Holocaust in the Bible
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holocaust 1 a sacrifice consumed by fire (Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary)
The Bible uses the word to denote a high (possibly the highest) form of sacrifice, and is first used in the narration of Noah, who offers holocausts after alighting from the Ark. This finds favor with God, and He resolves never again to curse the earth (Genesis, 820-21).
The next involves Abraham and Isaac, in which God commands Abraham to offer Isaac for an holocaust. Abraham's compliance is followed by God's oath to multiply his seed as the stars of the heaven and the sand that is by the sea shore. (Genesis, 222-17)
"Holocaust" used for human sacrifice
4 Kings; 3,27 Then he took his eldest son, that should have reigned in his stead, and offered him for a burnt offering upon the wall and there was great indignation in Israel, and presently they departed from him, and returned into their own country.
The above translation is Douay-Rheims version; while the same term is rendered "holocaust" in Genesis (820, 222), here it has been presented as "burnt offering".