alongside (but not on) the table is burned on the altar, but none of the bread. In sum, the bread and the beer are displayed to the Deity and not “consumed” by the Deity. The bread (and, originally, the beer) is given to the priests in its entirety, but only after being displayed before YHWH for an entire week. This altered ritual inside the shrine is clearly rife with symbolism. What could it be? According to an ancient interpretation, the table is an instrument not of sacrifice, but of nourishment
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