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others to the day of atonement, and others to the feast of tabernacles. We shall briefly mention them all.

Every day were to be offered two lambs, one in the morning, and the other in the evening, " for a con"tinual burnt offering. "* To these daily victims were to be added, weekly, two other lambs, "for the burnt offering of every sabbath." At the commencement of every month, two young bullocks, one ram, and seven lambs were to be sacrificed as a burnt offering, and a kid for a sin offering. On each of the seven days of the paschal feast, the same sacrifices were to be offered as at the commencement of every month;§ with the addition, on the second day, on which the first fruits were consecrated by the wave sheaf, of another lamb for a burnt offering. On the feast of pentecost also, the same sacrifices were to be offered as at the beginning of every month;¶ with the addition of one young bullock, two rams, and seven lambs for a burnt offering, two other lambs as peace offerings, and one kid for a sin offering.* At the feast of trumpets, which which was the first day of the seventh month, were to be offered, beside the regular monthly victims, one young bullock, one ram, and seven lambs for a burnt offering, and one kid for a sin offering. The like sacrifices, without the monthly ones, were to be offered on the solemn day of atonement; and to them was to be added another ram for a burnt offering, and another goat, the most eminent of all the sacrifices, for a sin offering, whose blood was to be carried by the high priest into the inner sanctuary; which was not done by the blood of

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**

Ibid. v. 11. 14, 15. Num. xxviii. 27. 30.

Ibid. v. 8. 11.

any other victim, except the bullock which was offered the same day as a sin offering for the family of Aaron.* On the first day of the feast tabernacles, thirteen young bullocks, two rams, and fourteen lambs were to be offered as a burnt offering, and one kid for a sin offering. The like number of victims was to be offered on each of the next six days, except that the number of bullocks was to be one less on every successive day, so that on the seventh day of the feast there were to be but seven. The sacrifices for the eighth day of this festival were to be one bullock, one ram, and seven lambs for a burnt offering, and one goat for a sin offering.† And in all these cases this rule was to be observed, that whenever more than one festival happened on the same day, the daily sacrifices and the sacrifices appointed for those festivals were all to be offered in regular order. Suppose the sabbath, the beginning of the month, and the feast of trumpets, to have happened on the same day; the daily morning sacrifice was to be offered first, the sabbatical sacrifices next, then the monthly sacrifices, then the sacrifices appointed for the feast of trumpets, and last of all the daily evening sacrifice. §

V. As those burnt offerings which were sacrificed every day belonged to the daily worship of God, and were services by which his favour might be daily implored and commemorated; so the other burnt offerings, together with peace offerings, immolated at stated seasons, contributed to the greater solemnity of those seasons, which God required to be consecrated to himself on various accounts which it would

* Levit. xvi. 5, 6, 14, 15.

+ Num. xxix. 13-38.

‡ Num. xxviii. 15. 23, 24. 31, xxix. 6. 11. 16. 19, &c. Maimon. in Præf. ad Zebach. in Misna. Abarb, in Præf. ad Levit.

be irrelevant to our present purpose to introduce in this place. The sin offerings appointed for those stated seasons, I apprehend were designed to expiate whatever sins had been committed, of which the persons guilty of them were unconscious. This is asserted by Rabbi Jehuda:* Those sins, which are not known, either before or after their commission, 'to the persons guilty of them, are expiated by the goats offered at the beginnings of the months and at 'the greater festivals.'

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VI. Such were the sacrifices enjoined on the Hebrews by the law of Moses. Some of them are called by the Jews most holy sacrifices, and others light or inferior sacrifices. The appellation of most holy is given to those of which no part at all was to be eaten, or of which none were allowed to eat but a priest or the son of a priest, and that only within the sanctuary: a description which applies to all the burnt offerings, all the sin offerings, and the peace offerings of the whole congregation. The sacrifices considered as inferior are those of which others also were allowed to eat in any part of Jerusalem: such were the peace offerings of inviduals, and all other similar oblations, as the paschal victims, and the tithes. To these may be added the male firstlings, which might lawfully be eaten, not only by the priests and their sons, but also by any other persons, as we have already stated, within the city of Jerusalem.

* Shebuoth in Misna, c. I.

173

CHAPTER XV.

Certain Sacrificial Rites; particularly, the Offering and Waving of the Victims, the Imposition of Hands upon their Heads, and the Prayers connected with that Ceremony.

WE now proceed to the Sacrificial Rites; which were different for different sacrifices. For the burnt offerings of individuals, the following was the process to be observed. First, each person was to present his own victim before the great altar. Then he was to lay his hand, and, according to Maimonides, both hands, upon its head, and at the same time to say some solemn prayers. When these were finished, the victim was immediately to be slain, and its blood poured round about the sides of the altar. After this it was to be flayed, and cut up. Next the legs and entrails were to be washed, and then, with the dissected members, offered at the ascent of the altar, and all the parts, after being there sprinkled with salt, were to be laid upon the sacred fire. Except the imposition of hands and the prayers which accompanied that ceremony, the same rites were to be performed upon the burnt offerings of the whole congregation. In the rest of the sacrifices, some of these rites were omitted, some were altered, and others were added. The lamb required for a trespass offering for a leper, and the two lambs appointed to be offered as the peace offerings of the whole congregation,† after they were brought to the altar, were, while yet living, to be waved towards all the quarters of the world. The same rite was to be performed with the

*

Levit. xiv, 12.

+ Levit. xxiii. 20.

right shoulder, and the breast of the peace offerings of individuals;* and with one shoulder of the ram of the Nazarite, which was to be previously boiled.† The flesh of some victims was to be burnt without the camp, or without the city of Jerusalem; and that of others was to be eaten. And as there were various victims which were allowed to be eaten, so there were various laws concerning the eating of them. But on these and similar points we shall have to enlarge in a subsequent chapter.

II. Of the rites connected with the sacrifices of individuals, some were to be the acts of the offerers themselves, and others of the priests; while some might be legitimately performed by any person that was ceremonially clean. It was the business of the offerer to bring his victim to the altar, and to lay his hands upon its head. But the killing, the flaying, the cutting up, and the washing of the legs and entrails, as was done in burnt offerings, if at all inconvenient for the offerer himself, might be confided to any other clean person. For though all these things seem to be enjoined upon the offerers, yet the meaning of this law is, not that these rites were to be the acts of the offerers and of them only, but that they were to be considered as duly performed, though not performed by the priests. The law respecting some other rites was evidently different. To wave the victim, or any parts of it, towards the various quarters of the world, to sprinkle the blood, to lay the divided parts on the altar, and to set in order the sacrificial fire; all these were the exclusive acts of the priests. To them also it belonged, to kill the birds that were destined for the altar; because the sprinkling of their blood was immeLevit. vii. 30. + Num. vi. 19, 20. Levit. i. 5, 6. 9. 11, 12, 13.

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