A Comprehensive Overview of Ancient Jewish Sacrifice

Today, Jews practice their religion primarily through prayer, study and good deeds.  But before the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, their ancestors worshipped God primarily through sacrifices. In that context, sacrifices, both animal and vegetable, were the main vehicle for maintaining a good relationship with God. 

The biblical book of Leviticus contains the most thorough description of the sacrificial cult, which was centered on the Jerusalem Temple, the only authorized shrine. The Temple ran a complex operation, staffed by an army of priests and Levites who ensured offerings were executed in accordance with divine requirements. Sacrifices had no single role in ancient Jewish life: Offerings attended holidays, proffered atonement, expressed gratitude, marked a return to purity and fulfilled sundry other needs. Sacrificial offerings were made from animals large and small as well as crops, grains, cakes, wine, water and incense.

The Hebrew word for sacrifice, korban, comes from a verbal root meaning “draw near,” suggesting that sacrifices were not merely gifts, transactions or penalties — they were a means of drawing closer to God. Ultimately, sacrifices managed communal and individual relationships with the divine. In this article, we’ll offer an overview of types of sacrifices offered in the Temple and the requirements and procedures entailed.

Types of Animal Sacrifices

Animal sacrifices in the Temple were made daily and on special occasions like new moons and festivals. They were also made to atone for sin, express reverence or thanks to God, mark the end of a period of impurity (for example due to childbirth or leprosy) or mark the end of a period of dedicating oneself to God as a nazir. While the reasons for bringing an animal sacrifice were many, most animal sacrifices fell into one of four major categories:

1. Burnt Offering (Olah): While some animal sacrifices were eaten, either by the priests or the people who brought them to the Temple, the burnt offering was so-called because it was entirely burned up on the altar. No part was eaten by humans — every part went up to God. A wide variety of occasions necessitated the sacrifice of an olah. Every day a tamid (daily) offering was sacrificed in the form of an olah and on Shabbat and festivals a musaf (additional) olah offering was made. An olah was also required of a woman who had recently given birth or a leper as part of their rituals for returning to state of ritual purity and by a nazir who was completing the period of their vow. An olah was required of a convert and in penance for a communal sin of idolatry. Depending on the context, an olah might have been a sheep, goat or bull, and it might have been either young (less than one year) or adult. The olah was always a male animal.
2. Peace offering (Shelamim): Unlike the olah, which was burned up completely, only the blood of a shelamim was offered on the altar. Its flesh was cooked and eaten. Shelamim were sometimes required, for instance on the three pilgrimage festivals (Passover, Shavuot and Sukkot). But more frequently they were voluntary — brought by individuals simply wishing to express gratitude or reverence for God.
3. Sin offering (Chatat): As the name suggests, the chatat was brought to atone for sins and the animal offered was usually a kid (a young goat). In most cases, these were severe individual sins committed accidentally, such as: failing to circumcise one’s son, eating hametz on Passover, eating or drinking on Yom Kippur, performing forbidden labor on Shabbat, committing adultery, committing idolatry. Intentionally transgressing any of these incurred a greater penalty, usually karet or execution, but unintentional transgressions could be remediated with a chatat. Although often brought to atone for individual transgressions, there were many cases in which a chatat was offered on behalf of the community. For instance, if the majority of the community were led into the sin of idolatry, a chatat was offered on their behalf. In addition, most festivals automatically occasioned a chatat, including Rosh Hashanah, Rosh Chodesh and the three pilgrimage festivals. Yom Kippur necessitated a particularly elaborate sequence of chatat sacrifices offered on behalf of the community and also the high priest (who represented the community to God). Unlike most other sin offerings, the high priest’s chatat on Yom Kippur was not a kid, but a bull.
4. Guilt Offering (Asham): Similar to a chatat, an asham was brought for the purposes of atonement, but in different circumstances. The asham was brought specifically in cases of theft from the Temple or priests, swearing falsely in a matter concerning money, doubtful sin, and as part of the ritual for reintegrating into the community after a period of isolation due to leprosy, among other scenarios. The asham was either a lamb or a ram, always male.

Many occasions and rituals, like the pilgrimage festivals and the procedure for returning a leper to the community, required multiple sacrifices in more than one category. And while most animal sacrifices in the ancient Temple fell into one of these four categories, there were additional sacrifices that did not. These include the bechor sacrifice of the first male born of a kosher animal and the pesach (or paschal offering), slaughtered on the eve of Passover in remembrance of the lambs slaughtered in Egypt on the eve of the Exodus to mark the doorposts of the Israelites. Animals were also sacrificed as part of the requirement to give ma’aser, or tithes. Sometimes, a red heifer (parah adumah) was sacrificed for the purpose of creating ashes that could reverse corpse impurity.

Procedure for Making an Animal Offering

The details for performing an animal sacrifice varied depending on the occasion and offering. For the purposes of legislating which sacrifices had been performed correctly, the ancient rabbis understood that there were a few core steps to any animal sacrifice offered in the Temple. 

1. Laying on of hands: Before slaughtering an animal, the one who brought it laid hands on it to symbolically take ownership.
2. Slaughtering: The animal was killed by the stroke of a knife.
3. Collecting blood: The blood that immediately spurted from the death wound was collected in a special receptacle.
4. Conveying blood to the altar: The blood was conveyed in the collection vessel to one of two altars in the Temple.
5. Applying blood to the altar: Depending on the sacrifice, blood was either sprinkled, daubed, poured or thrown onto the altar. Often, it was applied to one or more of the four corners, and sometimes on the wall surrounding the altar.
6. Burning the animal and eating it: An olah was burned up entirely on the altar, but for other sacrifices, the flesh was eaten after the blood (and sometimes fats) had been offered on the altar. Sometimes, priests got to eat the sacrifice. Sometimes, the person who brought the sacrifice ate it. 

Within this basic framework, there was considerable variation depending on the requirements of the specific sacrifice. There were also rules about when and where the sacrificial meat was consumed and how any leftovers were handled.

In some cases, especially when the person bringing the sacrifice was poor, a bird was offered in place of a mammal as either an olah or a chatat. In this case, the procedure was slightly different. The bird was not slaughtered with a knife; its neck was punctured by the priest’s thumbnail. The blood that flowed was not collected in a vessel, but applied directly to the altar from the animal. 

Non-Animal Offerings

While animals were offered every day in the Jerusalem Temple, agricultural produce, cakes, wine, oil, water and even incense were also part of the regular rotation of offerings. Sometimes, grain offerings accompanied the animal offerings. Sometimes, they were offered  on their own. Here are some non-animal offerings that were made in the Temple.

1. Grain Offering (Minchah): An entire tractate of the Talmud, Menachot, is devoted to minchah offerings. There were many kinds, but what they have in common is that all were primarily made of flour. In some cases, the flour was offered raw, and at other times it was mixed with water or oil. Sometimes the mixture was fried or baked into a bread or cake before being offered. Sometimes, the minchah was burned up entirely on the altar, and sometimes only part of it was burned on the altar and the rest consumed by the priests. Sometimes, minchah offerings accompanied others offerings, and sometimes they stood on their own.
2. Dough Offering (Challah): Whenever bread was baked, a portion of the dough was reserved for the Temple. Alternatively, a portion of the baked bread could also be donated.
3. First Fruits (Bikkurim): Every year, the first agricultural products of the season were brought as offerings in the Temple. 
4. Wine Libation (Nesach): Just as many animal sacrifices were accompanied by a minchah (grain) offering, most commonly required a wine libation poured onto the altar as well. Every olah and shelamim necessitated a wine libation, though the chatat did not.
5. Wave Offering (Omer): On the second day of Passover, sheaves of grain were waved in the Temple and then offered on the altar. This offering marked the start of the 49-day count of the Omer that would anticipate Shavuot.
6. Water Libation (Shoevah): Once a year on Sukkot, water was drawn from the Siloam spring outside the Temple and then brought into the Temple through the Water Gate before being poured on the altar.
7.  Incense (Ketoret): There was a special altar in the Temple just for burning spices to make a pleasing aroma for God. On Yom Kippur, the high priest took coals and incense from this altar into the Holy of Holies.

In addition to all of the above offerings, there were a variety of breads that were part of the Temple service but never offered on the altar. For example, 12 loaves of showbread were baked weekly and displayed on a special table, then eaten by the priests after being replaced. Similarly, two loaves of bread were baked on Shavuot with the first grain harvest and displayed in the Temple for God.

As should now be clear, the Temple ran an enormous operation, processing a wide variety of offerings every single day of the year. This required a large and knowledgeable staff as well as generous funding that came from taxation and donations. In antiquity, this was the most important means of fulfilling the divine commandments and ensuring the people were in right relationship with God which, in turn, affected both individual and national fortunes.

Explore further: Twelve things to know about the Temple in Jerusalem.