Psalm 118:27 God is the LORD, which has showed us light: bind the sacrifice with cords, even to the horns of the altar.… Bishop Wordsworth gives the most probable explanation of this difficult passage. "The Hebrew word 'chug,' translated 'sacrifice,' literally means 'a feast-day.' Probably the word is adopted here, because the expression is a figurative one. We do not hear that the sacrifices were literally bound to the horns of the altar, on which the blood was sprinkled (Exodus 29:16; Leviticus 4:7; Leviticus 8:15; Leviticus 9:9). Nor does it appear to have been possible that the immense number of victims offered on the day of dedication (Ezra 6:17) could have been so bound. The Targum, indeed, explains the words as meaning, 'Bring the sacrifice bound until it arrives at the horns of the altar.' But the sense seems to be, bind the festival of dedication to the altar of God — that is, let the joys of all Israelites be concentrated as the joys of one man in a great national act of thankful communion and self-consecration to God. Let the people of God be no more separated from one another by schism, as they were by the severance of Israel from Judah; let them no more be scattered, as they were in the Assyrian and Babylonian captivity; but let them all be bound to one centre of unity — the altar of God." In view of this explanation of the expression as a figurative one, there is no need for inquiries concerning ancient customs of binding sacrifices to altars, or for the assumption that any new practice was enjoined. The passage is best treated as a poetical figure. Parallel Verses KJV: God is the LORD, which hath shewed us light: bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar. |
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