Of holocausts or burnt offerings.
Diuers rites in offering holocaustes, as wel of cattle, 14. as of birdes.
1And the Lord called Moses, and spoke to him from the tabernacle of the testimony, saying:E il Signore chiamò Mosè, e gli parlò dal tabernacolo del testimonio, e disse:AND OVR LORD called Moyses, and spake to him out of the tabernacle of testimony, saying:Vocavit autem Moysen, et locutus est ei Dominus de tabernaculo testimonii, dicens: 2Speak to the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them: The man among you that shall offer to the Lord a sacrifice of the cattle, that is, offering victims of oxen and sheep:Parla a' figliuoli d'Israele, e dirai loro: Chiunque di voi vorrà offerire al Signore una ostia di quadrupedi, vale a dire, offerirà vittime di bovi, e di pecore,Speake to the children of Israel; & thou shalt say to them: The man of you, that shal offer an hoste to our Lord, of beastes, that is of oxen & sheepe, offering victimesLoquere filiis Israël, et dices ad eos: Homo, qui obtulerit ex vobis hostiam Domino de pecoribus, id est, de bobus et ovibus offerens victimas, 3If his offering be a holocaust, and of the herd, he shall offer a male without blemish, at the door of the testimony, to make the Lord favourable to him.Se l'obblazione di lui sarà un olocausto, e questo di mandra; offerirà un maschio senza macchia alla porta del tabernacolo del testimonio per rendersi propizio il Signore:if his oblation be an holocauste, and of the heard; he shal offer a male, without spotte, at the dore of the tabernacle of testimonie, to propitiate our Lord vnto him:si holocaustum fuerit ejus oblatio, ac de armento: masculum immaculatum offeret ad ostium tabernaculi testimonii, ad placandum sibi Dominum: 4And he shall put his hand upon the head of the victim: and it shall be acceptable, and help to its expiation.E porrà la mano sul capo dell'ostia, e questa sarà accettevole, e alla espiazione di lui gioverà.and he shal put his handes vpon the heade of the hoste, and it shal be acceptable, and profitable to his expiation.ponetque manum super caput hostiæ, et acceptabilis erit, atque in expiationem ejus proficiens. 5And he shall immolate the calf before the Lord: and the priests the sons of Aaron shall offer the blood thereof, pouring it round about the altar, which is before the door of the tabernacle.Egli immolerà il vitello dinanzi al Signore, e i sacerdoti figliuoli di Aronne ne offeriranno il sangue, spargendolo intorno all'altare, che è davanti alla porta del tabernacolo:And he shal immolate the calfe before our Lord, and the children of Aaron the priestes shal offer the bloud therof, powring it in the circuite of the altar, which is before the dore of the tabernacle.Immolabitque vitulum coram Domino, et offerent filii Aaron sacerdotes sanguinem ejus, fundentes per altaris circuitum, quod est ante ostium tabernaculi:
6And when they have flayed the victim, they shall cut the joints into pieces:E tratta la pelle all'ostia, ne faranno in pezzi le membra:And the skinne of the hoste being plucked of, the ioyntes they shal cut into peeces,detractaque pelle hostiæ, artus in frusta concident. 7And shall put fire on the altar, having before laid in order a pile of wood.E accomodate prima sopra l'altare le legna, vi daran fuoco:and shal put fire vnderneth in the altar, hauing before laid a pyle of wood in order:Et subjicient in altari ignem, strue lignorum ante composita: 8And they shall lay the parts that are cut out in order thereupon: to wit, the head, and all things that cleave to the liver;E vi porran sopra con ordine le membra spezzate, vale a dire il capo, e tutte le parti che sono annesse al fegato,and the ioyntes that are cut out, laying in order thereupon, to wit, the head, & al thinges that cleane to the liuer,et membra quæ sunt cæsa, desuper ordinantes, caput videlicet, et cuncta quæ adhærent jecori, 9The entrails and feet being washed with water. And the priest shall burn them upon the altar for a holocaust, and a sweet savour to the Lord.Gli intestini, e i piedi lavati nell'acqua: e il sacerdote farà bruciare queste cose sopra l'altare in olocausto di soave odore al Signore.the entralles and feete being washed with water, and the priest shal burne them vpon the altar for an holocauste, and sweete sauoure to our Lord.intestinis et pedibus lotis aqua: adolebitque ea sacerdos super altare in holocaustum et suavem odorem Domino. 10And if the offering be of the flocks, a holocaust of sheep or of goats, he shall offer a male without blemish.Che se l'obblazione di quadrupedi è un olocausto di pecore, ovver di capre, offerirà un maschio senza macchia:And if the oblation be of flockes, an holocauste of sheepe or of goates, a lambe of a yeare old without spot shal he offer:Quod si de pecoribus oblatio est, de ovibus sive de capris holocaustum, masculum absque macula offeret: 11And he shall immolate it at the side of the altar that looketh to the north, before the Lord: but the sons of Aaron shall pour the blood thereof upon the altar round about.E lo immolerà davanti al Signore dal lato settentrional dell'altare: e i figliuoli d'Aronne ne spargeranno il sangue sopra tutto il circuito dell'altare:and he shal immolate it at the side of the altar that looketh to the North, before our Lord: but the bloud therof the sonnes of Aaron shal poure vpon the altar round about:immolabitque ad latus altaris, quod respicit ad aquilonem, coram Domino: sanguinem vero illius fundent super altare filii Aaron per circuitum:
12And they shall divide the joints, the head, and all that cleave to the liver: and shall lay them upon the wood, under which the fire is to be put.E spezzeranno le membra, il capo, e le parti annesse al fegato; e le porranno sopra le legna, alle quali dee darsi fuoco:and they shal diuide the ioyntes, the head, and al that cleane to the lyuer: and shal lay them vpon the wood, vnder which the fire is to be put:dividentque membra, caput, et omnia quæ adhærent jecori, et ponent super ligna, quibus subjiciendus est ignis: 13But the entrails and the feet they shall wash with water. And the priest shall offer it all and burn it all upon the altar for a holocaust, and most sweet savour to the Lord.E laveranno l'interiora, e i piedi nell'acqua. E il sacerdote farà bruciare tutta l'obblazione sopra l'altare in olocausto di odore soavissimo al Signore.but the entrales and the feete they shal wash with water. And the whole the priest shal offer, and burne vpon the altar for an holocaust, and most sweete sauoure to our Lord.intestina vero et pedes lavabunt aqua. Et oblata omnia adolebit sacerdos super altare in holocaustum et odorem suavissimum Domino. 14But if the oblation of a holocaust to the Lord be of birds, of turtles, or of young pigeons:Se avrà a farsi obblazione di uccelli in olocausto al Signore, (farassi) di tortore, o di colombini.But if the oblation of holocaust to our Lord be of birdes, of turtles and young pigions,Si autem de avibus, holocausti oblatio fuerit Domino, de turturibus, aut pullis columbæ, 15The priest shall offer it at the altar: and twisting back the neck, and breaking the place of the wound, he shall make the blood run down upon the brim of the altar.Il sacerdote la offerirà all'altare, e ripiegatole il capo sul collo, e fattale una ferita, farà scorrer il sangue sull'orlo dell'altare:the priest shal offer it at the altar: and writhing the head to the necke, and breaking the place of the wound, he shal make the bloud to runne downe vpon the brimme of the altar:offeret eam sacerdos ad altare: et retorto ad collum capite, ac rupto vulneris loco, decurrere faciet sanguinem super crepidinem altaris: 16But the crop of the throat, and the feathers he shall cast beside the altar at the east side, in the place where the ashes are wont to be poured out.Ma la vescichetta della gola, e le penne le getterà presso all'altare dalla parte d'oriente là dove soglion gettarsi le ceneri,but the croppe of the throate, and the fethers he shal cast nigh to the altar at the east side, in the place where the ashes are wount to be powred out,vesiculam vero gutturis, et plumas projiciet prope altare ad orientalem plagam, in loco in quo cineres effundi solent,
17And he shall break the pinions thereof, and shall not cut, nor divide it with a knife: and shall burn it upon the altar, putting fire under the wood. It is a holocaust and oblation of most sweet savour to the Lord.E le romperà le ali, e non la taglierà, né la spezzerà con ferro; e faralla bruciare sopra l'altare, dato fuoco alle legna. Olocausto è questo, e obblazione di soavissimo odore al Signore.and he shal breake the pinnions therof, and shal not cut, nor diuide it with a knife, and shal burne it vpon the altar, putting fire vnder the wood. It is an holocaust and oblation of most sweete sauoure to our Lord.confringetque ascellas ejus, et non secabit, neque ferro dividet eam, et adolebit super altare, lignis igne supposito. Holocaustum est et oblatio suavissimi odoris Domino.
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Year of the World 2514, Year before Christ 1490.
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Menochius
Offer, voluntarily, without any command. Some sacrifices were of precept, Exodus 22:29. (Menochius)
Calmet
These first chapters are addressed to the people; the 6th [chapter] from ver. 9, to the priests. Oxen, goats, and sheep, pigeons, and turtles, were to be offered in sacrifice, and small birds also, in the purification of lepers, (chap. 14:4,) as they might easily be procured. (Calmet)
Worthington
By sacrifice, we testify the dominion of God over all. They were offered by the patriarchs, and by all nations. God requireth that the victim should be without blemish, and slain with certain ceremonies wisely ordained, Psalm103:24. (Worthington)
A sacrifice. Hebrew korban, a present of any sort, Mark 7.
Menochius
Sheep and goats, ver. 10. The same term, tson, signifies both. (Menochius)
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St. Augustine
A holocaust. That is, a whole burnt-offering; (olocauston) so called, because the whole victim was consumed with fire; and given in such manner to God as wholly to evaporate, as it were, for his honour and glory; without having any part of it reserved for the use of man. The other sacrifices of the Old Testament were either offerings for sin, or peace-offerings: and these latter again were either offered in thanksgiving for blessings received, or by way of prayer for new favours or graces. So that sacrifices were then offered to God for four different ends or intentions, answerable to the different obligations which man has to God: 1. By way of adoration, homage, praise, and glory, due to his divine Majesty. 2. By way of thanksgiving for all benefits received from him. 3. By way of confessing and craving pardon for sins. 4. By way of prayer and petition for grace and relief in all necessities. In the New Law we have but one sacrifice, viz. that of the body and blood of Christ: but this one sacrifice of the New Testament perfectly answers all these four ends; and both priests and people, as often as it is celebrated, ought to join in offering it up for these four ends. (Challoner) (St. Augustine, City of God 8:17.; St. Chrysostom in Psalm xcv.)
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Lyranus
Victim. To transfer all the curses due to him upon it, (Eusebius, Demon. 1:10,) and to testify that he gives it up entirely for the honour of God. (Lyranus)
Bochart
The Egyptians cut off the head of the victim, and vented upon it imprecations, begging that the gods would discharge upon it all the evils which they had deserved. Then they sold it to some foreigner, or threw it into the Nile. (Herodotus 2:39.) All nations seem to have acknowledged, that life should be given for life. Hanc animam vobis pro meliore damus: (Ovid, Fast. I.) and they had holocausts, in imitation of the Hebrews. (Bochart)
Menochius
Expiation. Hebrew, "it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him," provided he be in proper dispositions. (Menochius)
Du Hamel
The primary intention of the holocaust was to honour God: but this insured his favour also, and pardon. (Du Hamel)
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Haydock
He, by the hands of the priests, (chap. 10:1,) as the Septuagint express it, "they shall immolate;" (Menochius) though we might infer from this text, that the person who offered the victim, had to slay it; (Calmet) while the priests alone could pour the blood upon and around the altar. Without the effusion of blood remission is not made, Hebrews 9:22. (Haydock)
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Haydock
Fire. Hebrew and Septuagint place the fire first, then the wood. It was the sacred fire which was never extinguished, but removed from the altar in marches, (chap. 4:13,) perhaps in a censer or pan. (Haydock)
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Calmet
All things, etc. Hebrew pador, may signify the fat, or the trunk of the animal. (Calmet)
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Worthington
Sweet. Not that the Deity can take delight in sweet odours: but he is pleased with the devotion of men. For their advancement in piety, he required these sacrifices; 1. to keep the people from idolatry; 2. to teach them to consecrate their body and effects to him, as well as their souls, to serve justice unto sanctification; (Romans 6:19; John 4:24) as without the help of exterior observances, the mind will hardly rise to the contemplation of truth; 3. to prefigure the greater mysteries of the Christian religion, of which the law was only a shadow, incapable of conferring justifying grace. (John 1:17; Galatians 3:11.) (Worthington)
The law was our pedagogue, in Christ, that we might be justified by faith, Galatians 3:24.
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Male. Lyranus seems to have read "a year old," in the Vulgate. But it is not found in the Hebrew or in any version. It may have been taken from Exodus 12:5, where the paschal lamb must be a male of one year.
Haydock
Blemish. The Septuagint add, "and he shall put his hand upon its head." (Haydock)
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Pigeons. Hebrew and Septuagint say nothing about the age; though the Rabbins assure us, that old turtles and young pigeons were to be immolated, as being more excellent. God requires only what each person may easily procure. This third species of holocaust was chiefly intended for the poor, Leviticus 12:8. But if they could not afford even this, they might offer flour, Leviticus 2.
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Calmet
The neck. Some say, without pulling the head off (Grotius); which the Rabbins deny. (Calmet)
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Throat. Hebrew mierath, is rendered "the crop and its contents," by the Chaldean, Syriac, and Samaritan.
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Calmet
Pinions, as if it were to be roasted. Eusebius remarks, that the pagans plunged their birds into the sea, then poured the blood round the altar, and afterwards burnt them. Abram did not divide the birds, Genesis 15:10. (Calmet)
Haydock
Oblation. Hebrew, "made by fire;" or which must be all consumed, except the crop and feathers. (Haydock)
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A holocaust.... That is, a whole burnt offering (olokauston), so called, because the whole victim was consumed with fire; and given in such manner to God as wholly to evaporate, as it were, for his honour and glory; without having any part of it reserved for the use of man. The other sacrifices in the Old Testament were either offerings for sin, or peace offerings: and these latter again were either offered in thanksgiving for blessings received; or by way of prayer for new favours or graces. So that sacrifices were then offered to God for four different ends or intentions, answerable to the different obligations which man has to God: 1. By way of adoration, homage, praise, and glory due to his divine majesty. 2. By way of thanksgiving for all benefits received from him. 3. By way of confessing and craving pardon for sins. 4. By way of prayer and petition for grace and relief in all necessities. In the New Law we have but one sacrifice, viz., that of the body and blood of Christ: but this one sacrifice of the New Testament perfectly answers all these four ends; and both priest and people, as often as it is celebrated, ought to join in offering it up for these four ends.
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The first part of this booke. Of diuers sortes of Sacrifices.
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2. The man that shal offer] Sacrifice being the most special external seruice, Sacrifice presupposed to be necessary, God prescribeth the rites to be obserued therin. wherby man acknowledgeth the supreme dominion of God, and his owne subiection and homage to his diuine Maiestie, was so wel knowen to be necessarie (as being in most frequent vse in the law of nature, and in al nations) that here neded not anie new precept in general, that the people of God should offer sacrifice, though for special purposes, certaine particular sacrifices were some times appointed, but this dutie & obligation presupposed, our Lord first admonishing to offer the best, and perfectest things in euerie kind, prescribeth with what rites, and ceremonies it shal be done. As in offering an holocaust of the heard, it must be a male vvithout spotte; and be offered at the dore of the tabernacle, the offerer putting his handes vpon the head of the hoste; the priests must offer the bloud, povvring it in the circuite of the altar; plucke of the skinne; cut the ioyntes in peeces; lay them in order; the entrales and feete being vvashed, burne al vpon the Altar; And the like in other sacrifices, al for iust and reasonable causes, without which the wisdome of God doth nothing. Sap. 7. & Psal. 103. v 24.
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3. An holocaust] In respect of diuers things offered, the diuers maner, and Three kindes of Sacrifice. causes of offering, there were manie sortes of Sacrifices: but al are reduced to three kindes. The first was Holocaust, in which al was burned in the honour of God, and resolued into vapour, which ascendeth vpwards in signe that al Holocauste. we haue is of God. The second was Sacrifice for sinne, & that of diuers sortes, Sacrifice for sinne. Pacifique Sacrifice. for the varietie of sinnes and persons; and part of this sacrifice was burned, the other part belonged to the Priests. The third was Pacifique sacrifice, wherof one part was burnt, an other pertayned to the Priests, and an other to them, that gaue the oblation. And of this kinde there were two sortes, one of thanksgeuing for benefites receiued: the other to procure fauoure in anie good For benefites receiued: or desired. enterprise, or desire. Al the which did prefigure and forshew one only Sacrifice of Chtists bodie and bloud, offered by him in two maners; bloudie on the Crosse once for euer, wherof S. Paul expressy speaketh (Heb. 9.) vnbloudie in formes of bread and wine, wherof the same S. Paul speaketh (Heb. 13. v. 10.) shewing that Christians haue an Altar, and consequently a Sacrifice farre excelling Al sacrifices of the old Testament prefigured Christs Sacrifice on the Crosse, and in the Eucharist. those of the Tabernacle; and our Sauiour him selfe (Math. 26. v. 25.) speaking of the contents in the chalice, said: it was his bloud of the nevv Testament, which he then instituted and dedicated, as is there noted. And the ancient Fathers (by Caluins confession in Heb. 9.) generally vse this distinction of the same Sacrifice offered in bloudie, & in vnbloudie maner. They likewise teach that al lawful Sacrifices of the Law of nature, and of Moyses did end, and were complete in this one, which is our daylie Sacrifice, our immaculate l•m•e, our manna, our libament, our holocaust, our Sacrifice for sinne, our Pacifique Sacrifice for al purposes, and in steede of al old Sacrifices. So S. Augustin lib 8. c. 27. lib. 17. c. 20. de ciuit. lib. 3 de Bapis. c. 19. lib. 1. cont. aduers l•g & ptophet. c. 18. & 20. S. Chrysost. in Psal. 95. S. Leo. ser. 8. de Pass. and other fathers teach.
The best and perfectest of euerie kind is to be offered to God, not the blind, lame, or weake. Gen. 4. Malach. 1.
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9. Svvetesauour.] Not that the sauour of corporal things (though it were Not the external worke for it selfe but sincere deuotion pleaseth God. External sacrifices were ordained: 1. to keepe the people from Idolatrie. 2. To induce them to internal vertues. sweter then of burnt flesh and bones) delighteth Gods most pure substance: but for that mans frailtie in some good sorte performing his dutie, is very acceptable to his diuine goodnes. For otherwise he required not these Sacrifices, nor other external Rites for him felf, but he would haue his people for their owne good to be exercised therein: especially for three causes. First to kepe them from Idolatrie, wherto they were very prone, as appeareth by their often falling, notwithstanding continual admonitions to the contrarie. For being as it were burdened with manie ceremonies, pertaining to Gods true seruice, they might haue lesse mind, leysure, and occasion to serue Idols Secondly, for so much as man consisteth of soule and Io. 4. v 24. Rom. 6. v. 19. bodie, as the soule must interiorly vvorship God in spirite and veritie; so the bodie must also honour him exteriorly, seruing iustice vnto sanctification: that is by external good workes to increase iustice, and sanctitie, when by them the mind is instructed and inuited to know and honoure God. For otherwise saieth S Dionyse (c. 1. •alest. Hi•rer.) vnles mans vnderstanding vse the helpe of corporal things, diuine veritie can not be attained. And S. Augustin (lib. 10. c. 5 ciuit.) teacheth that God commanded external Sacrifices, thereby Psal. 5•. to lead his seruants vnto mortified spirites, contrite and humbled harts, to mercie and compassion towards others. In briefe (c. 3. Enchir) to the true and perfect seruing of his Diuine powre by faith, hope, and charitie. Thirdly, that 3. To signifie greater Mysteries of the new Testament. these external Sacrifices and Rites might prefigure and signifie greater, more excellent, and more effectual Mysteries of the new Testament. For as S. Paul speaketh (Heb. 10.) the lavv (of Moyses) hauing a shadovv of good things to come, not the verie image of the things, brought not to perfection; nor tooke avvay sinnes by the bloud of oxen or goates, but being (asis••id) a shadovv, rather shaded then perfectly shewed the great benefites, which the new law as a perfect image liuely representeth: especially Christs passion, which is the verie fountaine of grace and mercie. And wheras the old law could not iustifie (Gal. 3.) the law of Christ doth in dede iustifie, as the Gospel witnesseth, saying: (Ioan 1 v. 17.) The lavv vvas geuen by Moyses, grace and veritie vvas made by Iesus Christ.
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1. AND HE CALLED MOSES, AND THE LORD SPOKE TO HIM. — "Spoke," not with an imaginary, but with a sensible voice, proceeding from the tabernacle, and formed in the air by an angel, speaking in the place of God: which speech was not proper, or vital and human speech, since the angel lacks a body and the bodily organs necessary for speaking, namely a mouth, tongue and teeth, but was similar to it. Whence speech is said analogically. "The Lord," that is the angel, sustaining the person of the Lord, as I said at Exodus III, 2. OF THE TABERNACLE OF THE TESTIMONY, — that is of the tabernacle in which was the testimony, that is the law or the tables of the law. See what is said at Exodus XXVII, 20. It can secondly be translated, of the tabernacle of assembly, or of constitution, which was namely as it were a place appointed for the assembly of the people and of Moses with God. Thus Vatablus; for the Hebrew moed signifies both.
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2. Speak unto the children of Israel, — to all, even the Levites. Note: When the children of Israel are named in Scripture, if the discourse concerns a temporal matter, the Levites are excluded; if a spiritual matter, they are included, as is evident from Deuteronomy XXVII, 12; Apocalypse VII, 7, where the tribe of Levi is numbered among those sealed by God: for it is the duty of Levites and sacred persons, not to care for and be wise about temporal things, but about spiritual things. A MAN THAT SHALL OFFER AN OBLATION TO THE LORD. — For sacrifice is to be offered to God alone, and this has been received by the custom of all nations, namely that none should sacrifice except to one who is God, or who is held to be God by them, whom they knew, thought, or imagined to be God, says St. Augustine, book X of the City of God, chapter IV, and this for the reason which I gave at the beginning of the chapter. A MAN THAT SHALL OFFER, — supply willingly; for there were other oblations not voluntary, but commanded, and therefore necessary. Such was the oblation of the firstborn, concerning which Exodus XXII, 29; and the oblation for sin, concerning which here chapter IV and V; and these which were necessary could not be transferred by anyone to another manner of oblation, as is evident chapter XXVII, verse 26: "The firstborn, it says, which belong to God, no one shall be able to sanctify and vow." OF BEASTS. — Our interpreter does not distinguish between beasts and cattle, just as grammarians do, who call cattle the smaller animals, beasts the larger. For the interpreter calls all animals, both smaller and larger, both cattle and beasts. OFFERING VICTIMS OF OXEN AND SHEEP. — Under sheep understand also goats; for the Hebrew word tson is common to these. The Lord chooses for himself in sacrifice, from terrestrial animals the ox, sheep and goat, from birds the dove and turtledove; but no fish. The first reason for this is the free will of God, which thus ordained it. The second, because this was fitting: for those animals are more in common use among men, and provide man with food from their flesh and milk, clothing from their fleece and hide; oxen also plough and thresh. Again, these animals are tame, and therefore cleaner. Thus Theodoret, Question 1, and Philo, book On Victims. In fish also this was peculiar, that they could scarcely be brought alive, and therefore could not be immolated; for both are true that saying of St. Antony: "What a fish is out of water, that a monk is out of his cell." Add that fish, because they abound in moisture and seed, are a symbol of sloth and lust. But Pierius, Hieroglyphics 31, says fish are a hieroglyphic of innocence, since they are altogether harmless, nor do they transgress their element to inflict snares on others: and therefore Pythagoras took care that one should abstain from fish, lest they persecute the innocent. The same teaches Lilius Giraldus in the Symbols of Pythagoras. Wherefore Pythagoras, according to Plutarch, is said to have bought from a fisherman the casting of his net, so that whatever fish that cast should catch, he would immediately release; which he also did. The third cause is that fish are very imperfect and ignoble animals. Hear Philo, book I of the Constitution of the World: "Fish were created first among the other animals, because their soul is the most ignoble, as man's is the most acute. 'Some souls, he says, are indeed very slow, and less expressed, which falls to the race of fish; but some are very acute, which is man's. But that which is intermediate between both is given to terrestrial and winged creatures. For this is more sensible than in fish; duller however than that which is in men. Wherefore God created fish first among animals, more partakers of bodily substance than of soul, and in a manner both animals and not animals, and mobile inanimate things: and to the very conservation of the body alone God gave them the animal spirit, as (it is said) salt is sprinkled on flesh, lest it putrefy easily.'" Wherefore the Egyptians, according to Herodotus, abstained from fish as from things impure and defiled. Indeed, when they wish to signify wickedness and defilement, they paint a fish, because fish feed on each other's flesh, and are food for one another, as Horus the Egyptian writes. Certainly besides the Egyptians, we also read that the Syrians abstained from fish. Whence among them the goddess Atergatis is celebrated, which means without fish: for in the Syrian language, ater is a privative word, and gatis signifies fish. Other nations, however, Athenaeus relates in book VII made a sacred thing of tuna and eel. Indeed, M. Varro also, in book III of Rural Affairs, writes that among the Lydians a sacred thing was made of certain fish. Abulensis gives a fourth reason: "God wished," he says, "to have a bull immolated to himself, lest the Hebrews should think Apis, the Egyptian bull, to be God; a ram, lest they should regard Ammon the Egyptian, who has the horns of a ram, as God; a goat, because demons worshipped by the Egyptians were often wont to show themselves in the form of a goat," as they still do. From this it follows that all clean animals were also clean for sacrifice and could be eaten: not, however, conversely. For the stag, the pygarg, and the rest were clean for food and eating, as will appear in chapter XI, yet not for sacrifice; for it was not lawful to immolate them. Thus Abulensis. The allegorical reason was that these animals most aptly signified Christ, who is the sole victim of the new law, to signify whom they were chiefly instituted, Hebrews X, 1. For the ox signified the strength and labors of Christ; the sheep, innocence; the kid, the form of a sinner; the turtle-dove, close union with God; the young pigeons or squabs of doves, gentleness. Thus St. Cyril, book XV On Adoration in Spirit and Truth, page 304, Procopius in chapter IV of Leviticus, and Bede here. These same things signify the same tropologically; for, as Origen says, homily 2: "He offers to God a calf, who overcomes the pride of the flesh by labor; he offers a sheep, who corrects irrational movements of anger and foolish passions (for if you forgive from your heart a sin to your brother, and having laid aside the swelling of wrath, you have gathered within yourself a meek and simple spirit; consider that you have immolated a ram or a lamb); he offers a kid, who overcomes wantonness; a pair of turtle-doves, who joins his mind to God's word as to a spouse; young pigeons, who imitates the eyes of the dove of the bride." Thus also Isychius and Radulphus. Hence Philo, in the book On Victims, says that these animals to be immolated ought to have been whole, unharmed in all their parts, lacking in vices and blemishes, and therefore priests were wont to examine them diligently before immolation, from head to feet, lest the victim ever have a defect: and this was so that through this those offering might be admonished to present a bright and immaculate soul in the sight of God, and to offer it with their victim to God.
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3. IF HIS OFFERING BE A HOLOCAUST. — Holocaust is a Greek word, that is to say ὅλον καυστόν, that is, wholly burnt, in which the whole victim was burnt to God. Whence in Hebrew it is called calil, that is, whole, or consummated, because the whole was consumed by fire in honour of God; and it is called ola, that is, ascension, because in it the whole victim ascended to God through fire and smoke. Hence again in Greek it is called ὁλοκάρπωμα, because the whole would redound to the fruit of God. A holocaust therefore was a sacrifice offered to God purely for the praise of God, and honour of His supreme majesty, and love of His supreme goodness, even if we expected nothing of grace from Him, as Philo says. For this reason in the holocaust the whole victim, except the skin, was burnt, so that by this might be signified God's supreme dominion over all things, and that all things should be referred to Him, and to His glory. Secondly, those offering thereby protested that they were wholly God's, and consecrated themselves as it were wholly to God with the holocaust, so that as if with body destroyed, they might lift up their soul with the smoke of their victim to heaven, and transfer it to God. The Greek Gentiles, if they sacrificed to the heavenly gods, would place the head of the victim so that it looked toward heaven; but if to the infernal gods, so that it looked down to the earth, as Giraldus says, Syntag. 17. Note first: The victim of the holocaust ought to be male and immaculate. The rich offered an ox or a calf; others who could not have a calf offered a lamb or a kid; finally the poor, who had neither lamb nor kid, offered a turtle-dove or a young pigeon. Secondly, it ought to be brought to the door of the tabernacle. Thirdly, the one offering laid his hand on the head of the victim. Fourthly, the priest slew it and cut its throat, caught the blood in a bowl, and poured it around the altar, then stripped off the skin, then cut the victim into pieces, and placed them on the altar, and with fire and wood underneath burnt them. In these things, however, the priest sacrificing was helped by the work of other priests and Levites; for one priest could not have performed all these things, especially when many victims were to be offered at the same time. Tropologically: A holocaust, says Radulphus, is made by him who is continually devoted to divine service in heart and body; and it is threefold: first, of an ox, that is, of the strong in body, who lay down their labours for the benefit of their brethren; secondly, of sheep, that is, of those who, weak in body, feed others by the innocence of their works and simplicity of their morals; thirdly, of birds, that is, of those who are devoted to knowledge and contemplation, so that they may know God; thus nearly Isychius, and Rupertus, who compares the first with Job, the second with Noe: for Noe shone forth in innocence among sinners; the third with Daniel, the wisest of mortals. Secondly, aptly Ribera, lib. IV De Templo, cap. III, by the holocaust of a calf understands Christ, "who, as Paul says, delivered Himself for us, an oblation and a victim to God, for an odour of sweetness." Secondly, by the holocaust of a lamb or kid, he understands the oblation and death of Martyrs, which in dignity was next to the victim of Christ. Thirdly, by the holocaust of a turtle-dove and pigeon, he understands those who through continual mortification of the flesh, and denial of the will, immolate themselves as it were living victims to God, Rom. XII, 1. Now first, all these are male through fortitude, immaculate through holiness. Secondly, Christ was immolated at the door of the tabernacle, that is, near and outside the city. Thirdly, Christ, who is at once the one offering and the victim (for He offered Himself), Christ, I say, offering, laid his hand on the head of the victim, because He laid the sins of mankind on His own head, as Origen says. Fourthly, Christ offering Himself to the Father, shed His blood around the altar, that is, the cross, so that all nations of the earth might know they would be partakers of the cross and blood of Christ; the skin was stripped from the victim; Christ was stripped of all His garments; His limbs were cut into pieces, when the body of Christ was cut by scourges and nails, stretched on the cross so that His bones were moved from their places, according to that of Psalm XXI: "They have pierced my hands and my feet, and they have numbered all my bones." The fire by which He was immolated, and mystically burnt, was Christ, was the fire of His charity; the wood, our miseries, which kindled His love. Concerning the rest, namely the sheep and birds, I shall speak in their proper places below. OF THE HERD, — of oxen. Thus the Hebrew has it: or calves; for these alone among the larger animals were immolated. Male, — because the burnt offering was the most noble sacrifice, which was offered directly to God for His honor and praise alone; wherefore it was fitting that the most noble victim be used in it; and such is the male. It was otherwise in the peace offering, which was offered for the salvation of someone: in it indeed, as being less noble, a female could be offered. Thus Abulensis. Immaculate he shall offer, — an ox, or a calf. He calls the victim immaculate, which has no blemishes, not of color (for an ox with spots, that is, with black or variegated fleece, was reckoned immaculate, and could be immolated), but of deformity and defect: for he explains this blemish in Leviticus XXII, 22, saying: "Immaculate shall he offer, that it may be acceptable; every blemish shall not be in it if it be blind, if broken, if it have a scar, if it have pimples or scab, or impetigo;" and such a blemish is understood in the Canticle IV, when it is said of the bride: "Thou art all fair, O my love, and there is not a spot in thee." Whence for immaculate, in Hebrew it is tamim; that is, perfect, as Aquila translates it; and whole, as Symmachus. The priests were wont to scrutinize these blemishes, as I said above from Philo. But the Gentiles used to gild the horns of the victim: Whence Ovid: "And the victim clothed with gold upon its horns makes its vows," and Virgil: "And before the altars a heifer with gilded brow;" where Servius: "If," he says, "a smaller victim were to be immolated, it was crowned from the brow of him to whom the sacred rites were being performed, and bound about with a woolen fillet and white ribbon, it was placed before the altars bound by no cord." HE SHALL OFFER IT AT THE DOOR OF THE TABERNACLE OF THE TESTIMONY. — Three parts of the tabernacle. I said in Exodus XXVI that there were three parts of the tabernacle and temple: the first innermost, namely the Holy of Holies; the second joined to it, namely the Holy Place: these two were properly the very structure of the tabernacle itself; the third outermost, namely a certain court surrounding the tabernacle on all sides; and these were as it were three tabernacles, the first of the high priest, the second of the priests, the third of the laity: for in this court, as in their own temple, the laity gathered, and in it they ate the peace offerings. Furthermore the court was divided into two parts: the anterior part was the court of the priests, in which was the altar of burnt offerings; the posterior part, divided from the anterior by a partition, was the court of the laity. The laity therefore offering a victim in burnt offering brought it to the door of the tabernacle, that is to the entrance of the court of the priests; there indeed the priests received it, and led it to the altar of burnt offerings, where they immolated it: for the laity could not enter to this altar, or the court of the priests. TO MAKE ATONEMENT FOR HIMSELF BEFORE THE LORD. — The proper end of the burnt offering was to worship and honor God, not however to make atonement for Him; yet this followed from it, even if the one offering thought nothing of atonement. In Hebrew it is lirtsono, which the moderns translate, according to his will, that is to say, He shall offer that which pleased him; but better would you translate lirtsono, for the favor of Him before the Lord, that is to say, He shall offer to conciliate the favor of the Lord for himself. For the names and affixes of the Hebrews are often taken passively, according to Canon 25; thus here it is called "his favor," namely not one who favors, but one to whom favor is shown, which Our Version translates, to make atonement for himself before the Lord; and the Septuagint, it shall be acceptable to him for making atonement for him. AND IT SHALL BE ACCEPTABLE. — In Hebrew it is nirtsa lo, that is, it shall please, or it shall be accepted by him, namely God. Secondly, it can be translated, it shall be accepted for him, namely for the one offering. Josephus teaches that God showed this by an external sign, in book III of the Antiquities, chapter IX: "For," he says, "from the two onyx stones which were placed on the shoulders of the high priest, the right one used to shine whenever a sacrifice was accepted, with such brightness that it could be seen even from afar." In a similar manner he asserts that the stones of the breastplate used to shine.
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Hence it follows: 4. AND HE SHALL PUT HIS HAND UPON THE HEAD OF THE VICTIM. — First, that by this rite the one offering may signify that he transfers the victim from his own hand and power into the right of God. By a similar ceremony the ancient Romans renounced themselves from slaves and manumitted them; for holding the head, they said: "I wish this man to be free," and they sent him away by their hand. Whence also this ceremony was employed in the oblation and consecration of the Levites, Numbers VIII, 19. Second, that by this ceremony the one offering may signify that he imprecates his sins upon himself, and as it were imposes them upon the victim to be immolated, and offers it for himself; for by hands are signified actions and sins, which are done by hands, as Theodoret and Eusebius say, lib. I Demonst. Evang. cap. X. "The imposition of hands," says Eusebius, "was a symbol of oblation, and a testimony of guilt transferred into the victim." For although a holocaust was offered primarily for the honor of God, yet secondarily it was offered for sins to appease God, as I have said. Thus the pagan Egyptians imprecated upon the head of the victim, if there were anything that might harm either the sacrificers or Egypt, so that all of it might be turned upon this head: and soon they cut off the head of the victim and cast it into the river, as Giraldus relates, Syntag. 17. Third, that by this rite the one offering may signify that he offers himself entirely with the victim as a holocaust to God, and wishes to devote himself wholly to the service of God. For these reasons also our priests in the sacrifice of the Mass impose their hands upon the host, as Durandus noted in the Rationale of Divine Offices, Suarez and others. For this same reason Numa ordained among the Romans that "one adoring ought to turn himself about in a circle," so that by this gesture he might signify that in human affairs nothing is stable, and therefore it is fitting that in whatever way God may twist and turn our life, we should take it in good part, as Plutarch says in Numa. FOR AN EXPIATION MAKING PROPITIATION. — From this and from cap. IV Calvin infers that by these old sacrifices, in a sacramental manner, the Israelites were reconciled, and freed from guilt and liability in God's judgment, just as today we are washed and freed through baptism. This opinion follows from another principle of Calvin, by which he teaches that the Sacraments of the new law do not confer grace from the work worked, but faith which the Sacraments excite confers grace, and the Sacraments are only seals of grace conferred through faith; because therefore both old and new Sacraments and sacrifices do not justify except through faith, which they excite in equal manner: hence according to Calvin the mode of justifying both is equal. But this is a manifest error, and clearly repugnates Holy Scripture, Psalm L, 18: "If thou hadst desired sacrifice, I would indeed have given it: with burnt offerings thou wilt not be delighted"; Psalm XXXIX, 7: "Sacrifice and oblation thou wouldst not"; Galatians IV, 9: "How do you turn again to the weak and needy elements?" as it is expressly refuted by Paul, Hebrews X, 4 et seq. Second, this error is opposed to the Council of Florence tract. De Sacram., and is condemned by Trent, sess. VII, can. 2; and deservedly so, for this heresy so diminishes the grace and Sacraments of the new law, that it makes Jews equal to Christians, and the old law equal to the new, so that according to it it would have been equally desirable to be a Jew as to be a Christian, so that deservedly Hunnius and others wrote a book against Calvin with this title: Calvin Judaizing. Whence third, St. Clement refutes him, lib. VI Constit. XXII; Irenaeus, lib. IV, cap. XXXII; St. Jerome, in cap. V Matthew, and in Isaiah cap. I and LX; Chrysostom, hom. 9 in Matthew, and others. You will say: How then is it said here that the old victim avails for expiation? I answer first, because it availed for the expiation of temporal punishment, and for turning away the punishment of this life, which God would otherwise have inflicted upon them. Second, because it removed from itself legal uncleanness or of the flesh, by which they were reckoned unclean among their own, and were barred from sacred things: which uncleanness was a figure of sin; thus therefore this victim conferred a certain legal and external justice, which was a figure of true justice and internal renewal. Third, because it removed guilt and eternal punishment, not by the force of the sacrifice or from the work worked (for this indeed is granted not even to the sacrifice of the new law, but only to its Sacraments), but from the work of the one working, namely from the contrition and charity of the one offering: for no other spiritual promise was annexed to the old sacrifices and Sacraments.
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5. AND HE SHALL IMMOLATE A CALF BEFORE THE LORD. — "He shall immolate," that is, offering by means of him to whom it belongs to immolate, namely by the priest, either the high priest or a lower one; for all and only these priests were able to sacrifice, as also to burn incense, as is evident from chapter X, verse 1. Vilalpando notes, in book III On the Temple, chapter XXXVII, page 232, that both Jews and Gentiles slaughtered their victims expanded, namely with legs spread apart and their whole body stretched out; and this first, because such expansion of the victim upon stones, with neck lowered and body erect, was convenient for easier and more abundant effusion of blood. Second, so that through this external arrangement of the victim, the internal disposition of the one offering might be signified as if wholly poured out before God. Third, so that Christ might be signified, who as a victim expanded was slain upon the cross for the redemption of men; in every victim thus stretched out, Christ crucified was as it were represented in a living image, and stretched out in like manner upon the cross. A CALF — In Hebrew, a son of an ox; the ox which in verse 3 he commanded to be offered, he here calls a calf. God therefore chose an ox and preferred it to others, not an aged one, but a young one, because it is more tender and delicate; for the best things must be offered to God. For this reason he also wished it to be male and without blemish. Although there are other mystical reasons for this matter, and a more important one was given by St. Cyril, book XV On Adoration in Spirit and Truth, page 300, namely first, that the male and immaculate and young son of man, our Emmanuel, was prefigured by these victims; for Christ was immolated in the flower of youth. Second, that God requires from us a masculine spirit, robust and free from vices; for softness and a womanish spirit, and weakness of the inner mind and intellect is utterly rejected by God, says Cyril. Thus also among the Egyptians it was not permitted to immolate females, as Herodotus testifies, book II. On the other hand, other nations preferred females to males in sacrifice, says Servius in book VIII of the Aeneid. Note: In the holocaust alone God requires a male victim, because this was precisely offered for the praise and honor of God, who, being perfect, demands a perfect victim, and therefore a male one, by which we might testify to and represent his perfection, says Abulensis. Wherefore in the peace offering the victim could be female, as is evident from chapter III, 1. The same appears to be true of the offering for sin. For in chapter IV, the law does not require a male victim in it. Thus Radulphus and Abulensis. BEFORE THE LORD, — before the altar and tabernacle where God is singularly present, and hears the vows and receives the sacrifices of those offering. From this place, and more clearly from verse 11, where it is said: "And he shall immolate it at the side of the altar," it is gathered that the animals were not slaughtered upon the altar, but beside it, or at its side; for the altar was full of fire, nor could the priest lift an ox upon so high an altar. Whence the altar was sprinkled with the blood of the victim, after it had been immolated elsewhere; but the limbs of the slaughtered victim cut up the priest placed upon the altar, so that they might be burned in it. Thus Abulensis. AND THE SONS OF AARON THE PRIESTS SHALL OFFER HIS BLOOD, POURING IT ROUND ABOUT THE ALTAR. — "The sons of Aaron" are called here any priests who minister to the sacrificing priest, even if otherwise they be equal to him in dignity: for then there were no other priests who would minister to Aaron the high priest sacrificing, than his sons. For the family of Aaron alone was chosen and raised by God to the priesthood. HIS BLOOD POURING IT. — For, as the Apostle says, Hebrews IX, 22, "without shedding of blood there is no remission." But the holocaust was referred secondarily to the remission of sins. And so because sins made men worthy of death and shedding of blood: for the soul, that is life, consists in blood, Leviticus XVII, 14: hence they in place of their own blood poured the blood of the victims, into which by the imposition of hands, protesting their sins as it were transferred; and they poured the blood around the altar, because God was represented by the altar. Whence by this sign they testified that they offered to him the blood of the beast for their own, asking that God would receive it in place of their own, and by it as the punishment of a sinner and his enemy would satisfy his just vengeance. See chapter XVII, verse 11, and Abulensis on chapter III, Question III. Abulensis thinks that by continuous miracle all the blood of the victims immediately evaporated, and this for the decency and reverence of the sacrifices; otherwise it would have brought intolerable stench, especially since many victims were slaughtered at the same time. Solomon provided for this inconvenience in his temple: for he made pools, channels and underground conduits, through which the blood would be discharged, and water poured over would wash it away, as Aristeas testifies, in the treatise On the Septuagint and the Two Interpreters.
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6. AND THE SKIN OF THE VICTIM BEING FLAYED. — The skin was flayed, both for the cleanliness of the sacrifice, and because the sacrifice was as it were food for God. But skin is not usually eaten. Except the red heifer, and sacrifices for sin, in which the skin, dung and horns of the victim were burned outside the camp; and this was to indicate and induce a detestation of sin, concerning which see cap. IV. Moreover it was the duty of the priests to flay the skin; hence also the skin fell to the priest, as is evident cap. VII, 7. Understand this, unless necessity pressed: for then also the Levites served in this flaying, as is evident II Paral. XXIX, 34. Thus Cajetan, Oleaster and others. AND SHALL CUT THE JOINTS INTO PIECES. — In Hebrew, and he shall cut (namely the priest) it according to its joints, or parts; and the Septuagint, μελιοῦσιν αὐτό κατά μέλη, shall cut it member by member. Josephus adds that these pieces were sprinkled with salt, and thus placed upon the altar. Symbolically, by this cutting of the members, it was signified, says Philo, that we ought to praise God, and give Him thanks for the heaven, sun, moon, earth, sea, air, and all the parts of the universe. For these are as it were the pieces and members of the world, which is as it were an entire victim of God. Tropologically, each member of him who is dedicated to God is carefully examined by the word of God, which reaches even to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, to whom all things are naked and open, says Procopius, Radulphus, and St. Gregory, lib. I Moral. cap. ult. "The skin," says Gregory, "of the victim we flay, when we remove from the eyes of our mind the surface of virtue; whose joints we cut into pieces, when distinguishing subtly its inward parts and considering them member by member," etc.
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7. THEY SHALL PUT FIRE UNDER THE ALTAR, — they shall make fire to be placed underneath; therefore in the first sacrifice they shall place fire underneath, which afterwards they shall continually maintain under the altar, as will be said cap. VI, vers. 13. Note: under the altar, that is, beneath the altar. For the altar was hollow inside to receive fire and wood, as I said Exod. XXVII, 8; but it was covered with a grated grating like a net, upon which the victims to be burned were placed, as is evident there vers. 4. In Hebrew it is, they shall give upon, or to the altar fire. Whence Abulensis infers that fire and wood were not beneath, but upon the altar. But I answer: "They shall give fire to the altar," that is, to the place constituted beneath the altar, or upon the altar, as the Septuagint translates it, that is, upon the inner part of the altar, namely upon stones raised from the ground, which reached to the middle of the inner altar, upon which the hearth with fire and wood was placed. Hence the altar was called as it were alta ara, says Isidore, lib. XV Origin, cap. XIV; but ara was called from burning, because victims burned in it. Ara, says Varro, is called because the areas in the city are pure, or from the heat of the victims. Others think altars are named from prayers, which the Greeks call ἀρά.
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8. THE HEAD NAMELY, AND ALL THINGS THAT ADHERE TO THE LIVER. — He names the parts concerning which there could be doubt; for concerning the rest of the flesh it is manifest that it all ought to be burned in the holocaust, as is evident from the Septuagint, Hebrew and Chaldean. Mystically, we ought especially to offer to God the vital parts, the head and the liver, that is, the intellect and the affection; for the liver is the seat of love. Hence the Gentiles, thinking that each part and member in man is held by individual gods, attributed the head to Jupiter, the eyes to Minerva, the arms to Juno, the breast to Neptune, the loins and girdle to Mars, the kidneys and groin to Venus, the feet to Mercury, as Giraldus teaches from Democritus and Placides, Syntagm. 1.
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9. FOR A HOLOCAUST AND A SWEET ODOUR TO THE LORD. — Anthropopathy; this is said of God. The sense is, as the Chaldean translates, the offering of a holocaust is that by which it is received with good pleasure before the Lord. Hence for a sweet odour, or of sweetness, in Hebrew it is an odour of rest, in which namely God rests and delights sweetly, as in a sacrifice acceptable to Him. Abulensis, just as of blood, so of the flesh thinks the smell and stench were divinely removed, and a sweet odour was given to them; otherwise indeed in continual sacrifices there would have been a most grievous odour, and an intolerable stench. Radulphus brings the tropology of all the things already said: The altar, he says, is our heart; the wood is holy thoughts; the victim is offered at the door of the tabernacle, that is, at and near the entrance of heaven; the imposition of hands is the devotion of the offerer; the shedding of blood is the expulsion of small desires; the flaying of the skin is the examination of the inner will; the cutting of the members is the discrete distribution of works of charity; fire is charity; the head is the intention of the work; the intestines, that is, the inward parts of the soul, and the feet, that is, external actions, must be washed and purified, so that we may be a victim worthy of God. This tropology serves also for the holocaust of sheep, birds, and other sacrifices, and therefore I shall not repeat it hereafter in the others.
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10. AND IF HIS OFFERING BE OF BEASTS. — By beasts he means cattle, or flocks of sheep and goats; for the Hebrew tson signifies these. Moses here passes from the first kind of holocaust, namely from oxen, to the second, that is to sheep and goats. HE SHALL OFFER A MALE LAMB WITHOUT BLEMISH. — For "male" the Plantin Bible has "of one year old." But that it should be read "male" is evident from the Hebrew, Chaldean, Septuagint and the Romans. And although Josephus says: "A lamb and a kid of one year old, but a bull may be slain even if larger;" nevertheless Scripture and the divine law contain nothing of the sort: perhaps the Jews interpreted that such a lamb ought to be in the holocaust as was the paschal, which ought to be of one year old, Exodus XII, 5.
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11. AND HE SHALL IMMOLATE IT AT THE SIDE OF THE ALTAR THAT LOOKETH TOWARD THE NORTH. — God commanded this so that this slaying and immolation should be done before the door of the tabernacle, or the Holy Place, which was as it were the temple and house of God. For the altar of holocausts was at the south of this door; therefore that the immolation should be done before the door, it ought to be done at the north side of the altar. Thus Isychius. St. Cyril gives an allegorical reason, in book XVI On Adoration, namely that it might be signified that the passion of Christ would profit the Gentiles; for since Judaea was to the south, hence the Gentiles, opposed to the Jews, are signified by the north. AND THE BLOOD THEREOF HE SHALL POUR OUT UPON THE ALTAR, — upon the sides of the altar, or upon the walls of the altar round about, as was said in verse 5; for if the blood had been poured upon the grate-work net, it would have extinguished the fire placed beneath it.
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12. AND THEY SHALL PUT THEM UPON THE WOOD, — either immediately, or by means of a grate, as I said at Exodus XXVII, 4. Tropologically, Ribera adapts all these things which pertain to the holocaust of sheep, one by one, to the Martyrs. See him in book IV On the Temple, chapter III. Such a sheep, nay rather a ram of the flock and of the Martyrs of Christ was St. Polycarp, who when he entered into the stadium of martyrdom, a voice was heard from heaven: "Be strong, Polycarp, and be a man." Wherefore, contending constantly for the faith of Christ before the Prefect, he was condemned by him and led to the pyre, and "with his hands bound behind his back, in the manner of a noble ram, he offered a holocaust acceptable to God the Almighty, saying: Father of thy beloved and blessed Son Jesus Christ, through whom we have received the knowledge of thee, God of angels and powers, and of all creation and of all kinds of the just who live before thee, I give thee thanks that thou hast deemed me worthy on this day and hour, that I might receive a portion in the number of Martyrs, in the cup of Christ, unto the resurrection of eternal life, of soul together with body, in the incorruptibility of the Holy Spirit: in which I may be received in thy sight this day in a sacrifice fat and acceptable, as thou hast prepared, already made manifest beforehand, and fulfilled, thou who art truthful and canst not lie, God true. Wherefore I praise thee for all things, I bless thee, I glorify thee through the eternal High Priest Jesus Christ thy beloved Son, through whom to thee together with him and the Holy Spirit be glory now and in the ages of ages to come. Amen." Thus the Smyrneans, eyewitnesses, relate it, in Eusebius, book IV of the History, chapter XV. Do you wish not one, but many? When Diocletian was reigning, Christians at Nicomedia had gathered in a temple on the day of Christ's nativity; the tyrant sent those who would close the temple and kindle fire all around it. Soon he ordered it to be proclaimed by a herald that whoever wished to live should leave the temple and offer incense at the nearby altar of Jupiter; otherwise, if he did not do this, he would burn together with the temple. Then indeed one from the temple answered freely for all: "We are all Christians, we believe that Christ alone is the one God and King; and we are prepared to sacrifice to him, to his Father, and to the Holy Spirit, and all of us together to offer ourselves." Scarcely had he said this when fire is kindled, which as if in a moment embraced the whole temple, and burned all of them (there were twenty thousand men) as if holocausts, and reduced them to ashes, as Nicephorus relates, book VII of the History, chapter VI. Hear also the three boy martyrs in the fiery furnace: "As in a holocaust of rams and bulls, and as in thousands of fat lambs; so let our sacrifice be made in thy sight this day, that it may please thee," O Lord, Daniel III, 40. Hear also the heroine among women. Illustrous was a matron and Martyr under Dunaan the tyrant of the Homerites, who when she had reproached him with blasphemy and perjury, heard from him: I will tear thee, most audacious woman, and give thee to dogs to devour; I will see whether thy Nazarene can help thee. Not bearing these words, the first of the Martyr's daughters, already in her twelfth year, spat in the tyrant's eyes: soon those standing by the tyrant pierce her with the sword together with her sister; and they offer the blood to the mother. She indeed, tasting it, and looking up to heaven: "To thee," she said, "Christ the Lord, I offer this my sacrifice, and to thee I present Martyrs, chaste virgins, who have come forth from my womb, with whom also count me and introduce me into thy bridal chamber, and, as the divine David says, show the mother rejoicing because of her daughters." Wherefore the king condemned her to death. Thus from Procopius Baronius relates it in the year of Christ 522, page 91. Finally, St. Ambrose, ordered by Justina and her son Valentinian the Emperor to hand over the church to the Arians, refused, saying: "The things that are God's are not subject to imperial power. If you seek the patrimony, seize it; if the body, hasten; do you wish to lead me into chains? do you wish to death? it is sport: I will not fortify myself with the protection of peoples, nor will I hold the altars begging for life, but I will offer myself as a victim for the altars." See him in the epistle to Marcellina his sister.
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14. AND IF THE OFFERING OF BIRDS TO THE LORD FOR A HOLOCAUST SHALL BE, OF TURTLEDOVES OR OF THE YOUNG OF PIGEONS. — This is the third kind of holocaust, namely of birds, such as turtledoves or young pigeons. For God chose the larger turtledoves, because these are better: but from pigeons He chose the young, because in pigeons the young are better and fatter. Thus Philo. Add that pigeons are more lustful than other birds; for they generate every month. Thus Theodoret. Note: The turtledove is called tor in Hebrew when doubled. Thus from the Hebrew rab, in Chaldean rab rabbim are called princes. Thus from the Syriac bar, that is, outside, when doubled, is called barbar or barbarian. This was the holocaust of the poor, as is evident from Leviticus, chapter XII, verse 8. Whence in Numbers, chapter VII, where the victims of the princes are enumerated, no birds are mentioned. Tropologically, Ribera says that the third holocaust of birds signifies Confessors and Virgins, who by the mortification of the flesh and contempt of the world, by knowledge and contemplation, and by prayer fly up to heaven. "Who will give me wings like a dove, and I will fly, and be at rest?" says the Psalmist, Psalm LIV: for the dove is of swift and long flight; again it is fruitful, gentle and without gall. The turtledove loves chastity and solitude, and mourns. Whence the Poet: "Nor shall the turtledove cease to moan from the airy elm." Thus the just fly swiftly, nor are they wearied by labor, and they have the fruitfulness of good works, they are gentle, they lack gall, they know not how to return injury for injury, they are zealous for chastity, they seek solitude for prayer and for being vacant to God: instead of song they utter groans, because while others rejoice in their pleasures, they themselves weep with groans of penance for their own and others' sins; of whom it is said: "Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted." This is what St. Jerome says in Psalm XCV: "Virginity is a virgin, the victim of Christ." And St. Ignatius, in his epistle to the Tharsians, calls virgins the priests of Christ: "Those," he says, "who live in virginity, hold in honor, as the priests of Christ."
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15. THE HEAD TWISTED BACK TO THE NECK, AND THE PLACE OF THE WOUND BROKEN OPEN. — From this it appears first, that in the holocaust the neck of the turtledove was not cut off, but twisted back; secondly, that the same was opened not by iron or knife, but by the nail. Thus Abulensis, Ribera and Vatablus. Allegorically St. Gregory, homily 1 on Ezekiel: "The head of the turtledove," he says, "once cut off remained attached to the body: because Christ suffered indeed for us, but by His passion was not separated from us, but rather joined us to Himself." Tropologically, the sublime mind ought to be cut off from the pleasure of the flesh, and yet not be severed; for we ought to nourish the flesh so that it may live, not so that it may flow forth in luxury. Thus the same Gregory. AND HE SHALL MAKE THE BLOOD RUN DOWN UPON THE SIDE OF THE ALTAR, — that is, upon the top of the walls, so that from there it may run down to the ground. Whence in Hebrew it is, upon the wall of the altar.
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16. AND THE CROP OF THE BIRD, AND THE FEATHERS HE SHALL CAST BESIDE THE ALTAR, ON THE EAST SIDE, IN THE PLACE WHERE THE ASHES ARE WONT TO BE POURED OUT. — For the crop in Hebrew is mura, which Vatablus translates as ventriculum. But both the Septuagint and the Chaldean and our translator render it as the crop of the bird; thus also Theodotion, who translates κοκκα, that is, a little sac; and Aquila, who translates σὺν ζωᾷ, that is, the nutritive part, which receives food and supplies it to the other parts of the body. Hence the Septuagint translates πρόλοβον; πρόλοβος is called this crop of the bird, ἀπὸ τοῦ λοβοῦ, that is, from the sinus or sac, which first receives the food swallowed from the throat. Theodoretus for πρόλοβον reads πρόλοβον. Πρόλοβος, he says, is called this sac, as it were προλαμβάνουσα τὴν τροφήν, that is, which first takes up food. The same in Hebrew is called mura, as it were conspicuous, from the root raa, that is, he saw: for this crop of the bird is extended and conspicuous to all. You will ask, why in the holocaust of birds, the crop and feathers were not burned on the altar with the bird itself? Rabbi Solomon answers: Because birds, he says, fly with their feathers to foreign fields and seize and lay them waste; because therefore feathers are the instrument of seizing, God did not wish them to be offered to Him: for offerings from rapine do not please God. But by this reasoning neither the beak, nor the feet, nor the stomach of birds ought to have been burned. I say therefore: God did not wish the crop to be offered to Him, because it is unclean; nor the feathers, because these are not eaten, and therefore are useless to the sacrifice, which is as it were food for God; He wished therefore that they be cast in the place beside the altar, in which the ashes were kept: for they were reckoned sacred, because they remained from sacred flesh. In the same place this crop and the feathers of the turtledove were burned; and their ashes were carried out by the priest beyond the camp, as is clear from Leviticus VI, 11. Thus Abulensis, Ribera and others. Tropologically, in birds, that is, in the knowledge and contemplation of doctors and saints, the crop is to be cast away, that is, swelling and pride. Likewise the feathers, that is, levity and curious inquiry into superfluous things; and the mind is to be fixed on dust and ashes from which we have arisen and into which we shall return. Thus Isychius and Radulphus. More aptly St. Cyril, book XVI On Adoration, folio 324, and Ribera, by the crop of the bird understand the ingluvies of the belly; for the pleasure of food is not felt except in the mouth and in this crop of the bird; when the food has passed through it, the pleasure has also passed. Whence Philoxenus wished for himself the neck of a crane, so that he might taste foods longer; so that pleasure might deceive him longer, says Giraldus. Phileze washed his neck and throat with that of a crane, so that he might feel pleasure longer and more enduringly. This therefore, as it were the unclean neck of a crane, and preserving the dung of sinners, is to be cast away by those devoted to wisdom. The soft feathers signify precious and delicate garments, which he ought to cast away who wishes to become a holocaust to God. Thus did St. John the Baptist, Matthew III, 4. TOWARD THE EAST SIDE, that is, toward the court, not however toward the tabernacle or the Holy Place. For it would have been altogether unseemly to cast these filth toward the Holy Place; that this is so is clear from the fact that the altar was to the east of the tabernacle or Holy Place: for it was before the tabernacle, or between the tabernacle and the entrance into the court. But the entrance of the court was to the east, as Moses said in Exodus chapter XXVII, verse 43. So that therefore these filth should be cast toward the entrance into the court, not however toward the Holy Place, they ought to be cast toward the east.
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And he shall break his wings.—In Hebrew, and shall split or cleave it in its wings, and shall not separate it, that is to say, he shall so split or break its wings that he shall not cut them off or tear them away. Thus Oleaster, Cajetan and Vatable. The literal reason for this is the fitting composition of the victim; for thus the wings of our fatted fowls are broken and twisted when they are roasted or boiled. The tropological reason is that it may signify that the virtue of high and sublime knowledge and contemplation is not to be entirely cut away, but is to be split and thus bent back and restrained, so that it may not presume to higher things, always mindful of its own weakness. Thus Radulph: "To break the wings," he says, "is not to attribute the sharpness of wit to oneself, but humbly to think of one's own weakness under the divine gift." IT IS A HOLOCAUST AND AN OBLATION.—In Hebrew, it is a holocaust and a burning, that is, a burnt oblation, by which the whole is consumed by fire purely in honour of God, and therefore it is of most sweet odour and most pleasing to God. Wherefore both priests and people approached these sacrifices with wonderful reverence and silence, as Aristeas testifies in his book On the Seventy Interpreters. Thus among the Romans Numa ordained that a herald, going before the sacrifices with a loud voice, should cry out: "Attend to this," commanding that minds be applied to the sacrifice. And, as Cicero writes in book I of On Divination, and Seneca in his book On the Happy Life, by crying out: "Favour with your tongues," silence was enjoined, so that the sacrifice might be performed properly, with no evil voice making a disturbance. What now do our priests and Christians do? when even the poet Virgil indicates faithful silences for sacred rites, and mysteries are called from μύων τὸ στόμα, that is from closing the mouth. Let the talkative hear in the church, let the immodest hear St. Ambrose, book III On Virgins: "Is there anything," he says, "more unworthy than that divine oracles be drowned out, so that they are not heard, not believed, not revealed? that the Sacraments be surrounded with confused voices, so that prayer poured out for the salvation of all be hindered, when the Gentiles show reverence to their idols by silence? whence that example is handed down: when Alexander, king of the Macedonians, was sacrificing, a barbarian boy, who was lighting the lamps for him, caught the fire on his arm, and with his body burned remained unmoved, and did not reveal his pain by groaning, nor indicated his suffering by silent weeping. So great was the discipline of reverence in the barbarian boy that it overcame nature. And he feared not gods, who were nothing, but the king." Then he brings another example of the faithful. "It is a frequent story," he says, "that when very many murmurings of frogs were making a disturbance in the ears of the religious people, the priest of God commanded that they be silent, and show reverence to the sacred prayer; then suddenly the sounds surrounding them ceased. Do the marshes fall silent, and men will not be silent?" If heaven is a temple, as St. Chrysostom says, see what the angels do in heaven. In the very temple you hear this, if you listen to the sacred: "Thy Majesty the Angels praise, the Dominations adore, the Powers tremble; the Virtues of the heavens and of the heavens, and the blessed Seraphim, with united exultation celebrate." Do the same thing yourself in the temple, praise, pray to God, according to that Psalm 28: "In his temple all shall speak his glory;" and Psalm 64: "A hymn becometh thee, O God, in Sion," that is in the temple, in Hebrew it is, silence is praise to thee, O God, in Sion. For silence is a kind of praise, both the internal silence of the mind venerating God, and the external, because it stirs others to the praise of God, while in sacred rites they see such great modesty and reverence. St. Cyprian, in his book On the Lord's Prayer: "The priest," he says, "prepares the minds of the brethren, saying: Lift up your hearts. And while the people respond: We have them with the Lord, let them be admonished that they ought to think of nothing else but God." Blessed Cassius, bishop of Narni, celebrating Mass daily with tears, heard from God through a vision of a certain priest: "Do what you do, work what you work." Let the priest therefore say to himself: "For what purpose have you come, do this;" let the people standing by say the same thing. On account of this religion and reverence toward sacrifices, priests about to sacrifice ought to prepare themselves: First, by purifying themselves and washing themselves with the water of ashes of the red heifer, concerning which Numbers XIX, if they were unclean. The Gentiles did the same. Whence Aeneas was unwilling to sacrifice: "Until I shall wash myself in a living river," he says himself, Aeneid II. Second, by abstaining from wine and every drink which is able to intoxicate, according to the law of Leviticus X, 8. Thus among the Gentiles, those to be initiated into the sacred rites of Isis abstained for ten days from meats and wine. Third, by abstaining from the use of conjugal relations and all lust: "More pleasing to God is the barking of dogs, the lowing of cattle, the grunting of swine, the singing of luxuriant clerics," says St. Augustine. Thus Numa Pompilius, when he sacrificed for the crops, abstained from the eating of meats and from sexual relations. It is established that the priests of the Mother of the gods cut off their virile members with a Samian potsherd, and those who performed the greatest sacred rites, so that they might remain in chaste religion and live far from the contagion of women, castrated themselves with certain herbs, so that they might devote themselves entirely to God and divine things. Hence that ordinance: "Let them approach the gods chastely, let them show piety, let them remove riches; whoever acts otherwise, God will be the avenger." Hence King Agesilaus said, "the gods are delighted no less by religious works than by chaste sacrifices." The Hierophants of the Athenians, after their priesthood, so that they might perform the sacred rite chastely and holily, castrated themselves by drinking hemlock. Egyptian priests, having set aside business, never indulged with women, abstained from meats and wine. The Gymnosophists were so continent that they were nourished by apples alone, rice and flour. Indeed, we even find it observed by the ancients that he who was about to perform a divine thing, in order to wash away his faults, was accustomed to declare himself guilty first, and to have repented of the harm, and to have confessed his misdeeds, and to have cast down his face, and to have composed himself to all modesty. Fourth, they approached the sacrifices with bare feet, and with these as well as with hands washed, as I said in Exodus XXX, 49. Moreover, they clothed themselves in pure and religious garments. The Gentiles imitated the same. Hear Plato: "In sacrifices, the priest adorned in beautiful garments and golden crowns performs the divine thing." And it was in pure and white garment, mostly in woven cloth, sometimes in purple and gold. Triumphal men and those who had held magistracy, in the ornament of triumph, or in the praetexta, with washed hands and crowned with foliage, holy and venerable, worshipped and sacrificed with bare feet, as Plutarch testifies. Virgil adds: "And they carried the spring and fire, veiled in linen, and with verbena binding their temples." So also Egyptian priests were called and were linen-wearers. Among the Greeks, the priest about to sacrifice would say beforehand: "Who is here?" those who were present at the sacred rites would respond: Πολλοὶ κἀγαθοί, that is, many and good. Whence Virgil: "Far hence, far hence, ye profane." Furthermore, during the sacrifice the Levites sang and played on organs, cymbals, psalteries, etc. Thus among the Gentiles flute-players and lyre-players would sing before sacrifices, soon the Roman priest, veiled in a woolen band and crowned with foliage, clothed in pure garment, holding the altar in his hands, in the morning, facing toward the East, with meditated song, with ancient words, would beseech the deities and pour out vows, which prayer he would repeat three times. Then he would turn himself to the right and turn around, and would bring his hand to his mouth, and would sit, as if the gods held the prayers as ratified: then plucking out hairs between the horns of the victim he would throw them into the fire; and finally he would draw an oblique iron knife from the forehead to the tail of the victim, and would turn himself toward the East. Meanwhile others would place vessels under the falling victim, so that they might catch the blood, which were called σφάγεια; others would skin the victim: soon the haruspex, the flamen, or the priest would examine the entrails and the exta with an iron knife, and would perform extispicy, that is, would consult the gods through the exta, and would carefully investigate whether the sacrifice had been accepted; and then the exta were said to be rendered, when, having been approved, they were placed under the altar. For the first part of the sacrifice was to pour a libation, the second to immolate, the third to render, the fourth to make acceptable. For to make acceptable was to sacrifice rightly and to obtain. But they called exta those things which are the interior parts in victims, such as the heart, lung, spleen, liver. Moreover, with the exta examined, from every viscera and member they wrapped the first-fruits and cut portions in barley flour, and offered them in baskets to the one sacrificing; and then the victim was said to be perfect: the priest, placing these on the altar when it was burning, would burn them with fire, with incense added, and with costus and other aromatics. From the remaining parts of the victim they prepared a meal, by which those who had been present at the sacred rites would eat: it was permitted also to bring a portion to one's household, to admit strangers was impious: they ate standing, with round loaves, used in honor of the gods. During the eating they sang praises and hymns to the gods for whom the sacrifice had been made, which we see carefully observed in Virgil concerning Hercules. The divine thing having been completed, the priest would proclaim: Ilicet, that is to say, It is permitted to depart. Moreover, among the Greeks and Egyptians, according to Apuleius, it was sung, λαοῖς ἄφεσις, that is, dismissal to the peoples. Thus Christians, the sacrifice having been completed, hear: Go, the Mass is ended. All these things are treated at length by Giraldus, Syntag. 17.
Machine translation from the Latin, not reviewed.
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4 « Vocavit autem Moysen et locutus est ez Dominus de tabernaculo testimonii, dicens » : — probabilius de propitiatorio ( Bonfr.), id enim Ex. 25,99 Deus promiserat —
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v. 2 « Loquere filiis Israel, et dices ad eos » : — Populum alloquitur, quod sacrificii victimas, tempora, causas etc. ab omnibus sciri oporteat; nec officit, aliqua huie sermoni - intermisceri , quae solos sacerdotes spectent — « Homo, qut obtulerit ex vobis hostiam Domino, de pecoribus , (1. e.] de bobus et ovibus » (YN, quae vox capras includit) « offerens victimas ». Recte Masor. Chald. LXX Syr. sententiae distinguunt prodosin et apodosin. Sed Masor. Chald. voces de pecoribus ad apodosin trahentes ea, quae immediate sequuntur, fere cum Vulg. («i. e. ») proappositione accipere debent. At sic sententia evadit minus vera, cum praeter pecora aves etiam sacrificio adhiberi queant. Ergo cum LXX Syr. construe : qu? obtulerit ex vobis hostiam Domino de pecoribus, offerat hostiam suam de bobus et de ovibus (seu capris). Principium est generale, quod valet pro cuiusvis generis sacrifieclis: pecora, praeter boves et oves (caprasve), ad sacrificium admittuntur nulla. 120p (etiam 2,1; 3,1) sonat oblationem et generatim designat omnis generis sacrificia; unde v. 3 dicitur : « si holocaustum fuerit eius oblatio ». Sacrificii natura h.l, uti in toto V. T., nota praesupponitur (Dillm.), cum inde ab Abelis aevo, et. imprimis ante Moysen apud Hebraeos sacrificia haberentur. Sacrificium antiquitus vocabatur nn32 donum : Gen. 4,3-5; Num. 16,15; 1 Reg. 2,17; 26,19; attentis porro duobus supremis textibus, etiam 1 Reg. 2,29; 3,14 nna" n25 accipi potest tamquam £v 9i& 9votv sermone poetico usurpatum. Tamen iam Moysis tempore (cf. Lev. 2,1 et 3,1) nnua2 sacrifieiis potius ineruentis designandis adhibebatur, dum cruenta seribebantur 7135 (cf. Knabenbauer ad Mal. 1,10) et holocaustum moy.
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v. 9 « St holocaustum fuerit eius oblatio |ac| de armento, masculum immaculatum » (cf. Ex. 12,5), «offeret ad ostiumtabernaculi testimonii ad placandwum sibi Dominum ». Hebr. : ad complacentiam sui coram Domino, quae expressio eodem sensu atque Ex. 28,38 explicanda est, non vero cum Ca. : quocumque tempore ei.placuerit. Conditio .« Si holocaustum fuerit eius oblatio » respondet alteri 3,1 conditioni « Si hostia pacificorum fuerit eius oblatio » (cf. 2,1). Cui apte, inserta copula ac, adnexuit Vulg. voces de armento, quae alteram conditionem exprimunt priori subordinatam, et coordinatam conditionibus v. 10. 14. Cum 2^p de se non significet sacrificare, et actio saerificalis v. 5 recenseatur, ergo illud offeret 1dem est atque adducet.
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v. 4 « Ponetque manum super caput hostiae » (cf. Ex. 29,10. 15. 19), « et accceptabilis erit atque in expiationem eius proficiens ». Is moralis effectus impositarum manuum : quo ritu tradebatur hostia ab offerente, tradita autem fiebat acceptabilis pro ipso ad exyiationem ipsius.
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v. 5 « Immolabitque vitulum. coram. Domino ». Hebr. filium armentt, ergo aut vitulum aut taurum (Calm.), sed utique animal masculum. jj Sensu obvio idem immolat, qui manum capiti imponebat; idemque v. 6 animal 1 excoriat (Cai., Calm.). Sacerdotum vero acta et verbis exprimuntur numero plurali, ! nus imponant. Neque officit, posteriori aevo 2 Par. 29,92. 24: 35 sacerdotes victimas mactasse : etenim , quod ibi de sacrificiis publicis traditur, non necessario idem de sacrificiis privatis affirmare oportet; potissimum vero potuit, quod etiam apud ehristianos factum est, lex ceremonialis decursu temporum fieri strictior. Proprium est ordinis sacerdotalis cuiusque, ut decursu temporum plura sibi reservet, quae laicis primitus licuissent. Oportet igitur interpretem valde caute uti testimoniis recentiorum V. T. librorum, et magis etiam Iosephi, in legibus Levitici explicandis. « Et offerent filii Aaron sacerdotes sanguinem eius, fundentes per altaris circuitum , quod est ante ostium tabernaculi ». Hiphil verbi 3*p eundem h. l. atque v. 3 sensum habeat oportet; ergo sanguis collectus (cf, 9 Par. 29,22; 30,16), utique « in vasis » (Ps. Ion.), non elevabatur (Ca?.), sed afferebaturad altare.
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v. 6 « Detractaque pelle hostiae, artus in frusta concident ». lta Sam. LXX * sed veliqui verba. habent numero singulari, quam lectionem confirmat v. 7 subiectum numero plurali fii Aaron sacerdotis explicite scriptum. Ex 2 Par. 29,34 illud indubie colligitur, potuisse etiam non sacerdotes decoriandis victimis adhiberi.
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v. 7 « Ef subiicient in altari ignem, strue lignorum [ante|. composita, ». Infeliciter Vw/g. vocem inseruit. Hebr. : Et ponent filii Aaron sacerdotis ignem super altare , et ordinabunt ligna super ignem. Ignis sc. sacer nunquam exstinguebatur, illi strues imponebatur et reliqua (Calm.).
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v. 8 « Et memóra, quae sunt.caesa », — Hebr. : frusta (v. 6) — « desuper ordinantes , caput [videlicet] et [cuncta], quae adhaerent iecori », v..9 « intestinis et pedibus lotis aqua ». *12 8,90 discernitur et a capite et a frustis : ergo merito a Rabbinis vertitur adeps. Adeps utique prope iecur reperitur, sed non ibi solum : iecur in textu non est. Pro videlicet melius scribebatur etiam (Bonfr.). Frustis | universim expressis, recensentur ea, quorum subducendorum aliqua apparere potuit ratio : caput, quod Aegyptii a sacrificiis eximebant (Herod. V1. 39; Plutarch. Isid. 31); adeps, quae nullius frusti videbatur necessaria pars, eratque ad usus profanos maxime 1n votis; intestina et crura à genibus ad pedes, quae, cum sordidiora ceteris essent, poterant religione quadam ab altari excludi (Sy/v.). « Adolebitque ea sacerdos super altare in. holocaustum et suavem odorem Domino ». pn, « dietio à thure quidem deducta, sed translata ad significandum cremare Cord» (cf. v. 8), « et ponent super ligna, quibus subticiendus est ignis ». Hebr. uti v. 8 : quae sunt super ignem , qui est super altare. LXX ponent sacerdotes; Hebr. Syr. ponet sacerdos; Sam. Chald. ponet.
1:13
v. 13 « Intestina vero et pedes lavabunt aqua ». Hebr. Sam. Chald. Syr. lavabit. « Et oblata omnia adolebit sacerdos super. altare in. holocaustum et odorem suavissimum Domino ». Merito advertit Hesych., « eadem nunc paucis immutatis dici », quae v. 3-9 dicebantur de bobus. Omittitur illud de imponendis manibus (cf. LXX) et de excorianda vietima, quae tamen h. l. etiam esse supplenda prudenter monent interpretes. Novum est illud, faciendam esse immolationem ad latus altaris, quod respicit ad aquilonem. Sed e 4,24. 29. 33; 6,25 (18); 7,2 et imprimis e 14,13 efficitur, eodem loco immolandas fuisse omnes victimas pro peccato, ubi immolarentur holocausta. non utique solarum ovium et caprarum, sed cuiusvis generis. Ergo haec omnia immolabantur ad latus altaris septentrionale. De hostiis pacificis vide ad 3,2. Ratio porro, cur latus septentrionale assignetur, maxime obvia haec est, id fuisse commodius, et quidem ob causam ab Hesych. assignatam, sicut labrum aeneum, ita etiam holocaustorum altare non fuisse praecise e regione sanctuarii, eius accessum et aspectum obstruens, sed parum ad sinistram intuentis tabernaculum, i. e. austrum versus remotum. Ergo victimae e regione ipsius tabernaculi, coram Domino iugulabantur. :
1:14
v. 1 « Saautem de avibus holocausti oblatio fuerit Domino, de turturibus aut pullis columbae » offerat, non de alus avium speciebus. Sicut v. 5 filius bovis significat animal masculum, sed non necessario tenerae aetatis, ita h. 1. filius columbae non necessario designat animal tenerae aetatis (pullus), sed utique designat masculum. LXX vocem omittunt.
1:15
v. 15 « Offeret eam sacerdos ad. altare et, retorto [ad collum] capite textum. Vulg. reddit. Hebr. : et avellet caput eius , adolebitque in altari. Caput avulsum non abiicietur, sed cum reliquis (v. 13) incendetur. pon non est relorquere aut parlim avellere (Kn.), ut caput adhue cum collo co- haereat, sed « avellere a reliquo corpore » (Vat.). Ita LXX &zoxvloct, Ps. Ion.; itemque Syr. usus verbo i5, quod idem Deut. 23,25 (26) scribit pro hebraeo Tp. vellere : cf. Iob 30,4; Ez. 17,4. 22. Ex eo, quod Lev. 5,8 verbo pon addatur et nom separetur, inferre licet verbum de se non edicere partialem tantum avulsionem; secus enim illud additum abundaret. Solum, si plena h. l1. avulsio intelligatur, intelligitur sequens incisum adolebitque in altari, utique non ante reliqua v. 17. LXX expressere actum, qui combustionem praecedere debet : izidss. Syr. verbum adhibet anceps pp quod et imponere et sacrificare sonat. « Decurrere. faciet sanguinem, super crepidinem altaris ». vp. est murus, ergo paries (Chald.), non vero basis (LXX Vulg. Syr.). Cum sanguis aviculae non sufficeret, qui toti (v. 5) altari per circuitum affunderetur, satis erat, ut alicubi in altaris latere decurreret (Ca?.), atque ad eum finem ezprimebatur (Hebr.).
1:16
v. 16 « Vesiculam vero qutturis et plumas proüciet prope altare ad orientalem plagam , in loco, in quo cineres effundit solent ». : Duo versus habet &z«&£ Aeyópeva. NW Vulg. LXX Chald. intellexerunt vesicam gut- raeque exiguam habent vesicam, difficile avellendam; ea secus non adnumeratur animalis partibus minus puris, multoque minus fimum continet, si ita alteram vocem reddere placeat. Apud Chald. Deut. 32,33 N'm2 (Hebr. 1*2) designat fel; Syr. et Türcg. Hier. h. Lh niapmp stomachus, unde fortasse corruptione natum est Ps. Ion. map (?), eundemque sensum suggerunt Aq. 77v ottlfousxv et Symm. Theod. T?» v)0cav. Sane stomachus aut generatim intestina h.l. praetermitti in textu vix poterant. — n3 LXX Vulg. Symm. Theod. interpretabantur plumam, urgetque Dillm. debuisse victimae plumas ante sacrificium evelli; quodsi fiebat, potuit tamen h. I. silentio praeteriri, uti v. 11 excoriatio. Cibum vertere Chald. Syr., hucque fortasse revocandum est Ps. Ion. Nap5 i. e. id, quod oolligitur, ergo fimus; et Targ. Hier. NVUO3. — Verte igitur intestima cum fimo suo. Intestina vero haee non lavantur (cf. v. 9), sed, quod tam exigua sint, proiiciuntur. Hebr. : dilacerabit eam in alis suis (cf. Iud. 14,6); i. e. vel.quoad alas (Vulg.), ergo dilacerabit alas; vel eum alis, ergo non solas alas. Syr. durius vertit inter alas, ergo ipsis alis servatis intactis. Planior Vulgatae versio. « Sacerdos írangebat alas », inquit Tost., « convertens ad posteriora quasi ad torrendum pararet, et sic imponebat super ignem altaris ». Et Men. : « Id fiebat ad congruam victimae compositionem, sic enim. altilium alae componuntur, cum assanda sunt ». Sed, num componere est idem atque dilacerare? Suggerit Kn., ideo laceratas esse alas, ut aves etiam, sicut alia v. 6 animalia, in frusta quaedam discernerentur; tamen alas non esse penitus avulsas, quod nimis exiguae essent, quae seorsim Deo proponerentur, rito invocatur Gen. 15,10 demonstrans, usum avium non dividendarum esse Moyse longe antiquiorem. Arg. — Tres h. l. elasses recensentur : alia sacrificia constabant simila, i. e. tenuissima farina v. 1-3; alia opere pistorio ex eadem farina confecto v. 4-10; alia primitiis frugum v. 14-16. Unicuique classi, x", correspondentia clausulae cp. 14 wi noy : se. extremo v. 1 Sam. LXX, et v. 6. 15 textus omnes. Inseruntur porro v. 11-13 aliqua omnes puoi on ineruentorum classes spectantia. Extrema prima et secunda classe v. 2. 9, antequam v. 3. 10 quid de reliquo fa- Iahve oblatam; eui expressioni v. 16 substituitur altera brevior combustio Iahve. Quae eadem habetur in prohibitione v. 11, eiusque loco v. 12 alia brevior formula in odorem suavissimum. Tandem v. 3. 10 id, quod reliquum fuerit illorum sacrificiorum, tribuitur Aaroni et filiis tamquam sacrosanctum hn combustione Iahve. Quae expressiones tam solemnes, frequentiores etiam cap. 2 quam cap. 3, illud nobis menti, imo secundum, quem eis haec capita tribuunt, dignitatis locum obtinuisse. Verum quidem est sacrificia incruenta solummodo praescribi pro die unctionis sacerdotum 6,19 sqq. et pro sacrificiis zelotypiae Num. 5.15 sqq. Permittuntur pau- Pentecostes offerendi. Cf. Dillm. Tamen nostrum caput suggerit fuisse primitus tiosa minusque essent in votis, effectum esse videtur, ut multo rarius postmodum adhiberentur. N. Sacrificium similae Lev. 2,1-3. v.1« Anézma cum obtulerit oblationem sacrificii » ineruenti « Domino , simila erit eus oblatio ». Limitatur materia, uti cap. 1 holocausti materia ad aliqua restringebatur animalia (Ca?.). De n55 cf. mop audiebat (cf. Gen. 18,6; Num. 5,15; 3 Reg. 5,22, apud Hebr. 5,9). Non videtur n?» necessario conficiendum fuisse e tritico. « Fundetgue super eam oleum, et ponet thus » : haec est mincha (Sam. LXX). « Sieut nos in cibis nostris ea, quae delicatiora et sapidiora coctus cum oleo panibus simpliciter coctis sapidior est, ita et farina, quando oleo conspergitur, gratior est » (Tost.). Indidem autem patet, debuisse observari aliquam proportionis quantitatem oleum intev et Praefixa Pericopae Affixa Eloquium. divinum I., Lev, 1-8 —. Holocausta Lev. |- 2o b opistum v. dedo Nele.(5 v.o NY]nmm? ic Sacrificia pro delicto Lev. 74-40 — 5)v.1 nmnnws SEDEM affinem. ec eius, quae Num. 15 PS : etenim farina nimio Drs saturata non jam est sapida. v. 2 « Ac deferet ad filios - Aaron sacerdotes; quorum. wnus tollet. pugillum plenum. similae et
1:1
… Ex. 40, 34-36; Lev. 1, 1-80. The numbering of verses is missing because it was then unknown. …
The rite is carefully described in Lev. 1:1-17 and Num. 15:3-9. The larger victims were first quartered, cut into pieces and washed; then placed to burn on the altar "as a holocaust, a combustion of sweet odor to Yahweh" (Lev. …
1:3
… Male and perfect (tāmīm, v. 5; as for holocausts: Lev. 1, 3), it was immolated by the father of the family (later by the Levites Esd. 6, 20; II Par. 30, 17; 35, 6) in the court of the sanctuary on the 14th of the 1st month (nīsān) in the evening, …
1:4
… 18, 22), or by the Levites (cf. Num. 8:12), or by the elders of the people (cf. Lev. 4:15), or by the whole assembly present (cf. II Par. 29:23) or generally by him on whose initiative and for whose benefit particular sacrifices were offered (cf. Lev. 1:4: holocaust; ibid. 3:2, 8, 13: peace offering; ibid. 4:4, 24, 29, 33: sin offering). c) As a rite of investiture or conferral of power: Num. 27:18-20, when God commands Moses …
1:9
The rite is carefully described in Lev. 1:1-17 and Num. 15:3-9. The larger victims were first quartered, cut into pieces and washed; then placed to burn on the altar "as a holocaust, a combustion of sweet odor to Yahweh" (Lev. 1:9: an anthropomorphic expression to be understood obviously, as in other parts of the Bible, in a figurative sense, that is, that the sacrifice was offered in homage of adoration to Yahweh). …
1:11
… oblation of other victims, in which the slaughtering was an act not reserved to the priests, Ex. 29:22). But the properly sacrificial act, that is, the sprinkling of the victim's blood around the altar, was reserved to the priests (II Par. 29:22; Lev. 1:11; 3:2-8). Now for the paschal lamb in the celebration of P.
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · Vulgata Clementina · original Douay-Rheims (Douay 1609-10), transcription by EEBO-TCP (CC0) · La Sacra Bibbia, tradotta dalla Volgata da Antonio Martini (1769-1781) (LaParola (laparola.net), Martini OSIS text, Public domain (LaParola's electronic edition marks it 'Dominio pubblico')). Public domain.