Offer, offering, oblation

These words are used in the English Versions for very different terms in the Hebrew and Greek ; and it will be the aim of the present article to pisaneaaat them, and enable the student to understand the meaning and munlioasicn of the terms used in the original. For the sake of clearness and simplicity, the usage of RV only(which is at least in some respects more con- sistent than that of AV) will be taken as the basis of the article.

Offering and oblation, it need hardly be remarked, are words substantially identical in origin, the only difference between them being that one is formed (through ‘offer’) from the present tense of the Latin offero, and the other from the supine od/a- tum. 1.

In burnt-offering (dp), peace-offering (abv, ony), thank-offering (n\n), freewill-off ering (7333), meal-offering (79}>), sin-offering (nxen), guilt-offering (ovx),t drink-offering (393), ‘offering’ corresponds to πὸ distinctive element of the Hebrew expres- sion ; and the explanation of these terms will there- fore be reserved more properly for the art. SACRIFICE. 2. ‘ Offering (here and there in AV ‘sacrifice’) made by fire’ represents a single word in the Heb.

, nwx (‘firing,’ or ‘fire-offering’). It occurs very frequently in P (as Lv 1% 15. 17 2% 8. 9. 10.

16; elsewhere In AV occasionally, ‘ willing, free, or voluntary offering’ (as ee 868, Ly 716, 4612); in RV ‘freewill offering,’ uni- t in Is 6310 rendered, unhappily, ‘ offering for ain,’ suggesting oad with the very different ‘sin-offering’; see, however, ΓΝ OFFER, OFFERING, OBLATION 587 only Dt 181, Jos 13, 1S 2%); and is a term used generally of any sacrifice, or other offering (Lv 247-), consumed upon the altar. 8. 1792 Korbdn (AV usually ‘offering,’ sometimes (cf.

oblatio, often in the Vulg. for }772) ‘oblation,’ once ‘sacrifice’; RV uniformly ‘oblation,’ except Ezk 20” ‘ offering’). This (from 3p ‘to come near’) means properly nparacays 4 brought near (viz. to the altar, or to God); it is the most general term for offering or oblation, being used mostly, it is true, of sacrifices of different kinds, but also sometimes of other sacred gifts (Ly 2", Nu 7 passim, 31”). It is found exclusively in P, and Ezk 20% 40%. The occurrences in Pp are: Ly 13. 2. 8.

10. 14. 14 9. 1. 4. δ. 7. 12. 13, 13 3). 2. 6. 7. 8. 12. 14 43. 28. 32 5}} 6% (13) 713. 14. 15. 16. 39, 38 97. 15 174 2218. 27 9314 279-11, Nu 515 614. 21 7 (28 times) 97-13 154 5 189 287 31%. In a slightly different form (kurbdn) it occurs in Neh 10% ®) 1351. of the wood- offering (not mentioned elsewhere). It is, of course, the familiar ‘ corban’ of Mk 74, (a) The cognate verb hikrib, ‘to bring near’ (of a secular gift Jg 3!” 18, Ps 72!

°, Mal 18 [‘ present’), is used in a corresponding sense (RV ‘present,’ ‘ offer,’ ‘ bring near,’ ‘ bring’); whether of the wor- shipper bringing up the sacrifice, or of the priest presenting it on the altar. The occurrences are too numerous to quote in extenso; for examples, see (1) of the worshipper Lv 12-2: % 3-10.14 gl. 4. ὠ presen ted ) 11. 12, 18. 14.14 31. 1. 8. 6. 7. 7. 9. 12. 14 438. 14 Ju. 12. 12. 18. 14. 16, 18, 25, 29, 38 ; (2) οἵ the priest Lv 15 18, 15 (¢ bring ω =); 58 64 (7).

20 (13). 21 (14) 73. 8. 8. 9. 88. and outside P (all), Ezk 432% 2-2 447. 18.27 464, Hag QM, Ezr 619-27 77 8851 Ch 16!,2Ch 3613, Like korban, hikrib, it will ke noticed, is essentially a priestly word ; it de- notes a formal ceremonial act, and is almost entirely confined to P and Ezk. πη, another verb also commonly rendered ‘ to offer’ (see below), is a word much more in ordinary use ; it is as exceptional in P and Ezk as hikrib is constant. (6) The synon.

w37 also occurs in the same two applications, but it is less technical, and also much less frequent (RV ‘ bring,’ ‘ bring hither,’ ‘ present,’ ‘bring, near’): Ex 32°, Jg 6 ‘ presented’ (if RVm of ν.}8 is right :+ see 4), 1S 13° 14% *, Am 5%, Lv 28 (‘bring’), 815, Mal 17: 8.8 (‘offer’), v.11 24 33, 2 Ch 29° ; cf. of secular gifts, 1 K 47! (51), also Jg 6 (if RV text of ν.}8 is right). In LXX 3"7)7 is generally represented by προσφέρω, and 13 (not by προσφορά, but) by δῶρον (cl.

Mk 711, Mt 155); Mt 5%, therefore, if translated consistently with RV of the OT, would read, ‘If thou art offering thine oblation at the altar’ (in Delitzsch’s Heb. NT, 4}372 2778 ON); cf. Ly 21-4 174 9918 RV and LXX; and observe the same combination of προσφέρω and δῶρον in Mt 5% 84, He 84. 4. 7039 minhah. This does not express the neutral idea of ‘gift’ (j72), but denotes a compli- mentary present, or a present made to secure or retain good-will, as Gn 32" 18.30.31 (to Esau), 43" 15. 95.

28 (to Joseph), Jg 327-18 (to Elon), 2K 8&9, Ps 45%, offered, as something expected, by a political subject, 2S 8%°, 1K 4%, 2K 175:4 al.; then of a tribute offered to God, both generally (including animals) Gn 45 “5,1 S 26%, and specifically (as always in P) of the meal- (or cereal) offering (Ly 2: see SACRIFICE). Where minhadh appears to be used in the more general sense of a tribute offered to God, it is represented in RV by ‘offering’ or ‘oblation.’ The passages are Gn 45.

5, Nu 16%, Jeg 68 (marg.), 1S 917. 2.29 314 9619 1 Καὶ 18% 2K 3%, Ezr 9" 5, Ps 20% ( 405 7° 968 1412 (marg.), Is 14 1922 4323" 575° 66,85. 0.30. Jer 141 17% 3315 41", Dn 2% (to Daniel), 97-2", Am 5, Ai 3°, Mal 12 21-18 912.13 38.4 ( with marg. ‘Or, meal-offering’). How ever, in several of these scape) esp. in 1 Καὶ 18%, 2K 3”, Ps 1412, Ezr 95", Dn 9 [in all, ‘the evening * But ‘bring’ elsewhere in these chapters represents x°>7.

+ For 230 is used also of ‘bringing near’ or * presenting | ordinary food, Gn 27%, 1S 28%, 2 8 134, 588 OFFER, OFFERING, OBLATION OFFER, OFFERING, OBLATION minhah’ ; see 2 Καὶ 1615], perhaps also in many of those with the alternative marginal rendering, and in Is 1? 197, it is not improbable that ‘ meal-offer- ing’ would be the better rendering. 5. apna tériimdh (AV and RV ‘heave-offering,’ ‘ offering,’ and ‘oblation’).

This word (from oz ‘to lift or take off’) denotes properly what is lifted off a larger mass, or separated from it for sacred purposes (LXX in Pent. uses ἀφαίρεμα, in Ezk mostly ἀπαρχή; Targ. in both xmenex ‘something separ- ated’); and is used in particular (cf. Driver on Dt 12°): (1) of gifts taken from the produce of the soil (as tithe, firstfruits, and firstlings) ; (2) of contri- butions of money, pot, etc.

, offered for sacred purposes, and in Ezk of land reserved for the priests and Levites; (3) in connexion with sacri- tices, only of portions ‘taken off’ the rest, and forming the priest’s due, esp. of the ‘heave-thigh,’ which, with the ‘ wave-breast,’ is (in P) the priest’s share of the peace-offering, but also (as Nu 5° 188) of other priestly dues. The rendering ‘heave- offering’ implies a rite of ‘elevation,’ which, how- ever, is very doubtful, and is rejected by modern scholars (e.g. Ges.

, Keil on Ly 2°, Dillm. on Lv 7% etc.) Omitting the passages (as Ex 297-3, Ly 7™ ) where téruimah is used of the ‘heave-thigh,’ it occurs, in the other applications just noted, Ex 952. 23 3015. 14. 15 35ῦ.- δ. 21. 24. 24 365: 6 Ly 1 9912. Nu 5? 15 30. 21 185 11. 19. 24. 26. 27. 28. 28. 39 3139. 41, 5. Dt 195. ll. 17, Ezk 20” (' offerings ? ) 4490. 80 451. 6. 7. 7. 13. 16 488. 9. 10. 12, 12, 18. 18, 20, 30. 21. 21. 2 Mal 95, 2 Ch 3110. 12.

14) Ezr 8:5, Neh 10%7 @)- 89 4) 124 135; also2S 151 (if the reading be correct), Is 40”, and (in a secular sense) Pr 294 (see RVm). (RV in Pent. 2S, Ezr, Neh, Ezk 20%, Mal, ‘heave-oflering’ or ‘ offering,’ in 2 Ch, Is, and other passages in Ezk, ‘oblation’). ‘Contribution’ is perhaps the English word which, though not entirely satisfactory, nevertheless best suggests the ideas expressed Pe the Heb. téramdah.

(a) The use of the corresponding verb 0-2 ‘ to lift or take off’ (often by the side of the subst. téramah) should be noted (LXX usually in Pent. ἀφαιρέω, in Ezk ἀφορίζω, in 2Ch ἀπάρχομαι ; Targ. ox ‘to separate’: RV ‘heave up,’ ‘offer,’ ‘take up,’ ‘take off,’ ‘offer up,’ ‘heave,’ ‘levy’ Nu 3123, ‘give... for offerings’ 2 Ch 30%, ‘give’).

This occurs, not only of the ‘ pave ΤΙΝ, Ex 297, but also in con- nexion with various other sacred gifts or sacrifices : Ex 35%, Ly 2° (of the ‘ memorial’ taken off the meal- offering in order to be burnt on the altar), 48: 10. 19 (of the fat lifted or taken off a sacrifice for con- sumption on the altar), 615() (as 2%), 9915 Ny 1519 20. 20°] 19. 24, 26, 38, 29, 80. 8) 3138. δ. Eke 451.18 498. 2. 20, 2 Ch 30% 35% , Ezr 8%.

The remarkable incon- sistency in the rendering of this word, even in RV, and the confusion with other words occasioned thereby, are much to be regretted ; if the instances are examined in detail, the idea in each will be seen to be, as explained above, that of lifting or taking off from a larger mass for sacred urposes (note esp. the use of both the verb and the subst. in Ezk in connexion with land), 6.

apn téniiphah, a “wave-offering’ (implying a rite of ‘waving’; see SACRIFICE), and usuall so rendered in AV, RV ; but represented by ‘offering’ alone in Ex 355 38% 2 (iliac the term is used peculiarly of materials offered for the construction of the sanctuary), and in Nu 8}}- 18. 15. 21 (changed here in RV to ‘ wave-offering’), where it is used of the Levites. (a) The cognate verb ι η"π"ἴο wave,’ and usually so rendered, issimilarly represented by‘ offer’ in Ex 35%, Nu 81}- 18. 16.

31 (in Nu with the marg. ‘Heb. wave Ay 7. ‘Whole burnt-offering’ (really a double, and tautologous, rendering of the Heb., adopted from AV of Ps 51") stands for the Heb. b> (lit. some- thing whole) in RV Dt 131607 marg., 33%, 1S 79 | For ‘oblations’ in this verse see below, No. 9. (Heb. $52 any), Ps 51°), The Heb. word is a rare syn. of πὸ» (see SACRIFICE, under ‘ burnt- offering’); it occurs besides, in a sacrif. sense, of the priest’s minhah, which was to be ‘wholly burnt (lit.

‘burnt (as) something whole’), Ly 67 53 05. τό. 8. ‘Passover offerings’ stands for ops, only 2 Ch 357: 8:9... see PASSOVER. 9. ‘Oblation’ for nxy> (not a technical word ; lit. something borne along or brought; cf. the verb in v.*, and No. (11), below) in Ezk 20%. 10. ‘ Offerings’ for the obscure and uncertain o’3729 Hos 8", generally taken to mean properly ‘gifts’ (from 373). ‘Offering (up)’ stands also, in RV of NT, for— 11.

προσφορά (LXX for 73> Ps 40°; otherwise very rare, except in Sir, viz. 14! 3] (34)18.19 32 (35)!® 3811 4618 5018-14): Ac 21°6 2417, Ro 1518, Eph δ᾽, He 10° 8: (from Ps 40°: Heb. minhah) ™ 14. 18 (in all, except He 10° 8, in the sense of the Heb. j37p). 12. ἀνάθημα (a votive offering set up in a temple, Herod. ii. 182, ete.): Lk 21°; so Jth 16” (‘ gift’), 2 Mac 916 (RV). ‘Oblation’ does not occur in NT (either AV or RV). In Pr. Bk.

version of the Psalms it occurs in 277 for o°N3], and in 6119 for bribe, In the Apocr. it represents σροσφορά, 1 Es 552 (51), Sir 6013 (AV), Thr 15, δῶρον Sir 79 (AV), δόμα 1 Mac 165 (in a secular sense), μάννα (i.e, 79}D) Bar 110 RV, The verb ‘ to offer,’ besides the four usages noted under 3 ἃ ὁ, 5 a, 6 a, stands also in RV for— (5) 12} ‘to slaughter’ (in sacrifice): Gn 315 46}, Ex 231%, Ly 19°-5, Dt 18% 33! (elsewhere in the Pent. m3} is rendered by ‘to sacrifice’ *), 1 § 121 218 etc.

, Ps 4° 27° 504 (Heb. ‘slaughter thanksgiving’ ; so v.%), 11617 (Heb. ‘slaughter the slaughterin (sacrifice) of thanksgiving’ ; so 107%, Ly 22”); an elsewhere, esp. when the obj. is the cognate subst. ‘sacrifice.’ (6) abya ‘to cause to go up’ (viz. on the altar),— very often, esp. with ‘burnt-offering’ (the Heb. word for which, ay, is cognate with this verb, and means Pepa, that which goes up, viz. on the altar): in P and Ezk, only Ex 30° 40%, Ly 14% 178, Ezk 4318-*4 ; elsewhere, bn 8.

0 292-18 (here, and sometimes besides, ‘to offer wp’), Ex 24° 328, Nu 232 414. 80, Dt 1218-14 976 Jos 2233 (first time), 1 K 3* 1 (first time), Am 5%, Is 578 668, Ps 5119 (42) 6615, and often besides, both in 3, K, ete., and also in Ch, Ezr (in the Pent. all the occurrences are cited). So ‘the offering of’ in 1K 18288 and ‘offering’ in 2 K 3” are both lit. ‘the going up of.’ (7) ayy ‘to do or make’ (an idiom. use—cf. ῥέζειν and facere—prob.

allied to, or developed from, that of the same word in the sense of to make read 5 prepare, or dress as food, Gn 187-8, Ly 62 (4) 79, i, 6, 1S 9518 2S 1244 135-7, 1K 17 (of meal) 1859. 35. 26) ; in RV usually “ offer,’ sometimes ‘ sacri- fice,’ and (esp. in Nu 15 and Ezk) ‘ repare’: Ex 1055 2.938. 38. + 89. 41 Ly 51:0 622 (15) 91. 16. 22 1419. 30 1515-8 169. 34. 179 9933. 4 (RVm) 9313. 19. Ny gi-16. 17.37 813 15% 8(prob. : RV ‘make’), νυν. δ: 5: 8 12-14. 24984. 4. 8.8. 16. 20. 31, 38, 24.

81 992.89, T)t 1977, Jos 223 (second time), Jg 13% (2; notice 7355), v.18 (‘make ready,’ not ‘offer’ [n>yn]), 1 K 816 (second time), 8% (2 Ch 77), 12°77, 2K 5% 1034. 25 178, Jer 3318 (“to do’), Ezk 4335. 5-27 (‘make’), 4517-22. 28.24 462 7. 12. 12. 18, 18, 14. 15, Ps 66%. The word is meant as a summary description of the process of sacrifice: it is never used where there is a detailed description of the ritual, with reference to a particular act.

(8) ony ‘ to slay,’ Ex 3425, (9) 2p ‘to make into sweet smoke,’ Am 45, and vsp7 (id.) 1 Ch 6%), See INCENSE, SACRIFICE. (10) 727 ‘to pour (out),’ and usually so rendered (as Hos 94, 2 K 16:8): Ps 164, Dn 246 (Aram.) (11) xyz ‘to bear along,’ ‘bring’ (not a specia] sacrif. term): Ezk 9081 (cf. 2S 82°, Ps 968, Heb.] * Or, naturally, in Dt 1215.21 (ef, 1 § 2824) by ‘to Krill.’ OFFICER (12) jn; ‘to give’: Ezk 61 (exceptional ; cf. 20° Heb. [AV and RV ‘ presented]).

‘To offer for sin’ stands for one word in the Heb., x»n, Lv 625 915, ‘To offer willingly’ stands for 173n7, prop. to show oneself liberal or forward : Jg 62-9 (in battle), elsewhere only in Ch, Ezr, Neh, in giving gifts, etc., to the sanctuary, 1Ch 995. 6.9. 9.14. 17.17, 2 Ch 1716, Ezr 16 263 35 713. 15.16.16, Neh 112, (In Ps 1103 RV the Heb. is ‘ are willingnesses’). “ΤῸ offer incense’ stands for ἼΒΩ Jer 1117 3229, In the RV of NT ‘to offer (up)’ stands for— (13) προσφέρω (in LXX usu.

for 2777): Mt 24 52-434 (= Mk 14, Lk 5%), Jn 93 (λατρείαν), Ac 743 (from Am 5%, LXX [va]), 2136, He 5137 88: 8. 4 91. 9. 14. 25. 28 10). 2. 8. 11.12 11" 17. 17, In Mt 211 προσήνεγκαν αὐτῷ δῶρα would be in Heb. 19 13°)" ΤΠ (so Delitzsch): see Jg 317-18 Heb. and LXX. On Mt 5% 84 see above, under 3 ὃ. (14) ἀναφέρω (LXX mostly for Rig also for vpn, once or twice for Avy): He 757: 31 (cf. Westcott), 13%, Ja, 225 1 Pos * (15) σπένδω (‘to pour out’; in LXX for yon): Ph 217, 2 Ti 48 (σπένδομαι, fig.

of St. Paul himself), (16) δίδωμε : Lk 24, ° ee offered to idols’ (εἰδωλόθυτα) has been in RV changed uniformly to ‘things sacrificed (un)to idols’ (as in AV of Rev 214. 20), Ac 1529 2125, 1 Co 81. 4. 7.10 1019 ; ‘offered in sacrifice’ in 1 Co 1023 represents ἱερόθυτον. From the preceding synopsis of passages, it will be apparent what extremely different terms in the original, esp.

in OT, are represented by each of the three English words, ‘offer,’ ‘offering,’ and ‘oblation’; and that though the Heb. (and Greek) terms might, in particular cases, be interchange- able, in others they arenot. In Ly 9), for example, ‘offer’ could not be n3; or 077, nor ‘ oblation’ An3p or aaa: ‘offer’ in Dt 12”, though it is a»y, might also be adyn, but hardly (the writer not being p-iestly) apa, and ‘oblation’ in Is 1951] could not (for the same reason) be }29p.

Conversely, ‘offer an oblation’ in Ezk 45! represents two Heb. words entirely different from those which it represents in Ly 15; and ‘ offer’ in Ly 7 is always 2p", in Nu 18 it isalways +t o7, while in Nu 28 it is avy and apn. The words in the original are in most cases techni- cal ; and the distinctions between them are of im- portance for those who would properly understand the sacrificial system of the Hebrews.

The reader who desires to obtain a practical view of Hebrew or Greek usage is recommended to mark on the margin of his RV the Hebrew or Greek word corresponding in each case to the English. Unless any passages have been accidentally overlooked, the preceding article should enable him to do this for the words here concerned in all their occurrences, except those of 2 pa in the Pent., and of n3; and adyn out of it. S. R. DRIVER.