Cult and Character: Purification Offerings, Day of Atonement, and Theodicy

by Roy E. Gane

Publisher:

Eisenbrauns

, 2005

Overview

Through the swirling smoke of Aaron’s incense, Cult and Character steps toward the meaning enacted on “the Day of Purgation,” commonly known as Yom Kippur or “the Day of Atonement.” By treating moral evil both as relational breach and as spiritual pollution, the Israelite system of purification offerings addresses both the standing and the state of YHWH’s people. This system shows the way not only to freedom from condemnation, but also to healing of character, which is defined in terms of loyalty to YHWH.

Freedom and healing come together on the Day of Purgation, when purification rituals benefit those who show themselves loyal to YHWH by affirming the freedom from condemnation that they have received. The effects of purification rituals on YHWH’s community demonstrate harmony between his justice and kindness. He deals with imperfect people by pardoning and clearing the loyal and condemning the disloyal. Gane ultimately affirms Milgrom’s insight that theodicy is foundational to the Israelite expiatory system. Gane’s conclusions are derived from exegetical study of Hebrew ritual texts, informed by controls to ritual analysis developed through critical examination of existing theories, and adapted with a systems-theory approach to human activity systems.

The Logos version integrates seamlessly into your personal digital library and allows you to access dictionaries and other reference resources with a click. Read your preferred Scripture translation alongside this fascinating examination of purification rituals.

Key Features

• Exegetical analysis from Hebrew ritual texts
• Summaries at the end of each chapter
• Detailed author and Scripture indexes

Contents

• Ritual, Meaning, and System
  • The Locus of Ritual Meaning
  • The System of חטאת Rituals
• Purification Offerings Performed throughout the Year
  • Outer-Altar Purification Offerings
  • Outer-Sanctum Purification Offerings
  • Purification-Offering Flesh: Prebend or Expiation?
  • Purification Offering: Purgation of Sanctuary or Offerer?
  • Pollution of the Sanctuary: Aerial or Only by Direct Contact?
  • Blood or Ash Water: Detergent, Metaphorical Carrier Agent, or Means of Passage?
  • The Scope of Expiability
• Phases of כפר
  • Inner-Sanctum Purification Offerings
  • The Purification Ritual of Azazel’s Goat
  • Two Major Phases of Sacrificial כפר
  • The Trajectories of Evils
• Cult and Theodicy
  • Divine Justice and the Cost of Kindness
  • Divine Presence and Theodicy
  • Loyalty and Royalty in Hebrew Narrative
  • Yearly Accountability in Mesopotamian Cult
  • Conclusion

Top Highlights

“During my dissertation research regarding the Day of Atonement, I discovered key evidence pointing to two major phases of sacrificial purgation (piʿel of כפר) for each expiable sin, both of which are accomplished through חטאת sacrifices. The first phase removes the sin from the offerer (Lev 4, etc.), and the second removes the same sin from the sanctuary on the Day of Atonement (ch. 16).” (Page xx)

“dip finger in blood and sprinkle blood seven times in front of (inner) veil” (Page 71)

“A sacrifice is a religious ritual in which something of value is ritually transferred to the sacred realm for utilization by a deity.” (Page 16)

“Examination of ritual actions alone cannot yield their meaning because actions have no inherent meaning” (Page 4)

“Observing that the outer-sanctum purification offering has a sevenfold sprinkling in front of the veil” (Page 98)

Praise for the Print Edition

Gane’s Cult and Character is a marvelously illuminating work; he has shed light on many key issues and covered exceedingly complex questions very clearly.

—John Goldingay, Fuller Theological Seminary

Gane’s book is well-structured. A conclusion is given for each chapter. Tabular listings provide an outline of phraseology variants and contents related to the same subject. Indices of authors and Scriptures complete a book of convincing argumentation comprising an appropriate discussion on Milgrom’s positions which, indeed, have a stake in the scientific discussion. Gane succeeds in offering fitting alternatives.

—Corinna Körting, University of Göttingen

This is a substantive work that makes a significant contribution to scholarship on biblical sacrifice. It will repay careful reading (and rereading).

—William K. Gilders, Emory University

A brief review such as this cannot possibly do justice to a volume as rich in detail and insight as Cult and Character. Innumerable biblical texts and terms are treated to new and thought-provoking elucidation; exegetical and scholarly traditions are mined for all that they have to offer; previously untapped associations of themes and ideas yield rewarding new ways of considering issues that many believed to have been resolved. Scholars of Israelite ritual, of the priestly tradition, of the Pentateuch, and of biblical theology have much to contemplate, much from which they can learn, and much with which to contend in the course of their own research in this remarkable work.

—Baruch J. Schwartz, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Product Details

• Title: Cult and Character: Purification Offerings, Day of Atonement, and Theodicy
• Author: Roy E. Gane
• Publisher: Eisenbrauns
• Publication Date: 2005
• Pages: 416
• Christian Group: Seventh-day Adventist
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Topic: Atonement

About Roy E. Gane

Professor of Hebrew Bible & Ancient Near Eastern Languages Director, Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary, Andrews University.