How many sacrifices were offered by each person in the Old Testament?

Paul Chatfield
Paul Chatfield Member Posts: 195 ✭✭
edited November 2024 in English Forum

I wondered how to find out how many sacrifices and of what animals were made per person in the Old Testament.  I realise many of the offerings were voluntary so a final estimate would be difficult to obtain, but I am also interested in whether someone with a flock of 100 sheep would find this easy or hard for example.  There are dictionary articles that I looked at individually.  I searched all references to sacrifice/offering in the Law to estimate this but 1547 verses in the Torah seemed a lot to look at.  I instead did a clause search on object:sacrifice, offering and found 167 results so thumbing through that would probably enable me to get an answer more easily.

Can anyone think of another way to answer the question?  Thank you :)

Comments

  • David Ames
    David Ames Member Posts: 2,971 ✭✭✭

    one per sin committed? and one for every time they were thankful for something that God did for them?

    or were they allowed to double up? 

  • MJ. Smith
    MJ. Smith MVP Posts: 55,128

    Paul Chatfield said:

    Can anyone think of another way to answer the question?

    The Old Testament covers a wide range of religious practices. Pre-Mosaic law wuld be impossible to even guess at. Periods of exile and turning to other gods as well as proximity to the place of sacrifice and a person's gender would have huge influences. To me, the best answer is to look at the number of types of sacrifice and individual/family obligations.






    Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."

  • David Ames
    David Ames Member Posts: 2,971 ✭✭✭

    Paul Chatfield said:

    I wondered how to find out how many sacrifices and of what animals were made per person in the Old Testament. 

     

    Search  Sacrifice    Many in the Look it up section including AYBD  (my search on sacrifice had 90,000 articles in 3000 resources)

    The very first in the look it up section was "Sacrifice and Sacrificial Offerings: Old Testament"  starts on page 870 though page 886

    4. The Basic Types of Animal Sacrifice

    a. Burnt Offering (ʿôlâ)

    b. Peace Offering (šĕlāmı̂m)

    c. Purification Offering (ḥaṭṭāʾt)

    d. Reparation Offering (ʾāšam)

    from: Gary A. Anderson, "Sacrifice and Sacrificial Offerings: Old Testament", in , vol. 5, The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary, ed. David Noel Freedman, 870 (New York: Doubleday, 1992).

    Also New Nave’s Topical Bible  can get you started.  

    The 'per person' is what triggered my first answer.  

    We have it easy - get down on your knees (or lower) and ask for forgiveness (and mean it) Sometimes by yourself other times with a 'guide'.

    YOU, back then, may have had to sell several of your good sheep to get one of the special perfect ones that were usable for sacrifice.  

    And every one watched as YOU lead your perfect bought sheep and walked from the camp to the tabernacle.  

    And everyone knew that YOU had goofed up yet again.  - we have it easy.

     

  • Luigi Sam
    Luigi Sam Member Posts: 287 ✭✭
    https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/451097#Comment_451097

    MJ. Smith said:

    To me, the best answer is to look at the number of types of sacrifice and individual/family obligations.

    That is a good tip MJ. Smith.

    Also thinking of it in terms of Yearly Blocks would help too.

    Ie.

    • daily sacrifices
    • weekly sacrifices
    • monthly sacrifices
    • yearly sacrifices  ( ie The High Priest once a year offering for himself and all the people) .  Neatly Rounded this is 32 sacrifices for a 32 year old person.
    • Also for some of the offerings it was permitted to convert it to money. (someone correct me if I am wrong or fill in the gaps if you have the info on hand)

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