In Phcenician the use of ntc:,,n for 'sacrifice' in a general sense (or tax from a sacrifice to be given to the priest or priests), is quite common. The word occurs frequently on the well-known Sacri ficial 'Tablet of Marseilles; and the second Sacri ficial Tablet recently found in Cartharre—now in the British Museum—in which the beginning of the epigraph is preserved, goes far to sliew that in all these regulations of taxes due to the priests from the single offerings, some such words as nrz nnwvnri (l'hcen. plur. nn), At the time of the sacrifices,' and Z....1)U L''N, • which fixed' [certain Sulfates sci/.] were used as introductory formulas.
sending portions (11)7n, see below], onc to another, and gifts to the poor, are based the following ordi nances (Orach Chajim, scc. 649) :—a. 'Every man must give at least two presents to two poor people [in accordance with the two plurals of Nunn and Inr1N.J. b. The money destined for Purim-alms must not be used for any other charitable purpose. The poor themselve;:, however, are at liberty to use the mono, received according to their own pleasure. c. Tile Purim-money must not be scrupu lously divided ; but whosoever stretches out his hands to receive, to him shall be given.' _ The first line of the Mars. Inscr. read, :— I: tonvri nt.YN p ririn That of the Brit. Mus. has distinctly (as above) : rInt.:Onn T1321 • [See PHCENICIA ; OFFERING..
C. nNtn, Nisseth (Part. Niph.), roya/gift, 2 Sam.
xix. 43. Has he [the king], given us any gift ?' To our word 131essing' corresponds :— Berathah (fromilZ, LL,„) ‘, to kneel down, rd • to pray, to bless [curse], to favour with a gift, to accompany one's good wishes by a present, etc.), originally an offering from an inferior to a superior, from a client to a patron, a conciliatory or propi tiatory gift. Cf. Gen. xxxiii. 1, Jacob to Esau, "Fake now my blessing, which has been brought unto thee ;' Sam. xxv. 27, Abigail to David, Take now this blessing which thy handmaid hath brought ; Naarnan to Elisha, 2 Kings v. 15, Take now the blessing from thy servant.' [The presents of popes to kings, were likewise called Benedictiones, cf. Du Cange Lex. ii. Ito ; ap. Ges. s. v.] Further : the results of the Divine blessing—presents from above, in the sense of riches )1 G eri. Aix. 2 5 ; Is. xix. 24, etc. ; cf.
rinlz cs:, a munificent man, Prov. xi. 25. From the cognate roots run (obsol.; ar.
to portion out, to present [not from ilr1), to carry near, as Kirnchi, or 1717, to rest, causal: pacify by gifts, as others would have it], and mu, to divide, count, allot, assign, are derived the following two words respectively,
.h.finha. Chiefly a present of a concilia = • tory or propitiatoiy nature, as that with which Jacob wished to pacify Esau, Gen. xxxii. r4, ff. (see above), or which Joseph's brethren brought to Joseph, Gen. xliii. 1; an offering to (2 kin.-;—Israel to Eglon, Judg. iii. : hence also a tribtile, and, 'n 't•C:70, rn bearers of a llfinha,' became a euphe mistic phrase for tributary subjects ;' oab to Da vid, 2 Sam. viii. 2 ; the Philistine kingdoms to Solo mon, Kings viii. 1. Further, an offering to God, Gen. iv. 3 ; Is. i. 13. In the Mosaic books this word is chiefly used for unbloody sacrifices, in con tradistinction to riz. (Lxx. 7rpocr qiiopci) ; also of sacrifices offered to idols, Is. lvii.
6 ; lxvi. 3. [OFFERING.] In this sense of sacrifice, ;Tun occurs also on the Phoenician sacrificial tablet of Marseilles, line 14 rinT t:.'N1121 1,11; and on that of the British Museum, line io, I111 1/1 M"I'V the evening sacrifice,' Dan. ix. 21, Ezm ix. 4, the word rim= has, after the cessation of the sacrifices, gradually come to signify the afternoon prayer, on the time of which (and the divisions of ri9ru 'n, the great Minha, and mnp 'n, the small Minha); see Orach Cha jitn, See. 232.
Manah; a portion, such as Elkanah gave on the occasion of his annual sacrifice to his wives and children, Sam. i. 4, 5. Send portions (of eatables) to those who have Dothing ready,' Nell. viii. to ; cf. Esth. ix. 23.—The custom referred to in the last passage of sending mutual presents of eatables, and of giving alms, on the Purim-festival, has been adopted by the Mohammedans on their two Eeds; principally on the minor festival, which follows immediately upon the Ramadan, and which lasts three days.-In Phcen. mto, plur. (stdoo.
• Inscr., v. iv. viii.), means treasures, riches (=Ar.
- tre). Perhaps ion, i.ca,movris (money), may be traced to the same root as rm.
We have further to mention the following Ile brew equivalents for Gift : Shaj, only used in connection with a present (• respect') offered to Goa', Josh. xviii. 7 ; Ps. lxviii. 30 ; lxxvi. I2.-Five different derivations have been proposed for this word : Ar. Lo_.;„ to will ; tvitz Ar. , to desire ; rl'ILY, to make e oqual; Ar. t flow out ; and riv, to stretch out-but none appears completely satis factory.