The
tithe, as appears from Deuteronomy xxvi., is offered in autumn, that
is, at the feast of tabernacles; this is the proper autumn
festival of thanksgiving, not only for the wine harvest, but also
for that of the threshing-floor (xvi. 13); it demands seven days,
which must all be spent in Jerusalem, while in the case of maccoth
only one need be spent there. It is self-evident that there is no
restriction to the use of vegetable gifts merely, but sacrifices of
flesh are also assumed--purchased perhaps with the proceeds of the
sale of the tithe. In this way the special character of the
feasts, and their connection with the first-fruits peculiar to
them, could easily disappear, a thing which seems actually to
have occurred in Deuteronomy, and perhaps even earlier. It is not
to be wondered at that much should seem unclear to us which must
have been obvious to contemporaries; in Deuteronomy, moreover,
almost everything is left to standing custom, and only the one
main point insisted on, that the religious worship, and thus also
the festivals, must be celebrated only in Jerusalem. Leaving out
of account the passover, which originally had an independent
standing, and only afterwards through its connection with maccoth
was taken into the regular cycle of the _haggim_, it cannot be
doubted, generally speaking and on the whole, that not only in
the Jehovistic but also in the Deuteronomic legislation the
festivals rest upon agriculture, the basis at once of life and of
religion.
Pages:
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226