What's in a name?

One of the things that complicates the Levitical sacrifices for my simple mind,

is that different versions give them different names, all while seemingly staying faithful to the original languages.

(It’s for reasons like this I prefer to stick to the right-to-the-point MSV.)

One sacrifice (minḥâ) is sometimes called the meal offering,

yet it is with a different one (šĕlāmîm) that the sacrificer is invited to sit down

and “have a meal” with his family.

That same one (minḥâ) is sometimes referred to as the meat offering,

yet it is the only vegan offering of the bunch! Does that make sense to you?

And then there is ʾăšāmô, called the guilt, or trespass, offering.

And ḥṭʾh, the sin offering.

Back in Massachusetts, I grew up using the phrase “guilty as sin,”

so do have patience with me if I am unclear on the differences between sin, trespass, and guilt.

I go to the book of Hebrews to find the sacrifice that makes me jump up and shout.

… let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God,

that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. 

Hebrews 13.5

Sometimes I jump, and sometimes I shout, sometimes I kneel and lift my hands.

Other times I lay prostate before Him and make sure I have “taken off my crown.”  (Rev 4.10)