Exodus 24:8

Hebrew Bible

6 Moses took half of the blood and put it in bowls, and half of the blood he splashed on the altar. 7 He took the Book of the Covenant and read it aloud to the people, and they said, “We are willing to do and obey all that the Lord has spoken.” 8 So Moses took the blood and splashed it on the people and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.”

Onkelos Exodus 24:8

Targum

6 And Mosheh took half of the blood and set it in basins, and half the blood he sprinkled upon the altar. 7 And he took the Book of the Covenant, and read before the people; and they said, All that the Lord hath spoken we will do and obey. 8 And Mosheh took the blood and sprinkled it upon the altar to propitiate for the people, and said, Behold the Blood of the Covenant which the Lord hath ratified with you upon all these words.

 Notes and References

"... When Moses wished, finally, to seal Israel's acceptance of God's laws and covenant, he did so in a rather strange way ... his gesture of sprinkling the blood on the people had no ready correspondent in later Temple practice and certainly must have seemed strange to interpreters. Some suggested that the phrase 'on the people' in this passage really meant 'on account of the people,' for the people's sake ..."

Kugel, James L. The Bible as it Was (pp. 412-413) Harvard University Press, 1998

 User Comments

Does the idea of sprinkling blood on the people purport with other ANE practices in other cultic systems?

Bob James, October 16, 2023, 3:29 pm

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