Blood Expiation in Hittite and Biblical Ritual: Origins, Context, and Meaning

Writings from the Ancient World Supplement Series #2

by Yitzhaq Feder

This pioneering study examines the use of blood to purge the effects of sin and impurity in Hittite and biblical ritual. The idea that blood atones for sins holds a prominent place in both Jewish and Christian traditions. The author traces this notion back to its earliest documentation in the fourteenth- and thirteenth-century B.C.E. texts from Hittite Anatolia, in which the smearing of blood is used as a means of expiation, purification, and consecration. This rite parallels, in both its procedure and goals, the biblical sin offering. The author argues that this practice stems from a common tradition manifested in both cultures. In addition, this book aims to decipher and elucidate the symbolism of the practice of blood smearing by seeking to identify the sociocultural context in which the expiatory significance of blood originated. Thus, it is essential reading for anyone interested in the meaning and efficacy of ritual, the origins of Jewish and Christian notions of sin and atonement, and the origin of the biblical blood rite.

First published December 1, 2011

Reviews

[Jared Greer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a revised dissertation published through SBL that deals with the meaning of blood rituals in the Hebrew Bible and similar antecedent Hittite rituals. Feder effectively argues that there is a direct historical relationship between biblical and Hurro-Hittite blood rituals. While his comparative work was deeply insightful, I was also intrigued by his social-scientific methodological approach to locating ritual meaning, and the application of that approach to biblical blood rituals. Feder argues that signs in rituals typically derive meaning from their preexistent meaning “in the material existence of a culture” (265); thus, we can identify the meaning of a ritual by examining its original historical context.

In the case of blood rites, Feder notes that blood already had a compensatory significance in the material culture of Israel, by virtue of Israel’s homicide laws. According to the talion logic of such laws, when innocent blood was shed, the blood of the killer was required as objective compensation. Put differently, the blood of the murderer removed or expiated the ‘stain’ of blood left by the murder. Thus, blood came to be associated with ‘currency.’ This logic eventually extended to certain Israelite blood rites, wherein blood manipulation represented payment/expiation for a debt of sin. Along these lines, Feder argues that the Hebrew Bible evidences a semantic evolution in the meaning of the word kipper. In earlier usages, kipper means to propitiate or placate; later, the word becomes associated with compensation and expiation; and finally, in passages like Ex 29 and Lev 8, it relates to purging.

Overall, Feder’s work is an excellent contribution to the field, and builds nicely upon the scholarship of Milgrom, Gilders, Gane, Sklar, and others. His diachronic analysis and social-scientific methodology is thought-provoking. Nevertheless, the book could have benefited from further exploration in certain areas. For example, it might have been helpful for Feder to expound upon the relationship between blood rites and burning rites, given that the kipper formulas in the text often follow the burning rite.

In any case, Feder is an excellent scholar with a great deal of multidisciplinary prowess. I’m sure I will be consulting this work for years to come.