Burnt Offering. The word is applied to the offering which was wholly consumed, by fire on the altar, and the whole of which, except the refuse ashes, "ascended" in the smoke to God.
The meaning of the whole Burnt Offering was that which is the original idea of all sacrifice, the offering by the sacrificer of himself, soul and body, to God -- the submission of his will to the will of the Lord. The ceremonies of the Burnt Offering are given in detail, in the book of Leviticus. See Sacrifice.
Other "gifts" to God were of a lower kind, only a part being given; as the meat (not flesh, but flour, etc.) offering, which was unbloody, and the peace offering, a thank offering (1Ki 3:15; 1Ki 8:64; Psa 51:17; Psa 51:19). The most perfect surrender of human will to God’s is that of Jesus in the temptation, and agony, and on Calvary; the antitype to the whole burnt offering (Heb 5:1-8). This could only be offered by one free from sin; therefore the sin offering always came first (Exo 29:36-38; Lev 8:14; Lev 8:18; Lev 9:8; Lev 9:12; Lev 16:3; Lev 16:5). So, only when we are first reconciled by Christ’s atonement for our sin to God, can we "present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God" (Rom 12:1).
A "meat offering" (flour and oil, fruits of the earth) accompanied the burnt offering; for when men dedicated themselves wholly to God they also dedicated the earthly gifts which He had given them (Lev 9:16-17). It was to be brought of the offerer’s own free will, and slain by himself, after he had laid his hands on its head, to mark it as his representative; a young bullock, or he goat, era turtle dove, or pigeon (if the person was poor), not to be divided in offering it. The skin alone was reserved.
There was a daily burnt offering, a lamb of the first year, every morning and evening (Exo 29:38-42); that for the sabbath double the daily one; the offering at the new moon of the three great feasts, Passover, pentecost, and tabernacles; also on the great day of atonement and the feast of trumpets; private burnt offerings at the consecration of a priest, etc., etc. (Exo 29:15) They were offered in vast numbers at Solomon’s dedication of the temple; but ordinarily were restricted in extent by God, to preclude the idea of man’s buying His favor by costly gifts. Jephthah’s vow was without divine warrant, and due to the half paganism of his early life (Jdg 11:4).
(
Originally and generally all offerings from the animal kingdom seem to have passed under the name of olah, since a portion at least of every sacrifice, of whatever kind — nay, that very portion which constituted the offering to God — was consumed by fire upon the altar. In process of time, however, when the sacrifices became divided into numerous classes, a more limited sense was given to the term
1. Standing public burnt-offerings were those used daily morning and evening (Num 28:3; Exo 29:38), and on the three great festivals (Lev 23:37; Num 28:11-27; Num 29:2-22; Lev 16:3; comp. 2Ch 35:12-16). Thus there were,
(1.) The daily burnt-offering, a lamb of the first year, sacrificed every morning and evening (with an offering of flour and wine) for the people (Exo 29:38-42; Num 28:3-8).
(2.) The Sabbath burnt-offering, double of that which was offered every day (Num 28:8-10).
(3.) The offering at the new moon, at the three great festivals, the great Day of Atonement, and feast of trumpets: generally two bullocks, a ram, and seven lambs. (See Num 28:11 to Num 29:39.)
2. Private burnt-offerings were appointed at the consecration of priests (Exo 29:15; Lev 8:18; Lev 9:12), at the purification of women (Lev 12:6; Lev 12:8), at the cleansing of lepers (Lev 14:19), and removal of other ceremonial uncleanness (Lev 15:15; Lev 15:30), on any accidental breach of the Nazaritic vow, or at its conclusion (Numbers 6; comp. Act 21:26), etc.
3. But free-will burnt-offerings were offered and accepted by God on any solemn occasions, as, for example, at the dedication of the tabernacle (Numbers 7) and of the Temple (1Ki 8:64), when they were offered in extraordinary abundance. But, except on such occasions. the nature, the extent, and the place of the sacrifice were expressly limited by God, so that, while all should be unblemished and pure, there should be no idea (as among the heathen) of buying His favor by costliness of sacrifice. Of this law Jephthah’s vow (if, as some think, his daughter be the sacrifice meant) was a transgression, consistent with the semi-heathenish character of his early days (see Jdg 11:3; Jdg 11:24). The sacrifice of cows in 1Sa 6:14 was also a formal infraction of it, excused by the probable ignorance of the people and the special nature of the occasion. In short, burnt- offerings were in use almost on all important occasions, events, and solemnities, whether private or public, and often in very large numbers (comp. Jdg 20:26; 1Sa 7:9; 2Ch 31:2; 1Ki 3:4; 1Ch 29:21; 2Ch 29:21; Ezr 6:17; Ezr 8:35). Heathens, also were allowed to offer burnt-offerings in the temple, and Augustus gave orders to sacrifice for him every day in the temple at Jerusalem a burnt-offering, consisting of two lambs and one ox (Philo, Opp. 2, 592; Josephus, War, 2, 17, 2; Apion, 2, 6). See Reland, Antiq. Sacr. 3, 2, p. 294 sq.; Lightfoot, Minister. Templi, 8, 1; Bauer, Gottesd. Verfass. 1, 174 sq.; Sperbach, De Hebraeor. holocaustis (Viteb. 1769). SEE OFFERING.
The word generally rendered burnt-offering
Calil (
on examining the N.T., we do not find the substantive applied directly to Christ through its Greek representatives, but the idea of ascending or going up, from which the burnt-offering received its Hebrew name, and which is so fully sustained in the Greek verbs above-mentioned, reappears in relation to the Lord’s work in various ways, which may be briefly noticed.
Our Lord’s ascension or ’going up’ to his Father in heaven is described by the word
The sacrificial word
The word
It may be gathered from these passages that whilst the slaying of the victim, which was to be a male without blemish, represented Christ’s devotion of Himself to death, and while the pouring forth of the blood up on the altar foreshadowed the atonement wrought by virtue of his death, the ascent of the slain animal in the form of a cloud of smoke into the heavens typified the bringing of Christ up from the grave, and his ascension to the right h and of God. But since the offerer, by pressing his h and up on the victim before slaying it in the presence of God, identified himself with it, he must be considered as symbolically going through the same process as it had to undergo. So also the Christian, identifying himself with his Saviour by faith, is ’crucified with Christ,’ dies with Him, is buried with Him, rises with Him under the influence of the Spirit of life, and is seated with Him in heavenly places, his life of devotion being compared to an offering made by fire, an odour of a sweet savour unto God.
BURNT-OFFERING is a word of rare occurrence in NT (Mar 12:33, Heb 10:6; Heb 10:8). This is probably due to the fact that the more generic word for sacrifice (
The burnt-offering was the principal sacrifice of the Mosaic dispensation, and continued as such till the destruction of the Temple by Titus. It was offered, the victim being a male yearling sheep, every morning and evening (Exo 29:38-42); hence its Mishnic name tâmîd, the perpetual offering. In addition, on Sabbaths, new moons, the first day of the seventh month, the three great feasts, and the Day of Atonement, other victims were offered (Numbers 28 f.). Burnt-offering was associated with other sacrifices (Lev 9:3-4; Lev 15:15), could be offered for individuals, even Gentiles, and even for the Roman emperor (Josephus Wars, ii. xvii. 2). The altar stood in the court of the priests in front of (eastward of) the Temple building. The offering was made publicly, in the presence not merely of the large group of ministering priests, but also of ‘the men of station,’ representatives of what may be called the Jewish laity.
Although the word is nowhere recorded as being spoken by Christ, and only once as spoken to Him, it must be remembered that His connexion with burnt-offering was, of necessity, more intimate than the mere occurrence of the word suggests. As a Jew, acquainted with the OT, He could not have been unacquainted with the Pentateuchal legislation on this point; nor is it conceivable that as a visitor to the Temple He failed to be a witness of this rite. The altar on which burnt-offering was offered, from its great size, its frequent use, and its standing visibly in the court of the priests, was emphatically ‘the altar,’ and it was before this that He directed the offending brother to leave his gift (Mat 5:23). At the Presentation in the Temple (Luk 2:24, cf. Lev 12:6-8) the second of the turtle doves was intended for a burnt-offering (the other bird forming the usual sin-offering at such a time); it was the offering of the poor, and the ritual is described in Lev 1:15-17. The Temple tax to which He contributed was in part used for the provision of burnt-offerings (Mat 17:24).
The two occasions on which, in NT, the burnt-offering is referred to, emphasize the imperfect and transitory character of the OT sacrificial system, and the spiritual, perfect, and abiding character of that which superseded it. In Mar 12:33 the scribe inferred from our Lord’s teaching as to the first commandment, that to love God with all the heart and one’s neighbour as oneself was ‘much more than all whole burnt-offerings and sacrifices,’ and was for this commended as ‘not far from the kingdom of God.’ In Heb 10:6; Heb 10:8, where only besides the word occurs, while the writer dwells on many points of the Temple, its furniture, and its service, he fails to apply the burnt-offering very closely to the redeeming work of Christ. But he quotes Psa 40:6 as declaring that the Divine pleasure lies not in ‘victim and Minhah’ (Delitzsch, in loc.), and infers the superiority of Christ’s obedience to any expiatory sacrifice (sin-offering) or dedicatory sacrifice (burnt-offering) presented by means of an animal victim. His obedience is the burnt-offering that has enduring value and needs no repetition.
Literature.—Articles on ‘Burnt-offering’ and ‘Sacrifice’ in Bible Dictionaries of Hastings, Smith, and Encyc. Bibl.; Bible Archœology of Keil, Nowack; Kurtz, Sacrificial System of OT; OT Theology of Schultz, Oehler; Cave, Scriptural Doctrine of Sacrifice; Edersheim, The Temple: its Ministry, etc.; Girdle-stone, Synonyms of OT; Schürer, HJP [Note: JP History of the Jewish People.] ii. i. 278 ff.
J. T. L. Maggs.
By: Morris Jastrow, Jr., J. Frederic McCurdy, Kaufmann Kohler, Louis Ginzberg
—Biblical Data:
The ordinary translation in modern versions of the Hebrew "'olah" (
). This term does not mean literally "burnt offering," but "what is brought up" or presented to the Deity. The name is a translation of the Septuagint rendering, which is itself based upon the descriptive phrase often attached to "'olah" in the ritual prescriptions: "an offering made by fire unto the Lord" (Lev. i. 9 et seq.). A synonym is
, which defines the offering as complete; i.e., when it is placed upon the altar, to distinguish it from the other forms of animal sacrifice (see I Sam. vii. 9; compare Ps. li. 21). The burnt offering was the highest order of sacrifice in the Old Testament ritual. The bloodless offerings were made only in connection with it.
The following is a concise statement of the Levitical law concerning burnt offerings:
The Offerings: Mode of Sacrifice.
These were wholly animal, and the victims were wholly consumed. They might be from the herd or the flock, or in cases of poverty birds might be substituted. The offerings acceptable were: (a) young bullocks; (b) rams or goats of the first year; (c) turtle-doves or young pigeons. These animals were to be free from all disease or blemish. They were to be brought to the door of the tabernacle, and the offerer was to kill them on the north side of the altar (if a burnt offering), except in the public sacrifices, when the priest put the victims to death, being assisted on occasion by the Levites (II Chron. xxix. 34). The blood was then sprinkled around the altar. The victim, if a large animal, was flayed and divided; the pieces being placed above the wood on the altar, the skin only being left to the priest. If the offering was a bird a similar operation was performed, except that the victim was not entirely divided. The fire which consumed the offerings was never allowed to go out, since they were slowly consumed; and the several kinds of sacrifice furnished constant material for the flames. Every morning the ashes were conveyed by the priest to a clean place outside the camp (Ex. xxix. 38-42; Lev. i., vi. 8-13, ix. 12-14; Num. xv.).
Kinds and Occasions of Burnt Offering: Stated and Occasional Offerings.
(a) Stated Offerings were: (1) The Daily Burnt Offering, presented at the time of the morning and the evening prayer (the third and ninth hours). The victim was a lamb or kid a year old. This was always accompanied by a vegetable offering ("minḥah") and a libation of wine (Ex. xxix. 38-42; Num. xxviii. 3-8). (2) The Sabbath Burnt Offering, which included double the amount of all the elements of the ordinary daily sacrifice (Num. xxviii. 9, 10). (3) The Festal Burnt Offerings, celebrated at the new moon, the Passover, Pentecost, the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Tabernacles. On these occasions, especially on the last-named, the number of victims was increased (Num. xxviii. 11-xxix. 39).
(b) Occasional Offerings: (1) When a priest was consecrated (Ex. xxix. 15; Lev. viii. 18, ix. 12); (2) at the purification of women (Lev. xii. 6-8); (3) at the cleansing of lepers (Lev. xiv. 19, 20); (4) at the purgation of ceremonial defilement (Lev. xv. 15, 30); (5) in connection with the vow of a Nazarite (Num. vi. 11, 16).
Voluntary Offerings.
These sacrifices were prescriptive and obligatory; but voluntary burnt offerings might also be made. Some of them are recorded which involved the immolation of a large number of victims (Num. vii.; I Kings viii. 64).
These were the regulations of the Levitical ritual. All of the sacrifices were to be made under priestly auspices; and even when a private offerer killed the victim the main parts of the ceremony were performed by the priests. Yet both before and after the time of Moses the 'olah was offered by laymen without distinction of persons and without restriction as to mode or measure—e.g., Gen. viii. 20, xxii. 2 et seq. (compare xv. 17); I Sam. vi. 14; Amos v. 22; Isa. i. 11; Hosea vi. 6; Job i. 5, xlii. 8—not to speak of the more or less heathenish offering of human victims (Judges xi. 31; II Kings iii. 27; Jer. xix. 5).
—In Rabbinical Literature:
The name 
for burnt offering is explained in various ways. Some scholars take it to be an offering of atonement for the evil thoughts that steal over one, 
, ("ascend in his mind," Tan., Lek Leka, ed. Buber, i. 71; Lev. R. vii. 3); others derive the name from 
("to the Highest"), because it is entirely intended for God, the Most High, men taking no part therein (Tan., ed. Buber, iii. 13).
The 'olah is the only offering which may be accepted in the Temple from non-Jews, the drink-offering appertaining to it being in such cases furnished at the cost of the community (Men. 73b; Tem. 2b; compare Maimonides, "Yad," Ma'ase ha-Ḳorbanot, iii. 2, 5). The 'olah was laid entire upon the altar, even the horns of the animal and the beard of the goat not being removed (Zeb. ix. 3, 85a; "Yad," l.c. vi. 2). Before being offered upon the altar the carcass was cut into pieces, not at haphazard, but according to the detailed directions given in the Talmud (Tamid 31). The several pieces were then laid upon the altar, the number of priests officiating being eight, eleven, or twenty-four, according as the animal was a sheep, ram, or ox (Yoma 26b). This, however, applies only to the 'olah offered by the whole congregation, not to the individual 'olot, which could be cut up into any number of pieces, and be offered by any number of priests (l.c.). The skins of these animals belonged to the priests, who divided them among themselves every Friday, provided the offering had not proved unfit (
) before skinning (Zeb. xii. 3; Tosef., Men. xiii. 18). As the more prominent priests forcibly took possession of the skins, it was decreed that the latter should be sold and the proceeds be given to the Temple (Tosef., l.c. 19).
Bibliography:
Maimonides, Yad, Ma'ase ha-Ḳorbanot, vi. 1-23.
—Critical View:
What most obviously requires explanation is the fact that while the Levitical law insists on the observance of minute prescriptions relating to the burnt offerings and other bloody sacrifices, defines the several occasions, and provides a special ritual for each, these were not conformed to during the greater portion of the history of Israel. This is a matter of too general a character to be treated here. Suffice it to say that the difficulty is satisfactorily met by the hypothesis, now accepted by most modern scholars that the prescriptions themselves were of late origin, and formed part of a rigorous and comprehensive system of worship designed for the community of Israel under the Second Temple.Only by cutting loose this final ceremonial law from the tribal and monarchical history of the Hebrews can one gain any rational conception of their sacrificial usages. With this general principle in view one is in a position to answer the two questions of most immediate concern: (1) What was the origin of burnt offerings in Israel? and (2) What were the historical occasions and modes of these sacrifices?
Aspects of Sacrifice.
There seem to be three stages or phases in the development of sacrifice as representing the relations between the worshipers and the Deity. In the first, communion is prominent; in the second, homage or devotion; in the third, expiation. The most primitive notion was that of communion with the object of worship, held to be akin to his votaries, who partook of his life. The Deity, however, was also a benefactor. It was from Him that the various kinds of offerings, animal and vegetable, as the produce of the land, came to the offerers. Hence, on the one hand, a sacrifice was a part of a social feast—a family meal in a wider and deeper sense. On the other hand, it was the giving back to the beneficent Deity of a part of what He had bestowed: it was in fact the most tangible and obvious mode of rendering homage to one's God.
Origin of Burnt Sacrifices.
Only a part of the whole was at first offered; otherwise there would have been no sacrificial feast, no communion with the Divinity. But what should be chosen as the offering? and how should it be rendered? The Deity, being invisible, would be most suitably entertained by a more ethereal form of nourishment than solid food. Hence arose the custom of burning certain portions of the animal offerings or materials of the feast. The most appropriate of all were the fatty parts of the animal, which in general among ancient peoples, as among the Hebrews, were consumed by fire, while the remainder of the flesh was eaten by the human participants. This was the "zebaḥ," the fundamental animal offering.
Characteristics of the Oblation.
From this universal type of sacrifice the 'olah was differentiated. The "wholeness" of the oblation was what distinguished it from other fire-offerings, at least in outward form. But this wholeness was not an exclusive mark of burnt offerings among sacrifices in general; for it merely implied that no part of the oblation was to be consumed by any one except the Deity, to whom it was wholly surrendered. Among various peoples it may be observed that offerings of any sort of vegetables were given unconsumed by the offerers; and among the Hebrews even some forms of the fire-offerings were wholly consumed on the altar. Thus the "minḥah," or cereal-offering, when offered by a priest, was to be entirely burned (Lev. vi. 20 et seq.). Also the bullock of the sin-offering, when the offense had been committed either by a priest or by the whole people, was burned entire outside the camp (Lev. iv. 3-21), even the skin being consumed, which was not the case with the burnt offering.
Distinctive Character of Burnt Offerings.
What, then, is the distinctive meaning of the whole burnt offering? It is plain that it was not of a sacramental character, implying a communion with the object of devotion; for it is expressly distinguished from those in which the elements were portioned out between the Deity and the worshipers. Nor was it, in any sense or degree, a festal ceremony. Was, it then, piacular or expiatory? Not distinctively so, according to the Levitical ritual, though it must be borne in mind that the idea of expiation was probably never wholly absent from the stated order of animal sacrifice in the final legislation. From the special occasions of its celebration as given above, it may be inferred that it was honorific and devotional, implying homage to Yhwh and a complete surrender to His service. Was this always the case in Israel? Some light may be thrown upon this question from the Biblical statements as to the occasions of such sacrifices in the earlier history, and from the details which are added to some of the accounts.
Piacular Human Sacrifice.
Piacular sacrifice seems historically to have begun with human immolations. This is the view taken by the writer of Gen. xxii. (E), where the burnt offering of Isaac by Abraham is commuted by the sacrifice of a ram. The sacrifice by Mesha, king of Moab, of his eldest son (II Kings iii. 27) was expiatory; for, in the view of the narrator, the "wrath" of the offended deity was diverted upon Israel. Such were also the horrible sacrifices made to Moloch in the later days of the kingdom. These practises are amply illustrated from other ancient nations. But not all Old Testament human sacrifices were burnt offerings. Agag was not burned (I Sam. xv. 33); nor were the seven sons and grandsons of King Saul (II Sam. xxi. 8, 9). Both of these executions were made "before Yhwh," and were therefore real sacrifices, the latter being expressly stated to be expiatory.
Animal Offerings of Various Motives.
When animals took the place of human offerings a motive for the immolation of the whole victim was not present, or at least not urgent. When the sacrifice was representative the shedding of the blood of the victim was in general a sufficient expression of a sense of guilt, and as animal oblations were already made from other motives, burnt offerings also, of which the sprinkling of blood formed in any case an essential part, naturally came to have a varied use and significance. Accordingly, while, on the whole, animal burnt offerings were mainly honorific and devotional in the latter legislation, they were often piacular in the earlier history (e.g., I Sam. vi. 14; vii. 9 et seq.).
Development of the Whole Burnt Offering.
There are some interesting passages which seem to show the development of the principle and practise of whole burnt offerings. They were written in the eighth and seventh centuries B.C. In Judges vi. 19 et seq. Gideon's sacrifice of a kid and unleavened cakes is wholly consumed by fire from heaven (compare vs. 26 et seq.). Still more significant is Judges xiii. 15 et seq., where Manoah, who had intended to present a kid for food to the angel of Jehovah, is commandedto make of it a burnt offering. Thus we may observe the development of the zebaḥ into the 'olah. Jeremiah, when he says: "Add your burnt offerings to your [ordinary] sacrifices" (vii. 21), seems to have in mind the ritual tendency just indicated.
It may be observed, finally, that by the very nature of the case private offerings, which were an essential part of the every-day life of the normal Israelite, were very seldom holocausts, and that the more fixed and statutory the public ritual became, the larger was the place given to the burnt offering. As early as the time of Ahaz, in 732 B.C. (II Kings xvi. 15), a morning burnt offering was part of the stated ritual. See Sacrifice.
Bibliography:
Besides the commentaries on the relevant passages, the following may be consulted: Outram, De Sacrificiis, 1588;
Spencer, De Legibus Hebrœorum, 1686;
Hengstenberg, Die Opfer der Heiligen Schrift, 1859;
Kurtz, Der Alttestamentische Opfercultus, 1862;
Ewald, Alterthümer des Volkes Israel, pp. 11 et seq.;
De Wette, Hebrœisch-Jüdische Archäologie, ed. Raebiger, 1864, pp. 286 et seq.;
Benzinger, Hebr. Archäologie, pp. 431 et seq.;
Nowack, Hebr. Archäologie, ii. 203 et seq.;
F. W. Schultz, in Zöckler's Handbuch der Theol. Wissenschaften, i. 316 et seq.;
Smend, Alttest. Religion, pp. 122 et seq.;
W. R. Smith, Religion of the Semites, 2d ed., pp. 269 et seq. (see Index), and Sacrifice, in Encyc. Brit. 9th ed.;
compare Wellhausen, Reste Arabischen Heidentumes, pp. 110 et seq.;
Goodspeed, in Biblical World (art. Atonement in Non-Christian Religions), Jan.-April, 1901;
Frazer's Golden Bough, 2d ed., 1901.
BURNT-OFFERING.—See Sacrifice.
See SACRIFICE.
A type of sacrifice that represented complete submission to G-d’s will. It was completely consumed by fire on the altar. In Hebrew, it was called an olah.
Gen 8:20 (c) This offering represents the perfect life and the perfect person of the Lord JESUS offered up to GOD in the place of and instead of our imperfect character and unholy life.
Lev 1:4 (c) The offering in this Scripture is the first in the five offerings. It represents our entire self being acceptable to GOD in the person of the perfect Lord JESUS CHRIST. He makes us acceptable to GOD by the sacrifice of Himself, and then our service can be acceptable to GOD. CHRIST had to die for our character as well as our conduct.
Ezr 3:2 (c) Here this offering represents the person and work of the Lord JESUS, offered to GOD for the nation of Israel. By this sacrifice the nation would be acceptable to GOD in the new enterprise of rebuilding Jerusalem.
Psa 51:19 (c) By this means David indicated that after confession and cleansing he would be acceptable to GOD - this is typical of the perfection of the Saviour offered in our stead.
Isa 40:16 (c) If all the thousands of animals on the broad slopes of Lebanon were gathered together to make a burnt offering to GOD, this tremendous sacrifice would not be sufficient to put away one sin, nor would it equal the offering of the Lord JESUS CHRIST for our sins. (See also OFFERING).
A gift to God. Usually these
were animals that were killed and
completely burned on the altar.