A step or (collectively, stairs, as ascending); usually a holocaust (as going up in smoke)
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עֹלָה is the Hebrew noun for the burnt offering — but the etymology reveals something the English word 'burnt offering' obscures. עֹלָה derives from the verb עָלָה (to go up, to ascend), and BDB's most basic definition is 'what goes up' — the offering that ascends in smoke from the altar toward heaven.
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Full entry for עֹלָה (H5930) · Open the biblical lexicon
עֹלָה is the Hebrew noun for the burnt offering — but the etymology reveals something the English word 'burnt offering' obscures. עֹלָה derives from the verb עָלָה (to go up, to ascend), and BDB's most basic definition is 'what goes up' — the offering that ascends in smoke from the altar toward heaven.
The BSB source-word alignment has 287 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include burnt offerings (50), the burnt offering (33), burnt offering (24), for a burnt offering (22), as a burnt offering (18).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 8:20. Its strongest book concentrations include Leviticus (62), Numbers (56), 2 Chronicles (30), Ezekiel (20).
עֹלָה is the Hebrew noun for the burnt offering — but the etymology reveals something the English word 'burnt offering' obscures. עֹלָה derives from the verb עָלָה (to go up, to ascend), and BDB's most basic definition is 'what goes up' — the offering that ascends in smoke from the altar toward heaven. The burnt offering is the ascent offering: the entire animal is consumed by fire and goes up to God; nothing is retained for the worshipper or the priest.
This totality distinguishes the עֹלָה from other sacrifices. The peace offering (שֶׁלֶם) was shared between God, priest, and worshipper. The sin offering (חַטָּאָה, H2403) addressed specific transgressions. But the עֹלָה is the total consecration: the entire animal ascending, nothing held back. עֹלָה is locally indexed at about 289 occurrences in the OT and is the most frequently mentioned sacrifice in the Pentateuch.
It is the sacrifice of Noah after the flood (Gen 8:20), the sacrifice Abraham intends on Mount Moriah (Gen 22:2-13), the sacrifice that begins the Sinai covenant (Exod 20:24), the twice-daily Tamid offering that marked the regular temple calendar (Exod 29:38-42), and the sacrifice Israel offers at the beginning of major covenant events throughout the OT. The NT application of עֹלָה is christological through the book of Hebrews: Hebrews 10:5-10 cites Psalm 40:6-8 ('sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you have prepared for me...
I have come to do your will, O God') and applies it to Christ as the one whose עֹלָה-like self-offering accomplishes what the animal sacrifices could not. The עֹלָה theology is totality: nothing held back, everything ascending, the worshipper's entire self committed in the ascending sacrifice.
עֹלָה is locally indexed at about 289 occurrences in the OT as the most frequently mentioned sacrifice. It is offered at covenant initiations (Gen 8:20, Exod 20:24), at covenant renewals (Josh 8:31), as the regular Tamid offering marking every day (Exod 29:38-42), and at the major festivals. Its defining feature is the totality of the ascent: the entire animal goes up to God in smoke, nothing is retained. The עֹלָה is Israel's sacrificial vocabulary for total consecration.
Then Noah built an altar to the Lord. And taking from every kind of clean animal and clean bird, he offered burnt offerings on the altar.
Noah's first post-flood act is the offering of עֹלָה on a newly built altar. The sacrifice establishes the pattern: the עֹלָה comes at the moment of covenant beginning, when the relationship between God and his people is being established or re-established. God's response to Noah's עֹלָה (Gen 8:21 — 'the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma') is the transition to the Noahic covenant (Gen 9).
The עֹלָה is thus the liturgical hinge of the post-flood world: it marks the moment when the God-human relationship begins again on new ground.
“Take your son,” God said, “your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah. Offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you.”
The Aqedah uses עֹלָה for what God commands Abraham to offer — his son. The command to offer Isaac as an עֹלָה is the test of whether Abraham will hold nothing back: the total-consecration logic of the burnt offering is extended to the most costly possible offering. When God provides the substitute (the ram caught in the thicket, Gen 22:13), the ram becomes the עֹלָה in Isaac's place.
The substitution theology embedded in the Aqedah is the foundational OT narrative for the NT's understanding of Christ as the substitute who goes up in our place.
For the generations to come, this burnt offering shall be made regularly at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting before the Lord, where I will meet you to speak with you.
The Tamid — the twice-daily עֹלָה — establishes the regular rhythm of the Israelite day. 'A continual עֹלָה throughout your generations' means that every morning and every evening Israel presents the ascending sacrifice to God. The location ('at the door of the Tent of Meeting') and the purpose ('where I will meet with you, to speak there to you') establish that the עֹלָה is the liturgical condition of the divine speech: God meets and speaks at the place of the ascending sacrifice.
The Tamid is the OT's statement that the entire day is framed by total consecration.
Then You will delight in righteous sacrifices, in whole burnt offerings; then bulls will be offered on Your altar.
Psalm 51's conclusion uses עֹלָה and its intensified form (עֹלָה וְכָלִיל — burnt offering and whole burnt offering) as the goal of restored relationship. The psalm moves from David's confession and cry for cleansing (51:1-12) through the prayer for a right spirit (51:10-12) to the missionary declaration (51:13-15) and then to the sacrifice that only the restored person can offer: the righteous עֹלָה.
The logic is: the cleansed conscience, the right spirit, and the restored relationship are the conditions under which the עֹלָה becomes acceptable. Sacrifice without inner transformation is what the prophets rejected; sacrifice from the transformed heart is what God delights in.
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How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Hebrew word. Burnt offering where the entire animal ascends in smoke, symbolizing complete devotion and the upward movement toward God.
Burnt offering where the entire animal ascends in smoke, symbolizing complete devotion and the upward movement toward God.
a step or (collectively, stairs, as ascending); usually a holocaust (as going up in smoke) BDB: whole burnt-offering Usage: ascent, burnt offering (sacrifice), go up to. See also 5766.
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 1 selected witness from 289 lexical occurrence verses.
Symbol of comprehensive worship rendered hollow without covenant love. Hosea 6:4-6
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
עֹלָה is the sacrifice of nothing held back. Every other offering in the Levitical system had a remainder: the priest ate his portion, the worshipper kept part for the communion meal, the sin offering's fat went up but the meat went elsewhere. The עֹלָה is the exception. The entire animal goes up. Nothing returns to the worshipper. This totality is not incidental — it is the theological content of the burnt offering.
The worshipper who brings an עֹלָה is making a statement: I am bringing this as a complete gift to God, keeping nothing for myself, presenting everything as an ascent toward the one who receives it. The NT reads this through the lens of Hebrews and Romans 12. Hebrews 10:5-10 cites Psalm 40 to argue that Christ is the עֹלָה that the animal sacrifices anticipated: 'a body you have prepared for me...
I have come to do your will.' The body prepared for Christ is the one that ascends — not in smoke, but in the resurrection and ascension. The total consecration of the burnt offering is the prototype of the incarnate Son who holds nothing back, who gives himself entirely. Romans 12:1 uses the sacrificial language explicitly: 'present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.'
The living עֹלָה that Paul calls for is the total consecration of the body — not the death but the life, not the offering that goes up in smoke but the one that remains alive before God as a continuous ascent offering. The עֹלָה becomes the NT's model for discipleship: nothing held back, the entire self presented.
Gen.22.2
עֹלָה is a feminine noun from the root עָלָה (to go up, to ascend, H5927). BDB's primary definition is 'what ascends' — the offering that goes up to God in smoke. The characteristic of the עֹלָה in the Levitical system is that it is entirely consumed on the altar (כָּלִיל, whole, complete); nothing is eaten by priest or worshipper. The noun כָּלִיל (whole, entire, H3632) is sometimes paired with עֹלָה (עֹלָה וְכָלִיל, Ps 51:19) to emphasize the totality.
The LXX translates עֹלָה with ὁλοκαύτωμα (whole burnt offering) and ὁλοκάρπωσις (complete-fruit offering) — both preserving the 'whole/complete' dimension. The NT uses ὁλοκαύτωμα in Mark 12:33 and Hebrews 10:6-8 in citations from the Psalms and Isaiah, preserving the OT usage. The NT's θυσία (sacrifice) covers the broader sacrifice vocabulary; ὁλοκαύτωμα is reserved for the total-consecration offering specifically.
The NT inherits the עֹלָה theology through three channels. First, Hebrews 10:5-10 cites Psalm 40:6-8 ('sacrifice and offering you did not desire... a body you have prepared for me') and applies it to Christ's Incarnation and passion: the animal burnt offerings could not accomplish what God required, so the Son comes to do God's will in a body. The 'body prepared' is the new עֹלָה — not animal flesh that is burned but the incarnate body that is offered in life-long obedience and death.
Second, Romans 12:1 Paul calls believers to 'present your bodies as a living sacrifice (θυσίαν ζῶσαν), holy and acceptable to God, which is your rational worship.' The living sacrifice is the עֹלָה-in-life: total consecration not of a dead animal but of the living self. Third, Ephesians 5:2 describes Christ as offering himself 'a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God' — the 'fragrant aroma' (ὀσμὴν εὐωδίας) is the technical LXX language for the עֹלָה's pleasing aroma; Paul is identifying Christ's self-giving as the fulfillment of the burnt-offering system.
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