Sacrifice

Sacrifice here describes what the three warriors risked by breaking through the Philistine camp — David's refusal to drink the water is his recognition that their lives were the real cost behind this cup, and that must be honored.

Sacrifice is reframed here as something that must genuinely cost the giver — David's insistence on paying full price rather than accepting a free offering captures the true meaning of giving something up to God.

Sacrifice here describes the massive burnt offerings brought the day after the assembly — a thousand each of bulls, rams, and lambs — consecrating the transition of power through formal worship.

Sacrifice is invoked here as the practical test of resurrection belief — Paul argues that the costly, dangerous lives Christians are living (including baptism for the dead, daily peril) only make sense if resurrection is genuinely true.

Sacrifice appears here in its darkest form — the text notes that Molech worship, which Solomon enabled by building shrines, involved child sacrifice, the very practice that had disqualified the Canaanites from the land.

Sacrifice is invoked here not in the ritual sense but as a moral indictment — Saul is willing to sacrifice his best soldier and own son to preserve the binding force of his ill-conceived oath.

Sacrifice is the religious justification Saul offers for keeping the livestock — he reframes self-interested disobedience as a generous act of worship, using sacred language to cover a selfish choice.

The sacrifice here is the communal worship act being corrupted — Eli's sons intercept the offering process with threats and force, turning a sacred transaction into extortion.

Sacrifice appears here to describe Paul's team's conduct among the Thessalonians — their self-giving example served as living evidence that the gospel they preached was real and worth following.

Sacrifice here is the specific act the faithful refugees from the north come to Jerusalem to perform — offering to the Lord at the Temple as an act of deliberate loyalty to genuine worship.

Sacrifice appears here as evidence of Judah's ongoing faithfulness — the daily burnt offerings and incense Abijah cites are proof that Judah has not abandoned the covenant rituals God requires, unlike the northern kingdom.

Sacrifice is being reinstated here according to Mosaic law — the burnt offerings that had been displaced by Baal worship are now restored as the proper expression of Israel's relationship with God.

Sacrifices are now being offered regularly in the restored Temple — their resumption marks the completion of the restoration project and the reestablishment of proper covenant worship.

Paul references his personal sacrifices — suffering, hardship, and service — as the evidence of his apostolic legitimacy, in contrast to the flashy credentials his rivals are flaunting.

The sacrifice being performed by Baal's worshipers becomes the trigger for their own deaths — Jehu times the attack to begin once the ritual sacrifice is underway and every target is accounted for.

Sacrifice of children is what Topheth had been used for — and Josiah is permanently desecrating that site so that no one can ever again offer children to Molech in the Valley of Hinnom.

Sacrifice captures what David's army has just given — their lives and safety — and why his public mourning is so devastating: it signals their sacrifice meant nothing to the king they bled for.

Sacrifice is the lens through which David interprets the water his warriors risked their lives to bring — he refuses to drink it because it has become a sacred offering, something only God is worthy to receive.

Sacrifice is affirmed here as inherently costly — David explicitly rejects the idea of a no-cost sacrifice, insisting that an offering with nothing at stake is merely performance, not genuine devotion.

Sacrifice here is the rhythmic heartbeat of the second procession — every six steps, David stops and offers an animal, turning the journey itself into an act of costly, repeated worship.

Sacrifices are part of the system Paul has in mind when he says the Law couldn't fully free anyone — the sacrificial system pointed toward something it could never itself complete, which is why the one definitive sacrifice of Jesus was necessary.

Sacrifice here takes a jarring form — pagan worshipers preparing to offer animals to Paul and Barnabas, a grotesque inversion of the truth that the healing was done in the name of Jesus, not Greek deities.

Sacrifice here takes a personal, non-ritual form — Timothy voluntarily undergoes circumcision not for atonement but to make himself a more effective messenger in Jewish contexts.

Sacrifice is referenced here as part of Israel's religious practice that God rejects — they were performing the rituals while funding them through the oppression of the vulnerable, making their offerings an offense rather than worship.

Sacrifices are cited here sarcastically — God is not praising Israel's religious diligence but exposing how frequent, public offerings can coexist with — and even mask — systematic oppression of the vulnerable.

Sacrifice is dismissed here by God himself — he reminds Israel that even in the wilderness their offerings were hollow, meaning a long history of ritual could not substitute for the justice and faithfulness he actually required.

Sacrifice is referenced to clarify that Paul's suffering does not supplement Christ's finished atoning work — the cross stands complete, while Paul's hardships belong to the ongoing cost of delivering that message.

Sacrifice is listed here among the outward markers of apparent spiritual seriousness — Paul concedes these practices carry the appearance of wisdom while insisting they cannot address the real problem of inner corruption.

The regular sacrifice is abolished by the contemptible king's forces, removing the daily covenant ritual that structured Israel's worship life and signaling the depth of the defilement.

The daily sacrifice is what the little horn abolishes — its removal signals not just religious disruption but the deliberate severing of the regular rhythm of Israel's worship life.

Sacrifice appears here in its most disturbing form — child sacrifice — as the explicit reason God demands total demolition of Canaanite worship sites rather than any accommodation or gradual replacement.

Sacrifice is referenced here as part of the religious framework Moses has been constructing — proper sacrificial practice being one of the pillars now threatened by internal false teaching.

Sacrifice here is not merely a ritual act but a theological statement — the quality of the animal brought before God communicates whether the worshiper considers him worthy of their best.

Sacrifice appears here in its most horrifying form — child sacrifice by fire — the first and most severe item on Moses's list of forbidden Canaanite practices Israel must never adopt.

Sacrifice is invoked here not in its ritual sense but in the experiential one — Solomon describes pouring years of wisdom, skill, and effort into work, only to hand it over to someone who contributed nothing.

Sacrifice is referenced here as Christ's blood — the specific act that closed the gap between far-off Gentiles and God, framing the crucifixion as the ultimate distance-eliminating offering.

Sacrifice is the defining characteristic of the husband's role here — Paul holds up Christ giving himself up for the church as the precise standard, making self-giving love the measure of faithful husbanding.

Sacrifices are offered here by Jethro alongside Aaron and Israel's elders — a shared sacred meal that marks this Midianite priest as a genuine worshiper of Israel's God based solely on what he heard.

Sacrifice is the altar's entire purpose — the text explains that burnt offerings, sin offerings, and peace offerings all happened here, establishing that drawing near to God required a death before it allowed an approach.

The sacrifice here transitions from the sin offering to the burnt offering — the first ram dealt with guilt, and now a second animal will be completely consumed to represent total surrender.

Sacrifice is explicitly excluded here — God's instruction makes clear this incense altar has one purpose only, and mixing it with animal sacrifices would violate its dedicated function.