The Book of Leviticus (, from , ; , , 'And He called'; ) is the third book of the Torah (the Pentateuch) and of the Old Testament, also known as the Third Book of Moses. Many hypotheses presented by scholars as to its origins agree that it developed over a long period of time, reaching its present form during the Persian Period, from 538 to 332 BC, although this is disputed.
Most of its chapters (1–7, 11–27) consist of God's speeches to Moses, which he tells Moses to repeat to the Israelites. This takes place within the story of the Israelites' Exodus after they escaped Egypt and reached Mount Sinai (Exodus 19:1). The Book of Exodus narrates how Moses led the Israelites in building the Tabernacle (Exodus 35–40) with God's instructions (Exodus 25–31). In Leviticus, God tells the Israelites and their priests, Aaron and his sons, how to make offerings in the Tabernacle and how to conduct themselves while camped around the holy tent sanctuary. Leviticus takes place during the month or month-and-a-half between the completion of the Tabernacle (Exodus 40:17) and the Israelites' departure from Sinai (Numbers 1:1, 10:11).
The instructions of Leviticus emphasize ritual, legal, and moral practices rather than beliefs. Nevertheless, they reflect the world view of the creation story in Genesis 1 that God wishes to live with humans. The book teaches that faithful performance of the sanctuary rituals can make that possible, so long as the people avoid sin and impurity whenever possible. The rituals, especially the sin and guilt offerings, provide the means to gain forgiveness for sins (Leviticus 4–5) and purification from impurities (Leviticus 11–16) so that God can continue to live in the Tabernacle in the midst of the people.Gorman, pp. 4–5, 14–16
Title
The English name Leviticus comes from Latin , in turn from (), which is the name of the book in the Septuagint. It refers to the priestly tribe of the Israelites, the Levites: the book contains the laws and rituals they perform. The Greek expression is in turn a variant of the rabbinic Hebrew , 'law of priests', as many of its laws relate to priests.Hezekiah ben Manoah (Chizkuni), closing notes to Leviticus
Consistent with the naming convention for the Pentateuch, in Hebrew the book is called (), from the opening of the book, "And He [God] called."
Structure The outlines from commentaries are similar, though not identical; compare those of Wenham, Hartley, Milgrom, and Watts.Wenham, pp. 3–4Hartley, pp. vii–viiiMilgrom (1991), pp. v–xWatts (2013), pp. 12–20
Laws on sacrifice (chapters 1:1–7:38) Instructions for the laity on bringing offerings (1:1–6:7) The types of offering: burnt, cereal, peace, purification, reparation (or sin) offerings (chapters 1–5) Instructions for the priests (6:1–7:38) The various offerings, with the addition of the priests' cereal offering (6:1–7:36) Summary (7:37–38) Institution of the priesthood (8:1–10:20) Ordination of Aaron and his sons (chapter 8) Aaron makes the first sacrifices (chapter 9) Judgement on Nadab and Abihu (chapter 10) Uncleanliness and its treatment (11:1–15:33) Unclean animals (chapter 11) Childbirth as a source of uncleanliness (chapter 12) Unclean diseases (chapter 13) Cleansing of diseases (chapter 14) Unclean discharges (chapter 15) Day of Atonement: purification of the tabernacle from the effects of uncleanliness and sin (chapter 16) Prescriptions for practical holiness (the Holiness Code, chapters 17–26) Sacrifice and food (chapter 17) Sexual behaviour (chapter 18) Neighbourliness (chapter 19) Grave crimes (chapter 20) Rules for priests (chapter 21) Rules for eating sacrifices (chapter 22) Festivals (chapter 23) Rules for the tabernacle (chapter 24:1–9) Blasphemy (chapter 24:10–23) Sabbatical and Jubilee years (chapter 25) Exhortation to obey the law: blessing and curse (chapter 26) Redemption of votive gifts (chapter 27)
Summary
Chapters 1–5 describe the various sacrifices from the sacrificers' point of view, although the priests are essential for handling the blood. Chapters 6–7 go over much the same ground, but from the point of view of the priest, who, as the one actually carrying out the sacrifice and dividing the "portions", needs to know how to do it. Sacrifices are between God, the priest, and the offers, although in some cases the entire sacrifice is a single portion to God—i.e., burnt to ashes.Grabbe (2006), p. 208
Chapters 8–10 describe how Moses consecrates Aaron and his sons as the first priests, the first sacrifices, and God's destruction of two of Aaron's sons for ritual offenses. The purpose is to underline the character of altar priesthood (i.e., those priests with power to offer sacrifices to God) as an Aaronite privilege, and the responsibilities and dangers of their position.Kugler, Hartin, p. 82
With sacrifice and priesthood established, chapters 11–15 instruct the lay people on purity (or cleanliness). Eating certain animals produces uncleanliness, as does giving birth; certain skin diseases (but not all) are unclean, as are certain conditions affecting walls and clothing (mildew and similar conditions); and unusual bodily discharges, including female menses and male emissions (gonorrhea), are unclean. The reasoning behind the food rules are obscure; for the rest the guiding principle seems to be that all these conditions involve a loss of "life force", usually but not always blood.Kugler, Hartin, pp. 82–83
Chapter 16 concerns the Day of Atonement (though that phrase appears first in 23:27). This is the only day on which the High Priest is to enter the holiest part of the sanctuary, the Holy of Holies. He is to sacrifice a bull for the sins of the priests, and a goat for the sins of the laypeople. The priest is to send a second goat into the desert to "Azazel", bearing the sins of the whole people. Azazel's identity is unknown, with some Christian tradition linking him to a fallen angel, older English Bible translations like the King James Version translating it as "a scapegoat".Kugler, Hartin, p. 83
Chapters 17–26 are the Holiness code. It begins with a prohibition on all unauthorized ritual slaughter of animals, and then prohibits a long list of sexual contacts and also child sacrifice. The "holiness" injunctions which give the code its name begin with the next section: there are penalties for the worship of Molech, consulting mediums and wizards, cursing one's parents and engaging in unlawful sex. Priests receive instruction on mourning rituals and acceptable bodily defects. The punishment for blasphemy is death, and there is the setting of rules for eating sacrifices; there is an explanation of the calendar, and there are rules for sabbatical and Jubilee years; there are rules for oil lamps and bread in the sanctuary; and there are rules for slavery. The code ends by telling the Israelites they must choose between the law and prosperity on the one hand, or, on the other, horrible punishments, the worst of which will be expulsion from the land.Kugler, Hartin, pp. 83–84
Chapter 27 is a disparate and probably late addition telling about persons and things serving as dedication to the Lord and how one can redeem, instead of fulfill, vows.Kugler, Hartin, p. 84
Composition
The majority of scholars have concluded that the Pentateuch received its final form during the Persian period (538–332 BC).Newsom, p.26 Nevertheless, Leviticus had a long period of growth before reaching that form.Grabbe (1998), p. 92
The entire composition of the book of Leviticus is Priestly literature.Levine (2006), p. 11 Most scholars see chapters 1–16 (the Priestly code) and chapters 17–26 (the Holiness code) as the work of two related schools, but while the Holiness material employs the same technical terms as the Priestly code, it broadens their meaning from pure ritual to the theological and moral, turning the ritual of the Priestly code into a model for the relationship of Israel to Yahweh: as the tabernacle, which is apart from uncleanliness, becomes holy by the presence of Yahweh, so he will dwell among Israel when Israel receives purification (becomes holy) and separates from other peoples.Houston, p. 102 The ritual instructions in the Priestly code apparently grew from priests giving instruction and answering questions about ritual matters; the Holiness code (or H) used to be a separate document, later becoming part of Leviticus, but it seems better to think of the Holiness authors as editors who worked with the Priestly code and actually produced Leviticus as is now extant.Houston, pp. 102–03
Themes
Sacrifice and ritual Many scholars argue that the rituals of Leviticus have a theological meaning concerning Israel's relationship with its God. Jacob Milgrom was especially influential in spreading this view. He maintained that the priestly regulations in Leviticus expressed a rational system of theological thought. The writers expected them to be put into practice in Israel's temple, so the rituals would express this theology as well, as well as ethical concern for the poor.Milgrom (2004), pp. 8–16. Milgrom also argued that the book's purity regulations (chapters 11–15) have a basis in ethical thinking.Milgrom (1991), pp. 704–41. Many other interpreters have followed Milgrom in exploring the theological and ethical implications of Leviticus's regulations (e.g., Marx, Balentine), though some have questioned how systematic they really are.Watts (2013), pp. 40–54. Ritual, therefore, is not taking a series of actions for their own sake, but a means of maintaining the relationship between God, humanity, and the world.Balentine (1999) p. 150
Priesthood
The main function of the priests is service at the altar, and only the sons of Aaron are priests in the full sense.Grabbe (2006), p. 211 (Ezekiel also distinguishes between altar-priests and lower Levites, but in Ezekiel the altar-priests are sons of Zadok instead of sons of Aaron; many scholars see this as a remnant of struggles between different priestly factions in First Temple times, finding resolution by the Second Temple into a hierarchy of Aaronite altar-priests and lower-level Levites, including singers, gatekeepers and the like.)Grabbe (2006), p. 211 (fn. 11)
In chapter 10, God kills Nadab and Abihu, the oldest sons of Aaron, for offering "strange incense". Aaron has two sons left. Commentators have read various messages in the incident: a reflection of struggles between priestly factions in the post-Exilic period (Gerstenberger); or a warning against offering incense outside the Temple, where there might be the risk of invoking strange gods (Milgrom). In any case, there has been a pollution of the sanctuary by the bodies of the two dead priests, leading into the next theme, holiness.Houston, p. 110
Uncleanliness and purity Ritual purity is essential for an Israelite to be able to approach Yahweh and remain part of the community. Uncleanliness threatens holiness;Davies, Rogerson, p. 101 chapters 11–15 review the various causes of uncleanliness and describe the rituals which will restore cleanliness;Marx, p. 104 one is to maintain cleanliness through observation of the rules on sexual behaviour, family relations, land ownership, worship, sacrifice, and observance of holy days.Balentine (2002), p. 8
Yahweh dwells with Israel in the Tabernacle. All of the priestly ritual focuses on Yahweh and the construction and maintenance of a holy space, but sin generates impurity, as do everyday events such as childbirth and menstruation; impurity pollutes the holy dwelling place. Failure to purify the sacred space ritually could result in God's leaving, which would be disastrous.Gorman, pp. 10–11
Infectious diseases in chapter 13