Sacrifice In The Israelite Religion

There are several types of sacrifice, including blood, burnt, and animal sacrifices. Robin Routledge, Jonathan Klawans, and Christian A. Eberhart all address this topic and share their views on sacrifice. Sacrifice is considered a vital part of the Israelite religion, regardless of the controversies that surround it. In “Prayer, Sacrifice, and Forgiveness”, written by Routledge, sacrifice is equivalent to asking for forgiveness, although there are some sins that cannot be absolved through sacrifice. In “Pure Violence: Sacrifice and Defilement in Ancient Israel”, Klawans, Klawans describes his belief that sacrifice can be used as a way to imitate God. Finally, in “A Neglected Feature of Sacrifice in the Hebrew Bible: Remarks on the Burning
Klawans believes sacrificial rituals are performed as an attempt to be like God. “In ancient Israel, sacrifice involved the controlled exercise of complete power over an animal's life” (145). He begins to describe the process of the sacrificial ritual; the offerer must select the animal to be slaughtered. Then, the animal is slaughtered, dissected and separated, what Klawans calls “decreated”. It is assumed that the Israelites are attempting to be like God because they are decreating what God has already made. A passage that supports this theory is Jeremiah 11:20 “But you, O Lord of hosts, who judge righteously, who try the heart and the mind, let me see your retribution upon them, for to you I have committed my cause” (New Revised Standard Version). Although this passage is seen as a metaphor, it is assumed that God trying the heart and mind is equivalent to the offerer dissecting and examining the offering. After the dissection, the remains of the sacrifice is eaten by the priests. In Exodus 24:17, God is seen as an “all-consuming fire”, suggesting that the priests are, once again, attempting to be like God eating the remains of the sacrifice. Klawans agrees with Routledge, in terms of the burnt offering acting as an attraction to
Eberhart, focuses on the burnt sacrifice rather than blood or animal sacrifice and views sacrifice as a basic portion of the Israelite religion. Just as in Routledge’s article, Eberhart explains the concept of replacing the sinner with the sacrificial animal, but points out the link between the divine and humanity. Eberhart makes a contrast between blood sacrifice and burnt sacrifice; blood sacrifice is used for the atonement of sins whereas the burnt sacrifice acts as an offering to God. Five types of sacrifice in the book of Leviticus is pointed out; the burnt, grain, sin, guilt offering, and the communion sacrifice. The burning rite is present in all of these examples from Leviticus. Eberhart points out evidence that the author of Leviticus are the Priests; “It also conveys the anthropomorphic idea