Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Argument: Introduction to Leviticus
This book is called in Hebrew vaijcra, that is, "and He called," from its opening words. By the Greeks and Latins it is called Leviticus, from the subject matter it treats; for it treats of the sacrifices and other duties of the Levites. For the Levites, that is, those who were descended from the father and tribe of Levi, were chosen by God for the priestly office and for ministering to Him in the tabernacle — but with this distinction: that the Amramites, that is, the descendants of Amram, namely Aaron and his sons, would exercise the priesthood and alone would offer sacrifice; the rest, namely the descendants of Kohath, Merari, and Gershon (who were all sons of Levi) would serve under them, as deacons serve our priests. See Numbers chapters III and IV. The result was that the former were called priests, while the latter were called Levites, the common name being appropriated to the lesser rank: for the more imperfect species tends to appropriate to itself the name of the genus; thus we call a brute animal simply an "animal." Here, however, the opposite occurred: for the name of the genus is given here to the more distinguished; for by "Levites" here we understand priests, when we call this book "Leviticus."
"Leviticus" therefore means the same as "priestly" or "sacrificial": for it contains the ceremonial precepts by which the Israelite people were properly drawn to God and to the family and worship of God, concerning oblations and sacrifices, which are the most excellent acts of worship that we outwardly render to God.
Therefore the first reason for establishing these sacrifices was the outward worship and veneration owed to God. Second, so that God might by this means draw the Jews away from ruinous idleness and idolatry, keeping them always piously occupied. This reason is given by St. Clement, book I of the Recognitions, near the middle; Chrysostom, homily 6 on Matthew; Jerome, on Isaiah 1; and Tertullian, book II Against Marcion, chapter XVIII, where he says: "By the burdens of sacrifices, and the painstaking scrupulosity of ceremonies and oblations, God willed to bind them to His religion, lest they should fall into sin by making idols." Third, so that by various types they might foreshadow the dignity and manifold nature of the sacrifice of Christ accomplished on the Cross. For all these sacrifices foreshadowed Christ and the immolation of Christ, as St. Augustine teaches, book I Against the Adversaries of the Law and the Prophets, chapter XVIII, and book XVII of The City of God, chapter II; Eusebius, book I of the Demonstration, chapter II.
The Council of Trent, session XXII, chapter I at the end, and St. Leo, sermon 8 On the Passion, where he says: "Now that the variety of carnal sacrifices has ceased, the one oblation of the Body and Blood of the Lord fulfills all the different kinds of victims; so that, as there is one sacrifice for every victim, so there may be one kingdom from every nation." Hence also in the Collect of the Church it is said: "O God, who has sanctioned the varied distinctions of the legal victims by the perfection of one sacrifice." Fourth, so that they might signify the things it is fitting for us to do, and thus instruct our morals, as St. Augustine teaches, book X of The City of God, chapter V; Clement of Alexandria, book V of the Stromata; Theodoret, in his book On Sacrifices, before the middle, and others. From this it is clear that these ancient sacrifices were good and holy, and pleasing to God, inasmuch as they were instituted by Him and offered in His honor: for they were acts of religion and of worship.
You will object: St. Cyril, book IX Against Julian, before the end; St. Jerome; Rupert, on Isaiah chapter 1; Tertullian, book II Against Marcion, chapters XVIII and XXI; Chrysostom, oration 1 Against the Jews; and others seem to say that these sacrifices were not pleasing to God, nor instituted by His deliberate will, but only to avoid a greater evil — namely, lest the Hebrews, accustomed to sacrifices in Egypt, should fall back into them and offer them to Apis and other idols.
I respond that these Fathers only mean to say that these sacrifices were not pleasing to God in themselves, or insofar as they were external without internal worship: for they contrast them with the sacrifice of Christ and with acts of virtue, which are pleasing to God in themselves. And this is what the theologians say — that the sacrifices and Sacraments of the new law are pleasing to God and justify us by the work performed (ex opere operato); whereas the old ones did so by the work of the one performing them (ex opere operantis). Hence they were displeasing to God if offered by wicked men with an impure heart. And this is what God says in Isaiah 1:11: "What is the multitude of your victims to Me? I am full of the burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fatlings, and I desired not the blood of calves and lambs and goats: incense is an abomination to Me" — because, namely, it is burned for Me by you impious people with an impious heart: for you place all sanctity in those external sacrifices, and thus you neglect internal sanctity, which is the true kind, and defile yourselves with robberies, adulteries, and other crimes.
We can divide Leviticus into three sections. The first deals with the sacrifices themselves, their variety and distinctions, from chapter I to VIII. The second deals with the persons who offer, their preparation and disposition, from chapter VIII to XXIII. The third deals with the times appointed for offering, namely the feasts, from chapter XXIII to the end, to which some matters about vows and their redemption are appended.
Furthermore, all these things were done and said at the twelfth encampment of the Hebrews in the desert, namely at Mount Sinai, as is stated at the end of this book. For at Sinai took place everything narrated from Exodus chapter XIX to the end of Exodus, and everything narrated throughout Leviticus and Numbers up to chapter X. For in Numbers X, 11, the Hebrews broke camp from Sinai. However, these precepts of Leviticus were given to Moses by God not on Mount Sinai itself, as the Decalogue was, but in the recently constructed tabernacle, as is clear from chapter 1, verse 1.
From this it follows that Leviticus was dictated by God to Moses in the second year of the Hebrews' departure from Egypt, which was the year of the world 2455, from the flood 798 (which was 1496 years before the birth of Christ). Indeed, the entire book of Leviticus was dictated by God in one month, namely the first month of this second year, which you will clearly see if you compare the beginning and end of Leviticus with the last chapter of Exodus, verse 15, and with Numbers chapter I, verse 1. From this it is clear that the book of Numbers, which follows Leviticus, begins on the first day of the second month. Certainly it is established that Leviticus could not have been dictated after the twentieth day of the second month; for beyond that day the Hebrews were no longer at Sinai, as is clear from Numbers chapter X, verse 11. Note that these precepts of Leviticus were not given all at once on a single day, but successively over the various days of the first month, as is clear from chapter IX, verse 1; chapter X, verses 1 and 2; chapter XVI, verse 1.
Leviticus has been explained mystically, first, by Origen, whose sixteen homilies on Leviticus survive. These same homilies are found among the works of St. Cyril, and are called not homilies but books. However, that they are not Cyril's but Origen's is clear both from the style and because in certain places they bear traces of Origen's errors, and also because they have always from ancient times been attributed to Origen. Second, Hesychius, a priest of Jerusalem and disciple of St. Gregory Nazianzen, wrote on Leviticus. He flourished under the Emperor Honorius around the year of our Lord 400. Third, St. Cyril wrote on Leviticus seventeen books On Worship in Spirit and in Truth, in which he interprets most of the mysteries of Leviticus and applies them tropologically to Christians. Antonius Agellius published these recently at Rome in the year of our Lord 1588. Fourth, Radulphus, a monk of Flavigny, or, as others hold, of Fulda, wrote excellently on Leviticus around the year of our Lord 910. He was a man of solid learning, imitating the style of St. Gregory, and he aptly explains each point in the mystical and tropological sense. In this century, Peter Serranus, a Canon of Alcala, has written on Leviticus both mystically and literally.
Synopsis of the Chapter
God prescribes to Moses the rite of three kinds of burnt offering: first, of cattle, verse 3; second, of sheep and goats, verse 10; third, of birds, namely turtledoves and pigeons, verse 14.
Preliminary Notes on Sacrifice
A few things must be stated here in advance about sacrifice and its kinds.
Note first: A sacrifice is an offering of a sensible thing made to God by a legitimate minister, through a real transformation, to attest to His supreme dominion and our subjection. I say "through a real transformation," because in this sacrifice is distinguished from a mere offering: in the latter the thing was offered to God intact, as is evident in the offering of tithes and firstfruits; but in a sacrifice the thing offered was killed, if it was animate, or if it was inanimate, it was cut apart, ground, burned, or poured out, and thus transformed and destroyed.
Hence "to sacrifice" in Greek is called thyein, in Hebrew zabach, both of which mean "to kill, to slaughter." For zabach agrees in name and meaning with tabach, that is, "to slaughter." And the Latin sacrificare, although it derives from something being made sacred, is nevertheless very often taken to mean "to kill" — which is a sign that sacrifice either consists in the very destruction of the thing, or is conjoined with it.
The reason is that when a thing is destroyed, it is taken away from human use, and appears more perfectly to be given wholly in honor of God, and to signify His supreme dominion over all things, and that all things depend on Him, and especially that He is the Lord of life and death of all: for we signify and profess all these things by the very act of sacrifice.
Note second: The inanimate things that were sacrificed were either liquid, such as blood, wine, and oil — these were offered by being poured out; or they were solid, such as bread, fine flour, salt, incense, a sheaf of green ears of grain, and wheat — these the priest would lift up high and prepare and transform in various ways. In this transformation consisted the essence of sacrifice: for the bread was cut into pieces, the fine flour was cooked in a pan, oven, or grill, the salt was burned, the incense was ignited, the sheaf of ears was toasted, and the wheat was ground.
Note third: Of animals, God commanded that only clean ones be offered to Him, and only eight in number, namely: the sheep, the goat, the kid, the ox, the calf, the pigeon, the sparrow, and the turtledove; nor was it lawful for the Jews to sacrifice any other animal to God.
Note fourth: There were three kinds of sacrifices. The first was the burnt offering (holocaustum); the second, the peace offering (victima pacifica); the third, the sin offering (hostia pro peccato). To these add a fourth, namely the mincha, or sacrifice of fine flour or bread. All of these are contained in the sacrifice of Christ, which was prefigured by them. Moses treats these in this order: the burnt offering in chapter I; the mincha in chapter II; the peace offering in chapter III; the sin offering in chapter IV or VI.
Vulgate Text: Leviticus 1:1-17
1. And the Lord called Moses, and spoke to him from the tabernacle of the testimony, saying: 2. Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: When any man of you offers a victim to the Lord from the livestock, that is, offering victims from the cattle and sheep, 3. if his offering be a burnt offering from the herd, he shall offer a male without blemish, at the door of the tabernacle of the testimony, to make the Lord favorable to himself; 4. and he shall lay his hand upon the head of the victim, and it shall be acceptable and shall avail for his expiation. 5. And he shall immolate the calf before the Lord, and the priests, the sons of Aaron, shall offer its blood, pouring it round about upon the altar, which is before the door of the tabernacle; 6. and when they have flayed the victim, they shall cut the limbs into pieces, 7. and they shall place fire on the altar, having first arranged a pile of wood; 8. and they shall lay the pieces that have been cut upon it in order, namely the head, and all things that cleave to the liver, 9. the entrails and feet being washed with water; and the priest shall burn them all upon the altar for a burnt offering and a sweet odor to the Lord. 10. But if the offering from the livestock is of sheep or goats for a burnt offering, a male without blemish he shall offer; 11. and he shall immolate it at the side of the altar that faces north, before the Lord; and the sons of Aaron shall pour its blood upon the altar round about; 12. and they shall divide the members, the head, and all things that cleave to the liver, and shall place them upon the wood, under which the fire is to be laid; 13. but the entrails and feet they shall wash with water. And the priest shall burn all that is offered upon the altar for a burnt offering and a most sweet odor to the Lord. 14. But if the offering of the burnt offering to the Lord be of birds, of turtledoves or young pigeons, 15. the priest shall offer it at the altar; and wringing its head toward the neck, and breaking open the place of the wound, he shall let the blood run down upon the edge of the altar; 16. but the crop of the throat and the feathers he shall cast near the altar toward the east, in the place where the ashes are usually poured out; 17. and he shall break its wings, but shall not cut them, nor divide it with iron, and he shall burn it upon the altar, fire being placed under the wood. It is a burnt offering and an oblation of most sweet odor to the Lord.
Verse 1: And the Lord Called Moses
1. AND THE LORD CALLED MOSES, AND SPOKE TO HIM. — "He spoke," not with an imaginary but with a sensible voice, issuing from the tabernacle, formed in the air by an angel speaking in God's place. This speech was not a proper, or living, or human speech, since an angel lacks a body and the bodily organs — namely the mouth, tongue, and teeth — necessary for speaking, but it was similar to one. Hence it is called speech analogically. "The Lord," that is, an angel bearing the person of the Lord, as I explained at Exodus III, 2.
FROM THE TABERNACLE OF THE TESTIMONY — that is, from the tabernacle in which was the testimony, that is, the law or the tablets of the law. See what was said at Exodus XXVII, 20. It can secondly be translated: "from the tabernacle of meeting" or "of assembly," because it was, as it were, the appointed place for the assembly of the people and of Moses with God. So Vatablus; for both meanings are contained in the Hebrew word moed.
Verse 2: Speak to the Children of Israel
2. SPEAK TO THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL — to all, including the Levites. Note: When the "children of Israel" are named in Scripture, if the matter is temporal, the Levites are excluded; if spiritual, they are included, as is clear from Deuteronomy XXVII, 12 and Apocalypse VII, 7, where the tribe of Levi is numbered among those sealed by God. For it is incumbent upon Levites and sacred persons not to care for and attend to temporal things, but spiritual ones.
WHEN ANY MAN OF YOU OFFERS A VICTIM TO THE LORD. — For sacrifice is to be offered to God alone, and this was the practice received among all nations — namely, that they would sacrifice to no one unless he was God, or was held to be God by them, and whom they knew, believed, or imagined to be God, says St. Augustine, book X of The City of God, chapter IV, and this for the reason I gave at the beginning of the chapter.
WHEN ANY MAN OFFERS — supply "voluntarily"; for there were other offerings that were not voluntary but prescribed, and therefore obligatory. Such was the offering of the firstborn, of which Exodus XXII, 29 speaks; and the offering for sin, of which chapters IV and V here speak. And those things which were obligatory could not be transferred by anyone to another mode of offering, as is clear from chapter XXVII, verse 26: "The firstborn," it says, "which belong to God, no one may sanctify and vow."
FROM THE LIVESTOCK. — Our translator does not distinguish between pecora and pecudes, as the grammarians do, who call smaller animals pecudes and larger ones pecora. For our translator calls all animals, both smaller and larger, by both names pecudes and pecora.
OFFERING VICTIMS FROM THE CATTLE AND SHEEP. — Under "sheep" understand also goats; for the Hebrew word tson is common to both. The Lord here selects for Himself in sacrifice, from terrestrial animals, the ox, sheep, and goat; from birds, the pigeon and turtledove; but no fish.
The first reason for this is the free will of God, who so ordained. Second, because this was fitting: for those animals are more commonly used by men, and provide man with food from their flesh and milk, and clothing from their wool and hide; oxen also plow and thresh. Moreover, these animals are tame, and therefore cleaner. So Theodoret, Question 1, and Philo, in his book On Victims. In the case of fish there was also this peculiarity: that they could scarcely be brought alive, and therefore could not have been immolated. For in both cases the saying of St. Anthony holds true: "What a fish is out of water, that a monk is outside his cell."
Add that fish, because they abound in moisture and seed, are a symbol of sloth and lust. Pierius, however, in Hieroglyphics 31, says that fish are a hieroglyph of innocence, since they are entirely harmless and do not cross the boundaries of their own element to lay snares for others. And therefore Pythagoras decreed that one should abstain from fish, lest one persecute the innocent. Lilius Giraldus teaches the same in his Symbols of Pythagoras. For this reason Pythagoras, according to Plutarch, is said to have bought a fisherman's cast of the net, so that whatever fish were caught in that cast he might immediately release — and so he did.
The third reason is that fish are very imperfect and ignoble animals. Hear Philo, book I On the Constitution of the World: "Fish were created first among all other animals, because their soul is the most ignoble, as man's is the most acute. 'Of souls,' he says, 'one kind is the slowest and least developed, which belongs to the genus of fish; another is the most acute, which belongs to man. That which is intermediate between these two has been given to land animals and birds. For this is more sensitive than in fish, but duller than in human beings. Wherefore God among living creatures created fish first, as being partakers more of bodily substance than of soul, and in a way animals and not animals, and moving things without life. And for the sole purpose of preserving the body, God placed in them an animal spirit, as (so to speak) salt is sprinkled on meat lest it easily rot.'" For this reason the Egyptians, according to Herodotus, abstained from fish as impure and unclean. Moreover, when those same people wished to signify what is unlawful and defiling, they painted a fish, because fish feed on one another's flesh and are food for each other, as Horus the Egyptian writes. Indeed, besides the Egyptians, we read that the Syrians also abstained from fish. Hence among them the goddess Atergatis is celebrated, whose name means "without fish": for in the Syrian language, ater is a privative particle, and gatis means "fish."
However, Athenaeus, in book VII, reports that other nations did perform sacred rites with tuna and eel. Moreover, Marcus Varro, in book III of Rural Matters, writes that sacred rites involving certain fish were performed among the Lydians.
Abulensis gives a fourth reason: "God willed," he says, "that an ox be immolated to Him, lest the Hebrews should think that Apis, the Egyptian ox, was God; a ram, lest they should consider Ammon the Egyptian, who had the horns of a ram, to be God; a he-goat, because the demons worshipped by the Egyptians often displayed themselves to be seen in the form of a he-goat" — as they still do even now.
From this it follows that all animals that were clean for sacrifice were also clean for food and could be eaten; but not conversely. For the deer, the antelope, and the rest were clean for food and eating, as will be clear from chapter XI, but not for sacrifice — for it was not lawful to immolate them. So Abulensis.
The allegorical reason was that these animals most aptly signified Christ, who is the one victim of the new law, for signifying whom they were chiefly instituted (Hebrews X, 1). For the ox signified Christ's fortitude and labors; the sheep, His innocence; the kid, the form of a sinner; the turtledove, His intimate union with God; the young pigeons or nestlings of doves, His meekness. So St. Cyril, book XV of On Worship in Spirit and in Truth, page 304; Procopius on Leviticus chapter IV; and Bede here.
These same animals signify the same things tropologically; for, as Origen says in homily 2: "He offers a calf to God who conquers the pride of the flesh by labor; he offers a sheep who corrects the irrational movements of anger and folly (for if from the heart you have forgiven your brother's sin, and, setting aside the swelling of anger, you have gathered back within yourself a meek and simple spirit — consider that you have immolated a ram or a lamb); he offers a kid who overcomes lust; a pair of turtledoves, who joins his mind to the Word of God as to a spouse; young pigeons, who imitates the dove-like eyes of the bride." So also Hesychius and Radulphus.
Hence Philo, in his book On Victims, says that these animals to be immolated had to be whole, uninjured in all parts, free from defects and blemishes; and therefore the priests used to examine them carefully before immolation, from head to feet, lest the victim ever have a blemish. This was so that through this the offerers might be admonished to present before God a clean and immaculate soul, and to offer it together with their victim to God.
Verse 3: If His Offering Be a Burnt Offering
3. IF HIS OFFERING BE A BURNT OFFERING. — Holocaustum ("burnt offering") is a Greek word, as if to say holon kauston, that is, "wholly burned," because in it the entire victim was burned for God. Hence in Hebrew it is called calil, that is, whole or consummate, because the whole was consumed by fire in God's honor; it is also called ola, that is, ascension, because in it the entire victim ascended through fire and smoke to God. Hence again in Greek it is called holokarpooma, because the whole yielded as fruit to God. The holocaust therefore was a sacrifice offered to God purely for the praise of God, and the honor of His supreme majesty, and the love of His supreme goodness, even if we expected no grace from it, says Philo.
For this reason, in the holocaust the entire victim, except the skin, was burned, so that through this the supreme dominion of God over all things might be signified, and that all things must be referred to Him and to His glory. Secondly, those offering thereby professed that they were wholly God's, and they consecrated themselves entirely to God together with the holocaust, so that, as it were despising the body, they might raise their spirit with the smoke of their victim to heaven, and transfer it to God. Here the Greek Gentiles, if they sacrificed to the heavenly gods, positioned the head of the victim so that it looked toward heaven; but if to the gods of the underworld, so that it looked down toward the earth, says Giraldus, Syntag. 17.
Note first: The victim of the holocaust had to be male and without blemish. The wealthy offered a bull or a young bull; others who could not afford a young bull offered a lamb or a kid; finally the poor, who had neither lamb nor kid, offered a turtledove or a young pigeon. Secondly, it had to be brought to the entrance of the tabernacle. Thirdly, the one offering laid his hands on the head of the victim. Fourthly, the priest slaughtered and killed it, caught the blood in a basin, poured it around the altar, then stripped off the skin, then cut the victim into pieces, placed them on the altar, and burned them with fire and wood placed beneath. In these actions, however, the priest who was sacrificing was assisted by the labor of other priests and Levites; for one priest alone could not have performed all these tasks, especially when many victims had to be offered at the same time.
Tropologically: A holocaust, says Radulphus, is made by one who is perpetually devoted in heart and body to divine service; and it is threefold: first, of a bull, that is, of those robust in body who place their labors at the service of their brethren; secondly, of sheep, that is, of those who, though weak in body, nourish others by the innocence of their works and the simplicity of their character; thirdly, of birds, that is, of those who devote themselves to knowledge and contemplation, so as to know God; so roughly Isychius, and Rupertus who compares the first with Job, the second with Noah: for Noah shone with innocence among sinners; and the third with Daniel, the wisest of mortals. Secondly, aptly Ribera, Book IV On the Temple, chapter III, by the holocaust of the calf understands Christ, "who, as Paul says, gave Himself up for us as an offering and sacrifice to God, for a sweet-smelling savor." Secondly, by the holocaust of the lamb or kid, he understands the offering and death of the Martyrs, which in dignity was closest to the sacrifice of Christ. Thirdly, by the holocaust of the turtledove and pigeon he understands those who, through continual mortification of the flesh and denial of the will, offer themselves as living sacrifices to God, Romans 12:1.
Now first, all these are male through fortitude, without blemish through sanctity. Secondly, Christ was sacrificed at the entrance of the tabernacle, that is, near to and outside the city. Thirdly, Christ, who is at once the one offering and the victim (for He offered Himself), Christ, I say, the offerer, laid His hands upon the head of the victim, because He placed the sins of the human race upon His own head, says Origen. Fourthly, by offering Himself to the Father, Christ poured out His blood around the altar, that is, the cross, so that we might know that all the nations of the earth would share in the cross and blood of Christ; the skin was stripped from the victim; Christ was stripped of all His garments; the limbs were cut into pieces, as Christ's body was cut by scourges and nails, and stretched out on the cross so that the bones were dislocated from their places, according to that passage of Psalm 21: "They have pierced My hands and My feet, and numbered all My bones." The fire by which Christ was sacrificed, and mystically burned, was the fire of His charity; the wood, our miseries, which aroused His love. Concerning the rest, namely the sheep and birds, I shall speak below in their proper places.
FROM THE HERD — that is, from cattle. So the Hebrew has it: or from young bulls; for these alone among the larger animals were sacrificed.
A MALE — because the holocaust was the most noble sacrifice, which was offered directly to God solely for His honor and praise; hence it was fitting to use the most noble victim in it; and such is the male. It was otherwise in the peace offering, which was offered for someone's welfare: for in that offering, being less noble, a female could be offered. So Abulensis.
HE SHALL OFFER IT WITHOUT BLEMISH — a bull, or a young bull. He calls the victim unblemished, one that has no defects — not of color (for a spotted bull, that is, one with black or multicolored hide, was considered unblemished and could be sacrificed), but of deformity and defect: for this kind of blemish is explained in Leviticus 22:22, which says: "He shall offer it without blemish, that it may be acceptable; there shall be no blemish in it: if it is blind, or broken, or having a scar, or having pustules or scab, or mange." And such a blemish is understood in Canticles 4, when it is said of the bride: "You are all beautiful, and there is no blemish in you." Hence for "without blemish," the Hebrew is tamim; that is, perfect, as Aquila translates it; and whole, as Symmachus renders it. The priests used to examine for these blemishes, as I said above from Philo. The Gentiles, however, used to gild the horns of their victims: Hence Ovid: "And the victim, with horns clad in gold, fulfills the vows," and Virgil: "And I will set before the altars a young bull with gilded brow;" where Servius says: "If a lesser victim was to be sacrificed, the one to whom the sacred rites were performed was crowned with foliage, and the victim, wrapped in a woolen fillet and white headband, was placed before the altars, bound by no chain."
HE SHALL OFFER IT AT THE ENTRANCE OF THE TABERNACLE OF THE TESTIMONY. — Three parts of the tabernacle. I said at Exodus 26 that there were three parts of the tabernacle and temple: the first, innermost part, namely the Holy of Holies; the second, adjoining it, namely the Holy Place: these two were properly the structure of the tabernacle itself; the third, outermost part, namely a certain courtyard surrounding the tabernacle on all sides; and these were like three tabernacles: the first of the high priest, the second of the priests, the third of the laity: for in this courtyard, as in their own temple, the laity gathered, and in it they ate the peace offerings.
Moreover, the courtyard was divided in two: for the front part was the court of the priests, in which the altar of holocausts stood; the rear part, separated from the front by a barrier, was the court of the laity. Therefore the laity, when offering a victim for a holocaust, brought it to the entrance of the tabernacle, that is, to the entrance of the court of the priests; for there the priests received it, and led it to the altar of holocausts, where they sacrificed it: for the laity could not enter this altar area or the court of the priests.
TO APPEASE THE LORD TO HIMSELF. — The proper end of the holocaust was to worship and honor God, not to appease Him; this however followed from the former, even if the one offering thought nothing of appeasement. In Hebrew it is lirtsono, which more recent scholars translate, according to his will, as if to say: He shall offer whatever pleases him; but it is better to translate lirtsono as for his favor before the Lord, as if to say: He shall offer to win the Lord's favor for himself. For the nouns and suffixes of the Hebrews are often taken passively, according to Canon 25; so here it is called "his favor," namely not the one who favors, but the one who is to be favored, which our Vulgate translates, to appease the Lord to himself; and the Septuagint, it shall be acceptable for him to make propitiation for him.
AND IT SHALL BE ACCEPTABLE. — In Hebrew it is nirtsa lo, that is, it shall please, or it shall be accepted by Him, namely God. Secondly, it can be translated, it shall be accepted on his behalf, namely the one offering. That God showed this by an external sign, Josephus teaches in Book III of the Antiquities, chapter 9: "For of the two onyx stones," he says, "which were placed on the shoulders of the high priest, the right one would flash whenever the sacrifice was successful, with such brightness that it could be seen even from afar." He likewise asserts that the stones of the breastplate flashed in the same way.
Verse 4: And He Shall Place His Hand upon the Head of the Victim
Hence it follows: 4. AND HE SHALL PLACE HIS HAND UPON THE HEAD OF THE VICTIM. — First, so that by this rite the one offering signifies that he is transferring the victim from his own hand and power into the right of God. By a similar ceremony the ancient Romans would renounce their slaves and free them; for holding the head, they would say: "I wish this man to be free," and they would release him from their hand. Hence the same ceremony was also used in the offering and consecration of the Levites, Numbers 8:19. Secondly, so that by this ceremony the one offering signifies that he calls down his sins upon, and as it were places them upon, the victim to be sacrificed, and offers it for himself; for by the hands are signified the actions and sins which are committed by hands, says Theodoret and Eusebius, Book I of Demonstration of the Gospel, chapter 10. "The imposition of hands," says Eusebius, "was a symbol of the offering, and a testimony that guilt was transferred onto the victim." For although the holocaust was offered primarily for the honor of God, it was nevertheless offered secondarily for sins, to appease God, as I have said. So the Gentile Egyptians would imprecate upon the head of the victim, that if there happened to be anything that would harm either the sacrificers or Egypt, all of it should be turned upon this head: and then they would cut off the head of the victim and throw it into the river, as Giraldus reports, Syntag. 17. Thirdly, so that by this rite the one offering signifies that he offers himself entirely with the victim as a holocaust to God, and wishes to devote himself wholly to God's service. For these reasons our priests also, in the sacrifice of the Mass, place their hands upon the host, as Durandus noted in the Rationale of Divine Offices, Suarez, and others.
For this same reason Numa decreed among the Romans that "one who is praying ought to turn himself around in a circle," so that by this gesture he might signify that nothing in human affairs is stable, and therefore it is fitting that in whatever way God may twist and turn our life, we should take it in good part, says Plutarch in his Life of Numa.
LOOKING TOWARD EXPIATION. — From this passage and from chapter 4, Calvin infers that through these old sacrifices, the Israelites were reconciled in a sacramental manner, and freed from guilt and liability in God's judgment, just as today we are cleansed and freed through baptism. This opinion follows from another principle of Calvin, by which he teaches that the Sacraments of the new law do not confer grace ex opere operato, but rather the faith that the Sacraments arouse confers grace, and the Sacraments are merely seals of grace conferred through faith; because therefore both old and new Sacraments and sacrifices do not justify except through faith, which they arouse in equal measure: hence according to Calvin, the manner of justification is the same for both.
But this is a manifest error, and clearly contradicts Sacred Scripture, Psalm 50:18: "If You had desired sacrifice, I would indeed have given it; You shall not be delighted with holocausts;" Psalm 39:7: "Sacrifice and offering You did not desire;" Galatians 4:9: "How do you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements?" as is expressly refuted by Paul, Hebrews 10:4 and following. Secondly, this error is contrary to the Council of Florence, treatise On the Sacraments, and is condemned by the Council of Trent, session 7, canon 2; and rightly so, for this heresy so diminishes the grace and Sacraments of the new law that it equates Jews with Christians, and the old law with the new, and according to it, it would be equally desirable to be a Jew as to be a Christian, so that justly Hunnius and others wrote a book against Calvin with this title: Calvin the Judaizer. Hence thirdly, he is refuted by St. Clement, Book VI of the Constitutions, chapter 22; Irenaeus, Book IV, chapter 32; Jerome, on Matthew chapter 5, and on Isaiah chapters 1 and 60; Chrysostom, homily 9 on Matthew, and others.
You will say: How then is it said here that the old sacrifice avails for expiation? I reply first, because it availed for the expiation of temporal punishment, and for averting the punishment of this life, which God would otherwise have inflicted upon them. Secondly, because it removed in itself the legal or carnal uncleanness, by which they were considered unclean among their own people, and were excluded from sacred rites: which uncleanness was a figure of sin; and so this sacrifice conferred a certain legal and external justice, which was a figure of true justice and internal renewal. Thirdly, because it removed guilt and eternal punishment, not by the power of the sacrifice or ex opere operato (for this was granted not even to the sacrifice of the new law, but only to its Sacraments), but rather ex opere operantis, that is, from the contrition and charity of the one offering: for no other spiritual promise was attached to the old sacrifices and Sacraments.
Verse 5: And He Shall Sacrifice the Young Bull before the Lord
5. AND HE SHALL SACRIFICE THE YOUNG BULL BEFORE THE LORD. — "He shall sacrifice" — that is, the one offering, through the one whose office it is to sacrifice, namely through the priest, whether the high priest or a lower one; for all and only these priests were able to sacrifice, as also to burn incense, as is clear from chapter 10, verse 1.
Vilalpando notes, Book III On the Temple, chapter 37, page 232, that both Jews and Gentiles slaughtered their victims stretched out, that is, with legs spread apart and their whole body extended; and this firstly, because such an extension of the victim upon stones, with the neck lowered and the body upright, was convenient for an easier and more copious shedding of blood. Secondly, so that through this outward positioning of the victim, the inner spirit of the one offering might be signified as being, as it were, wholly poured out before God. Thirdly, so that Christ might be signified, who, like a victim stretched out, was slaughtered on the cross for the redemption of mankind; in every victim thus extended, Christ crucified was represented as in a living image, stretched out on the cross in the same manner.
A YOUNG BULL — In Hebrew, the son of a bull; the bull which he commanded to be offered in verse 3, he here calls a young bull. Therefore God chose and preferred the bull over other animals, not an old one, but a young one, because it is more tender and delicate; for the best must be offered to God. For this reason He also wished it to be male and without blemish. Although there was also another mystical reason for this, and a more important cause, which St. Cyril gives, Book XV of On Adoration in Spirit and Truth, page 300, namely first, that the Son of Man, our Emmanuel, prefigured by these victims, was at once male and without blemish and young; for Christ was sacrificed in the flower of His youth. Secondly, that God requires of us a masculine spirit, robust and free from vices; for softness and a womanish spirit, and interior weakness of mind and understanding, are utterly rejected by God, says Cyril. So also among the Egyptians it was not permitted to sacrifice females, as Herodotus attests, Book II. On the other hand, other nations preferred females to males in sacrifice, says Servius on Aeneid Book VIII. Note: In the holocaust alone does God require a male victim, because this was offered precisely for the praise and honor of God, who being perfect, demands a perfect victim, and therefore a male one, by which we may profess and represent His perfection, says Abulensis. Wherefore in the peace offering the victim could be female, as is clear from chapter 3:1. The same seems to apply to the sin offering. For in chapter 4, the law does not require a male victim for it. So Radulphus and Abulensis.
BEFORE THE LORD — that is, before the altar and tabernacle where God is singularly present, and hears the prayers and receives the sacrifices of those offering. From this passage, and more clearly from verse 11, where it says: "He shall sacrifice at the side of the altar," it is gathered that the animals were not slaughtered upon the altar, but beside it, or at its side; for the altar was full of fire, and the priest could not have lifted a bull onto such a high altar. Hence the altar was also sprinkled with the blood of the victim, after it had been slaughtered elsewhere; but the priest placed the cut-up members of the slaughtered victim upon the altar, to be burned on it. So Abulensis.
AND THE SONS OF AARON, THE PRIESTS, SHALL OFFER ITS BLOOD, POURING IT AROUND THE ALTAR. — "Sons of Aaron" here means any priests who minister to the priest who is sacrificing, even though they are otherwise equal to him in dignity: for at that time there were no other priests to minister to Aaron the high priest as he sacrificed, other than his sons. For the family of Aaron alone was chosen and raised by God to the priesthood.
POURING OUT ITS BLOOD. — For, as the Apostle says, Hebrews 9:22, "without the shedding of blood there is no remission." The holocaust moreover was secondarily directed to the remission of sins. And so because sins made men deserving of death and the shedding of blood — for the soul, that is, life, resides in the blood, Leviticus 17:14 — hence in place of their own blood, they poured out the blood of the victims, onto which, by the imposition of hands, they had, as it were, transferred their sins by their profession; and they poured the blood around the altar, because God was represented by the altar. Hence by this sign they testified that the blood of the beast was being offered to Him in place of their own, asking that God would accept it in place of their own blood, and that by the punishment of the sinner's victim and His enemy, His just vengeance might be satisfied. See chapter 17, verse 11, and Abulensis on chapter 3, Question 3.
Abulensis considers that by a continual miracle all the blood of the victims evaporated immediately, and this for the propriety and reverence of the sacrifices; for otherwise it would have produced an intolerable stench, especially since many victims were slaughtered at the same time. Solomon addressed this inconvenience in his temple: for he made pools, channels, and underground canals through which the blood could be drained away, and washed clean by water poured over them, as Aristeas attests, treatise On the Seventy-Two Interpreters.
Verse 6: And Having Stripped the Skin from the Victim
6. AND HAVING STRIPPED THE SKIN FROM THE VICTIM. — The skin was removed, both for the cleanliness of the sacrifice, and because the sacrifice was, as it were, food of God. But the skin is not usually eaten. Except for the red heifer, and sin offerings, in which the skin, dung, and horns of the victim were burned outside the camp; and this was to indicate and produce detestation of sin, about which see chapter 4. Moreover, it was the priests' task to strip the skin; hence the skin also fell to the priest, as is clear from chapter 7:7. Understand this unless necessity pressed: for then even the Levites served in this skinning, as is clear from 2 Chronicles 29:34. So Cajetan, Oleaster, and others.
THEY SHALL CUT THE LIMBS INTO PIECES. — In Hebrew, and he shall cut (namely the priest) it according to its cuts, or its parts; and the Septuagint, they shall cut it up member by member. Josephus adds that these pieces were sprinkled with salt, and so placed on the altar.
Symbolically, by this cutting up of the members was signified, says Philo, that one ought to praise God and give Him thanks for the heaven, the sun, the moon, the earth, the sea, the air, and all parts of the universe. For these are, as it were, the pieces and members of the world, which is, as it were, a complete victim of God.
Tropologically, each and every member of one who is consecrated to God is carefully examined by the word of God, which reaches even to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, to whom all things are naked and open, says Procopius, Radulphus, and St. Gregory, Book I of the Moralia, last chapter.
"We strip the skin of the victim," says Gregory, "when we remove from the eyes of our mind the surface of virtue; we cut its limbs into pieces, when, distinguishing subtly, we think over its inmost parts member by member," etc.
Verse 7: They Shall Place Fire on the Altar
7. THEY SHALL PLACE FIRE ON THE ALTAR — they shall cause fire to be placed beneath; therefore in the first sacrifice they shall place fire, which afterward they will continually maintain under the altar, as will be said in chapter 6, verse 13. Note: on the altar, that is, under the altar. For the altar was hollow inside to receive fire and wood, as I said at Exodus 27:8; but it was covered with a latticed grate in the form of a net, upon which the victims to be burned were placed, as is clear from the same passage, verse 4. In Hebrew it is, they shall put upon, or at the altar fire. Hence Abulensis infers that the fire and wood were not under but upon the altar. But I reply: "They shall put fire at the altar" means at the place established under the altar, or upon the altar, as the Septuagint translates, that is, upon the inner part of the altar, namely upon stones raised from the ground, which reached to the middle of the altar's interior, on which a hearth with fire and wood was placed.
Hence the altar is so called as if alta ara (high altar), says Isidore, Book XV of the Etymologies, chapter 14; and ara (altar) is derived from burning (ardendo), because victims were burned on it. Ara, says Varro, is so called because the open spaces in the city are clean (purae), or from the burning heat (ardore) of the victims. Others think aras comes from prayers, which the Greeks call ara.
Verse 8: The Head, Namely, and All Things That Adhere to the Liver
8. THE HEAD, NAMELY, AND ALL THINGS THAT ADHERE TO THE LIVER. — He names the parts about which there could be doubt; for regarding the rest of the flesh, it is evident that all of it had to be burned in the holocaust, as is clear from the Septuagint, the Hebrew, and the Chaldean.
Mystically, we ought especially to offer to God the vital parts, the head and the liver, that is, the intellect and the affections; for the liver is the seat of love. Hence the Gentiles, thinking that individual gods presided over individual parts and members of the human body, attributed to Jupiter the head, to Minerva the eyes, to Juno the arms, to Neptune the chest, to Mars the loins and belt, to Venus the kidneys and groin, and to Mercury the feet, as Giraldus teaches from Democritus and Placides, Syntagm. 1.
Verse 9: As a Holocaust and a Sweet Odor to the Lord
9. AS A HOLOCAUST AND A SWEET ODOR TO THE LORD. — An anthropopathy; this is said of God. The meaning is, as the Chaldean translates, it is an offering of a holocaust, which is received with good pleasure before the Lord. Hence for sweet odor, or of sweetness, the Hebrew has odor of rest, in which God, as it were, sweetly rests and delights, as in a sacrifice acceptable to Him. Abulensis considers that the stench of both the blood and the burning flesh was divinely removed, and that a sweet odor was imparted to them; for otherwise in the continual sacrifices there would have been the most grievous smell and intolerable stench.
Radulphus offers the tropological interpretation of all that has been said: The altar, he says, is our heart; the wood is holy thoughts; the victim is offered at the entrance of the tabernacle, that is, at and near the entrance of heaven; the imposition of hands is the devotion of the one offering; the pouring out of blood is the expulsion of petty desires; the stripping of the skin is the examination of the interior will; the cutting up of the members is the discreet distribution of works of charity; the fire is charity; the head is the intention of the work; the entrails, that is, the interior of the soul, and the feet, that is, external actions, must be washed and purified, so that we may be a victim worthy of God. This tropological interpretation serves also for the holocaust of sheep, of birds, and for other sacrifices, and therefore I shall not repeat it hereafter in the others.
Verse 10: But If the Offering Is from the Flock
10. BUT IF THE OFFERING IS FROM THE FLOCK. — By "flock" he means sheep or the flocks of sheep and goats; for this is what the Hebrew tson signifies. For here Moses passes from the first kind of holocaust, namely from cattle, to the second, namely to sheep and goats.
HE SHALL OFFER A MALE LAMB WITHOUT BLEMISH. — For "male" the Plantin Bible has "a year old." But that "male" is the correct reading is clear from the Hebrew, the Chaldean, the Septuagint, and the Roman editions. And although Josephus says: "A lamb and a kid must be one year old, but a bull may be slaughtered even at an older age;" nevertheless Scripture and the divine law say no such thing: perhaps the Jews interpreted that the lamb for a holocaust ought to be like the paschal lamb, which had to be a year old, Exodus 12:5.
Verse 11: And He Shall Sacrifice It at the Side of the Altar That Faces North
11. AND HE SHALL SACRIFICE IT AT THE SIDE OF THE ALTAR THAT FACES NORTH. — God commanded this so that the slaughter and sacrifice would take place before the entrance of the tabernacle, or of the Holy Place, which was, as it were, the temple and house of God. For the altar of holocausts was to the south of this entrance; therefore, in order that the sacrifice might take place before the entrance, it had to take place at the northern side of the altar. So Isychius. St. Cyril gives an allegorical reason, Book XVI of On Adoration, namely that it signified that Christ's Passion would benefit the Gentiles; for since Judea was to the south, the Gentiles, being opposite to the Jews, are signified by the north.
BUT THEY SHALL POUR ITS BLOOD UPON THE ALTAR — upon the sides of the altar, or upon the walls of the altar all around, as he said in verse 5; for if the blood had been poured upon the latticed grate, it would have extinguished the fire placed beneath it.
Verse 12: And They Shall Place Them upon the Wood
12. AND THEY SHALL PLACE THEM UPON THE WOOD — either directly, or by means of the grate, as I said at Exodus 27:4.
Tropologically, Ribera applies all these things pertaining to the holocaust of sheep, one by one, to the Martyrs. See his Book IV On the Temple, chapter 3.
Such a sheep, indeed a ram of the flock and of the Martyrs of Christ, was St. Polycarp, who, when he was entering the arena of martyrdom, a voice was heard from heaven: "Be strong, Polycarp, and be a man." Wherefore, fighting steadfastly for the faith of Christ before the Governor, he was condemned by him and led to the pyre, "and with his hands tied behind his back, like a noble ram, he offered an acceptable holocaust to almighty God, saying: Father of Your beloved and blessed Son Jesus Christ, through whom we have received knowledge of You, God of the angels and of the powers, and of all creation, and of every race of the just who live in Your presence, I give You thanks, that You have deemed me worthy on this day and at this hour to take my part in the number of the Martyrs, in the cup of Christ, for the resurrection of eternal life, of soul and body alike, in the incorruption of the Holy Spirit: among whom may I be received in Your sight today as a rich and acceptable sacrifice, as You have prepared, already previously revealed, and fulfilled, You who cannot lie, God of truth. Wherefore for all things I praise You, I bless You, I glorify You through the eternal High Priest Jesus Christ Your beloved Son, through whom to You together with Him and the Holy Spirit, be glory now and in the ages of ages to come. Amen." So the eyewitnesses of Smyrna narrate, in Eusebius, Book IV of the History, chapter 15.
Do you want not one example, but many? Under Emperor Diocletian, Christians at Nicomedia had gathered in a church on Christmas Day; the tyrant sent men to lock the church and kindle fire all around it. Then he ordered a herald to proclaim that whoever wished to live should leave the church and offer incense at the nearby altar of Jupiter; otherwise, unless he did this, he would be burned up with the church. Then one man from the church freely answered for all: "We are all Christians, we believe that Christ alone is the one true God and King; and we are prepared to sacrifice to Him, and to His Father, and to the Holy Spirit, and to offer ourselves all together." Scarcely had he spoken these words when the fire was kindled, which, seizing the entire church in an instant, burned all of them (for there were twenty thousand people) like holocausts, and reduced them to ashes, as Nicephorus reports, Book VII of his History, chapter 6.
Hear also the three young martyrs in the furnace of fire: "As in the holocaust of rams and bulls, and as in thousands of fat lambs; so let our sacrifice be made in Your sight today, that it may please You," O Lord, Daniel 3:40. Hear also a heroine among women.
There was an illustrious matron and Martyr under the tyrant Dunaan of the Homerites, who, when she had reproached him for his blasphemy and perjury, heard from him: I will tear you apart, most audacious woman, and give you to dogs to be devoured; I will see whether your Nazarene can help you. Unable to bear these words, the eldest of the Martyr's daughters, then twelve years old, spat in the tyrant's eyes: immediately the bystanders at the tyrant's command stabbed her and her sister with a sword; and offered their blood to the mother. She, tasting it and looking up to heaven, said: "To You, O Christ my Lord, I offer this my sacrifice, and to You I present as Martyrs these chaste virgins, who have come forth from my womb, among whom also number me and lead me into Your bridal chamber, and, as the divine David says, show a mother rejoicing because of her daughters." Wherefore the king condemned her to death. So Baronius narrates from Procopius, in the year of Christ 522, page 91.
Finally, St. Ambrose, when ordered by Justina and her son Emperor Valentinian to hand over a church to the Arians, refused, saying: "The things that are God's are not subject to imperial power. If you desire property, seize it; if you want my body, come and take it; do you wish to drag me to prison? do you wish to put me to death? It is a trifle: I will not surround myself with a crowd of people, nor will I cling to the altars begging for my life, but rather I will offer myself as a victim for the altars." See his letter to his sister Marcellina.
Verse 14: But If the Offering of Holocaust to the Lord Is of Birds
14. BUT IF THE OFFERING OF HOLOCAUST TO THE LORD IS OF BIRDS, OF TURTLEDOVES OR YOUNG PIGEONS. — This is the third kind of holocaust, namely of birds, specifically of turtledoves or young pigeons. For God chose the larger turtledoves, because they are the better ones: but from pigeons He chose the young, because among pigeons the young are better and fatter. So Philo. Add that full-grown pigeons are more lustful than other birds; for they breed every month. So Theodoret.
Note: From the Hebrew tor, doubled, comes turtur (turtledove). So from the Hebrew rab, in Chaldean rab rabbim means princes. So from the Syriac bar, meaning outside, doubled, comes barbar or barbarus (barbarian).
This was the holocaust of the poor, as is clear from Leviticus chapter 12, verse 8. Hence in Numbers chapter 7, where the victims of the princes are enumerated, no birds are mentioned.
Tropologically, Ribera says the third holocaust of birds signifies Confessors and Virgins, who through the mortification of the flesh and contempt of the world, through knowledge and contemplation, and through prayer, fly up to heaven. "Who will give me wings like a dove, and I will fly and find rest?" says the Psalmist, Psalm 54: for the dove has swift and prolonged flight; again, she is fruitful, gentle, and without gall. The turtledove loves chastity and solitude, and moans. Hence the Poet says: "Nor will the turtledove cease to moan from the lofty elm."
So the just fly swiftly, and are not wearied by toil, and have the fruitfulness of good works; they are gentle, they lack gall, they know not how to repay injuries; they are devoted to chastity, they seek solitude for prayer and for attending to God: instead of song they utter groans, because while others rejoice in their pleasures, they weep over their own and others' sins with the groans of penance; of whom it is said: "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted."
This is what St. Jerome says on Psalm 95: "A virgin is — virginity is a sacrifice of Christ." And St. Ignatius, in his letter to the Tarsians, calls virgins the priests of Christ: "Those," he says, "who live in virginity, hold them in honor, as priests of Christ."
Verse 15: Having Twisted the Head at the Neck
15. HAVING TWISTED THE HEAD AT THE NECK, AND BROKEN OPEN THE PLACE OF THE WOUND. — Hence it appears first, that in the holocaust the neck of the turtledove was not cut off, but twisted; secondly, that the wound itself was opened not with iron or a knife, but with the fingernail. So Abulensis, Ribera, and Vatablus.
Allegorically, St. Gregory, homily 1 on Ezechiel, says: "The head of the turtledove, once cut, remained attached to the body: because although Christ indeed suffered for us, He was not separated from us through His Passion, but rather joined us to Himself."
Tropologically, the lofty mind must be cut from the pleasure of the flesh, and yet not be cut off entirely; for we must nourish the flesh so that it may live, not so that it may overflow with luxury. So the same Gregory.
HE SHALL CAUSE THE BLOOD TO RUN DOWN UPON THE BASE OF THE ALTAR — that is, upon the top of the walls, so that it may flow down from there to the ground. Hence in Hebrew it is, upon the wall of the altar.
Verse 16: But the Crop of the Throat and the Feathers
16. BUT THE CROP OF THE THROAT AND THE FEATHERS HE SHALL CAST NEAR THE ALTAR, TOWARD THE EASTERN SIDE, IN THE PLACE WHERE THE ASHES ARE USUALLY POURED OUT. — For "crop" the Hebrew is mura, which Vatablus translates as stomach.
But both the Septuagint and the Chaldean and our Vulgate translate it as the crop of the throat; so too Theodotion, who translates it as kokka, that is, a little sac; and Aquila, who translates it as the alimentary part, which receives food and supplies it to the rest of the body's parts. Hence the Septuagint translates it prolobon; this crop of the throat is called prolobos, from lobos, that is, from the pouch or sac, which is the first to receive the food swallowed from the throat.
Theodoret reads prolobon. Prolobos, he says, this pouch is called, as if "that which first takes in the food." The same in Hebrew is called mura, as if conspicuous, from the root raa, that is, he saw: for this crop of the throat, being extended, is visible to all.
You will ask: why in the holocaust of birds were the crop of the throat and feathers not burned on the altar with the bird itself? Rabbi Solomon answers: Because birds, he says, fly on their feathers to other people's crops, and plunder and devastate them; because therefore feathers are the instrument of plundering, God did not wish them to be burned for Him: for offerings made from plunder do not please God. But by this reasoning, neither the beak, nor the feet, nor the stomach of birds should have been burned either.
I say therefore: God did not wish the crop of the throat to be burned for Him, because it is unclean; nor the feathers, because these are not eaten, and therefore are useless for the sacrifice, which is, as it were, food of God; He wished therefore that these be cast in the place near the altar where the ashes were kept: for these were considered sacred, because they remained from the sacred flesh. In the same place this crop and the feathers of the turtledove were burned; and their ashes were carried by the priest outside the camp, as is clear from Leviticus 6:11. So Abulensis, Ribera, and others.
Tropologically, in birds, that is, in the knowledge and contemplation of learned and holy men, the crop must be cast away, that is, swelling and pride. Likewise the feathers, that is, levity and curious inquiry into superfluous things; and the mind must be fixed on the dust and ashes from which we came and to which we shall return. So Isychius and Radulphus.
More aptly, St. Cyril, Book XVI of On Adoration, folio 324, and Ribera, by the crop of the throat understand the gluttony of the stomach; for the pleasure of food is not felt except in the mouth and in this crop of the throat; when the food has passed through it, the pleasure also passes. Hence Philoxenus wished he had the neck of a crane, so that he might taste his food longer; that pleasure might deceive us longer, says Giraldus.
Philoxenus used to wash for himself the neck and throat of a crane, so that he might feel pleasure more extensively and for a longer time. This crane, therefore, being unclean and preserving the filth of sins, must be cast away by those devoted to wisdom. The soft feathers signify precious and delicate garments, which he who wishes to become a holocaust of God must cast aside. So did St. John the Baptist, Matt. 3:4.
TOWARD THE EASTERN SIDE, that is, toward the courtyard, but not toward the tabernacle or the Holy Place. For it would have been plainly unseemly for this filth to be cast toward the Holy Place. That this is so is evident from the fact that the altar was to the east of the tabernacle or Holy Place: for it was in front of the tabernacle, or between the tabernacle and the entrance into the courtyard. Moreover, the entrance of the courtyard was to the east, as Moses said in Exodus chapter 27, verse 43. Therefore, so that this filth would be cast toward the entrance into the courtyard, and not toward the Holy Place, it had to be cast toward the east.
Verse 17: It Is a Holocaust and an Offering
AND HE SHALL BREAK ITS WINGS. — In Hebrew, and he shall cut, or split it at its wings, and he shall not separate, as if to say: He shall so split or break its wings that nevertheless he does not cut them off or tear them away. So Oleaster, Cajetan, and Vatablus.
The literal reason for this is the fitting arrangement of the victim; for thus are the wings of our fattened birds broken and twisted back when they are roasted or boiled.
The tropological reason is that the virtue of lofty and sublime knowledge and contemplation should not be entirely cut off, yet it must be split — that is, turned back and repressed — so that one does not presume upon higher things, ever mindful of one's own infirmity. So Radulphus: "To break the wings," he says, "is not to attribute the sharpness of intellect to oneself, but to humbly consider one's own weakness under the divine gift."
IT IS A HOLOCAUST AND AN OFFERING. — In Hebrew, it is a holocaust and a fire-offering, that is, an offering made by fire, by which the whole is purely consumed through fire in honor of God, and therefore is of a most sweet odor and supremely pleasing to God.
Therefore both priests and people attended these sacrifices with wonderful devotion and silence, as Aristeas testifies in his book On the Seventy-Two Interpreters. Thus among the Romans, Numa decreed that a herald going before with a loud voice should cry out at sacrifices: "Attend to this!" — commanding, of course, that minds be directed to the sacrifice. And, as Cicero writes in Book I of On Divination, and Seneca in his book On the Happy Life, by crying out "Favete linguis" (be silent), silence was imposed so that the sacrifice might be duly performed with no evil voice making noise. What do our priests and Christians do now? — when even the poet Virgil indicates faithful silence at sacred rites, and the word "mysteries" is derived from closing the mouth.
Let the chattering ones in church hear, let the immodest hear St. Ambrose, Book III On Virgins: "Is there anything," he says, "more unworthy than that divine oracles should be drowned out by noise, so that they are not heard, not believed, not revealed? That the Sacraments should be surrounded by confused voices, so that the prayer offered for the salvation of all is impeded — when even the Gentiles show reverence to their idols by being silent? Hence that example is related: when Alexander, king of the Macedonians, was sacrificing, a barbarian boy who was lighting the lamps for him caught fire on his arm, and though his body was burned, he remained motionless, nor did he betray his pain by a groan, nor indicate his suffering by a secret tear. So great was the discipline of reverence in a barbarian boy that it conquered nature. And he feared not the gods, who did not exist, but the king." Then he brings another example from the faithful: "It is a common story," he says, "that when the croaking of many frogs assailed the ears of the devout people, a priest of God commanded them to be silent and to show reverence to sacred prayer; then suddenly the surrounding din was stilled. If marshes are silent, will men not be silent?"
If heaven is a temple, as St. Chrysostom says, see what the angels do in heaven. In the temple itself you hear this, if you listen to the sacred rites: "Angels praise Thy majesty, Dominations adore, Powers tremble; the heavens and the Virtues of the heavens, and the blessed Seraphim, celebrate together with united exultation." Do the same in the temple: praise, pray to God, according to Psalm 28: "In His temple all shall speak of glory;" and Psalm 64: "A hymn befits Thee, O God, in Zion," that is, in the temple — in Hebrew it is: silence is praise to Thee, O God, in Zion. For silence is a kind of praise, both the interior praise of a soul venerating God, and exterior, because it stirs others to praise God when they see such modesty and devotion in sacred rites.
St. Cyprian, in his book On the Lord's Prayer: "The priest," he says, "prepares the minds of the brethren by saying: Lift up your hearts. And when the people respond: We have them lifted up to the Lord, let them be reminded that they ought to think of nothing other than God."
Blessed Cassius, Bishop of Narni, who daily celebrated Mass with tears, heard from God through a vision of a certain priest: "Do what you are doing, work at what you are working." Let the priest therefore say to himself: "Attend to why you have come;" let the people assisting say the same.
On account of this reverence and devotion toward sacrifices, priests who were about to sacrifice had to prepare themselves: First, by purifying themselves and washing themselves with the ash-water of the red heifer, about which see Numbers 19, if they were unclean. The Gentiles did the same. Hence Aeneas refused to sacrifice: "Until I wash myself in a living stream," he said, Aeneid II. Second, by abstaining from wine and every drink that can intoxicate, according to the law of Leviticus 10:8. Thus among the Gentiles, those about to be initiated into the sacred rites of Isis abstained from meat and wine for ten days. Third, by abstaining from the use of marriage and all lust: "The barking of dogs, the lowing of oxen, the grunting of pigs pleases God more than the singing of dissolute clerics," says St. Augustine. Thus Numa Pompilius, when he sacrificed for the harvest, abstained from the eating of meat and from sexual relations. It is established that the priests of the Mother of the gods castrated themselves with a Samian potsherd, and that those who performed the greatest sacred rites, in order to remain in chaste devotion and to live far from the contagion of women, unmanned themselves with certain herbs, so that they might devote themselves entirely to the god and divine affairs. Hence that decree: "Let them approach the gods chastely, let them bring piety, let them put away riches; whoever does otherwise, God will be the avenger." Hence King Agesilaus used to say that "the gods are delighted no less by devout works than by chaste sacrifices." The hierophants of the Athenians, after their priesthood, in order to perform the sacred rites chastely and holily, castrated themselves by drinking hemlock. Egyptian priests, putting aside business, never indulged with women, and abstained from meat and wine. The Gymnosophists were so continent that they were nourished only by fruits, rice, and flour. Indeed, we find it was observed from ancient times that he who was about to perform a divine rite was accustomed first to declare himself guilty in order to lighten his faults, and to repent of his offenses, and to confess his misdeeds, and to lower his countenance, and to compose himself to all modesty. Fourth, they approached sacrifices with bare feet and with both feet and hands washed, as I said on Exodus 30:49. Moreover, they were clothed in a pure and sacred garment. The Gentiles imitated the same. Hear Plato: "At sacrifices the priest performs the divine rite adorned in a beautiful garment and golden crowns." And it was in a pure and white garment, usually of woven cloth, sometimes in purple and gold. Triumphal men and those who had held magistracies, in triumphal attire or in the praetexta, with washed hands and crowned with foliage, holy and venerable, worshipped and sacrificed with bare feet, as Plutarch testifies. Virgil adds: "They carried the fountain and the fire, veiled in linen, and their temples bound with vervain."
So too the Egyptian priests were called and were linen-wearers. Among the Greeks, the priest about to sacrifice would ask: "Who is here?" Those present at the sacred rites responded: "Many and good." Hence Virgil: "Far from here, far away, O profane ones."
Moreover, during the sacrifice the Levites sang and played on organs, cymbals, psalteries, etc. Likewise among the Gentiles, flute-players and harpists played before the sacrifices; then the Roman priest, veiled with a woolen fillet and crowned with foliage and clothed in a pure garment, holding the altar with his hands, in the morning, turned toward the East, with a prepared chant and ancient words, prayed to the divinities and poured forth his vows — a prayer he repeated three times. Then he turned and revolved himself to the right, brought his hand to his mouth, and sat down, as if the gods had accepted his prayers. Then, plucking hairs from between the horns of the victim, he cast them into the fire; and finally he drew an angled iron knife from the forehead to the tail of the victim, and turned himself toward the East. Meanwhile others placed vessels under the falling victim to catch the blood; others flayed the victim. Then the haruspex, flamen, or priest probed the entrails and organs with an iron knife and performed the extispicium — that is, he consulted the gods through the entrails and carefully examined whether the sacrifice had been duly offered. And the entrails were said to be "rendered" when, once approved, they were placed beneath the altar.
For the first part of the sacrifice was to make a libation, the second to immolate, the third to render, the fourth to obtain a favorable result. For "to obtain a result" (litare) was to sacrifice properly and to obtain one's request. They called "entrails" (exta) the interior parts that stand out in victims, such as the heart, lung, spleen, and liver. After the entrails were inspected, from every organ and member they took the first portions and cut sections, wrapped them in spelt flour, and offered them in baskets to the one sacrificing; and then the victim was said to be "completed." The priest, placing these on the lighted altars, burned them with fire, adding frankincense, costus, and other aromatics. From the remaining parts of the victim they prepared a banquet, at which those who had been present at the sacred rites ate. It was permitted to bring a small portion to household members, but it was sacrilege to include outsiders. They ate standing, with round breads prepared in honor of the gods. During the meal they sang praises and hymns to the gods to whom the sacrifice had been made — which we see carefully observed in Virgil's account of Hercules. When the sacred rite was completed, the priest proclaimed: Ilicet — that is, "You may depart."
Among the Greeks and Egyptians, as Apuleius testifies, it was chanted: "Dismissal to the people." So Christians, when the sacrifice is completed, hear: "Go, the Mass is ended" (Ite, Missa est).
All these things are treated at length by Giraldus, Syntagma 17.