Biblical Hebrew Forum

[ben.crick AT argonet.co.uk (Ben Crick)]

On Wed 26 Jul 2000 (19:53:12), peterg45 AT excite.com wrote:
> Does anyone know of a thorough exposition of Exodus 24.8, especially
> relating to "the blood of the covenant"?

 Dear Gordon,

 Hmmmmm. There is an article on this in the /Authorised Daily Prayer Book/,
 Centenary Edition, 1990, with an essay on the Blood of the Covenant entitled
 "Some thoughts on animal sacrifices in Judaism" by the late Chief Rabbi,
 Lord Immanuel Jakobovitz (pages 897ff). There you will find a Jewish view.

 For a Christian view, you could start with Hebrews 9:1-22 and 13:20, and 1
 Peter 1:2. The blood is the Life; and the blood poured out is the Life
 poured out in death (Leviticus 17:11). When Adam and Eve transgressed in the
 garden, God slew two lambs to make them garments of skins to cover their
 sins. Cain and Abel could only be reconciled to God through the shedding of
 blood. When God "cut a Covenant" with Abraham, it involved literally cutting
 the sacrificial animals in half (Genesis 15:10). When God made the Passover
 Covenant with Moses, the number of lambs slain was directly proportional to
 the numbers of worshippers eating. The blood had to be sprinkled or daubed
 upon the doorposts and lintels, and when God saw the blood, he "passed over"
 or skipped over (PiSSaC) them. Christ is "our Passover" (1 Corinthians 5:7).
 John's Gospel portrays Christ as the "Lamb of God" (John 1:29) "lifted up"
 (3:14) and slain even as the Passover lambs were being slain (19:14).

 The "Blood of the Covenant" from a Christian point of view is the rationale
 for the Wine at the Holy Eucharist. The wine at Holy Communion is not the
 actual Blood of Christ, but represents it. Catholics and Protestants part
 company over the precise extent of this; but that's the basis of it.

 In the context of Exodus 24, the "blood" is the blood of the oxen sacrificed
 in verse 5 as "burnt offerings" and "peace offerings". The laws for these
 categories are in Leviticus 1, 2 and 3. But Moses calls *this blood* the 
Blood
 of the Covenant  HiNNeH DaM-HaBBeRiYT. The Covenant of Moses is the Passover;
 so here perhaps we have *representative blood* representing the Blood of the
 Covenant of Sinai. It is not the Passover Blood; but is represents it IMO. 
The
 people have just reiterated their acceptance of the /Book of the Covenant/,
 thought to be enshrined in Exodus 20:23 thru 23:33 (verse 3). So the Blood is
 the divine provision of a Remedy for those who have broken the laws in the
 Book of the Covenant, which they unanimously and freely accepted and bound
 themselves to fulfil. The spilt blood of the sacrificial victims is behind 
the
 Covenant slogan "The LORD do so to me and more also, if I break this
 Covenant..." (Ruth 1:17; 1 Kings 2:23) and the Covenant watchword, MaH LiY
 WaLaK, "what (is between) me and thee?" (1 Kings 17:18; 2 Chronicles 35:21;
 Mark 5:7; Luke 8:28; John 2:4).

 There are numerous commentaries on Exodus and Leviticus which you may 
consult.
 Kevin W. Woodruff will doubtless provide you with a select bibliography
 (Kevin?). You may find those by Dr Gordon J Wenham (Eerdmans) excellent for
 starters. Readable and not too long!

 Shalom
 Ben
-- 
 Revd Ben Crick, BA CF
 <ben.crick AT argonet.co.uk>
 232 Canterbury Road, Birchington, Kent, CT7 9TD (UK)
 http://www.cnetwork.co.uk/crick.htm