Sacred Space in the Hebrew Bible

SACRED SPACEin

Israel:

Altars and Tent Shrine(s)

Horned (incense?) altars of Megiddo c. 900 BCE

Four-Horned altar of BeerSheva

Mt. Ebal and Gerazim at Shechem Pass

Mt. Ebal“Altar of

unworked stones”

Altar at Arad

Why Unworked Stones?

Exod 20:25-6

“If you make me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stone, for if you wield your tool on it you profane it. And you shall not go up by steps to my altar, that your nakedness be not exposed on it.”

Blood and Sacrifice

Genesis 9:1 God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. 3 Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you; and just as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything. 4 Only, you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. 5 For your own lifeblood I will surely require a reckoning: from every animal I will require it and from human beings, each one for the blood of another, I will require a reckoning for human life. 6 Whoever sheds the blood of a human, by a human shall that person's blood be shed; for in his own image God made humankind.

Portable Shrine: The Priestly Tabernacle

The Tabernacle, “Mishkan”

•Leviticus 15:31 31 Thus you shall keep the people of Israel separate from their uncleanness, so that they do not die in their uncleanness by defiling my tabernacle that is in their midst.

The Ark of the CovenantExod 25:10-22

Cherub throne, King Ahiram sarcophagus 1100 BCE, Phoenicia

historical BARE /\ BONES OF THE BIBLE

• Abraham and the Patriarchs (c. 1800-1400 BCE) (Genesis 12-50 )

• Moses leads exodus from Egypt to Sinai desert (c. 1250 BCE, disputed)

• Joshua, Judges (c.1200-1020)• Monarchy established; Saul (1020-1000 BCE)• King David (1000-961 BCE)• King Solomon (961-922 BCE)

Solomon’s Temple (the First Temple)

Solomon’s Temple(First Temple)

Solomon’s Temple(First

Temple)

The Temple: the Priestly Ephod