Corpus-Paul

["Hyam Maccoby" <h.z.maccoby AT leeds.ac.uk>]

Dear Bob,

In answer to your query, I can only point out that the drinking of any kind
of blood and especially the blood of a sacrifice is forbidden in Jewish law.
The basic text is Genesis 9:4.  The only point of disagreement in Jewish
sources is whether this verse forbids the imbibing of animal blood to Jews
only, or whether non-Jews also come under the prohibition. The author of
Jubilees thought that drinking animal blood was forbidden to Gentiles as
well as to Jews (see Jubilees 7:29), and this view was endorsed by James at
the Jerusalem Council when he forbade the eating of meat of strangled
animals by Gentiles (i.e. meat not drained of blood in the Jewish manner
called shechitah).  However, this was not the view of the rabbinic movement,
which forbade animal blood as food to Jews but not to Gentiles, in the light
of Deuteronomy 14:21.
    As for sacrificial blood, this was poured out on the altar as an
offering to God and the idea of imbibing any of it by a human being would
have been regarded as abhorrent and even blasphemous by Jews.  This accounts
for the incident in John's Gospel when many of Jesus' disciples left his
movement (John 6: 66) after he allegedly announced a doctrine of salvation
obtained by drinking his blood (John 6:54).  It is clear that the author of
this Gospel was well aware that such a doctrine was unacceptable to Jews.  I
believe that the incident is particularly aimed against the Jerusalem
Church, which, in my opinion, did not accept or practise the Eucharist.
Moreover, the Jerusalem Church, being led by direct disciples of Jesus, had
much better information on Jesus' actual teaching than the author of John,
so I do not believe that Jesus ever announced a doctrine of salvation
through drinking his blood, whether literally or metaphorically.
    If you are looking for precedents to the Johannine and Pauline idea of
drinking the divine blood, I believe you will find them in the mystery
religions, but not in Judaism.

    With all good wishes,

    Hyam






Dr.Hyam Maccoby
Research Professor
Centre for Jewish Studies
University of Leeds
Leeds.LS2
Direct lines: tel. +44 (0)113 268 1972
                   fax +44 (0)113 225 9927
e-mail: h.z.maccoby AT leeds.ac.uk


----- Original Message -----
From: "Bob MacDonald" <bobmacdonald AT shaw.ca>
To: "Corpus-paul" <corpus-paul AT franklin.metalab.unc.edu>
Sent: Friday, September 06, 2002 4:24 PM
Subject: [corpus-paul] Re: The blood of the covenant


> Thank you for the leads, Mark and Don, and for Hyam's raising of the
> question. I am pursuing the suggested reading and Hyam's books, the
> Mythmaker and Ritual (1999) to see what the mind of Paul might be on this
> question of participation in the sacrifice. (1 Corinthians 10, 11).
>
> Perhaps this is a focussed question for the list: What justification can
be
> found in first century Jewish thought for the drinking of the blood of the
> covenant?
>
> (Related issues: body as temple, priesthood of believers, end of animal
> sacrifice before destruction of Temple, Paul's credibility as Pharisee and
> as visionary, nature of time and life in the Spirit (John 6),
circumcision,
> purity and sexual behaviour, i.e. life, the universe and everything).
>
> Bob
>
> mailto::BobMacDonald AT shaw.ca
> + + + Victoria, B.C., Canada + + +
>
> Catch the foxes for us,
>    the little foxes that make havoc of the vineyards,
> for our vineyards are in flower.   (Song 2.15)
> http://bobmacdonald.gx.ca
>
>
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