Oral Confession During O.T. Sin Offering?

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Is there any evidence, biblical or otherwise, of oral confession of sin during the ritual of making a sin offering in the Old Testament?

Was oral confession part of the ritual sacrifice? If someon brought a dove, pidgeon, goat or lamb, did they have to make an oral confession when they slaughtered it or when it was burnt?

I’d be interested in any general references to ritual practices around sacrifices in the Old Testament but the question of oral confession was an immediate question that I had.

PAX
-Tim-
 
TimothyH said:
Is there any evidence, biblical or otherwise, of oral confession of sin during the ritual of making a sin offering in the Old Testament?

Was oral confession part of the ritual sacrifice? If someon brought a dove, pidgeon, goat or lamb, did they have to make an oral confession when they slaughtered it or when it was burnt?

I’d be interested in any general references to ritual practices around sacrifices in the Old Testament but the question of oral confession was an immediate question that I had.

PAX
-Tim-
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Examples of oral confession in the OT:

In Genesis, when God was asking Adam what had he done, God knew that Adam had sinned, but He was asking Adam to confess what Adam had done. And you know what Adam’s response was…committing even more sin instead of readily acknowledging what he had done.

After Cain had murdered his brother, and God asked Cain when his brother was, God knew what Cain had done, yet still God asked Cain where Abel was, God was asking Cain to account for his sin…and of course, you know what Cain’s answer was…“Am I my brother’s keeper?”…committing even more sin.

Then there is King David, after committing adultery, and the prophet Nathan confronts him…in 2 Samuel 12…

13 So David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.”
And Nathan said to David, “The LORD also has put away your sin; you shall not die.
 
Thanks pablope, I am aware of those passages, especially Nathan and David.

I am asking specifically in the context of the ritual around presenting an animal for sacrifice. Was an oral confession part of the sacrifice ritual or required in any other way when making a sin offering? I’ve looked in a few books which describe manners and customs in the Bible but they are silent on the issue, leading me to believe that it was not part of the ritural process.

My inquiry is purely out of curiosity.

PAX
-Tim-
 
TimothyH said:
Thanks pablope, I am aware of those passages, especially Nathan and David.

I am asking specifically in the context of the ritual around presenting an animal for sacrifice. Was an oral confession part of the sacrifice ritual or required in any other way when making a sin offering? I’ve looked in a few books which describe manners and customs in the Bible but they are silent on the issue, leading me to believe that it was not part of the ritural process.

My inquiry is purely out of curiosity.

PAX
-Tim-
Click to expand...
You are welcome…you may want to look at Leviticus, where animal sacrifice was required/proscribed.
 
Look at Nehemiah 9:1-3

“On the twenty-fourth day of this month, the Israelites gathered together fasting and in sackcloth, their heads covered with dust. Those of Israelite descent separated themselves from all who were of foreign extraction, then stood forward and confessed their sins and the guilty deeds of their fathers.When they had taken their places, they read from the book of the law of the LORD their God, for a fourth part of the day, and during another fourth part they made their confession and prostrated themselves before the LORD their God.”

Confession of sin before a Priest, even in public, has its roots firmly planted in the Old Testament.
 
Lev5: 5 And it shall be, when he shall be guilty in one of these [things], that he shall confess that he hath sinned in that [thing]:6 And he shall bring his trespass offering unto the LORD for his sin which he hath sinned, a female from the flock, a lamb or a kid of the goats, for a sin offering; and the priest shall make an atonement for him concerning his sin.

See also Lev19:20-22
& *2cor2:10?
 
then whoever is guilty in any of these cases shall confess the sin he has incurred, and as his sin offering for the sin he has committed he shall bring to the LORD a female animal from the flock, a ewe lamb or a she-goat. The priest shall then make atonement for his sin. (Lev 5:5-6)

The LORD said to Moses, "If someone commits a sin by inadvertently cheating in the LORD’S sacred dues, he shall bring to the LORD as his guilt offering an unblemished ram from the flock, valued at two silver shekels according to the standard of the sanctuary shekel. He shall also restore what he has sinfully withheld from the sanctuary, adding to it a fifth of its value. This is to be given to the priest, who shall then make atonement for him with the guilt-offering ram, and he will be forgiven. “If someone, without being aware of it, commits such a sin by doing one of the things which are forbidden by some commandment of the LORD, that he incurs guilt for which he must answer, he shall bring as a guilt offering to the priest an unblemished ram of the flock of the established value. The priest shall then make atonement for the fault which was unwittingly committed, and it will be forgiven. Such is the offering for guilt; the penalty of the guilt must be paid to the LORD.” (Lev 5:14-19)

The issue below is related to the above in the case when the injured party has died and left no heirs, in which case the restitution must be made to the priest.

The LORD said to Moses, "Tell the Israelites: If a man (or a woman) commits a fault against his fellow man and wrongs him, thus breaking faith with the LORD, he shall confess the wrong he has done, restore his ill-gotten goods in full, and in addition give one fifth of their value to the one he has wronged. (Num 5:5-7)
 
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