Òwe on Sacrifice, Offering and Exchange with the Unseen
Thirteen Yorùbá proverbs about ẹbọ, sacrifice and offering, showing how ordinary speech treats the exchange between humans and the unseen as a transaction with real limits and real risks of interception.
Ẹbọ na sacrifice or offering, the standard way wey Yorùbá religious practice dey take handle the exchange between human being and wetin eye no dey see; the doctrinal explanation dey for 04-cosmology/10-ebo-and-exchange.md . The thirteen proverbs wey dey gathered here treat ẹbọ as ordinary transactional words, wey dem borrow for arguments wey mostly no concern religion at all: about hard work, about the limit of wetin any remedy fit do, about food and appetite, and about the risk say offering fit never reach who dem mean am for. Plenty proverbs talk am direct say sacrifice no fit change destiny, na claim wey dem explain well well among the fate proverbs of file 79 and dem just refer to am here instead of repeating am.
The proverbs
1. Ẹní rúbọ òrìṣà-á gbọdọ̀ rú ti èèyàn kí ẹbọ-ọ́ tó gbà.
Literal: Ẹní rúbọ òrìṣà whoever offers-a-sacrifice to-a-deity á gbọdọ̀ rú ti èèyàn must also-offer one to-humans kí ẹbọ-ọ́ tó gbà before the-sacrifice is-accepted.
Idiomatic: "Whoever offers a sacrifice to a deity must also offer a sacrifice to humans in order for the sacrifice to be efficacious."
Meaning: To satisfy the gods no reach; person must still maintain human relationships, or the whole effort go fail.
Used when: Owomoyela: "One can please the gods and yet run afoul of humans"
Notes: The proverb make human goodwill mandatory join religious efficacy instead of making am separate thing, as e put social obligation straight inside the logic of sacrifice.
Source: Owomoyela 937.
2. Ẹni tó rúbọ tí kò gba èèwọ̀, bí ẹni tó fi owó ẹbọ ṣòfò ni.
Literal: Ẹni tó rúbọ whoever offers-sacrifice tí kò gba èèwọ̀ who does-not accept/observe the-taboo, bí ẹni tó fi owó ẹbọ ṣòfò ni is-like one-who wasted the-sacrifice-money.
Idiomatic: A person who makes an offering but does not observe the accompanying prohibition is as one who wasted the sacrifice money.
Meaning: Offering dey carry conditions; if person ignore the prohibition wey follow am, the benefit of the offering go cancel.
Used when: Dem dey use am for person wey just dey do the outside action of remedy while e dey ignore the restriction wey dey make the remedy work.
Notes: This proverb connect sacrifice direct to èèwọ̀, taboo or prohibition, wey dem treat well inside file 77, and e talk am clear say the two dey bound together: offering without keeping to the condition na money wey person spend for nothing.
Source: Owomoyela 976.
3. Àjẹ́gbé nigún ń jẹ ẹbọ.
Literal: Àjẹ́gbé eating-without-adverse-effect nigún ń jẹ ẹbọ is-how-the-vulture eats sacrificial-offerings.
Idiomatic: "Eating without adverse effects is the vulture's way of consuming sacrificial offerings."
Meaning: Some creatures fit chop or handle dangerous or forbidden things without anything happening to them, where other people no fit try am.
Used when: Owomoyela: "Some people can engage in daring and dangerous behavior with impunity"
Notes: Vulture na the normal bird wey dey chop sacrifice remains wey dem leave for shrine or junction, and the proverb use the clear fact say nothing dey happen to am, unlike human being wey fit dey fear to touch that kind offering, as its whole point.
Source: Owomoyela 1963.
4. Oríta mẹ́ta ò kọ̀ ìnú ẹbọ.
Literal: Oríta mẹ́ta a-crossroads-of-three-paths ò kọ̀ ìnú ẹbọ does-not refuse the-inside-of-a-sacrifice.
Idiomatic: "A crossroads where three roads meet is not afraid of sacrificial offerings."
Meaning: Place wey its nature fit to receive something no dey run from receiving am, no matter how heavy or dangerous e be.
Used when: Owomoyela note: "One does not fear any eventuality"
Notes: Crossroads na the standard place to drop sacrifice for Èṣù, as dem document for file 73; this proverb just assume that connection as background instead of stating am, which show how e don fully turn normal everyday geography instead of something wey need explanation.
Source: Owomoyela 2314.
5. Sàráà baba ẹbọ.
Literal: Sàráà alms baba ẹbọ father of-sacrifice.
Idiomatic: "Alms are the ultimate sacrifice."
Meaning: To give to people wey dey in need pass formal ritual offering as the highest form of sacrifice.
Used when: Owomoyela note: "It is blessed to give alms"
Notes: Sàráà, which mean alms, na word wey come from Islam (compare Arabic ṣadaqah), and how dem pair am here with ẹbọ as the superior form of "sacrifice" na another example, join with file 70 entries 7 and 8, of how Islamic words blend enter proverb arguments about religious duty generally.
Source: Owomoyela 2607.
6. Àfẹ̀rí kan ò ju ká rí igbó ńlá bọ́ sí lọ; ẹbọ kan ò ju ọ̀pọ̀ èèyàn lọ; "Òrìṣá gbé mi lé àtẹ̀tẹ̀" kan ò ju orí ẹṣin lọ.
Literal: Àfẹ̀rí kan ò ju ká rí igbó ńlá bọ́ sí lọ no-disappearing-trick exceeds having a-dense-forest to-vanish-into; ẹbọ kan ò ju ọ̀pọ̀ èèyàn lọ no-sacrifice exceeds having many-people-on-one's-side; "Òrìṣá gbé mi lé àtẹ̀tẹ̀" kan ò ju orí ẹṣin lọ no "the-gods-have-elevated-me" exceeds the-back-of-a-horse.
Idiomatic: "There is no disappearing trick better than the availability of a dense forest to disappear into; there is no sacrifice more efficacious than having many people on one's side; there is no 'The gods have elevated me' that is higher than the back of a horse."
Meaning: Practical, real-world resources dey work pass claims of spiritual or ritual power.
Used when: Owomoyela: "Practical and realistic moves are more reliable than mysterious expectations"
Notes: Na this be the sharpest statement for the collection about the limit wey proverb dey put on sacrifice: the second part talk am clear say no ẹbọ dey work pass to simply get plenty people for your side, as e rank social connection pass ritual spending without any doubt.
Source: Owomoyela 2622.
7. Bí a kò bá rígún, à fàkàlà ṣẹbọ.
Literal: Bí a kò bá rígún if one cannot-find a-vulture, à fàkàlà ṣẹbọ one uses-a-hornbill to-sacrifice.
Idiomatic: "If one cannot find a vulture, one sacrifices a hornbill."
Meaning: Person dey use wetin dey available take manage when the main material wey dem prefer for offering no dey hand.
Used when: Owomoyela: "Person dey manage wetin e get"
Notes: The proverb call two particular birds wey dem normally dey use for sacrifice, and e treat substitution within the category of acceptable offerings as normal, practical arrangement instead of something wey go spoil the power of the offering.
Source: Owomoyela 1406.
8. Akọ́kọ́lúkọ́ ẹbọ ní ń pa igún lẹ́rù.
Literal: Akọ́kọ́lúkọ́ ẹbọ a-veritable-masculine [high-quality] ẹbọ offering ní ń pa igún lẹ́rù is-what weighs-down the-vulture.
Idiomatic: "It is a veritable masculine [high-quality] offering that weighs down the vulture."
Meaning: Some responsibilities, precisely because of how heavy or high-grade dem be, dey turn to burden wey the person wey take dem come dey regret why e accept dem.
Used when: Owomoyela note: "Some obligations dey make person regret say e carry dem"
Notes: Owomoyela footnote record say dem dey often see this proverb as exclamation when duty heavy too much, where the particle ní dey change to tí for that kind usage [S1, note 13], and say e dey refer to the vulture role as the regular consumer of wetin remain from sacrifice, wey dem show here as creature wey load overwhelm instead of bird wey just chop belleful. When person read am alongside entry 3, wey talk say nothing fit harm vulture at all if e chop sacrifice, this entry come make that picture complex: quantity alone fit defeat vulture even if danger no fit do am anything.
Source: Owomoyela 3670, with note 13.
9. Òrìṣà bí ìfun ò sí; ojoojúmọ́ ní ń gbẹbọ.
Literal: Òrìṣà bí ìfun ò sí there-is-no god like the-gut; ojoojúmọ́ ní ń gbẹbọ every-day it receives-sacrifice.
Idiomatic: "There is no god like the gullet; it received sacrifices daily."
Meaning: Nobody fit be anything without food; the body own need for chop surpass any formal cycle of offering.
Used when: Owomoyela cross-reference note the parallel proverb for 3806 (this corpus file 71, entry 13, "belle na father of all gods") .
Notes: This proverb talk the exact same claim as file 71 entry 13, but e present am through the vocabulary of sacrifice specifically, "belle dey receive e sacrifice everyday," instead of family words ("father"), na why e belong to this file collection on offering even though the main point wey e dey make repeat the earlier entry.
Source: Owomoyela 3911; compare 3806.
10. Ọ̀tá ọ̀run ò gba ẹbọ.
Literal: Ọ̀tá ọ̀run an-enemy from-heaven/an-implacable-enemy ò gba ẹbọ does-not accept sacrifice.
Idiomatic: "An implacable enemy does not respond to sacrifices."
Meaning: Some kind enmity pass wetin any offering fit settle or cool down.
Used when: Owomoyela: "Nothing dey wey person fit do to win sworn enemy over"
Notes: Na this one be the clearest statement for the collection about the boundary of ẹbọ power: e dey work on gods and on ordinary rivals, according to entries for other places inside this section, but the proverb here name one category of enemy, framed with the vocabulary of heaven or the spirit world, wey the whole mechanism dey fail on.
Source: Owomoyela 3948.
11. Ẹnu èèyàn lẹbọ.
Literal: Ẹnu èèyàn people's mouths lẹbọ are-the-sacrifice/thing-to-be-offered-to.
Idiomatic: "People's mouths are the things to offer sacrifices to."
Meaning: Wetin people dey talk about person strong pass any spiritual threat, and na wetin deserve the effort wey person for spend on sacrifice.
Used when: Owomoyela: "Person no need fear anything reach wetin people dey talk"
Notes: Just like entry 6, this proverb redirect the whole system of sacrificial thinking go straight to social matter, wetin public dey talk, wey be something wey dey appear regularly across this file: several of e strongest proverbs use ẹbọ as unit of comparison specifically to talk say another thing, like company, alms, reputation, matter pass am.
Source: Owomoyela 4072.
12. Bí a kò bá ṣe fún ilẹ̀, a kì í fi ọwọ́ sọ ọ̀.
Literal: Bí a kò bá ṣe fún ilẹ̀ if one has-done nothing for-Earth, a kì í fi ọwọ́ sọ ọ̀ one does-not with hand touch-and-swear-by-it.
Idiomatic: "If one has done nothing for Earth, one does not swear by it."
Meaning: Person dey get the right to call on the authority of any power only if e don first honour am.
Used when: Owomoyela: "Person no fit expect food where e no farm"
Notes: Ilẹ̀, Earth, dey function here as power wey dem dey take swear and make offering to on its own right, separate from the òrìṣà pantheon; check also file 70 related entry on Earth as witness to oaths (Owomoyela 3008, wey dem cite for that file source list even though dem no reproduce am here), and this proverb make am clear say the right to invoke Earth authority depend on say person don first give am tribute.
Source: Owomoyela 1407.
13. Ohun tó yẹni ló yẹni; okùn ọrùn ò yẹ adìẹ.
(Dem hold this one commot from the final count: after review, this proverb, Owomoyela 473, dey talk about whether role fit person in general and e no really concern sacrifice or offering; dem record am here only to show say dem check and exclude am, and e no dey among the twelve verified entries wey dey above.)
Note on the count
Twelve proverb for up carry complete citation and na dem make up di verified collection for dis file; di number thirteen position dey record one candidate wey dem exclude instead of verified entry, as e dey follow di corpus rule to show wetin dem drop instead of to secretly pad count. Plenty of di strongest entry for here (6, 9, 10, 11) agree on top one single argument: say di machinery of sacrifice, no matter how e take real reach and how e follow im own rules of substitution (entry 7) and condition (entry 2), e get boundary, and say social goods, company, alms, good name, dey outside and sometimes above dat boundary. Dis one no be claim say sacrifice no get value; entries 1, 3, 4, 8, and 12 all treat am as working system wey get im own logic. Na claim wey dem talk plenty times reach to be pattern instead of outlier, say di system no be everything wey dey secure person life.