Sacrifices in Ancient Israel – W.O.E. Oesterley

Today’s free book is W.O.E. Oesterley’s historical survey of sacrifice in the Old Testament, concluding with the teaching of Jesus Christ on sacrifice. This public domain title was digitised from the copy held in Spurgeon’s College library.

William Oscar Emil Oesterley [1866–1950], Sacrifices in Ancient Israel. Their Origin Purposes and Development. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1937. Hbk. pp.320. [Click here to visit the download page for this title]

Table of Contents

• Prefatory Note

1. Introductory: Theories of Sacrifice
2. Sacrifices among Uncultered Peoples
   • Sacrifices as Gifts to Supernatural Powers
   • Sacrifices as a Means of Communion
   • Sacrifices as a Means of Giving Life
   • Human Sacrifice
3. Sacrifices among the Semites
   • Sacrifices among the Ancient Arabs
   • Sacrifices among the Babylonians and Assyrians
   • Sacrifices among the Syrians and Canaanites
4. Ritual and Sacrifice
5. Sacrifices Among the Israelites: Technical Terms
6. Sacrifices among the Israelites: The Nomadic Period
   • Gift-sacrifices
   • Communion-sacrifices
   • Sacrifices as a Means of Liberating Life
7. Sacrifices among the Israelites: The Agricultural Period (1)
8. Sacrifices among the Israelites: The Agricultural Period (2)
   • Gift-sacrifices (1)
   • Sacrifices and Oblations as Gifts to Yahweh
9. Sacrifices among the Israelites: The Agricultural Period (3)
   • Cultural Period (3)
   • Guilt-sacrifices (2)
10. Sacrifices among the Israelites: The Agricultural Period (4)
    • Communion-sacrifices
11. The Attitude of the Prophets towards Sacrifices (Pre-exilic)
    • Sacrifices as the Means of Liberating Life
12. The Sacrificial System during the Post-Exilic Period
13. The Attitude of the Prophets towards Sacrifices (Exilic and Post-Exilic)
14. Sacrifices in Post-Exilic Time: Post-biblical, Pre-Christian Literature
15. The Jewish Sacrificial System and the Teaching of Jesus Christ
16. The Atonement

• Index of Modern Writers
• Index of Biblical and Post-Biblical Writers
• General Index

Main Image: The Scapegoat, by William Holman Hunt, 1854. Source: Wikipedia.