Korban Olah
Encyclopedia
Korban olah or olah was a twice-daily animal sacrifice
offered on the altar
in the temple in Jerusalem
that was completely consumed by fire.
The skin of the animal, however, was not burnt but given to the priests respective of their priestly division
. These skins are listed as one of the twenty-four priestly gifts in Tosefta Hallah.
of the Hebrew Bible. It is formed from the active participle of the Hiphil form of the verb alah (עָלָה), "to cause to ascend." It is typically translated "burnt offering" in English versions.
The actual ritual slaughter of the lamb, and relative detail, is written in "And it should be slaughtered by the side of the altar to the north before God and its blood should be sprinkled by the sons of Aaron
the priest, on the altar all around" (Leviticus
(1:11))
, First day of each month
, Jewish New Year
), Passover
, First Fruits
, Day of Atonement
and Feast of tabernacles
. The sacrificial animal was required to be a lamb
.
(Michat Chinuch), on the termination of a Nazirite
's vow, after recovery from skin disease, by a woman after childbirth
, after recovery from a state of abnormal bodily discharges
, a Gentile
's conversion to Judaism
or as a voluntary sacrifice, when the sacrificial animal could be a young bull
, ram, year-old goat
, turtle doves
, or pigeons.
. Unless the animal was a bird, its corpse was flayed, with the skin kept by the priests.
The flesh of the animal was divided according to detailed instructions given by the Talmud
(Tamid 31), and would then be placed on the wood on the altar (which was constantly on fire due the large number of sacrifices carried out daily), and slowly burnt. After the flesh (including any horns and goats' beards) had been reduced to ashes, usually the following morning, the ashes were removed by a Kohen -as refuse- and taken to a ritually clean location outside the Temple.
.
The Tosefta
narrates that, as time evolved, more powerful priests forcibly took possession of the skins from the lesser priests. Subsequently, it was decreed by the Bet Din shel Kohanim (the priestly Bet Din) that the skins should be sold, with the monetary proceeds being given to the Temple in Jerusalem
(Tosefta 19).
literature, it is presented that in the times of the first temple, a diving fire in the shape of a lion
would descend from heaven and devour the offering placed on the altar, whereas in the Second Temple
the shape of the devouring fire was that of a dog..
, present the practice of the korban olah.
In the story of Gideon
, a slaughter offering of a young goat and unleavened bread is consumed by fire sent from heaven; in the story of Samson
's birth, his father, who was intending to make a slaughter offering so that he could give a meal to an angel, is told by the angel to burn it completely instead.
portray the olah form of sacrifice, in which no meat was left over for consumption by the Kohanim
, as the greatest form of sacrifice and was the form of sacrifice permitted by Judaism
to be sacrificed at the Temple by the Kohanim on behalf of both Jews
and non-Jews
..
The korban olah is believed to have evolved as an extreme form of the slaughter offering
, whereby the portion allocated to the deity increased to all of it. In slaughter offerings, the portion allocated to the deity was mainly the fat
, the part which can most easily be burnt (fat is quite combustible
); scholars believe it was felt that the deity, being aether
eal, would appreciate aethereal food more than solid food—the burning of the fatty parts of animals being to produce smoke as a sweet savour for the deity..
Of the Jewish sacrifices
specified by the Torah
, the olah was completely burnt. These offerings were referred to in Hebrew
as `olah, a term translated as holocauston in the Septuagint. Today, some English Bible translations
render the word as holocaust, and others translate it as "burnt offering. For example, Exodus 18:12a is translated in the New American Bible
as Then Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, brought a holocaust and other sacrifices to God, while it is translated in the New International Version
as Then Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, brought a burnt offering and other sacrifices to God.
Animal sacrifice
Animal sacrifice is the ritual killing of an animal as part of a religion. It is practised by many religions as a means of appeasing a god or gods or changing the course of nature...
offered on the altar
Altar
An altar is any structure upon which offerings such as sacrifices are made for religious purposes. Altars are usually found at shrines, and they can be located in temples, churches and other places of worship...
in the temple in Jerusalem
Temple in Jerusalem
The Temple in Jerusalem or Holy Temple , refers to one of a series of structures which were historically located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem, the current site of the Dome of the Rock. Historically, these successive temples stood at this location and functioned as the centre of...
that was completely consumed by fire.
The skin of the animal, however, was not burnt but given to the priests respective of their priestly division
Priestly divisions
The priestly divisions or sacerdotal courses are ritual work groups in Judaism originally formed during the reign of King David in the 10th century BCE as documented in the biblical passage of 1 Chronicles 24. These priests were all descendants of Aaron, known also as Aaronites. Aaron had four...
. These skins are listed as one of the twenty-four priestly gifts in Tosefta Hallah.
Etymology
The Hebrew noun olah (עֹלָה) occurs 289 times in the Masoretic TextMasoretic Text
The Masoretic Text is the authoritative Hebrew text of the Jewish Bible and is regarded as Judaism's official version of the Tanakh. While the Masoretic Text defines the books of the Jewish canon, it also defines the precise letter-text of these biblical books, with their vocalization and...
of the Hebrew Bible. It is formed from the active participle of the Hiphil form of the verb alah (עָלָה), "to cause to ascend." It is typically translated "burnt offering" in English versions.
Hebrew Bible
The source of the commandment as stated in Book of Exodus:The actual ritual slaughter of the lamb, and relative detail, is written in "And it should be slaughtered by the side of the altar to the north before God and its blood should be sprinkled by the sons of Aaron
Aaron
In the Hebrew Bible and the Qur'an, Aaron : Ααρών ), who is often called "'Aaron the Priest"' and once Aaron the Levite , was the older brother of Moses, and a prophet of God. He represented the priestly functions of his tribe, becoming the first High Priest of the Israelites...
the priest, on the altar all around" (Leviticus
Leviticus
The Book of Leviticus is the third book of the Hebrew Bible, and the third of five books of the Torah ....
(1:11))
Accompanied by Wine
The twice-daily korban olah was accompanied by a wine offering poured into the altar (Numbers 28).A daily korban olah
The korban olah was made each morning and evening including SabbathShabbat
Shabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until a few minutes after when one would expect to be able to see three stars in the sky on Saturday night. The exact times, therefore, differ from...
, First day of each month
Rosh Chodesh
Rosh Chodesh or Rosh ḥodesh is the name for the first day of every month in the Hebrew calendar, marked by the appearance of the new moon. The new moon is marked by the day and hour that the new crescent is observed...
, Jewish New Year
Rosh Hashanah
Rosh Hashanah , , is the Jewish New Year. It is the first of the High Holy Days or Yamim Nora'im which occur in the autumn...
), Passover
Passover
Passover is a Jewish holiday and festival. It commemorates the story of the Exodus, in which the ancient Israelites were freed from slavery in Egypt...
, First Fruits
Shavuot
The festival of is a Jewish holiday that occurs on the sixth day of the Hebrew month of Sivan ....
, Day of Atonement
Yom Kippur
Yom Kippur , also known as Day of Atonement, is the holiest and most solemn day of the year for the Jews. Its central themes are atonement and repentance. Jews traditionally observe this holy day with a 25-hour period of fasting and intensive prayer, often spending most of the day in synagogue...
and Feast of tabernacles
Sukkot
Sukkot is a Biblical holiday celebrated on the 15th day of the month of Tishrei . It is one of the three biblically mandated festivals Shalosh regalim on which Hebrews were commanded to make a pilgrimage to the Temple in Jerusalem.The holiday lasts seven days...
. The sacrificial animal was required to be a lamb
Domestic sheep
Sheep are quadrupedal, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Like all ruminants, sheep are members of the order Artiodactyla, the even-toed ungulates. Although the name "sheep" applies to many species in the genus Ovis, in everyday usage it almost always refers to Ovis aries...
.
Multiple forms of offering
A korban olah was also made as sin offerings on the appointment of a KohenKohen
A Kohen is the Hebrew word for priest. Jewish Kohens are traditionally believed and halachically required to be of direct patrilineal descent from the Biblical Aaron....
(Michat Chinuch), on the termination of a Nazirite
Nazirite
In the Hebrew Bible, a nazirite or nazarite, , refers to one who voluntarily took a vow described in . The term "nazirite" comes from the Hebrew word nazir meaning "consecrated" or "separated"...
's vow, after recovery from skin disease, by a woman after childbirth
Childbirth
Childbirth is the culmination of a human pregnancy or gestation period with the birth of one or more newborn infants from a woman's uterus...
, after recovery from a state of abnormal bodily discharges
Zavah
The Hebrew term zavah is a state of ritual impurity applicable to females arising from vaginal blood discharges not during the usually anticipated menstrual cycle....
, a Gentile
Gentile
The term Gentile refers to non-Israelite peoples or nations in English translations of the Bible....
's conversion to Judaism
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
or as a voluntary sacrifice, when the sacrificial animal could be a young bull
Bull
Bull usually refers to an uncastrated adult male bovine.Bull may also refer to:-Entertainment:* Bull , an original show on the TNT Network* "Bull" , an episode of television series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation...
, ram, year-old goat
Goat
The domestic goat is a subspecies of goat domesticated from the wild goat of southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the Bovidae family and is closely related to the sheep as both are in the goat-antelope subfamily Caprinae. There are over three hundred distinct breeds of...
, turtle doves
Turtle Dove
The European Turtle Dove , also known as Turtle Dove, is a member of the bird family Columbidae, which includes the doves and pigeons.-Distribution & Status:...
, or pigeons.
Order and Preparation
The animals, having first been checked to ensure they were free from disease and unblemished (a requirement of the sacrifice), were brought to the north side of the altar, and ritually slaughtered. The animal's blood was carefully collected by a priest and sprinkled on the outside corners of the altarAltar
An altar is any structure upon which offerings such as sacrifices are made for religious purposes. Altars are usually found at shrines, and they can be located in temples, churches and other places of worship...
. Unless the animal was a bird, its corpse was flayed, with the skin kept by the priests.
The flesh of the animal was divided according to detailed instructions given by the Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
(Tamid 31), and would then be placed on the wood on the altar (which was constantly on fire due the large number of sacrifices carried out daily), and slowly burnt. After the flesh (including any horns and goats' beards) had been reduced to ashes, usually the following morning, the ashes were removed by a Kohen -as refuse- and taken to a ritually clean location outside the Temple.
The priestly gift
Unless the offering was a bird (olat haof), its corpse was flayed. The skin of the offering was then kept by the priests who where serving their shift as part of the rotation of the priestly divisionsPriestly divisions
The priestly divisions or sacerdotal courses are ritual work groups in Judaism originally formed during the reign of King David in the 10th century BCE as documented in the biblical passage of 1 Chronicles 24. These priests were all descendants of Aaron, known also as Aaronites. Aaron had four...
.
The Tosefta
Tosefta
The Tosefta is a compilation of the Jewish oral law from the period of the Mishnah.-Overview:...
narrates that, as time evolved, more powerful priests forcibly took possession of the skins from the lesser priests. Subsequently, it was decreed by the Bet Din shel Kohanim (the priestly Bet Din) that the skins should be sold, with the monetary proceeds being given to the Temple in Jerusalem
Temple in Jerusalem
The Temple in Jerusalem or Holy Temple , refers to one of a series of structures which were historically located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem, the current site of the Dome of the Rock. Historically, these successive temples stood at this location and functioned as the centre of...
(Tosefta 19).
Divine consumption
In ChazalChazal
Chazal or Ḥazal is an acronym for the Hebrew "Ḥakhameinu Zikhronam Liv'rakha",...
literature, it is presented that in the times of the first temple, a diving fire in the shape of a lion
Lion
The lion is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger...
would descend from heaven and devour the offering placed on the altar, whereas in the Second Temple
Second Temple
The Jewish Second Temple was an important shrine which stood on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem between 516 BCE and 70 CE. It replaced the First Temple which was destroyed in 586 BCE, when the Jewish nation was exiled to Babylon...
the shape of the devouring fire was that of a dog..
In the non-Torah books of the Hebrew Bible
In the Neviim section of the Hebrew Bible, particularly passages in the Book of JudgesBook of Judges
The Book of Judges is the seventh book of the Hebrew bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its title describes its contents: it contains the history of Biblical judges, divinely inspired prophets whose direct knowledge of Yahweh allows them to act as decision-makers for the Israelites, as...
, present the practice of the korban olah.
In the story of Gideon
Gideon
Gideon was an Israelite judge who appears in the Book of JudgesGideon may also refer to:- Religion :* Gideon , a figure in the Book of Mormon* Gideons International, distributor of copies of the Bible- Media :...
, a slaughter offering of a young goat and unleavened bread is consumed by fire sent from heaven; in the story of Samson
Samson
Samson, Shimshon ; Shamshoun or Sampson is the third to last of the Judges of the ancient Israelites mentioned in the Tanakh ....
's birth, his father, who was intending to make a slaughter offering so that he could give a meal to an angel, is told by the angel to burn it completely instead.
Chazalaic explanations
ChazalChazal
Chazal or Ḥazal is an acronym for the Hebrew "Ḥakhameinu Zikhronam Liv'rakha",...
portray the olah form of sacrifice, in which no meat was left over for consumption by the Kohanim
Kohen
A Kohen is the Hebrew word for priest. Jewish Kohens are traditionally believed and halachically required to be of direct patrilineal descent from the Biblical Aaron....
, as the greatest form of sacrifice and was the form of sacrifice permitted by Judaism
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
to be sacrificed at the Temple by the Kohanim on behalf of both Jews
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
and non-Jews
Gentile
The term Gentile refers to non-Israelite peoples or nations in English translations of the Bible....
..
The korban olah is believed to have evolved as an extreme form of the slaughter offering
Slaughter offering
A sacrifice in the Hebrew Bible A sacrifice in the Hebrew Bible A sacrifice in the Hebrew Bible (Hebrew zevakh is the slaughter of an animal to God followed by a feast or a meal. This is distinguished from the korban sacrifice, and oblation (Hebrew minchah)....
, whereby the portion allocated to the deity increased to all of it. In slaughter offerings, the portion allocated to the deity was mainly the fat
Fat
Fats consist of a wide group of compounds that are generally soluble in organic solvents and generally insoluble in water. Chemically, fats are triglycerides, triesters of glycerol and any of several fatty acids. Fats may be either solid or liquid at room temperature, depending on their structure...
, the part which can most easily be burnt (fat is quite combustible
Combustion
Combustion or burning is the sequence of exothermic chemical reactions between a fuel and an oxidant accompanied by the production of heat and conversion of chemical species. The release of heat can result in the production of light in the form of either glowing or a flame...
); scholars believe it was felt that the deity, being aether
Aether (classical element)
According to ancient and medieval science aether , also spelled æther or ether, is the material that fills the region of the universe above the terrestrial sphere.-Mythological origins:...
eal, would appreciate aethereal food more than solid food—the burning of the fatty parts of animals being to produce smoke as a sweet savour for the deity..
Etymology
In classical rabbinical literature, there are several different etymologies given for the term olah, though all agree that it literally translates as (that which) goes up, as do modern linguists. Some classical rabbis argued that the term referred to ascent of the mind after making the sacrifice, implying that the sacrifice was for atonement for evil thoughts, while others argued that it was a sacrifice to the highest, because it was entirely given over to the deity. Modern scholars, however, argue that it simply refers to the burning process, as the meat goes up in flames.Of the Jewish sacrifices
Korban
The term offering as found in the Hebrew Bible in relation to the worship of Ancient Israel is mainly represented by the Hebrew noun korban whether for an animal or other offering...
specified by the Torah
Torah
Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...
, the olah was completely burnt. These offerings were referred to in Hebrew
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
as `olah, a term translated as holocauston in the Septuagint. Today, some English Bible translations
Bible translations
The Bible has been translated into many languages from the biblical languages of Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek. Indeed, the full Bible has been translated into over 450 languages, although sections of the Bible have been translated into over 2,000 languages....
render the word as holocaust, and others translate it as "burnt offering. For example, Exodus 18:12a is translated in the New American Bible
New American Bible
The New American Bible is a Catholic Bible translation first published in 1970. It had its beginnings in the Confraternity Bible, which began to be translated from the original languages in 1948....
as Then Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, brought a holocaust and other sacrifices to God, while it is translated in the New International Version
New International Version
The New International Version is an English translation of the Christian Bible. Published by Zondervan in the United States and by Hodder & Stoughton in the UK, it has become one of the most popular modern translations in history.-History:...
as Then Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, brought a burnt offering and other sacrifices to God.