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Between Babel and Beast
(America and Empires in Biblical Perspective)
The Glory of Kings: A Festschrift for James B. Jordan
Fyodor Dostoevsky
(Christian Encounters Series)
Athanasius
(Foundations of Theological Exegesis and Christian Spirituality)
The Four: A Survey of the Gospels
Defending Constantine: The Twilight of an Empire and the Dawn of Christendom
From Behind the Veil: The Epistles of John
Deep Exegesis:The Mystery of Reading Scripture
1 & 2 Kings
Brazos Theological Commentary
The Promise Of His Appearing: An Exposition Of Second Peter
A Great Mystery: Fourteen Wedding Sermons
Deep Comedy: Trinity, Tragedy, And Hope In Western Literature
Miniatures & Morals: The Christian Novels of Jane Austen
The Priesthood of the Plebs: A Theology of Baptism
A Son To Me: An Exposition of 1 & 2 Samuel
From Silence to Song: The Davidic Liturgical Revolution
Ascent to Love: A Guide to Dante's Divine Comedy
Blessed Are the Hungry: Meditations on the Lord's Supper
A House For My Name: A Survey of the Old Testament
Heroes of the City of Man: A Christian Guide to Select Ancient Literature
Brightest Heaven of Invention: A Christian Guide To Six Shakespeare Plays
Wise Words: Family Stories That Bring the Proverbs to Life
The Kingdom and the Power: Rediscovering the Centrality of the Church
When Hebrews 13:15 exhorts believers to offer a continuous sacrifice of praise to God, we naturally think of a continuous offering of verbal or sung praise. That is how the verse ends: “the fruit of lips that confess His name.”
The sacrifice of praise is verbal, but I suspect that Hebrews alludes to something else as well.
“Sacrifice of praise” translates thusia aineseos, a phrase that has a technical sense in the LXX translation of the Leviticus. A “sacrifice of praise” was specifically the thanksgiving form of the peace offering. Leviticus 7:12-15 describe the rite of this offering, which is called the thusia aineseos. Hebrews 13:15 is an exhortation to offer a continuous peace offering of thanksgiving. Instead of the tamid (continuous) ascension offering of the temple, the new temple is to offer a continuous peace offering.
What could that mean? The description of the peace offering of thanksgiving helps to explain.
Leviticus 6:8-7 give a series of rules concerning the offerings that have been described in Leviticus 1-6:7. In this section, we find the “law for” the ascension, the tribute, the purification, the trespass, and finally the peace offering. The peace offering is divided into peace offerings of thanks and peace offerings to fulfill vows.
Of the animal offerings, only the peace offering of thanks, the thusia aineseos requires bread. Three forms of unleavened bread are required – cakes mixed with oil, wafers anointed with oil, and fried cakes of fine flour mingled with oil. In addition, the offerer is supposed to bring leavened bread. One of each type of cake is offered as a contribution (terumah) to Yahweh, given to the priest who sprinkles the blood of the animal offering.
Hebrews 13:15 thus names a specific type of offering, a unique type of animal offering that includes bread, an offering that includes a gift of bread to the priests, an offering of thanksgiving (todah in Hebrew). Hebrews 13:15, in short, names the types of offering that most closely resembles the Christian Eucharist.
To offer a continuous “sacrifice of praise” is not only to confess and give thanks to His name in song and words. To offer a continuous sacrifice of praise is continuously to perform the peace offering of thanks, to perform a continuous Eucharist.
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Tuesday, July 10, 2012 at 7:47 am
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