The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (2039 page)

(Lat., ‘that which is made sacred’). The offering of something, animate or inanimate, in a
ritual
procedure which establishes, or mobilizes, a relationship of mutuality between the one who sacrifices (whether individual or group) and the recipient—who may be human but more often is of another order, e.g. God or spirit. Sacrifice pervades virtually all religions, but it is extremely difficult to say precisely what the meanings of sacrifice are—perhaps because the meanings are so many. Sacrifice is clearly much more than technique: it involves drama, ritual, and action, transforming whatever it is that is sacrificed beyond its mundane role: in general, nothing that is sacrificed has intrinsic worth or holiness before it is set apart; it is the sacrifice that gives it added value. Sacrifice has been understood as expiation of fault or sin; as propitiation of an angry deity; as
apotropaic
(turning away punishment, disaster, etc.); as purgation; as an expression of gratitude; as substitutionary (offering to God a substitute for what is rightly his, e.g. the first-born); as commensal, establishing union with God or with others in a community; as
do ut des
(‘I give in order that you may give’, an offering in order to evoke a gift in return); as maintaining cosmic order (especially in Hindu sacrifices); as celebration; as a means of coping with violence in a community; as catharsis; as a surrogate offering at the level of power and its distribution.
Amongst many particular theories, that of H. Hubert and M. Mauss,
Sacrifice, Its Nature and Function
(1898), has been influential. The purpose of sacrifice can be discerned, not in the analysis of beliefs, but in the social function served by sacrifice, i.e. the connection made between the sacred and profane worlds. Through sacrifice they interpenetrate and yet remain distinct, thereby allowing (or requiring) self-interest to be subordinated to the service of the social group. The methodology was extended by Mauss in the even more influential
The Gift
(1924; Eng. tr. 1954): gift-giving practices (especially potlatch: see
ALMSGIVING
), including extravagant feasts, seem at first to work against self-interest, but they establish social bonding and stability.
Judaism
The general Heb. term,
qorb
n
, has been taken to mean ‘bringing close’, sc., of humans and God. In ancient Israel, sacrifices were of various kinds.
Sin
-offerings (
atat
) could be made by individuals, or collectively at the sacred festivals, and were offered in propitiation for sin; guilt offerings (
asham
) were a particular kind of sin-offering, to be made when, e.g., someone had defrauded another or when lepers were cleansed. Dedicatory offerings expressed dedication to God. Burnt offerings (
‘olah
) were offered twice daily in the
Jerusalem
Temple
as part of the regular ritual, with two additional lambs offered each
Sabbath
. Besides animal sacrifices, offerings of grain or loaves (meal offerings) accompanied burnt offerings and a libation was also poured out. In addition there were extra free-will offerings and peace offerings at
Shavu‘ot
. Full details of the Temple ritual are preserved in the
Talmud
, tractates
Tamid
and
Zeva
im
. After the Temple was destroyed by the Romans on 9
Av
, 70 CE, the sacrificial system came to an end. Prayer took its place.
Christianity
Ideas of sacrifice are attached primarily to Jesus' death, probably going back to his own words at least at the
Last Supper
. The writer to the
Hebrews
gives an elaborate treatment of Christ's once-for-all sacrifice as superior to the Old Testament cult. The
fathers
took up the biblical theme, stressing that Christ was a voluntary victim; a victim of infinite value; and also himself the
priest
. (See also
ATONEMENT
.)
Islam
The Arabic words
a
,
dhaba
a
, and
na
ara
refer to the slaughter of animals;
qurb
n
(cf. Heb.,
qorb
n