tracer
December 31, 2003, 2:02am
1
Dex’s Staff Report from last April at http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/msacrifice.html , which deals with the slow changeover from animal sacrifice to prayer in Judaism, contains the following passage:
Prayers of repentance came into being. The prophet Hosea quotes God as saying, “I do not want from you sacrifices and offerings, but words [of contrition], as it is said, ‘Take with you words and turn to the Lord’” (Hosea 14:2, Exodus 38:4).
I looked up Exodus 38:4 in my handy-dandy online copy of the NIV translation, and got this:
“They made a grating for the altar, a bronze network, to be under its ledge, halfway up the altar.”
Hm. I’ll recheck the reference when I have time, must have mis-typed the citation.
I can’t even track down the Hosea. Specifically, I cannot find any English version containing “as it is said”. They all have some version of “say unto Him”. Either this is an eccentric interpretation, or something’s gotten garbled.
Sigh. I don’t recall where I got that translation or resource, but I can’t find it again. I almost certainly took it from a point made by one of the resources, without checking the references, and I don’t much feel like re-digging.
The same point is made whether Hosea is quoting Exodus or not, it’s to bring words [of contrition] rather than sacrifice. I’ll give it a few days, in case someone well-versed in this topic sees this thread and can tell me what I meant, or what the correct reference is. Otherwise I’ll amend the Staff Report. Thanks.
Dunno where “Exodus 38:4” would have come from, but Hosea 6:6 is the “Mercy, not sacrifice” verse. Could that be what you had in mind?
Bible Gateway, NIV.
Jesus quotes it in Matthew 9:13
While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and “sinners” came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and ‘sinners’?”
On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
If you can stand another similar but still not exact example, Psalms 40:6-8 (c. 1000BC?):
Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required. Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.
It also lacks the reference to prayers of contrition, although the surrounding verses talk about giving praise (not surprisingly).
zut
January 6, 2004, 4:00pm
7
Wow, that is confusing. The beginning of Hosea 14 (RSV) is
[sup]1[/sup]Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity. [sup]2[/sup]Take with you words and return to the LORD; say to him, “Take away all iniquity; accept that which is good and we will render the fruit of our lips. [sup]3[/sup]Assyria shall not save us, we will not ride upon horses; and we will say no more, ‘Our God,’ to the work of our hands. In thee the orphan finds mercy.”
Does that have anything to do with sacrifices?
How about the beginning of Isaiah 66? To a non-scholar like me, this seems like it might fit.
[sup]1[/sup]Thus says the LORD: "Heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool; what is the house which you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest? [sup]2[/sup]All these things my hand has made, and so all these things are mine, says the LORD. But this is the man to whom I will look, he that is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word. [sup]3[/sup]“He who slaughters an ox is like him who kills a man; he who sacrifices a lamb, like him who breaks a dog’s neck; he who presents a cereal offering, like him who offers swine’s blood; he who makes a memorial offering of frankincense, like him who blesses an idol. These have chosen their own ways, and their soul delights in their abominations; [sup]4[/sup]I also will choose affliction for them, and bring their fears upon them; because, when I called, no one answered, when I spoke they did not listen; but they did what was evil in my eyes, and chose that in which I did not delight.”