah, he performed the laying on of hands (semichah) - he placed both hands on the head of the sacrificial animal and (according to legend) pressed them with the head of the victim, which at that time stood tied to the north side of the altar (Lev. 11), where the victim was slaughtered. The donor could not transfer the right to lay hands on anyone; only when making a sacrifice for the deceased, this rite was performed by his heir (Mishna, Menachot 9:8, calls women, children, the blind, the deaf and idiots incompetent for the laying on of hands). If the sacrifice was made from the whole community, then the hands of the elders were laid on (Lev.4.15). The meaning of the laying on of hands is not in the transfer of sins and responsibility to the sacrificial animal (according to the theory of satisfactio vicaria) - only the sacrifice of sin had such a special meaning, in which the laying on of hands, according to legend, was combined with the confession of sins on the part of those offering the sacrifice, but in the sacrifice of the sacrificer himself and his spiritual mood as a sacrifice to God: a moment of extreme tension of faith and devotion to God on the part of the Old Testament man, who was waiting for a sacrificial “covering” for himself, propitiation (lekapper alav). By blessed Theodoret, “it would not be strange to say that those who offer themselves to God compare themselves to various kinds of dumb animals sacrificed” (question 1). Lev.1:5. and he shall kill the bull before the Lord; The sons of Aaron, the priests, will bring the blood and sprinkle the blood on all sides on the altar, which is at the entrance of the tabernacle of meeting; Lev.1:6. and he shall flay the burnt offering and cut it into pieces; The next act, also performed by the sacrificer, was the slaughter (schechitah), which followed immediately after the utterance of the last word of confession. The Levites could help the donor in this, as this especially happened during the gathering of many victims, on holidays (cf. 2 Chron. 29:24, 34, 30:17, 35:14), when priests also participated in the slaughter. The place of slaughter was usually the northern side of the altar of burnt offerings - not due to the beliefs of the ancients in the dwelling of the Divine in the north (Ewald), but as the only free, unoccupied side, and also, perhaps, due to the symbolic meaning of the north - synonymous with darkness, cold and death (Tolyukk). About the type and method of slaughter in the Bible. the text does not say, except for the slaughter of birds; detailed and precise legalizations of the tradition regarding this boil down to ensuring that the least amount of suffering is caused to the animal: the cut is made with a large sharp knife, which cuts both the food and windpipe at once, and so that the blood flows out quickly and is not lost. The symbolic meaning of the act of slaughter lay in the ideas: 1) death is a rent of sin (Rom 6.2–3) and 2) without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins (Heb 9.22; Isa 53.12), ideas that permeated the entire Old Testament (Gen 2:17, 3:17; Isa 34.6; Jer 50.27, etc.) and foretelling the Sacrifice of the Cross. The slaughter was the last act of the offerer; Now the priest began to act. Substituting a large bowl (with 2 handles), the priest collected the blood flowing from the wound of the animal into it and sprinkled blood (zeriqah) on all sides of the altar, according to legend: first on the north-eastern corner of the altar, and sprinkled two sides of the altar, northern and eastern, then on the southwestern side, and the southern and western sides were sprinkled. By sprinkling of blood, however, we mean any use of sacrificial blood, varying in the type of sacrifice and the degree of intensity of the propitiatory moment (the sides of the altar of burnt offerings were sprinkled, or only its horns, or the horns of the incense altar and the place opposite the veil in the sanctuary, or, finally, the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies). The remainder of the blood was poured out at the foot of the altar. Here, in Solomon's Temple, two sewers were built, through which the blood flowed into the Kidron stream (from where it was taken for field fertilization). The Jewish tradition considered sprinkling as the “radix et principium” of the sacrifice, and a sacrifice in which the sprinkling was performed by a layman was considered invalid (Mishna, Zebachim 2:7). The cleansing power of blood and its sprinkling is connected with the biblical view that blood is the seat of the soul and life of an animal, and its sacrificial shedding has atoning power for the sins of people (Lev. 17.11), of course, due to the representative significance of the Old Testament sacrifice in relation to the atoning death of Christ (cf. Heb. 10.4). Lev.1:7. The sons of Aaron, the priests, will put fire on the altar and lay wood on the fire; Lev.1:8. And the sons of Aaron the priests will lay out the parts, the head and the fat, on the wood that is on the fire on the altar; Lev.1:9. And he shall wash the entrails of the sacrifice and its feet with water, and the priest shall burn everything on the altar: it is a burnt offering, a sacrifice, an aroma pleasing to the Lord. After removing the skin from the animal (Lev. 6), which always belonged to the serving priest (Lev. 7.8), who usually performed the skinning (2 Chr. 29.24), and cutting into separate parts, the latter were folded in a certain order (according to tradition, the hind parts are at the bottom, and the head is on top), all the meat was sprinkled with salt (Lev. 2.13; Ezek 43.24; Mk 9.49), according to legend, certainly “from Sodom,” that is, taken from the Dead Sea, a fire was lit on the altar and the entire sacrifice was burned (hiqtir, Lev. 9, 13, 15, 17). Heb. Ch. hiqtir (from qatar) is used exclusively of “burning incense,” “lighting lamps” in the church and “burning a sacrifice on the altar,” and, unlike Ch. saraph - to burn, to incinerate (for example, sacrifices not on the altar of the church, but outside the camp - Lev.4.12; Num. 19.5, etc.), means the ascent of mountains, the raising to God of the “own essence” (Kurtz) of the victim, as “a fragrance pleasing to Jehovah.” More specifically, since the material gift of the donor symbolized his spiritual mood, the act of burning meant the sacrifice of himself to God, and on the other hand, the acceptance of the sacrifice by Jehovah (cf. Judgment. 13:23), which in certain cases was marked by the deliberate, miraculous sending of fire from heaven by Jehovah himself (Lev.9.24; Judges 6:21; 1 Kings 18:38). Lev.1:10. If his burnt offering [to the Lord] be of flocks, or of sheep, or of goats, let him offer it as a male, without blemish, [and let him lay his hand on its head,] Lev.1:11. and he shall slaughter it before the Lord on the north side of the altar, and the sons of Aaron the priests shall sprinkle its blood on all sides of the altar; Lev.1:12. And they will cut her in pieces, taking off her head and her fat, and the priest will lay them out on the wood that is on the fire on the altar, Lev.1:13. And he will wash the entrails and the feet with water, and the priest will bring everything and burn it on the altar: it is a burnt offering, a sacrifice, an aroma pleasing to the Lord. Art. they talk about the sacrifice of small livestock, which was no different from the sacrifice of large livestock. For both large and small livestock, there were age restrictions regarding sacrifice. Young animals had to be at least 8 days old from birth (Lev. 22.27; cf. Exod. 22.29); in one case (under Samuel, - 1 Samuel 7.9) the bringing of a lamb from the breasts (teleh-chalaph) is specifically mentioned. The maximum age in the biblical text is not defined. Small livestock were usually brought at the age of one year (Exodus 12.5, 29.38, Lev.9.3, etc.), there are indications of this kind regarding calves (Lev.9.3, cf. Josephus Ancient Jude III book ch. 9, 1), but of course, small and especially large livestock were brought at a more mature age. Genesis 15.9 speaks of Abraham bringing a heifer, a sheep and a goat when he was 3 years old. Based on Jewish tradition, the last age is considered the limit, but once, under Gideon (Judges 6:25), a 7-year-old calf was brought as a symbol of the 7-year Midianite yoke. In Art. 11 the place of slaughter of the victims, the animal, is directly indicated - the northern side of the altar - the side, as we have already mentioned, is the only free one: at the eastern side (from the entrance) ashes and ash fell, Lev. 16, and here, probably, stood the celebrant - the priest, facing the sanctuary - to the west, which, as a sacred place, could not serve as a place for slaughtering an animal: on the south side a ladder was placed to climb to the altar. Regarding other sacrifices - sin and guilt - it is deliberately prescribed to slaughter the victims, the animal “where the burnt offering is sacrificed” (Lev. 4:24, 29, 33, 7:2). The biblical text does not say this about the peace offering, and tradition considered it permissible to offer, at least from private individuals, peace offerings in every place of the church courtyard (Mishnah, Zebah 5:5). Lev.1:14. If he brings a burnt offering to the Lord from birds, let him offer his sacrifice from turtle doves, or from young pigeons; Lev.1:15. the priest will bring her to the altar, and twist her head, and burn her on the altar, and drain the blood against the wall of the altar; Lev.1:16. he will take away her crop with its feathers and throw it near the altar on the east side, where the ashes are; Lev.1:17. And he will break her in her wings, without separating them, and the priest will burn her on the altar, on the wood that is on the fire: this is a burnt offering, a sacrifice, an aroma pleasing to the Lord. Following the descending degree of value of sacrificial materials, the legislator now indicates the ritual of offering burnt offerings from birds, namely turtle doves (in adulthood) and doves (young); both of them were found in abundance in ancient Palestine, especially at certain times of the year (Jer 8.7; Song 2.11–12), and at least pigeons were also domesticated (Is 9.8). Indicated as material suitable for burnt offerings even in the vision of Abraham, Gen. 15.9, birds of both breeds are recognized in law as such, on the one hand, for the poor - so that their sacrificial service to God does not encounter obstacles from material insecurity (Lev.5.7–11, 12.8, etc.), on the other hand, in certain cases precisely defined by law, such as: during the cleansing of a woman in labor (Lev.12.6), who has recovered from leprosy (Lev.14.19 et seq.), semen (Lev.15.14 et seq.), Nazarite (Num. 6.9–14). The ritual of sacrificing birds was performed much simpler than animals: neither the laying on of hands nor the other mentioned actions with the sacrificial animal took place here: the priest only rolled up (malaq - cf. Lev.5.8) the head of the bird, without completely separating the head from the body, but only opening the wound to receive blood, which immediately poured out to the foot of the altar, and then, separating and throwing away the uncleanness, he burned the whole bird, and poured its ashes to the eastern side of the altar (cf. Lev.4.12, 6.11). Lion. 17: being the most important of the sacrifices, expressing the idea of ​​\u200b\u200bcomplete and perfect service to Jehovah, the burnt offering was therefore in the primary sense “a aroma pleasing to the Lord.” You might be interested in: