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* [[w:Aristotle|Aristotle]]. ''"[[w:Politics_(Aristotle)|Politics]]".'' [[w:Politics_(Aristotle)#Book_VII|VII]], xii.</ref>
In relation to the worship of Ancient Israel, the term [[w:Korban|Korban]] (offering) was used for a variety of sacrificial offerings described and commanded in the Hebrew Bible, including the [[w:Korban Olah|Korban Olah]] (burnt offering) and [[w:Korban Pesach|Korban Pesach]] ([[Passover]] sacrifice).<ref group="note">There were four types of these offerings - almost like archetypes. The first is the Korban Olah, or "the whole burnt offering"; the second kind of sacrifice is the Mincha, the Meal Offering; the third category is the Hatat, the Sin Offering; and the fourth category was a thanks-or peace-offering, the exact opposite of a sin offering. (<br>:*<small>Shlomo Riskin. ''"SACRIFICES FROM THE HEART."'' '''The Jerusalem Post'''. March 30, 1990, Friday.)</small></ref> These types of offerings can be categorized as being of the [[w:Propitiation|propitiatory]] or thanksgiving type.<ref group="note">"A korban ("sacrifice" in Hebrew) is connected to the word karov ("near") - or getting close to God. And how did sacrifices bring Jews close to God? Every day in the Temple, besides the twice-daily offerings, there would be offerings by individuals experiencing special moments of joy and thanksgiving for having been saved from death. As soon as a person digs into his own pocket to pay for an offering, he sacrifices his own wealth for an idea, a belief, an emotion. The offering is a way for the offerer to say: "Who am I to receive such good fortune? I don't deserve it!" His actions are in sharp contrast to those who claim: "My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth." (Deut. 8:17) Instead, he's able to look beyond his own power and might and direct his gaze toward the One orchestrating it all." (<br>:*<small>Shlomo Riskin. ''"HUMILITY IS REWARDED WITH GREATNESS".'' '''The Jerusalem Post'''. March 15, 1991, Friday.)</small></ref> Greek Christians in Byzantine times also practiced the sacrificng and roasting of animals as ''"[[Kourbania|Kurbans]] " (KourbaniaKurbans)",'' in particular during the celebration of ecclesiastical festivals.<ref group="note">"In the late nineteenth century, Greek Christians of the village of Zele (Sylata) in Cappadocia sacrificed animals to St. [[Haralampus of Magnesia|Charalambos]] especially in time of illness. Though the Greeks frequently referred to these sacrifices by the Turkish term "[[w:Kourbania|kurban]]," the sacrificial practices went back to Byzantine and pagan times as is evident from several factors. They frequently referred to these sacrifices by the ancient Greek terms θυσία and θάλι. The question of Christian borrowing from the Muslim kurban sacrifice is probably retricted to the philological aspect, for the pagan sacrifice seems to have remained very lively and widespread in Byzantine times. One of the most spectacular examples of its existence in [[w:Byzantine Anatolia|Byzantine Anatolia]] was the sacrifice of the fawn to St. Athenogenes at Pedachthoe on July 17 ([[July 16]]). On that day the young animal and its mother passed before the altar of the monastery church of St. Athenogenes while the [[Gospels]] were being read. The fawn was sacrificed, cooked, and eaten by the congregation and thus the faithful celebrated the glory of the martyred saint. The pagan usage of animal sacrifice survived also in the Byzantine practice of slaughtering and roasting animals after the celebration of ecclesiastical festivals. The sixteenth canon of the [[w:Councils of Carthage|Synod of Carthage]] asked the emperor to put an end to this habit; the commentary of [[Theodore IV of Antioch|Balsamon]] indicates that it was widespread in the twelfth century, and it has survived to the present day. The liturgical sacrifice in the Armenian church, known as ''madag'', is also a survival from antiquity." :* [[w:Speros Vryonis|Speros Vryonis]]. ''The Decline of Medieval Hellenism in Asia Minor: and the Process of Islamization from the Eleventh Through the Fifteenth Century.'' Volume 4 of Publications of the Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies. University of California Press, 1971. p. 490. ISBN 9780520015975</ref>
However , specifically relating to the making of '''vows''', the [[Holy Scriptures]] contain several other references including:<br>
:* [[Genesis]] 28:20-22,<ref group="note">'''Genesis 28:20-22'''. "Then Jacob made a vow saying, "If the [[Lord]] [[God]] will be with me, and keep me in this way I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on, and bring me back in safety to my father's house, then the Lord shall be my God. And this stone I set as a pillar shall be God's house to me, and of all You give me I will surely give a [[tithe]] to You." "</ref>
:* [[Book of Numbers|Numbers]] 6:1-21,<ref group="note">'''Numbers 6:1-21'''. '''Law Concerning Vows.''' "Now the Lord spoke to [[Moses]], saying, "Speak to the children of [[Israel]], and say to them, 'When either a man or woman vows an extraordinary vow to sanctify himself as one of purity to the Lord, he shall separate himself from wine and intoxicants, and shall not drink any wine and vinegar made from wine, and any vinegar made from intoxicants; neither shall he drink anything made from grapes, nor eat fresh grapes or raisins. All the days of his separation he shall eat nothing that is produced by the grapevine, from seed to skin. All the days of his vow of purification no razor shall come upon his head; until the days are fulfilled for which he vowed to the Lord; he shall be holy. Then he shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow. All the days of his vow to the Lord he shall not go near a dead body. He shall not defile himself even for his father or his mother, for his brother or his sister, when they [[Death|die]], because the vow of his God is on his head. All the days of his vow he shall be holy to the Lord. But if anyone dies very suddenly near him on the spot, the head of his vow shall be defiled; and he shall shave his head on the day of his cleansing; on the seventh day he shall shave it. Then on the eighth day he shall bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons to the [[priest]], to the door of the [[Tabernacle (biblical)|tabernacle of testimony]]. The the priest shall make one a sin offering and the other a whole burnt offering and make atonement for him, concerning which he sinned in regard to the corpse; and he shall [[Sanctification|sanctify]] his head that day. He shall sanctify to the Lord the days of his vow, and bring a male lamb in its first year as a trespass offering; but the former days shall be null and void, because the head of his vow was defiled.<br>Now this is the law of vowing: When the days of his vow are fulfilled, he shall be brought to the doors of the [[Tabernacle (biblical)|tabernacle of testimony]]. Then he shall offer his gift to the Lord: one male lamb in its first year without blemish as a whole burnt offering, one ewe lamb in its first year without blemish as a sin offering, one ram without blemish as a peace offering, a basket of unleavened bread of fine flour, prepared with oil, and unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and their grain offering with their drink offering. Then the [[priest]] shall bring these things before the Lord and offer his sin offering and his whole burnt offering; and he shall offer the ram as a sacrifice of peace offering to the Lord, with the basket of unleavened bread; the priest shall also offer his grain offering and his drink offering. Then the one vowing shall shave the head of his vow at the doors of the tabernacle of testimony; and he shall put his hair on the fire, which is under the sacrifice of the peace offering. Then the priest shall take the boiled shoulder of the ram, one unleavened loaf from the basket, and one unleavened cake, and put these upon the hands of the one vowing, after he has shaved the head of his vow; and the priest shall bring these things as a deposit offering before the Lord; they are holy for the priest, together with the breast of the deposit offering and the thigh of the choice portion. After that, the one vowing may drink wine.' This is the law of the one vowing, who vows to the Lord his gift to the Lord concerning his vow; and the force of his vow is not limited to what he could afford regarding his vow, which he vows according to the law of purity." "</ref>