Hebrews 13:15: “By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of [our] lips giving thanks to his name.”
“The driving force for us to bring a sacrifice or offering to God is to bring us closer to God.” Rabbi Solomon Hirsch
We all know what a sacrifice or offering is. It is something of value that you give up for the sake of someone or something else. Thus, we hear the term sacrifice of praise and what we think. If we think in good Western twentieth century English thought we assume it means we praise God even though we do not feel like it. We make a sacrifice to praise God and our praise becomes an offering to Him.
We think along the same lines for an offering. An offering is something of value that we give up as an obligation or a sacrifice. The words offering and sacrifice in English are so closely related that we use it interchangeably for the Hebrew word qaravan.
The Greek word used by Paul in Hebrews 13:15 for sacrifice is thysian which means a sacrifice or offering. Don’t you just love it when a lexicon tells you the obvious. However, the Apostle Paul was Jewish and to a Jew sacrifice and offering had a much different meaning that it does for us. By not looking at the Semitic thought behind a word we run of the risk of apply a 21st Century English word which may not correctly reflect the Semitic idea behind the word.
Rabbi Solomon Hirsch a 19th Century Jewish scholar, linguist and expert in Semitic languages for whom Hirsch College in New York is named after expressed in his writings that the Hebrew word for sacrifice and offering is qaravan and the Aramaic word is dabacha which both have identical understandings or meanings. The Hebrew word qaravan and the Aramaic word dabacha are rooted in the Hebrew word qarav which means to approach. This word does not have the idea of giving up something of value to oneself and bringing it to others as a way of response to one’s desires or as a requirement. It is a giving up of something out of a desire to draw closer to someone.
When a husband gives his wife flowers he is doing it because he desires to draw closer to her, not to weasel something out of her that he wants. If he does she will know it and his head will become the flower pot.
If you stop and think about it, the difference between the Jewish interpretation of a sacrifice and offering and that of the Christian is huge. I mean ask any Christian who pays a tithe why he is doing it. Odds are 9 out of 10 will say because it is Biblical and we are commanded to do it. Some may even give a mercenary answer like, “The Lord will not bless me if I don’t pay my tithe.” We even call it paying a tithe like payment for services rendered or service that will be rendered. According to Jewish scholars that is not an offering or a sacrifice, it is a bribe.
Well, isn’t a husband giving his wife flowers as a bribe to draw closer to her and to be intimate with her? That is not the true sense of a bribe. A bribe is used to force someone to do something they do not want to do. The little wife longs to draw close to her husband, the flowers are a way of showing that her husband shares the same desire. If that wife does not want to draw close to her husband no amount of flowers will do it. We don’t need to bribe God to bless us, He will do that regardless of our offerings or not. God cannot be bought and you don’t pull deals with God: “Ok, God I will give you 5% and raise it to 7% if you bless me only 50 fold.”
God is a loving mate who wants to draw close to us. By bringing our offerings and sacrifices to Him it is declaring that we too want to draw close to Him. God is not going to say: “Angel, count it out, make sure it is 10% and that is before taxes. Just hang on guy, as soon as my angel finishes his calculations, I will let you know if you get a hug or not.”
So then, what is this Sacrifice of Praise that Paul is talking about? It is quite the opposite of what we think. We think it is praising Him when we do not feel like it. Not that I am against that. I believe it is a good practice to praise God in every situation, in that we are declaring our faith that He has everything under control. But a sacrifice of Praise is when we approach God, with a longing and hunger to be near to God and praise is our vehicle to let Him know we are ready for that hug. Paul was locked up in a prison, did not have a shekel to his name, he could not give a 10% tithe if he wanted to, all he had were the ragged clothes on his back, all he had to offer God was his praise and that was enough. With that praise he devacha or qavan approached God with the desire to just be close to Him.
For many Christians in this world, come the end of the month and they have nothing, all they have left to draw close to God is their praise and that is enough for Him. There is a story in Jewish literature about a rich princess who had many suitors. They came bearing expensive gifts to win her heart. Then one poor young man came with nothing and said: “I have nothing to give to you except my love and praise for you.” Ok, you know how that story ended. Sometimes the greatest sacrifice or offering (qavan) we can give to God is just our love and praise that is enough for Him.
In the 6th paragraph above, you mention Rabbi Solomon Hirsch and his understanding of “qaravan” in Hebrew and “dabacha” in Aramaic – with the historic Hebrew / Aramaic meaning of “approach.” Unfortunately, and I don’t doubt the intended translation, I don’t find Rabbi Solomon Hirsch’s understanding of these terms in any other cyber source. Nor do I find Rabbi Hirsch’s understanding of these terms shared in any other electronic searchable source.
Is there such a source that one can visit electronically?
Hi, I apologize I keep saying Solomon Hirsch and it is Samson Hirsch. You might try googling that name. I found this resource in an out of print book entitled Etymological Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew.