Pro 15:8 | KD | STEP | The sacrifice of the godless is an abhorrence to Jahve; But the prayer of the upright is His delight. Although the same is true of the prayer of the godless that is here said of their sacrifice, and of the sacrifice of the righteous that is here said of their prayer ( vid ., , and cf. with ), yet it is not by accident that here (line first = ) the sacrifice is ascribed to the godless and the prayer to the upright. The sacrifice, as a material and legally-required performance, is much more related to dead works than prayer freely completing itself in the word, the most direct expression of the personality, which, although not commanded by the law, because natural to men, as such is yet the soul of all sacrifices; and the Chokma , like the Psalms and Prophets, in view of the ceremonial service which had become formal and dead in the opus operatum , is to such a degree penetrated by the knowledge of the incongruity of the offering up of animals and of plants, with the object in view, that a proverb like “the sacrifice of the righteous is pleasing to God” never anywhere occurs; and if it did occur without being expressly and unavoidably referred to the legal sacrifice, it would have to be understood rather after Psa 51:18. than Ps. 51:20f., rather after than after -15. זבח, which, when it is distinguished from עולה, means (cf. ) the sacrifice only in part coming to the altar, for the most part applied to a sacrificial feast, is here the common name for the bloody, and, per synecdochen , generally the legally-appointed sacrifice, consisting in external offering. The לרצין, , used in the Tôra of sacrifices, is here, as at Ps. 19:15, transferred to prayer. The fundamental idea of the proverb is, that sacrifices well-pleasing to God, prayers acceptable to God (that are heard, ), depend on the relations in which the heart and life of the man stand to God.

‏ Proverbs 15:8

Pro 15:8 8 The sacrifice of the godless is an abhorrence to Jahve; But the prayer of the upright is His delight.

Although the same is true of the prayer of the godless that is here said of their sacrifice, and of the sacrifice of the righteous that is here said of their prayer (vid., Pro 28:9, and cf. Psa 4:6 with Psa 27:6), yet it is not by accident that here (line first = Pro 21:27) the sacrifice is ascribed to the godless and the prayer to the upright. The sacrifice, as a material and legally-required performance, is much more related to dead works than prayer freely completing itself in the word, the most direct expression of the personality, which, although not commanded by the law, because natural to men, as such is yet the soul of all sacrifices; and the Chokma, like the Psalms and Prophets, in view of the ceremonial service which had become formal and dead in the opus operatum, is to such a degree penetrated by the knowledge of the incongruity of the offering up of animals and of plants, with the object in view, that a proverb like “the sacrifice of the righteous is pleasing to God” never anywhere occurs; and if it did occur without being expressly and unavoidably referred to the legal sacrifice, it would have to be understood rather after Psa 51:18. than Ps. 51:20f., rather after 1Sa 15:22 than after Psa 66:13-15. זבח, which, when it is distinguished from עולה, means (cf. Pro 7:14) the sacrifice only in part coming to the altar, for the most part applied to a sacrificial feast, is here the common name for the bloody, and, per synecdochen, generally the legally-appointed sacrifice, consisting in external offering. The לרצין, Lev 1:3, used in the Tôra of sacrifices, is here, as at Ps. 19:15, transferred to prayer. The fundamental idea of the proverb is, that sacrifices well-pleasing to God, prayers acceptable to God (that are heard, Pro 15:29), depend on the relations in which the heart and life of the man stand to God.