II.I.2. In this case also the elements of a decision can only be
obtained from the historical documents dating from the pre-exilic
time,--the Books of Judges, Samuel, and Kings on the one hand, and
the writings of the prophets on the other. As regards those of the
first class, they represent the cultus and sacrifice on all
occasions as occupying a large place in the life of the nation and
of the individual. But, although it would be wrong to say that
absolutely no weight is attached to the RITE, it is certainly not
the fact that the main stress is laid upon it; the antithesis is
not between RITE and NON-RITE, but between sacrifice TO JEHOVAH and
sacrifice TO STRANGE GODS, the reverse of what we find in the
Priestly Code. Alongside of splendid sacrifices, such as those of
the kings, presumably offered in accordance with all the rules of
priestly skill, there occur others also of the simplest and most
primitive type, as, for example, those of Saul (1Samuel xiv.35) and
Elisha (1Kings xix.2I); both kinds are proper if only they be
dedicated to the proper deity. Apart from the exilian redaction of
the Book of Kings, which reckons the cultus outside of Jerusalem as
heretical, it is nowhere represented that a sacrifice could be
dedicated to the God of Israel, and yet be illegitimate.
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