Sacrifice, Cult, and Atonement in Early Judaism and Christianity: Constituents and Critique ed. by Henrietta L. Wiley and Christian A. Eberhart

Abstract

Reviewed by: Sacrifice, Cult, and Atonement in Early Judaism and Christianity: Constituents and Critique ed. by Henrietta L. Wiley and Christian A. Eberhart Nathan MacDonald henrietta l. wiley and christian a. eberhart (eds.), Sacrifice, Cult, and Atonement in Early Judaism and Christianity: Constituents and Critique (RBS 85; Atlanta: SBL Press, 2017). Pp. xvii + 431. Paper $76.95. This volume collects a number of papers delivered between 2011 and 2014 in the Society of Biblical Literature Sacrifice, Cult, and Atonement section. An introduction [End Page 556] provides a brief history of the scholarly discussion around ritual sacrifice and atonement as well as a summary of the essays: Christian A. Eberhart, “Introduction: Constituents and Critique of Sacrifice, Cult, and Atonement in Early Judaism and Christianity.” The rest of the volume is split into four sections. The first section, entitled “Purification: Perspectives from the Torah and Dead Sea Scrolls,” contains three essays: Joshua M. Vis, “The Purgation of Persons through the Purification Offering”; Dorothea Erbele-Küster, “‘She Shall Remain in (Accordance to) Her Blood-of-Purification’: Ritual Dynamics of Defilement and Purification in Leviticus 12”; and Hannah K. Harrington, “Accessing Holiness via Ritual Ablutions in the Dead Sea Scrolls and Related Literature.” The second section entitled “Sacrifice: Ritual Aspects and Prophetic Critique” has the following essays: David Calabro, “A Reexamination of the Ancient Israelite Gesture of Hand Placement”; Aaron Glaim, “‘I Will Not Accept Them’: Sacrifice and Reciprocity in the Prophetic Literature”; Göran Eidevall, “Prophetic Cult-Criticism in Support of Sacrificial Worship? The Case of Jeremiah”; and Ma. Maricel S. Ibita, “‘What to Me Is the Multitude of Your Sacrifices?’: Exploring the Critique of Sacrificial Cult and the Metaphors for YHWH in the Prophetic Lawsuit (Micah 6:1–8 and Isaiah 1:1–20).” The third section, “Atonement: Alternative Concepts,” comprises the following essays: Christian A. Eberhart, “To Atone or Not to Atone: Remarks on the Day of Atonement Rituals according to Leviticus 16 and the Meaning of Atonement”; Jarvis J. Williams, “Cultic Action and Cult Function in Second Temple Jewish Martyrologies: The Jewish Martyrs as Israel’s Yom Kippur”; and Ross E. Winkle, “Resistance Is Not Futile: Restraint as Cultic Action in 2 Thessalonians 2:1–12.” In the fourth section, “Temple and Priesthood: Rethinking Sacred Authority,” there are three essays: Timothy Wardle, “Pillars, Foundations, and Stones: Individual Believers as Constituent Parts of the Early Christian Communal Temple”; Nicole Wilkinson Duran, “‘Not One Stone Will be Left on Another’: The Destruction of the Temple and the Crucifixion of Jesus in Mark’s Gospel”; and Ross E. Winkle, “‘You Are What You Wear’: The Dress and Identity of Jesus as High Priest in John’s Apocalypse.” The volume is complete with a full bibliography, a list of contributors, an index of ancient sources, and an index of subjects. Vis returns to the problem of kippēr and argues that Leviticus 4–5 draws on an earlier Leviticus 16. The offerer of the ḥaṭṭāᐣt is being purged of sin. Erbele-Küster examines the purification of the parturient and argues that she is purified by means of her flow of blood and reintegrated into the cultic community. Harrington demonstrates that washing rituals in the Second Temple period were not merely a means of removing impurity but also a means of accessing a higher level of holiness. Calabro revisits the famous crux of the hand-placing gesture. Against the current consensus that distinguishes a one-handed placement from a two-handed one, he argues that there was just a single gesture using both hands. The gesture assigns the recipient to a particular position in an organizational order. Glaim examines the prophetic critique of sacrifice. It is not a critique of sacrificial offerings and relates only to specific historical moments of judgment. Yhwh could not simultaneously accept sacrifices, suggesting a favorable view of his people, and bring defeat. The prophets’ words are an apology for the cult that defends the efficacy of sacrifice. Eidevall discusses a specific example of the prophetic critique: that found in the Book of Jeremiah. Eidevall argues that the book critiques the sacrifices offered before the fall of Jerusalem but encourages future offerings. Ibita employs blending theory from contemporary...