OFFERINGS
216
OFFERINGS
a misconception of the divinity was prevalent at cer-
taii\ ejiochs and among certain peoples cannot he
gainsaid (Cic, "De Leg.", ii, 16); however, in view of
the idea of the sacredness of the bond created hy the
sharing in a common meal — an idea that still holds
sway among Semitic nomads (and nomadic life \hi-
<loubtedly preceded agricultural life) — the <///( theory
h;us been mostly superseded by the tabh--bou<l theory.
A bond is entered into between the god and the wor-
shipper when they, as it were, sit at the same table,
man furnishing the meal, and the god granting in re-
turn the assurance of his protection. The niinniiniinn
theory (its chief advocate is W. R. Smith) is based on
the totemistic conception of the origin of worshi]), its
essence consisting in that the life of the god, infused
into the totem, is assimilated by the worshipper in the
sacred repast. This theory would account for animal
sacrifices and oblations of such vegetables as were con-
sidered totems; but it fails manifestly to explain the
many and various oblations custom imposed or sanc-
tioned.
As far as positive information is concerned, the ori- gin of oblations, according to Genesis, may be traced back to Cain's offerings of the fruits of the earth. Some critics would brush aside the statement as the fancy of a Judean writer of the seventh century B. c; yet the passage expresses the writer's belief that sacri- fices and oblations were offered by the very first men. It emphasizes, moreover, the idea that oblation is an act of worship natural to an agricultural population, just as the slaying of a victim is to be expected in the worship of a pastoral people; and it seems to set forth the belief that bloody sacrifices are more pleasing to God than mere oblations — a belief seemingly inspired by the superiority the nomad has ever claimed in the East over the husbandman. At all events it cannot be denied that there is at the root of all oblations the idea that Ciod has a claim upon man, his possessions, and the fruits of his labours, and is pleased at receiving an acknowledgment of His sovereignty.
Whether exterior worship, especially sacrifice, was in the beginning, as W. R. Smith affirms, an affair, not of the individual, but of the^ribe or clan, is question- able. As far back as documents go, side by side with public oblations, are others made by individuals in their own name and out of private devotion.
The things thus made over to the deity were among Semitic peoples most varied in nature and value. Offering the first yield of the year's crop was exten- sively practised, local usage specifying what should be offered. The premices of the corn crop (wheat, bar- ley, sometimes lentils) were generally reserved to the deity; so also among certain tribes the first milk and butter of the year. Sometimes fruits (not only first- fruits, but other fruit-oblations) were offered in their natural state. At Carthage the fruit-offering con- sisted of a choice branch bearing fruit; possibly such was the form of certain fruit-offerings in Israel. Oblations might also consist of fruit prepared as for ordinary use, in compressed cakes, cooked if necessary, or made in the form of jelly (debash; the latter prepara- tion was excluded from th^ altar in Israel). All cereal oblations, whether of first-lruits or otherwise, among the Hebrews and apparently among the Phcenicians, were mingled with oil and salt before being placed on the altar. As sacrifices were frequently the occa- • sion of social gatherings and of religious meals, the custom was introduced of offering with the victim whatever concomitants (bread, wine, etc.) were neces- sary. Yet nowhere do we find water offered up as an oblation or used for libations; only the ritual of late Judaism for the Feast of Tabernacles commanded that on each of the seven days of the celebration water drawn from the Fountain of Siloam (D. V., Sellum) should be brought into the Temple amidst the blare of trumpets and solemnly poured out upon the altar. Other articles of food were used for hbations,
such, for instance, as milk among the Phcenicians, as
among nomadic Arabs it is to this very day. Liba-
tions of wine were frequent, at least in countries where
wine was not too expensive; among the Hebrews, as
in Greece and Rome, wine was .added to holocausts as
well as to victims whose flesh the worshippers jiartook
of, and was then poured out at the base of the altar.
Analogous to offering liquid food to be poured out as a libation was the custom of anointing sacred ob- jects or hallowed places. The history of the patri- archs bears witness to its primitive usage, and the accounts of travellers certify to its existence to-day among many Semitic populations. In this case, oil is generally used; occasionally more precious ointments, but as these largely contain oil, the difference is acci- dental. Among nomads where oil is scarce, butter is used, being spread on sacred stones, tombs, or on the door-posts or the lintels of venerated shrines. In some places oil is offered by way of fuel for lamps to be kept burning before the tomb of some renowned wely or in some sanctuary. Also it has always been a general custom in the East to offer, cither together with, or apart from, sacrifices and oblations, spices to be burned at the place of the sacrifice or of the sacrifi- cial meal, or upon a revered tomb, or at any place sacred to the tribe or individual. Among the Arabs it is hardly justifiable to pay religious homage at the tomb of some sainted wely or at certain sanctuaries without bringing an offering, however insignificant. If nothing better is at hand, the worshipper %vill leave on the spot a strip from his garment, a horse-shoe nail, even a pebble from the road.
Tithes (q. v.) appear to be more an impost than an oblation proper, and suppose a settled population; hence they have no place in the religion of nomads, ancient or modern.
Besides the oblations mentioned above (usually arti- cles of food) , the votive offerings made among early Se- mites on very special occasions deserve mention. One of the most characteristic is the offering of one's hair, common also among other ancient peoples. This of- fering was apersonal one, and aimed to create or empha- size the relation between the worshipper and his god; it was usually in connexion with .special vows. From this hair-offering we should distinguish the shaving of the head as a kind of purification prescribed in certain cases (Lev., xiv, 9). Owing undoubtedly to the su- perstitious practice of ancient peoples, associating mourning with a hair-offering, the Pentateuchal legislation enacted on this subject prohibitions (Lev., xix, 27; xxi, 5; Deut., xiv, 1), which, however, were not always observed. The only hair-offering legally rec- ognized among the Hebrews was that connected with the vow of the Nazarite (Num., vi), and likely the writer of the Canticle of Debbora had some such vow in view when he speaks (Judges, v, 2), according to the probable sense of the Hebrew, of men offering their hair and vowing themselves to battle, i. e. vowing not to cut their hair until they should come back in tri- umph; this vow (still frequent in the East) implied that they should conquer or die. Also in Num., xxxi, 28, we read of a share of the spoils of battle being set aside as an offering to the sanctuary. Although the narrative here concerns a special occurrence, and noth- ing intimates that this spoil offering should be held as a precedent, yet it is very likely that it begat at least a pious custom. We see, indeed, in Israel and neigh- bouring peoples, choice spoils hung up in sanctuaries. It may suffice to recall the trophies heaped up by the Assyrian and Babylonian rulers; also the Ark of the Covenant set up as an offering in the temple of Dagon by the Philistines; and in Israel itself, the arms of Gohath offered by David to the temple of Nob.
II. Oblatio.vs among the Jews. — Oblations in the Jewish religion were the object of minute regula- tions in the Law. Some were offered with bloody sacrifices (cf. Num., viii, 8; xv, 4-10), as the offering
