Leviticus, Numbers

By Roy Gane

The NIV Application Commentary helps you communicate and apply biblical text effectively in today's context.

To bring the ancient messages of the Bible into today's world, each passage is treated in three sections:

• Original Meaning. Concise exegesis to help readers understand the original meaning of the biblical text in its historical, literary, and cultural context.
• Bridging Contexts. A bridge between the world of the Bible and the world of today, built by discerning what is timeless in the timely pages of the Bible.
• Contemporary Significance. This section identifies comparable situations to those faced in the Bible and explores relevant application of the biblical messages. The author alerts the readers of problems they may encounter when seeking to apply the passage and helps them think through the issues involved.

This unique, award-winning commentary is the ideal resource for today's preachers, teachers, and serious students of the Bible, giving them the tools, ideas, and insights they need to communicate God's Word with the same powerful impact it had when it was first written.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Zondervan
• Release date: Apr 19, 2011
• ISBN: 9780310873013

Roy Gane

Roy Gane (PhD, University of California, Berkeley) is professor of Hebrew Bible and ancient near eastern languages at the Theological Seminary of Andrews University. He is author of a number of scholarly articles and several books including God's Faulty Heroes (Review Herald, 1996-on the biblical book of Judges), Altar Call (Diadem, 1999-on the Israelite sanctuary services and their meaning for Christians), Ritual Dynamic Structure (Gorgias Press, 2004), Leviticus, Numbers (NIV Application Commentary; Zondervan, 2004), and Cult and Character: Purification Offerings, Day of Atonement, and Theodicy (Eisenbrauns, 2005), as well as the Leviticus portion of the Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary on the Old Testament (forthcoming). Dr. Gane and his wife, Connie Clark Gane, who is pursuing a Ph.D. in Mesopotamian archaeology at the University of California, Berkeley, have one daughter, Sarah Elizabeth.

Book preview

LEVITICUS, NUMBERS

THE NIV APPLICATION COMMENTARY

From biblical text . . . to contemporary life

ROY GANE

ZONDERVAN

The NIV Application Commentary: Leviticus, Numbers

Copyright © 2004 by Roy Gane

Requests for information should be addressed to:

Zondervan, 3900 Sparks Dr. SE, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49546

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Gane, Roy, 1955–.

Leviticus, Numbers / Roy E. Gane.

p. cm.—(NIV application commentary)

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

ePub edition November 2014: ISBN 978-0-310-87301-3

ISBN: 978-0-310-21088-7

1. Bible. O.T. Leviticus—Commentaries. 2. Bible. O.T. Numbers—Commentaries.

I. Title. II. Series.

BS1255.53.G36 2004

22′.13077—dc22

2004000477

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Any Internet addresses (websites, blogs, etc.) and telephone numbers printed in this book are offered as a resource. They are not intended in any way to be or imply an endorsement by Zondervan, nor does Zondervan vouch for the content of these sites and numbers for the life of this book.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other—except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Contents

How to Use This Commentary

Series Introduction

General Editor’s Preface

Author’s Preface

Abbreviations

Introduction to Leviticus

Outline of Leviticus

Select Bibliography on Leviticus

Text and Commentary on Leviticus

Leviticus 1:1

Leviticus 1:2–17

Leviticus 2

Leviticus 3

Leviticus 4

Leviticus 5:1–13

Leviticus 5:14–6:7 (Heb. 5:26)

Leviticus 6:8 (Heb. 6:1)–7:10

Leviticus 7:11–38

Leviticus 8

Leviticus 9

Leviticus 10

Leviticus 11

Leviticus 12

Leviticus 13

Leviticus 14

Leviticus 15

Leviticus 16

Leviticus 17

Leviticus 18

Leviticus 19

Leviticus 20

Leviticus 21

Leviticus 22

Leviticus 23:1–22

Leviticus 23:23–44

Leviticus 24

Leviticus 25

Leviticus 26

Leviticus 27

Introduction to Numbers

Outline of Numbers

Select Bibliography on Numbers

Text and Commentary on Numbers

Numbers 1

Numbers 2

Numbers 3–4

Numbers 5

Numbers 6:1–21

Numbers 6:22–27

Numbers 7

Numbers 8

Numbers 9

Numbers 10

Numbers 11

Numbers 12

Numbers 13

Numbers 14

Numbers 15

Numbers 16:1–35

Numbers 16:36–17:11 (Heb. 17:1–26)

Numbers 17:12 (Heb. 17:27)–18:32

Numbers 19

Numbers 20

Numbers 21

Numbers 22

Numbers 23

Numbers 24

Numbers 25

Numbers 26

Numbers 27

Numbers 28–29

Numbers 30

Numbers 31

Numbers 32–34

Numbers 35–36

Scripture Index

Subject Index

Author Index

Ancient Literature Index

Notes

How to Use This Commentary

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NOTES:

• The Bible Translation quoted by the authors in the main Commentary, unless otherwise indicated, is taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

NIV Application Commentary

Series Introduction

THE NIV APPLICATION COMMENTARY SERIES is unique. Most commentaries help us make the journey from our world back to the world of the Bible. They enable us to cross the barriers of time, culture, language, and geography that separate us from the biblical world. Yet they only offer a one-way ticket to the past and assume that we can somehow make the return journey on our own. Once they have explained the original meaning of a book or passage, these commentaries give us little or no help in exploring its contemporary significance. The information they offer is valuable, but the job is only half done.

Recently, a few commentaries have included some contemporary application as one of their goals. Yet that application is often sketchy or moralistic, and some volumes sound more like printed sermons than commentaries.

The primary goal of the NIV Application Commentary Series is to help you with the difficult but vital task of bringing an ancient message into a modern context. The series not only focuses on application as a finished product but also helps you think through the process of moving from the original meaning of a passage to its contemporary significance. These are commentaries, not popular expositions. They are works of reference, not devotional literature.

The format of the series is designed to achieve the goals of the series. Each passage is treated in three sections: Original Meaning, Bridging Contexts, and Contemporary Significance.

Original Meaning

THIS SECTION HELPS you understand the meaning of the biblical text in its original context. All of the elements of traditional exegesis—in concise form—are discussed here. These include the historical, literary, and cultural context of the passage. The authors discuss matters related to grammar and syntax and the meaning of biblical words.¹ They also seek to explore the main ideas of the passage and how the biblical author develops those ideas.

After reading this section, you will understand the problems, questions, and concerns of the original audience and how the biblical author addressed those issues. This understanding is foundational to any legitimate application of the text today.

Bridging Contexts

THIS SECTION BUILDS a bridge between the world of the Bible and the world of today, between the original context and the contemporary context, by focusing on both the timely and timeless aspects of the text.

God’s Word is timely. The authors of Scripture spoke to specific situations, problems, and questions. The author of Joshua encouraged the faith of his original readers by narrating the destruction of Jericho, a seemingly impregnable city, at the hands of an angry warrior God (Josh. 6). Paul warned the Galatians about the consequences of circumcision and the dangers of trying to be justified by law (Gal. 5:2–5). The author of Hebrews tried to convince his readers that Christ is superior to Moses, the Aaronic priests, and the Old Testament sacrifices. John urged his readers to test the spirits of those who taught a form of incipient Gnosticism (1 John 4:1–6). In each of these cases, the timely nature of Scripture enables us to hear God’s Word in situations that were concrete rather than abstract.

Yet the timely nature of Scripture also creates problems. Our situations, difficulties, and questions are not always directly related to those faced by the people in the Bible. Therefore, God’s word to them does not always seem relevant to us. For example, when was the last time someone urged you to be circumcised, claiming that it was a necessary part of justification? How many people today care whether Christ is superior to the Aaronic priests? And how can a test designed to expose incipient Gnosticism be of any value in a modern culture?

Fortunately, Scripture is not only timely but timeless. Just as God spoke to the original audience, so he still speaks to us through the pages of Scripture. Because we share a common humanity with the people of the Bible, we discover a universal dimension in the problems they faced and the solutions God gave them. The timeless nature of Scripture enables it to speak with power in every time and in every culture.

Those who fail to recognize that Scripture is both timely and timeless run into a host of problems. For example, those who are intimidated by timely books such as Hebrews, Galatians, or Deuteronomy might avoid reading them because they seem meaningless today. At the other extreme, those who are convinced of the timeless nature of Scripture, but who fail to discern its timely element, may wax eloquent about the Melchizedekian priesthood to a sleeping congregation, or worse still, try to apply the holy wars of the Old Testament in a physical way to God’s enemies today.

The purpose of this section, therefore, is to help you discern what is timeless in the timely pages of the Bible—and what is not. For example, how do the holy wars of the Old Testament relate to the spiritual warfare of the New? If Paul’s primary concern is not circumcision (as he tells us in Gal. 5:6), what is he concerned about? If discussions about the Aaronic priesthood or Melchizedek seem irrelevant today, what is of abiding value in these passages? If people try to test the spirits today with a test designed for a specific first-century heresy, what other biblical test might be more appropriate?

Yet this section does not merely uncover that which is timeless in a passage but also helps you to see how it is uncovered. The authors of the commentaries seek to take what is implicit in the text and make it explicit, to take a process that normally is intuitive and explain it in a logical, orderly fashion. How do we know that circumcision is not Paul’s primary concern? What clues in the text or its context help us realize that Paul’s real concern is at a deeper level?

Of course, those passages in which the historical distance between us and the original readers is greatest require a longer treatment. Conversely, those passages in which the historical distance is smaller or seemingly nonexistent require less attention.

One final clarification. Because this section prepares the way for discussing the contemporary significance of the passage, there is not always a sharp distinction or a clear break between this section and the one that follows. Yet when both sections are read together, you should have a strong sense of moving from the world of the Bible to the world of today.

Contemporary Significance

THIS SECTION ALLOWS the biblical message to speak with as much power today as it did when it was first written. How can you apply what you learned about Jerusalem, Ephesus, or Corinth to our present-day needs in Chicago, Los Angeles, or London? How can you take a message originally spoken in Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic and communicate it clearly in our own language? How can you take the eternal truths originally spoken in a different time and culture and apply them to the similar-yet-different needs of our culture?

In order to achieve these goals, this section gives you help in several key areas.

(1) It helps you identify contemporary situations, problems, or questions that are truly comparable to those faced by the original audience. Because contemporary situations are seldom identical to those faced by the original audience, you must seek situations that are analogous if your applications are to be relevant.

(2) This section explores a variety of contexts in which the passage might be applied today. You will look at personal applications, but you will also be encouraged to think beyond private concerns to the society and culture at large.

(3) This section will alert you to any problems or difficulties you might encounter in seeking to apply the passage. And if there are several legitimate ways to apply a passage (areas in which Christians disagree), the author will bring these to your attention and help you think through the issues involved.

In seeking to achieve these goals, the contributors to this series attempt to avoid two extremes. They avoid making such specific applications that the commentary might quickly become dated. They also avoid discussing the significance of the passage in such a general way that it fails to engage contemporary life and culture.

Above all, contributors to this series have made a diligent effort not to sound moralistic or preachy. The NIV Application Commentary Series does not seek to provide ready-made sermon materials but rather tools, ideas, and insights that will help you communicate God’s Word with power. If we help you to achieve that goal, then we have fulfilled the purpose for this series.

The Editors

General Editor’s Preface

ONE OF THE MAJOR WEAKNESSES of modern culture is our loss of morality. We misunderstand the nature of laws and rules and commandments, calling them legalisms; and then, based on this misunderstanding, we reject them. We think legalism and morality are the same thing. We don’t like either one and begin to squirm when the subject of morality comes up.

Actually, many of us begin to squirm as well when the subject of the biblical books of Leviticus and Numbers comes up—and for much the same reasons: our discomfort with morality. We don’t like reading what appear to be the outdated dictates of a grouchy God who seems to have gotten up on the wrong side of bed. What is the point?

This is what makes Roy Gane’s commentary so helpful. He tells us the point. One of his primary emphases is that Levitical laws are not legalistic and outdated. By carefully and thoroughly taking us through each chapter and verse, we discover that we can learn from other people’s morality, even when their culture is radically different from ours.

The point is this: If you read Leviticus and Numbers faithfully, your squeamishness about morality itself will begin to disappear. In order to explain this lesson, let me elaborate on two ideas that emerge from reading this authoritative material. (1) The laws of Leviticus depend for their efficacy on the fact that they are created by and implemented in a community of people. They describe the dynamic worship system of ancient Israel, a system that has theological meaning. These are not laws for individuals.

These are laws that are only secondarily about safety and health and order and good manners. Make no mistake, they are about safety and health and order and good manners—but only after they are about the worship of God, which is the precondition, the setting, of all the Levitical laws. Why are we to love our neighbor (17:9)? Because we cannot worship God unless we love our neighbor as ourselves. Once this is established, we discover that loving our neighbor creates good, safe, healthy, intercommunal relationships.

We live in a culture where we tend to understand laws and rules and commandments primarily as they relate to us as individuals. Because we live in an individualistic age, it takes deliberate effort to realize that individual morality is rooted in communal morality. In the Bible, this is not made as explicit as it could because in biblical times it was assumed that the values of the community precede those of the individual. Today the order is reversed, and understanding the Levitical laws demands that we include in our hermeneutic an acknowledgment of the Bible’s priorities.

(2) The laws of Leviticus only make sense to us if we are able to transpose their meaning from a cultural context three millennia in time and half a world in distance from our own. The content of the laws of Leviticus can seem strange. The questions on mildew in chapter 13, for example, can only be understood by those who live in a tropical country where this is still a problem. The solution to destructive mildew—to have the priest adjudicate whether or not the article in question is to be destroyed—is not something most modern church leaders would like to have added to their job description. Nevertheless, the community implications of this law are manifest. Any destructive force that has the potential to spread throughout the body of Christ is something we should all be concerned with corralling.

Even the most arcane of the laws found in Leviticus have at their root a principle that we should be able to make application to our lives. As we have said, the general hermeneutical principle is to attempt to see the communal meaning of what we are tempted to interpret as individual laws. As Roy Gane helps us to see in this commentary, there is great, practical wisdom in these two books.

Is it any wonder, given these two ideas, that the New Testament so often refers to the laws of Leviticus to explain the morality of the people of the kingdom of God? They are laws sent to us by God through Moses. That means they are important. They are laws that ordered the lives of a holy, tribal community centered in the divine presence. Since that is what we long to happen in the church (and churches) of today, we could do worse than try to live the lifestyle created by these laws.

God’s call to holiness is not a call to be embraced by hermits. It is a call that is always lived out in relation to a community, a group of people centered in the worship of God—a group of people situated in a wider world of decentered, sometimes immoral, sometimes amoral cultural groups. It turns out that in many ways we are not so different from this tribe wandering in the deserts of Sinai after all.

Terry C. Muck

Author’s Preface

PERHAPS A CONFESSION is an appropriate way to begin a commentary on Leviticus and Numbers. Before 1980, the idea of turning to these books for inspiration was foreign to me. I am embarrassed to admit that as an undergraduate theology student, I did not even bother to enroll in an excellent course on the biblical sanctuary and its services, taught by my father, simply because I was completely uninterested in the topic.

My initial interest in pursuing study of the Hebrew Bible arose from fascination with prophecy and Psalms. Having studied music composition, I aimed to set Psalms to music for congregational singing and realized that a study of Hebrew poetry and its rhythm would facilitate creation of simple melodies to complement the biblical texts. So after an intensive summer course in modern Hebrew at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, I enrolled in undergraduate and then graduate study of biblical Hebrew at the University of California, Berkeley.

The professor of biblical Hebrew at that university was Jacob Milgrom, whose preoccupation with Leviticus and Numbers plunged me into what I had regarded as a deserted realm of blood and guts, far from the aesthetics of Psalms. Over a number of years, our progress through the Hebrew text of Leviticus and Numbers and their many interpretations was slow and thorough, generally covering only a chapter or two per semester. As an extreme example, we spent an entire session of two and a half hours on one Hebrew letter: a preposition b in Leviticus 17:11.

As Milgrom guided his students in unfolding the text, I progressively came to grasp his main point: The dynamic worship system of ancient Israel encapsulates profound theological meaning. Furthermore, although relationships with the New Testament were not under discussion, a new world of understanding opened up to vastly enrich and nuance my Christian understanding of God’s character and the way he interacts with and restores faulty human beings like me. So driving home late at night from Milgrom’s seminar along Highway 80 in my ancient 1962 Ford Falcon, I found myself pounding on the steering wheel and yelling with excitement.

To Jacob Milgrom, whose unparalleled contributions to modern research on Leviticus and Numbers are referenced throughout the present commentary, I owe my love of these towering Torah books and my ability to comprehend them. I am also grateful to my parents, Erwin and Winsome Gane, for passing on their love of God and his Word and giving me an initial foundation for Bible study.

Encouragement, stimulating ideas, and helpful reactions have come from many other sources, including Baruch Schwartz (Hebrew University of Jerusalem) and John Walton (Wheaton College); my Old Testament Department colleagues at Andrews University—Richard Davidson, Jacques Doukhan, Constance Gane (my wife), Jiri Moskala, and Randy Younker; my students, especially Moise Isaac, and Paul Lippi. Several have contributed by collecting secondary source materials, including illustrations: Kathy Ekkens (my secretary) and a succession of graduate student research assistants over several years—Jan Sigvartsen, Oleg Zhigankov, Wann Fanwar, Afolarin Ojewole, Gregory Arutyunyan, Alexander Carpenter, Schuan Carpenter, and James Wibberding. Kathy Ekkens and Jan Sigvartgen compiled the author and ancient literature indexes.

My wife and daughter—Constance and Sarah Gane—have tarried during my long stay at Mount Sinai and in the wilderness without undue grumbling or partying. Their support has been warm and constant even as they have looked forward to completion of the journey. Ultimate support has come from God, whose Torah is the reason for this study and who provides hope of a Promised Land as our final destination.

Abbreviations

AB Anchor Bible

ABD Anchor Bible Dictionary

ABL R. F. Harper, ed., Assyrian and Babylonian Letters Belonging to the Kouyunijk Collections of the British Museum

abridg. abridged

AfTJ Africa Theological Journal

AHw W. von Soden, Akkadisches Handwörterbuch

AnBib Analecta Biblica

ANET J. Pritchard, ed., Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament, 3d ed.

AOAT Alter Orient und Altes Testament

AoF Altorientalische Forschungen

ASORDS American Schools of Oriental Research Dissertation Series

ASTI Annual of the Swedish Theological Institute

AThR Anglican Theological Review

ATSDS Adventist Theological Society Dissertation Series

AUSDDS Andrews University Seminary Doctoral Dissertation Series

AUSS Andrews University Seminary Studies

b. Babylonian Talmud

b. ben/bar, son of

BA Biblical Archaeologist

BAGD Walter Bauer, W. F. Arndt, F. W. Gingrich, and F. W. Danker, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature

BAR Biblical Archaeology Review

BASOR Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research

BBR Bulletin for Biblical Research

BDB F. Brown, S. R. Driver, and C. A. Briggs, A. Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament

BerO Berit Olam

Bib Biblica

BibB Biblische Beiträge

BIS Biblical Interpretation Series

BJS Brown Judaic Studies

BKAT Biblischer Kommentar: Altes Testament

BO Bibliotheca Orientalis

BRev Bible Review

BSac Bibliotheca Sacra

BSC Bible Student’s Commentary

BSem Biblical Seminar

BST Bible Speaks Today

BT The Bible Translator

BZ Biblische Zeitschrift

CAD The Assyrian Dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago

CahRB Cahiers de la Revue biblique

CBC Cambridge Bible Commentary

CBQ Catholic Biblical Quarterly

CC Calvin’s Commentaries

cf. confer (compare)

ch(s). chapter(s)

CHL Commentationes Humanarum Litterarum

ChrCent Christian Century

ComC The Communicator’s Commentary

COS The Context of Scripture, ed. W. W. Hallo

CT Christianity Today

CTM Concordia Theological Monthly

CUD College and University Dialogue

DARCOM Daniel and Revelation Committee series

EB Expositor’s Bible

EBC Expositor’s Bible Commentary

ed(s). editor(s)

EJ Encyclopaedia Judaica

EM Encyclopaedia Miqra?it

ErIsr Eretzr Israel

EstBib Estudios Biblicos

et al. et alii, and others

EvQ Evangelical Quarterly

EvT Evangelische Theologie

ExpTim Expository Times

FAT Forschungen zum Alten Testament

GKC E. Kautzsch, ed; A. E. Cowley, transl., Gesenius’ Hebrew Grammar

HAT Handbuch zum Alten Testament

HKAT Handkommentar zum Alten Testament

HLR Harvard Law Review

HTR Harvard Theological Review

HUCA Hebrew Union College Annual

IBC Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching

ICC International Critical Commentary

IDB Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible

IEJ Israel Exploration Journal

ILR Israel Law Review

Int Interpretation

IRT Issues in Religion and Theology

ISBE International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, ed. G. W. Bromiley

ITC International Theological Commentary

ITL International Theological Library

JAAR Journal of the American Academy of Religion

JAGNES Journal of the Association of Graduate Near Eastern Students of the University of California, Berkeley

JANES Journal of the Ancient Near Eastern Society

JAOS Journal of the American Oriental Society

JATS Journal of the Adventist Theological Society

JBL Journal of Biblical Literature

JBQ Jewish Bible Quarterly

JCS Journal of Cuneiform Studies

JETS Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society

JJS Journal of Jewish Studies

JPSTC Jewish Publication Society Torah Commentary

JQR Jewish Quarterly Review

JR Juridical Review

JRE Journal of Religious Ethics

JSJ Journal for the Study of Judaism in the Persian, Hellenistic, and Roman Period

JSOT Journal for the Study of the Old Testament

JSOTSup Journal for the Study of the Old Testament: Supplement Series

JTS Journal of Theological Studies

KW Kierkegaard’s Writings

LBI Library of Biblical Interpretation

LBS Library of Biblical Studies

LE Laws of Eshnunna

LH Laws of Hammurabi

LHC Layman’s Handy Commentary

LLA Library of Liberal Arts

LUN Laws of Ur Nammu

LXX Septuagint

m. Mishnah

MAL Middle Assyrian Laws

MT Modern Theology

MTZ Münchener theologische Zeitschrift

n. note

NAC New American Commentary

NASB New American Standard Bible

NASB95 New American Standard Bible Update

NCB New Century Bible

NEchtB Neue Echter Bibel

NIB New Interpreter’s Bible, ed. L. Keck, et al.

NIBC New International Biblical Commentary

NICOT New International Commentary on the Old Testament

NIGTC New International Greek Testament Commentary

NIV New International Version

NIVAC NIV Application Commentary

NJB New Jerusalem Bible

NJPS New Jewish Publication Society Version

NKJV New King James Version

NPNF¹ Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1

NRSV New Revised Standard Version

OBO Orbis biblicus et orientalis

OIP Oriental Institute Publications

orig. original publication

OTG Old Testament Guides

OTL Old Testament Library

OtSt Oudtestamentische Studiën

PAAJR Proceedings of the American Academy for Jewish Research

PEQ Palestine Exploration Quarterly

PRR Princeton Readings in Religions

PRSt Perspectives in Religious Studies

RA Revue d’assyriologie et d’archéologie orientale

RB Revue biblique

repr. reprinted

RevQ Revue de Qumran

RTR Reformed Theological Review

SBLDS SBL Dissertation Series

SBLSP Society of Biblical Literature Seminar Papers

SBLSymS SBL Symposium Series

SBLWAW Society of Biblical Literature Writings from the Ancient World

SBONT Sacred Books of the Old and New Testaments

SCR Studies in Comparative Religion

ScrHier Scripta hierosolymitana

SJLA Studies in Judaism in Late Antiquity

SPIB Scripta Pontificii Instituti Biblici

SR Studies in Religion

SSN Studia Semitica Neerlandica

StBoT Studien zu den Bogazköy-Texten

STR Sewanee Theological Review

t. Tosefta

TDOT G. J. Botterweck and H. Ringgren, eds., Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament

TI Text and Interpretation

TLOT E. Jenni and C. Westermann, eds., Theological Lexicon of the Old Testament

TOTC Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries

transl. translation/translated by

TWOT R. L. Harris, G. Archer, and B. Waltke, eds., Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament

UBSHS United Bible Societies Handbook Series

UCOP University of Cambridge Oriental Publications

v(v). verse(s)

VAT Vorderasiatische Abteilung Tontafel (tablets in the collections of the Staatliche Museen, Berlin)

VE Vox Evangelica

VT Vetus Testamentum

VTSup Vetus Testamentum, Supplements

WBC Word Biblical Commentary

WesTJ Wesleyan Theological Journal

WMANT Wissenschaftliche Monographien zum Alten und Neuen Testament

WPL Wordsworth Poetry Library

WSC Wisconsin Studies in Classics

y. Jerusalem Talmud

YOS Yale Oriental Series

ZAW Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft

ZNW Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft

Introduction to Leviticus

WHY SACRIFICE TIME on reading Leviticus? A graduate student at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem joined an elderly couple for evening worship. Continuing their faithful program of reading the Bible from cover to cover every year, the Palmers rapidly read through several chapters of Leviticus. When they had finished, eighty-year-old Mrs. Palmer reacted: You know, sometimes when I read that book, I wonder what the Lord was up to. Did the Almighty get up on the wrong side of the bed? The student responded: It’s true, Leviticus does have some difficulties, but many of those hard-to-understand passages can be explained. At this she lifted her hand and exclaimed: No, don’t start giving us explanations; we’ll never get through!¹

So why would anyone want to read and understand Leviticus? If the present commentary were on the Psalms, the Gospel of John, or Paul’s letter to the Romans, or if it were directed primarily to a Jewish readership, we could skip that kind of question and nobody would notice. Leviticus for Christians, however, is another matter.

A commentary on Leviticus must explain convincingly why it is important that this biblical book should be read today. Unless this question is answered clearly and compellingly, people will not bother to penetrate to its full meaning for today.²

True, this book of twenty-seven chapters contains more direct speech by God himself than any other book of the Bible and it is placed at the heart of the Torah or Pentateuch (the five books of Moses), which forms the foundation for all of Scripture. So even though Leviticus is the shortest book of the Pentateuch, we get the impression that it should be important. However, aside from narratives in chapters 8–10 (consecration and inauguration of the sanctuary and its priesthood) and 24:10–23 (the blasphemer), and covenant blessings and curses in chapter 26, Leviticus consists of laws. Even the narratives contain divine laws embedded in them (10:8–11; 24:15–22), and the events described in chapters 8–10 are ritual ones closely related to the sacrificial procedures prescribed in laws of the previous chapters (chs. 1–7).

What do laws addressed to an ancient, obsolete culture have for modern Christians?³ Ritual laws, which take up much of Leviticus, are particularly challenging because they were designed to regulate a worship system that is foreign to us. Their meanings are not obvious to us, and explanations provided by the biblical text are few and cryptic. Instructions for sacrifices, which involve slaughtering animals for no apparent practical purpose, include a lot of details that can be tedious and gory to readers who are not butchers, veterinarians, or biologists. Even if we wanted to observe or participate in such rituals, we cannot because the Israelite sanctuary/temple and its Aaronic priesthood are gone.

If we take the New Testament seriously, it is worthwhile to pause and reconsider our attitude toward Leviticus. For one thing, in 2 Timothy 3:16 the apostle Paul writes: "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness (emphasis supplied). For Paul all Scripture" certainly included Leviticus. More specifically, the fact that the New Testament refers to the Old Testament ritual system in order to explain what Christ has accomplished and is continuing to accomplish indicates that knowledge of the rituals should be helpful, and may even be indispensable, for comprehending the richness of salvation through Christ (e.g. Luke 24:27; 1 Cor. 5:7; 15:20; Heb. 7–10; Rev. 4–5).

Linkage between the Old and New Testaments includes the fact that Israelite ritual bathing and celebration of the Passover formed the basis for Christian baptism and the Lord’s Supper/Communion. So by grasping the meanings of the earlier practices, we enhance comprehension of our own rituals.

The fact that Christ’s death on the cross, as described in the Gospels, was so much more painful than the animal sacrifices (cf. Isa. 52:14) indicates that the latter were mitigated and relatively humane shadows. There had to be blood to make the point (Heb. 9:22), but it was obtained with a minimum of suffering by slitting the throat of an animal so that it would quickly go unconscious from loss of blood.⁴ Apparently nothing short of this kind of disturbingly graphic procedure could adequately impress on ancient people the eternal death-and-life consequences of sin and of salvation through a single sacrificial transaction that had not yet occurred (cf. Rom. 6:23).

As shadows/prototypes, the ancient sacrifices that were necessarily repeated many times and were officiated by faulty priests could not really take away sins (Heb. 10:1–4). However, because they were performed on earth, where people could experience them by participation, they served a useful purpose as dramatic illustrations. No single kind of sacrifice could adequately prefigure the richness of Christ’s sacrifice, just as no single picture in an anatomy and physiology textbook can capture the full complexity of a living organism. Although each kind of sacrifice is an inadequate illustration, this very inadequacy benefits us by breaking down the complexity so that we can grasp one aspect at a time.

So why not skip Leviticus and jump to the real thing in the New Testament? An analogous question provides some perspective: Why should a medical student spend time with distorted, analyzed, two-dimensional pictures, diagrams, and explanations in an anatomy and physiology textbook when real, living human bodies are available for examination? The answer is that the textbook teaches the budding physician what on earth he or she is looking at when confronted with the real thing. Similarly, we need Leviticus as a textbook so that when we encounter Christ’s sacrifice, we can gain the full impact.

We will find that the animal sacrifices were God’s altar calls, symbolizing the way he relentlessly extends mercy with justice to faulty people. These rituals revealed his loving character and his desire for restoration and maintenance of intimate interaction with those whom he claimed as his own. While the ritual worship and theocratic civil institutions of ancient Israel are long gone, the God revealed by them remains the same. Herein lies the precious, timeless significance of Leviticus for twenty-first-century Christians.

The laws of Leviticus were not isolated from practical human experience. Rather, their details were given in the context of a grand story that recounts Israel’s formation from an oppressed group of slaves to a powerful kingdom of priests and a holy nation (Ex. 19:6), among whom the deity dwelt (25:8). Divine laws addressed real life and were intended to shape its destiny with God. In this sense each law is a kind of distilled story.

Through Leviticus we can learn what God is like in relation to ourselves and how we can effectively interact with him across the boundary between the seen and unseen spheres. While our modern situation is outwardly different from that of the Israelites in significant respects, we too can participate in transactions with God (through prayer rather than sacrifice) and profit from their experience because it parallels our own on a deeper level: The Lord continues to deliver us from slavery (to sin) and transforms us into a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God (1 Peter 2:9) so that he can dwell with us and be our God (Rev. 21:3).

Although laws in Leviticus designed to protect and enhance divine-human and human-human relations outside worship are routinely dismissed as Mosaic civil legislation that served only the Israelite theocracy, they encapsulate timeless and valuable principles. Many of them exemplify subprinciples of the foundational principle of love, which underlies the moral/ethical Ten Commandments (Ex. 20; Deut. 5; cf. Matt. 22:36–40; Rom. 13:8–10). It is true that the civil laws of Leviticus (in Lev. 18–20; 24–25), like those of other Pentateuchal books (e.g., in Ex. 21–23; Num. 35; Deut. 15; 17; 19–25), are clothed in the garb of an ancient culture and its judicial system. Nevertheless, without succumbing to legalistic oughtism, we can gain the practical benefit of observing them to the extent that their principles can be applied in our own life situations.⁵

Of course, discovering new principles threatens our status quo, especially when they are introduced as Thus saith the Lord. We pay human physicians to interfere with our lifestyles and counselors to help us adjust our relationships, but when our Creator gives us prescriptions and counsel free of charge, we tend to resent his meddling and to regard our accountability as a kind of guilt trip. The truth is, our responsibility to him is simultaneously accountability to ourselves, because his instructions are based on cause and effect, like the Surgeon General’s recommendations for good diet and exercise and warnings against smoking. Ignorance is as blissful as undiagnosed cancer.

Leviticus is not welcome in an environment of feel-good, self-help, cafeteria-style religion. Nor are other parts of the Bible. George Barna explains why not:

In the last quarter-century it seems that we have learned how to sell Bibles but not how to sell what’s in the Bible. Increasingly, people pick and choose the Bible content they like or feel comfortable with, but ignore the rest of God’s counsel. This tendency seems especially prolific among young adults and teenagers. What can we do to elevate the prominence, credibility, and perceived value of God’s Word in the eyes of a fickle and distracted public?⁶

Nothing I say here about the healing relevance of Leviticus for the lives of modern Christians can compare with the searing experience of Minnie Warburton, a victim of abuse as a child, who found cleansing and vindication in the incest laws of Leviticus 18.⁷ Nor are my words anything like the remarkable report of Rob Bell, pastor of the Mars Hill Bible Church in Grandville, Michigan, which he planted in February of 1999 to reach unchurched and disillusioned people in Grand Rapids. To ensure that any success the church enjoyed would be due to the power of God rather than simply human resources, and to demonstrate that every part of the Bible—even Leviticus—is for today, Bell spent the first year preaching through Leviticus verse by verse. He says:

Why start a church with Leviticus? Why not a series on relationships or finding peace? That would be a safer approach. Leviticus cannot be tamed. Its imagery is too wild. We ventured into its lair and let it devour us, trusting that God would deliver us with a truer picture of his Son.

. . . We discovered that the Bible is an organic whole: these concepts do connect, these images do make sense. For the first time, many in our congregation began to realize, this story is my story. These people are my people. This God is my God.⁸

It turned out that Leviticus was surprisingly effective because it met the needs of contemporary people for visual imagery, grappling with tough questions and a sense of community. Even more important, it awakened in those who previously had no belief in God a need for salvation through his Son.

The response has been exuberant. After a high school football game, a man called out to Rob, Hey, Pastor! Leviticus is turning our world upside down. We’re rocked to the core. Then two high school kids caught up with him, saying, We’ve been talking about what you said. That was awesome! Can’t wait for Sunday. See ya! So what did Bell start preaching after he finished Leviticus? The book of Numbers, of course!⁹

Authorship

WHO IS THE author of Leviticus? It depends what you mean. If you are referring to the source of the ideas, most of the book (the legislation) is presented as a series of speeches by the Lord. So in this sense God is the primary author. Whether or not you believe it is up to you, of course, but this is what Leviticus claims.

If you are thinking of the human author, Leviticus consistently maintains that the chief recipient and transmitter of its divine speeches was Moses, so it can be regarded as coauthored. The bibliographic reference could read:

God and Moses, Leviticus. Sinai: Israel Publications, second millennium B.C.

Again, this is a matter of belief. Mosaic authorship at this level goes with divine authorship. For Christians it is significant that the New Testament, including direct speech of Jesus, refers to legislation in Leviticus as authoritative and from Moses.¹⁰

If you mean the person(s) who actually wrote down the words of Leviticus, the book is—strictly speaking—anonymous. If you believe other Pentateuchal passages that speak of Moses as writing messages from the Lord (Ex. 17:14; 24:4; 34:27; Deut. 31:9), you can allow for the possibility or even probability that Moses similarly recorded the divine speeches that form the bulk of Leviticus. In Jewish tradition, accepted by Christian interpreters until modern times, Moses is the human author (including the writer) of Leviticus.

Contributions to the Pentateuch by persons other than Moses would in no way invalidate his central, monumental contribution to the Torah or diminish its inspiration.¹¹ As Joseph ben Eliezer Bonfils (second half of the fourteenth century A.D.) said regarding Ibn Ezra’s comment on Genesis 12:6, what difference does it make whether Moses or some other prophet wrote it since the words of all of them are truth and were received by prophecy?¹² Similarly, the apostle Paul did not distinguish between the inspiration and authority of primary and secondary authors/editors—All Scripture is God-breathed (2 Tim. 3:16). It is the divine authorship that is crucial. While we can acknowledge what Leviticus says about itself in terms of basic divine-Mosaic origin, we do not know how it reached its final form, who was involved in the writing-editing process, or how long this took (during Moses’ lifetime? into the monarchy? completed by Ezra?) because no hard evidence regarding these questions has come to light.

Methodology

WHAT IS A fruitful methodology for studying Leviticus? Modern interpreters generally seek to understand the plain sense of Leviticus rather than to engage in the allegorical, spiritualizing, mystical, or midrashic modes of exposition practiced centuries ago.¹³ Since the same text is the starting point for every investigation, scholars agree on many aspects. Nevertheless, it is surprising that conclusions derived from the plain sense are as divergent as they are.

Perhaps the most powerful factors behind lack of agreement among Leviticus scholars are differences of opinion regarding the authorship and audience of the book.¹⁴ What was the worldview of the author (or group of authors), as shaped by his historical context? What audience and situations(s) did he intend to address? What did he intend to accomplish? The answers to such questions are significant for gaining the full message of any literary production. Without them, for example, we could read Gulliver’s Travels purely as entertainment and miss the level of political satire that was Jonathan Swift’s primary motivation. What would we make of The Screwtape Letters if we lacked the preface by C. S. Lewis?

Looking at Leviticus in terms of what it says about itself within the canonical context of the Pentateuch, God through Moses addressed a neonatal nation of freshly liberated slaves in the Sinai Desert sometime during the latter half of the second millennium B.C. In this light, the initial purpose of the book was to establish and maintain enduring patterns of divine-human and human-human interaction that are appropriate and necessary for a holy tribal community centered in the divine Presence.

Once we have a provisional grasp of the overall historical setting and purpose, we can gain a more coherent, detailed, and nuanced comprehension of the message that Leviticus was designed to convey to an ancient audience by exploring various aspects of the text: rhetorical and thematic structure; (Hebrew) grammatical, syntactic, and semantic indicators; and the historical, literary, and cultural context within the ancient Near East.

It is an exciting time to study Leviticus. Tools and data are rapidly expanding. Powerful Bible software programs, such as Accordance, facilitate a close reading of the biblical text, intratextual or intertextual comparisons, and the exhilarating joy of discovery through surfing the Bible. Fresh methodologies, such as that of anthropologist Mary Douglas, are helping scholars view old texts and problems from new angles. Meanwhile, archaeology and related disciplines continue to feed us ancient Near Eastern material culture and texts that shed light on ancient religion, language, law, and lifestyle that is relevant to Leviticus.

In our quest for original meaning, we can discover underlying dynamics, themes, and principles that are exemplified with reference to, but not dependent on, the original target culture. With these bridging contexts as a kind of template, we can faithfully apply the contours of the book’s message to our twenty-first-century century A.D. life situation so that we arrive at contemporary significance.

If the message of Leviticus is from God, as it claims and as Jesus believed it to be, its impact is transformational. It cannot remain in the study but must be unleashed into the rest of the life. As Jesus said, Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it (Luke 11:28). The Moses portrayed in Leviticus would certainly approve of approaching this book with the questions: What does the Word of God say to me? How can I obey it? After bridging the contexts and exploring contemporary significance, we should then step outside the pages of this commentary into contemporary action.

Structure and Themes

WHAT ARE THE structure and themes of Leviticus? Our first question must be: Of what does Leviticus consist? Is it a self-standing book, or is it part of a larger whole? If the latter, how do we know where it begins and ends? We will find that Leviticus is structurally and thematically linked to the preceding book of Exodus, continuing Israel’s experience with God from the point where divine communication comes from the tabernacle inside the desert camp rather than from Mount Sinai outside it (see comments on Lev. 1:1). We will discover that Leviticus ends when Numbers 1 resumes the account of Israel’s journey with a date formula that is followed by organization of the community in preparation for conquering Canaan.

Between preparations for the worship system through construction of the tabernacle in Exodus and resumption of the march toward the Promised Land in Numbers, Leviticus fills a crucial niche in an ongoing process: constitution of the core values and practices that make the Israelites one holy nation not only under God, but also with his holy Presence in their midst. Thus Leviticus is located at the structural and conceptual heart of the Pentateuch as its third book,¹⁵ a separate unit but also part of a cumulative development that depends on Exodus and paves the way for Numbers.¹⁶

Leviticus, the LXX name of the book, is not primarily about the Levites. Indeed the book of Numbers tells us more about the tribe of Levi as a whole. Leviticus is not even primarily about the Aaronic priests, who belonged to the tribe of Levi. Rather, it is about God’s call to a life of holiness in relation to himself and other members of the community of faith, introduced with the words: The LORD called to Moses and spoke to him from the Tent of Meeting (Lev. 1:1). Appropriately, this opening has provided the Hebrew name of the book: wayyiqraʾ, Then he [Yahweh] called. . . .

In Leviticus, as in countless other works, literary structure highlights themes,¹⁷ and structure can legitimately be found on more than one level. A strong case can be made for the structural centrality of chapter 16, both because it contains the middle divine speech¹⁸ and because its culmination of ritual matters (chs. 1–16) paves the way for laws on holy living to be observed by a morally cleansed community (chs. 17–27).¹⁹

W. Shea has proposed that the overall structure of Leviticus is a large chiasm or introversion in chapters 1–25 with chapter 16 at its center, followed by concluding chapters (chs. 26–27). This approach is instructive even though Shea recognizes that it does not neatly account for everything, most notably placement of the blasphemer narrative in 24:10–23:²⁰

Cultic legislation (chs. 1–7)

Priestly history (chs. 8–10)

Personal laws of uncleanness (chs. 11–15)

Day of Atonement (ch. 16)

Personal moral laws (chs. 17–20)

Priestly legislation (chs. 21–22)

Cultic legislation (chs. 23–25, except history in 24:10–23)

Conclusion (chs. 26–27)

J. H. Walton acknowledges that chapter 16 plays an important role, but he views the structure of Leviticus from the angle of preserving the sanctity of sacred space, which is divided into a series of zones. These zones move outward from the place of God’s Presence at the sanctuary: holy of holies, holy place (outer sanctum), courtyard, camp, and outside the camp.

. . . Leviticus deals with issues of equilibrium zone by zone as it speaks of space, status and time, and the qualifications and procedures associated with each. Chapters 1–23 concern equilibrium relative to deity, and chaps. 24–27 concern equilibrium relative to Israel.²¹

By emphasizing sacred space in this way, Walton offers healthy balance to the Christian preoccupation with viewing Leviticus in terms of soteriology (study of salvation) that is concerned with a person’s status in regard to sin.²³ We will find that Leviticus has plenty to say about remedies for sin, and soteriological issues are profoundly illuminated by restoration of sacred space that is defined with reference to God (see esp. comments on chs. 4 and 16). However, Leviticus is primarily about the Presence and character of God in relation to his people and only secondarily concerned with sin, which interferes with the divine-human relationship.

Notice that Walton sees a transition from chapters 1–17 to chapter 18 and following, but not a drastic break that divides Leviticus, according to the old scholarly consensus, into a bipartite structure consisting of Priestly Torah (P: chs. 1–16/17) and Holiness Code (H: chs. 17/18–26/27). Chapters 1–17 concentrate on ritual matters, including sacrifices and ritual purity. Even sexuality is treated from a ritual viewpoint (chs. 12; 15). Chapter 18, however, focuses on moral/ethical aspects of sexuality: sexual unions that the Lord forbids. This emphasis on the moral holiness of all Israelites living in God’s land, combined with exhortations to obey his commands (18:2–5, 24–30) and repeated identification of the divine authority behind the legislation—I am the LORD (your God) (vv. 2, 4, 5, 6, 21, 30)—are the hallmarks of the following chapters.

Although chapter 18 introduces a shift in emphasis, this is not the first time that moral concerns have surfaced. In chapter 4 the purification offering expiates for inadvertent violation of any of God’s prohibitive commandments (v.2), which would include ethical ones. In 6:1–7 (Heb. 5:20–26) wronging another person through a false oath requires a reparation offering. Here again, a ritual remedy can address an ethical wrong.²⁴

Further contributing to cohesion between the earlier part of the book and chapter 18 is 11:44–45:

I am the LORD your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy. Do not make yourselves unclean by any creature that moves about on the ground. I am the LORD who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy.

Here the Lord elevates what would otherwise be merely a mundane aspect of Israelite daily life (i.e., diet) into a matter of sacred significance that is relevant to maintaining harmony with their holy Deliverer. Notice the repeated self-identifications: I am the LORD your God (11:44) and I am the LORD (v.45). Aside from these two verses, all instances of this formula appear in chapters 18–26. Because of the close affinity between 11:44–45 and the later holiness portions of Leviticus, some scholars hold that it is an H (Holiness) interpolation.²⁵ But whatever the prehistory of the passage may be, in the present form of the text, chapters 18–26 expand on this robust conceptual kernel.

M. Douglas has offered the fascinating proposal that Leviticus is a ring composition like that found in the Greek classics.²⁶ This is a literary device

by which the conclusion of a speech or digression and the return to the main flow of the narrative was indicated with some verbal reminiscence of its beginning. Such verbal and thematic echoes . . . were developed over the centuries into a powerful means for securing both unity and intensity in narrative.²⁷

For Douglas, the central turning point of Leviticus is chapter 19 (see bottom of diagram, below), rather than chapter 16. The tipoff that chapter 19 is in the middle of some kind of structure is the close parallel between chapters 18 and 20, which frame it on either side with laws regarding sexuality and Molech worship. Douglas outlines the scheme of the book as follows:²⁸

The central structural position of chapter 19 focuses attention on the astounding depth of its teaching with regard to the nature of holiness, which is the overarching theme of the entire book.²⁹ Following the introduction to divine speech addressed to all Israelites, the theme command in verse 2 echoes the call of 11:44–45 to emulate divine holiness. The rest of chapter 19 consists of instructions for preserving divine-human and human-human relationships. The connection is obvious: The way God expects his people to be holy as he is holy is by leading holy lives that are in harmony with his relational character. While it is not possible to cover every facet of life in a limited series of laws, the variety of examples provided here emphasizes the comprehensive scope of practical holiness.

While love as the underlying principle of holy living is implied throughout Leviticus 19, it surfaces in verse 18b as the middle injunction of this chapter of 37 verses: Love your neighbor as yourself. So love is at the heart of Leviticus 19, a pivotal chapter of Leviticus, the central book of the Torah (Pentateuch),³⁰ which is the foundation of Scripture (cf. Matt. 22:36–40)!

Obviously any outline of the literary structure of Leviticus is a scholarly abstraction that is limited at best. Rather than pitting the various proposals against each other, the most useful approach is to recognize them for what they are and learn from them regarding complementary aspects of holiness, which reach ritual and ethical high points in the twin peaks of chapters 16 and 19.

Like Shea’s proposal, my own tentative outline of the book (see in detail below) has seven sections, of which the fourth/middle one is chapter 16. My first four sections coincide with his, but the last three, which extend holiness to all aspects of Israelite life, do not:

I. Sacrificial Worship (chs. 1–7)

II. Description of Ceremonies That Founded the Ritual System (chs. 8–10)

III. Purity Versus Impurity (chs. 11–15)

IV. Purgation of Sanctuary and Camp on Day of Atonement (ch. 16)

V. Holy (Sacrificial) Slaughter (ch. 17)

VI. Community Holiness (chs. 18–20)

VII. Special Holy Entities (chs. 21–27)

Within the sixth section, chapters 18 and 20 frame chapter 19 and thereby highlight its importance (see above):

VI. Community Holiness (chs. 18–20)

Sexuality (ch. 18)

Comprehensive Life of Holiness (ch. 19)

Terminal Penalties for Inexpiable Offenses, Including Sexual Ones (ch. 20)

The seventh section deals with a series of eight holy entities, with the central positions occupied by the light and bread of the sanctuary’s outer sanctum (24:1–9) and the divine name of the deity (24:10–23), whose Presence resides in the inner sanctum. Notice that this section integrates the problematic blasphemer unit (24:10–23) and chapter 27, which has generally been regarded as an appendix tacked on after the real conclusion of the book with the covenant blessings and curses in chapter 26.

VII. Special Holy Entities (chaps. 21–27)

A. Holy Priests (21:1–24)

B. Holy Offerings (22:1–33)

C. Holy Times (23:1–44)

D. Holy Light and Bread (24:1–9)

E. Holy Divine Name (24:10–23)

F. Holy Land (25:1–55)

G. Holy Covenant (26:1–46)

H. Holy Consecrations and Redemption of Them (27:1–34)

Outline of Leviticus

I. Sacrificial Worship

A. Prescriptions for All Israelites (1:1–6:7 [Heb. 5:26])

1. Burnt Offering (1:1–17)

a. Introduction (1:1–2)

b. Herd Animal Victim (1:3–9)

c. Flock Animal (1:10–13)

d. Bird (1:14–17)

2. Grain Offering (2:1–16)

a. Raw Flour (2:1–3)

b. Cooked (2:4–10)

c. Prohibition of Yeast, Honey; Requirement of Salt (2:11–13)

d. Fresh Heads of Grain (2:14–16)

3. Well-Being Offering (3:1–17)

a. Herd Animal (3:1–5)

b. Flock Animal (3:6–16)

c. Prohibition of Eating Suet/Fat and Blood (3:17)

4. Purification Offering (4:1–35)

a. Introduction (4:1–2)

b. High Priest As Offerer (4:3–12)

c. Community (4:13–21)

d. Chieftain (4:22–26)

e. Commoner (4:27–35)

5. Graded Purification Offering (5:1–13)

a. Cases of Sin (5:1–4)

b. Remedy: Confession and Sacrifice (5:5–6)

c. Alternate Less Expensive Offerings (5:7–13)

6. Reparation Offering (5:14–6:7 [Heb. 5:26])

a. Sacrilege Against Holy Things (5:14–16)

b. Suspected Sacrilege (5:17–19)

c. Sacrilege Against Oaths (6:1–7 [Heb. 5:20–26])

B. Additional Sacrificial Instructions for Priests (6:8 [Heb. 6:1]–7:38)

1. Burnt Offering (6:8–13 [Heb. 6:1–6])

2. Grain Offering (6:14–18 [Heb. 6:7–11])

3. High Priest’s Regular Grain Offering (6:19–23 [Heb. 6:12–16])

4. Purification Offering (6:24–30 [Heb. 6:17–23])

5. Reparation Offering (7:1–6)

6. Portions for Priests (7:7–10)

7. Well-being Offering (7:11–36)

a. Thanksgiving, Votive, and Freewill Offerings (7:11–21)

b. Prohibition of Eating Suet/Fat and Blood (7:22–27)

c. Portions for Priests (7:28–36)

C. Summary (7:37–38)

II. Description of Ceremonies That Founded the Ritual System

A. Consecration of Priests and Sanctuary (8:1–36)

1. Preliminary Assembly of Materials and Persons (8:1–5)

2. Washing, Dressing, Anointing (8:6–13)

3. Sacrifices (8:14–30)

a. Purification and Burnt Offerings (8:14–21)

b. Ordination Offering (8:22–30)

4. Instructions for Priests (8:31–36)

B. Inaugural Service (9:1–24)

1. Preliminary Assembly of Materials and Persons (9:1–7)

2. Sacrifices (9:8–21)

a. Purification and Burnt Offerings for Priests (9:8–14)

b. Purification and Burnt Offerings for Nonpriestly Community