The drink offering (
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...
: נֶסֶך, ''nesekh'') was a form of
libation
A libation is a ritual pouring of a liquid as an Sacrifice, offering to a deity or spirit, or in Veneration of the dead, memory of the dead. It was common in many religions of Ancient history, antiquity and continues to be offered in cultures t ...
forming one of the
sacrifice
Sacrifice is an act or offering made to a deity. A sacrifice can serve as propitiation, or a sacrifice can be an offering of praise and thanksgiving.
Evidence of ritual animal sacrifice has been seen at least since ancient Hebrews and Gree ...
s and offerings of the
Law of Moses
The Law of Moses ( ), also called the Mosaic Law, is the law said to have been revealed to Moses by God. The term primarily refers to the Torah or the first five books of the Hebrew Bible.
Terminology
The Law of Moses or Torah of Moses (Heb ...
.
Etymology
The Hebrew
noun
In grammar, a noun is a word that represents a concrete or abstract thing, like living creatures, places, actions, qualities, states of existence, and ideas. A noun may serve as an Object (grammar), object or Subject (grammar), subject within a p ...
''nesekh'' is formed from the
Qal form of the
verb
A verb is a word that generally conveys an action (''bring'', ''read'', ''walk'', ''run'', ''learn''), an occurrence (''happen'', ''become''), or a state of being (''be'', ''exist'', ''stand''). In the usual description of English, the basic f ...
''nasakh'', "to pour," hence "thing poured." The verb and the noun frequently come together, such as ''nasakh
lehanesekh'', literally "pour
n ita poured thing" as in the only pre-Exodus use, that of Jacob's libation at a pillar in Genesis 35:14. The etymology "poured thing" explains the existence of the rarer secondary use of the verb ''nasakh'' for "cast" (an idol), and the noun ''nesekh'' for a "thing poured" (also an idol).
Hebrew Bible
The drink offering accompanied various sacrifices and offerings on various feast days. Usually the offering was of wine, but in one instance also of "strong drink" (Numbers 28:7). This "strong drink" (Hebrew ''shekhar'' שֵׁכָר,
Septuagint
The Septuagint ( ), sometimes referred to as the Greek Old Testament or The Translation of the Seventy (), and abbreviated as LXX, is the earliest extant Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible from the original Biblical Hebrew. The full Greek ...
''sikera'' σίκερα as Luke 1:15, but also ''methusma'' in Judges 13:4 and Micah 2:11) is not identified.
Mishnaic tradition
The
Mishnah
The Mishnah or the Mishna (; , from the verb ''šānā'', "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first written collection of the Jewish oral traditions that are known as the Oral Torah. Having been collected in the 3rd century CE, it is ...
(''
Menachot'' chapter 8) mentions the places in the Land of Israel and in
Transjordan where the finest of the grains, olive harvest and vintage wines were taken as an offertory to the Temple in Jerusalem. Among wine libations, the finest wine was said to have come from Keruthin and Hattulim (ibid., ''Menachot'' 8:6), this latter place now tentatively identified by historical geographer
Samuel Klein with the ruin directly west of
Sha'ar Hagai (''Bâb el Wâd'') called ''Kh. Khâtûleh'' (variant spelling: ''Kh. Khâtûla''), now known locally as ''Giv'at Ḥatul''. Second in rank to this place was
Beit Rima and
Beit Luban, both places identified in Samaria. The wine from any country was valid, but they used to bring it only from these places.
[, s.v. Menahot 8:6] The drink offerings were poured out near the altar on the Temple Mount, where they fell down into a subterraneous cavern (), in fulfillment of the Scripture
(Numbers 28:7): "In the Holy Place you shall pour out a drink offering of strong drink to the Lord."
In the Temple at Jerusalem, they were not permitted to bring wine that had been sweetened or smoked or cooked and if they did so it was invalid.
By a rabbinic injunction, an unsealed flagon of wine prepared by an Israelite, but which had been kept under watch or in store by a heathen, is considered a forbidden
libation
A libation is a ritual pouring of a liquid as an Sacrifice, offering to a deity or spirit, or in Veneration of the dead, memory of the dead. It was common in many religions of Ancient history, antiquity and continues to be offered in cultures t ...
(), which must be discarded. The
kashrut requirements for wine are designed to prevent the accidental or intentional use of wine previously dedicated or blessed for idolatrous use. However, an unsealed flagon of wine that had been cooked or of
conditum (both of which prepared by an Israelite), since both are unfit for the altar, even though they had been watched or kept in store by a heathen, can still be consumed by an Israelite.
Ancient Near East parallels
In Akkadian texts, and Ugaritic epics there are references to libations, and sometimes the same verb stem N-S-K "to pour" is used. Psalm 16:4 gives reference to a "drink offering" of blood among pagans, but generally in ANE religions libations were also of wine.
Rabbinical interpretation
In the Talmud the view of Rabbi Meir was that the blood of the sacrifices permits the drink offering to the altar (B. Zeb. 44a).
[Jacob Neusner A history of the Mishnaic law of holy things 1978 p77 "Meir's view is that the blood of the sacrifices permits the drink-offering to the altar (B. Zeb. 44a) . Sages point out that the drink-offering may come later ( = Meir, G.)"]
Other offerings
An
ofrenda
An ''ofrenda'' (Spanish: "Sacrifice, offering") is the offering placed in a home altar during the annual and traditionally Mexican ''Día de los Muertos'' celebration. An ''ofrenda'', which may be quite large and elaborate, is usually created ...
(Spanish: "offering") is the offering placed in a
home altar during the annual and traditionally Mexican ''
Día de los Muertos'' celebration. An ''ofrenda'', which may be quite large and elaborate, is usually created by the family members of a person who has died and is intended to welcome the deceased to the altar setting. For deceased adults in ofrenda, the ''ofrenda'' might include a bottle or poured shot glasses of
tequila
Tequila (; ) is a liquor, distilled beverage made from the blue agave plant, primarily in the area surrounding the city of Tequila, Jalisco, Tequila northwest of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Guadalajara, and in the Jaliscan Highlands (''Los Altos (Jal ...
or
mezcal.
References
{{Reflist
Ancient Israel and Judah
Libation
Jewish sacrificial law