Leviticus and Numbers

 

Leviticus

 

 

Outline

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As noted in the Pentateuch module (7), the book of Leviticus was likely composed from two separate sources: the Priestly Code (Lev 1–16, 27) and the Holiness Code (Lev 17–26). The Priestly Code focuses on priestly responsibilities pertaining to offerings and ritual purity. Holiness is limited to sacred rituals, sacred space (tabernacle), and sacred personnel (priests). In the Holiness Code, holiness extends to sacred time (e.g., festivals) and especially to a sacred people (“You shall be holy, for I Yahweh your God am holy,” Lev 19:2). So it provides regulations for the people regarding the common consumption of beef and lamb (animals acceptable for ritual sacrifice), sexual relations, civic life, calendar observances, and rewards and punishments. It also gives considerable attention to “the land.” At certain points it offers perspectives and regulations that differ from those in the Priestly Code. In the Priestly Code the Israelites’ sins bring “impurity” to the Holy Place and the altar, so that they are in need of annual atonement (Lev 16:16–19; cf. 15:31). But in the Holiness Code the inhabitants’ iniquity makes the land “impure” (Lev 18:25–30, though note Lev 20:3).

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1-16 Priestly Source (P)

 

1-7 Offerings: voluntary sacrifices (Burnt, 1; Grain, 2; Peace, 3),
atoning sacrifices (Sin, 4:1-5:13; Guilt, 5:14-6:7);
priestly instructions (6:8-7:38)

 

8-10 Consecration of Aaronic priests, death of his sons

 

11-15 Ritual purity: pure and impure

 

11 Diet: pure and impure animals

 

12 Purification after childbirth

 

13-14 Skin diseases, house mildew and their purification

 

15 Genital discharges

 

16 Day of Atonement for the sanctuary

 

17-26 Holiness Code (H)

 

17 No profane slaughter of beef and lamb, no consumption of blood

 

18 Illicit (Canaanite) sexual relations (relatives, menstruation, homosexuality)
that make the land impure

 

19 A holy people: social justice (Ten Words), love, ritual purity

 

20 Penalties for child sacrifice, divination, and illicit sexual relations

 

21-22 Purity laws for priests; acceptable animal offerings

 

23 Liturgical calendar: holy convocations and their agricultural offerings

 

24 Tabernacle lamps and bread; blasphemy; lex talionis

 

25 Sabbatical year and Jubilee (7-year cycles): redemption of property and family

 

26 Rewards for obedience, punishments for disobedience

 

27 (Priestly source) Vows: a person's equivalent value and redemption

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Leviticus as a Symbol System

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Key Word Pairs. The word that pervades the entire book, and ultimately defines it, is “holy.” Given the uses and abuses of this term in modern culture, we must clarify what the Hebrew term, qadosh, meant in Old Testament times. This word was not unique to the ancient Hebrews. In nearby Ugarit, the gods were often referred to as “the holy ones.” In the first instance, “holy” was a descriptor for divine beings in the ANE. Yahweh declares, “I am holy” (Lev 11:44–45; 19:2). By extension, “holy” could apply to what belongs to the deity in acts of worship. Among the entities “set apart” for the worship of God, there were sacred space and its objects (sanctuary, altar), sacred rituals (sacrifice), sacred time (Sabbath and festivals), sacred personnel (priests and Levites), and sacred words (prayers, blessings).

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The antonym of “holy” is “common/profane” (ḥol): “to separate between the holy and the common, and between the impure and the pure” (Lev 10:10; cf. 22:15). To be clear, “profane” here should not be confused with profanity. The distinction lies between “holy” use, which is restricted for worship, and “common” use in everyday life. The verb form (ḥll) is often translated, “defile,” but this action does not necessarily mean that something becomes unclean, unhygienic, or evil; it may simply denote that the object has been “made common,” that is, “put into common use” (e.g., the word translated “enjoyed” in Deut 20:6; cf. koinoō in Mark 7:15–23). For an item to be regarded as “holy” it must undergo a preceding ritual.

The associated word pair, pure and impure (ṭhr, ṭm’), likewise concerns ritual purity, and not necessarily what may be dirty or unhygienic. Many English translations render this word pair as “clean and unclean,” which is fine, so long as we keep this qualification in mind. Persons or objects that have become impure may undergo ritual “washing” (kbs, rhṣ) in order to return to a “pure” state.

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Another set of opposites in Leviticus is the adjective “intact” (tamim) and the noun “injury/defect” (mum). They apply to the physical descriptions of priests and especially to animal sacrifices. Tamim fundamentally means “whole/complete.” Unfortunately, many English translations render these words respectively as “blameless/perfect/without blemish” and “blemish,” which can wrongly connote perfection (not to mention being troublesome for those of us who grew up with acne!). An example of a misleading translation is the ESV rendering of Leviticus 22:21: a sacrificial animal “must be perfect; there shall be no blemish in it.” Rather, it “must be intact; there must be no defect in it.” In other words, worshipers should not offer the runt of the litter to satisfy their religious obligation to God.

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Symbolism of Flesh and Blood. The topics of interest and their arrangement in the book of Leviticus can be puzzling for modern readers. Underlying these topics, however, there is special attention paid to physical features of the body of both humans and animals. The life of humans (often designated by the Hebrew term nephesh or “soul/life”) and of animals (often designated by the Hebrew term ḥayyah or “living creature”) consists of flesh (basar, or “fat”/ḥeleb, or “skin”/‘or) and blood (dam). Leviticus 15 gives special attention to other bodily fluids/discharges, including male semen, female menstrual fluid, and venereal infections.

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In ritual sacrifice, as blood itself is necessary for life, so the separation of flesh and blood signifies death. The “blood” of sacrificial victims was sprinkled on the altar or “before Yahweh” (i.e., in front of the curtain, Lev 4:6, 17), and their fat was burned on the altar as a “fire-offering” to Yahweh (Lev 3:16). Hence, human consumption of fat and blood was strictly forbidden (Lev 3:17; 7:23–27), though humans could consume the “flesh” of the peace offering (Lev 7:15–21). We must be clear that there was no significance attached to blood itself. Bloodletting was never part of Israelite ritual (contrast 1 Kgs 18:28), so that one could simply cut oneself or an animal and use that blood for ritual purposes. It became useful in ritual only after the death of the sacrificial animal. Leviticus 17:11 (“the life/soul of the flesh is in the blood”) is an important verse in this regard, but it must be understood in the context of ritual slaughter. The Bible confers no magical properties on blood itself.

The fluid, oil, was an important ingredient in grain offerings (Lev 2). In rituals, oil was used for the consecration of priests (Lev 8) and for the cleansing of those with skin diseases (Lev 14).

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In the purity laws, bodily contact with blood or genital discharges made one ritually “impure” and in need of purification (e.g., child birth or nocturnal emission, Lev 15). A “skin disease” (tsara‘at) likewise made one impure (Lev 13–14). Tsara‘at did not actually denote leprosy (i.e., Hansen’s disease, as it is often translated in English Bibles), but generally a scale disease of the skin, including psoriasis, eczema, vitiligo, or favus. The two chapters concerning illicit sexual relations (Lev 18; 20) forbid exposing the “nakedness” of one’s “relatives” (lit. one’s “flesh,” she’er).

If a bodily “defect” (mum, unfortunately often translated “blemish”) is found on a descendent of Aaron (e.g., he is blind or lame), he cannot serve as priest (Lev 21:17–23). An animal that has a “defect” cannot be offered as a sacrifice (Lev 22:20–25). Readers may be puzzled why the lex talionis (“eye for eye, tooth for tooth” in Lev 24:17–21; cf. Exod 21:23–25; Deut 19:21) appears in its current context, but this version in Leviticus uniquely adds instances of bodily “injury” (the same word, mum).

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The bodily fluids of blood, male semen, and female menstrual fluid are necessary for life and procreation. But once outside of the body, the bodily loss of these fluids foreshadows and signifies the loss of life and even death itself.

In ritual sacrifice, the blood and the fat, the separation of which symbolized death, are placed and consumed upon the altar, thus ascending in smoke to God. The death of the animal can symbolize self-dedication (the burnt offering) or atonement (the sin and guilt offerings). In ritual purity laws, the flow of blood or female menstrual fluids or male semen signified loss of life. This loss made one impure and thus in need of ritual cleansing.

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The body of the sacrificial victim and the body of the officiating priest must be “whole/intact” and without “defect/injury” to be “acceptable” to Yahweh (Lev 1:3; 22:19–25). Skin diseases likewise made one impure. A whole, intact body embodies what is acceptable to God and likewise the notion of holiness. Wholeness signifies holiness.

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The book of Leviticus thus reflects an embodied symbol system for life and death, purity, wholeness, and holiness.

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Ritual vs. Moral Impurity? When considering OT law codes, modern readers often make a distinction between moral laws and ritual/ceremonial laws. While it has some merit, the priestly writers behind the book of Leviticus do not appear to operate by these categories.

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Ritual impurity appears almost exclusively in the Priestly Code of Leviticus 1–16. It occurs as a result of skin disease or contact with menstrual fluids and blood, genital discharges, house mildew (Lev 14:45–46), or with dead animals or humans. Such contact may be unavoidable, as in cases of child birth and family burials, both of which are obligatory for the people of God. So, ritual impurity clearly does not entail sin.

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The state of ritual impurity is temporary, ranging from a day, a week, or 33 days in the case of a male child and 66 days in the case of a female (Lev 12:4–5). Ritual washings and sacrifices may also be prescribed.

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The laws pertaining to ritual impurity do not correlate with health risks (e.g., nocturnal emission). The only diseases that surface in the book of Leviticus are scale diseases on the skin. Some of the animals listed as impure do not pose a health risk to humans.

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The only references to ritual impurity in the Holiness Code (Lev 17–26) are brief and likely presuppose the more developed regulations in the Priestly code: (im)pure animals (Lev 20:25) and priests with a skin disease or in contact with a corpse or a nocturnal emission (Lev 21:1, 11; 22:4). In contrast to the Priestly Code (Lev 7:24), the Holiness Code permits laypeople to consume dead or torn animals, so long as they engage in ritual washing (Lev 17:15–16).

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Laws that could be classified as moral appear exclusively in the Holiness Code, principally in chapters 18 and 20, which closely parallel and repeat each other. Chapter 18 lists a series of “abominations” (Lev 18:26–30) that had been practiced by the previous inhabitants of “the land of Canaan” (Lev 18:3). In this respect, “Canaan(ite)” became code for illegitimate practices. As a result Yahweh declares, “the land became impure and I called its iniquity to account and the land vomited out its inhabitants” (Lev 18:25). This serves as a warning to the Israelites as the next inhabitants of the land. The actual penalty will be excommunication: “the persons who do them will be cut off from their people” (Lev 18:29). The specific abominations listed are incest, intercourse with a woman during her menstrual period, adultery, offering one’s child to Molech, homosexuality, and bestiality. The defilement of lying with a menstruating woman introduces the subsection on “impurity” (Lev 18:19–30) and is mentioned right alongside adultery, homosexuality, bestiality, and offering a child to Molech (Lev 18:19–23). (It is worth noting that Leviticus mentions only Molech worship, not idolatry more broadly, as in Deut 17:2–7, where it is a capital crime.)

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Chapter 20 curiously repeats much the same list (adding divination and cursing parents), but in most cases its penalty is capital punishment: perpetrators “shall surely be put to death” (Lev 20:2, 9–13, 15–16, 27). Although the list of incestuous relationships in Leviticus 20 is not as extensive as that in Leviticus 18, capital punishment is applied only to cases involving one’s father’s wife or daughter-in-law or mother-in-law (Lev 20:11–12, 14). Excommunication is the penalty for intercourse with a woman during her menstrual period (as in Lev 20:18) and uncovering the nakedness of one’s sister (Lev 20:17), but cases involving one’s aunt or sister-in-law brings the threat of lifelong childlessness (Lev 20:17, 19–21). Two other capital crimes surface later in chapter 24: cursing God’s name and murder (Lev 24:10–16, 17, 21).

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Our categories of ritual impurity and moral crimes do not match up with the respective outcomes of ritual washing and sacrifice and excommunication and capital punishment. Excommunication is the penalty for some instances of ritual impurity: the improper consumption of ritual sacrifice (Lev 7:20–27 in the Priestly Code; Lev 17:4, 9, 10, 14; 19:8 in the Holiness Code), failure to fast on the Day of Atonement (Lev 23:29), and priests who approach holy things while in a state of impurity (Lev 22:3). But for other cases of ritual impurity ritual washing and sacrifice can return one to a pure state. Excommunication is the penalty applied to all the “abominations” listed in Leviticus 18, including intercourse with a menstruating woman. Leviticus 20 likewise applies excommunication to lying with a menstruating woman and certain cases of incest. But other cases of incest have become capital crimes. In modern societies, however, capital punishment is applied only to murder (mentioned later in Lev 24:17, 21), certainly not to cursing one’s parents (Lev 20:9) or God’s name (Lev 24:10–16).

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Much of Leviticus 18 and 20 concerns illicit sexual relations. The inclusion of intercourse with a woman (including one’s wife) during her menstrual period, alongside cases of incest, raises the question of whether these sexual relations are illicit because they are immoral or because they are impure. Are these Levitical laws about morality or ritual purity? There is no mention of personal or social harm. As noted above, (im)purity laws may be determined by the symbolism of the human body and its fluids. While modern readers may be at a loss to explain all these prohibitions on moral grounds, the one principle underlying them is that male semen is meant to go to one’s wife—unless she is bleeding—not to another relative, man, or beast. If scholars are correct that the opening prologue to these purity laws in the book of Leviticus is to be found in the seven-day creation account of Genesis 1, then this principle makes perfect sense in light of the creation mandate for sexual reproduction (Gen 1:28; 9:1, 7). The laws of Leviticus 18 and 20 safeguard its fulfillment.

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Key “Sacraments”: Tabernacle, Sacrifice, Priests, Festivals

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As we have seen elsewhere, important symbols of Israelite worship have analogues in ANE worship, most notably the sanctuary, sacrifice, and festivals. We should view these tangible symbols as part of the cultural “language” that Yahweh employed to communicate with his people. In each case below, we will observe that Yahweh uses this common language in order to convey a theological turn of meaning.

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Sacred Space: Tabernacle/Tent of Meeting. The formula, “And Yahweh spoke to Moses,” recurs throughout the Priestly material (P) in the book of Exodus (Exod 25:1; 31:1; 40:1, etc.), where the location is clearly Mount Sinai (Exod 24:16). These speeches include the virtual blueprints for the tabernacle/tent of meeting. (Although Solomon’s temple is patterned somewhat after the tabernacle, it is not granted the same divine endorsement as the “tent of meeting.”) The verse introducing Leviticus locates the several speeches that Yahweh delivers to Moses throughout the book:

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And Yahweh called to Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting (Lev 1:1).

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In the Priestly material (P) “the tent of meeting” was located at the center of the Israelite camp (Num 2:17), though in Exodus 33:7–11 (E) it was found “outside the camp.” Another term for this tent is the “tabernacle,” which likewise denotes a portable dwelling. Other terms highlight its holiness: “the holy place” or simply “the sanctuary.” We may not be too hopeful that archaeologists would unearth physical remains, but they have found remnants of a Midianite tent shrine at Timna (12th century BCE). It is perhaps not coincidental that when Moses had “fled from Pharaoh …he dwelt in the land of Midian” and married a daughter of a “priest of Midian” (Exod 2:15–16).

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Sacred Rituals: Sacrifice. Israelite worship was characteristically embodied in ritual. To convey the notion of offering tribute to and communion with deity, the Old Testament uses the Semitic symbol of sacrifice (זבח , zbḥ) at the altar (מִזְבֵַּחַ , mizbeaḥ). The terminology in Leviticus and at ancient Ugarit was very similar (e.g., using the same West Semitic terms for “sacrifice,” “altar,” “peace,” and “wave offerings”), as were the sacrificial animals (bulls, sheep, birds). Although the ritual actions may have been similar, their meaning and theology were very different in ancient Israel.

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In Mesopotamia much attention was devoted to the “care and feeding of the gods,” especially in terms of washing their cult statues and feeding them through sacrifice and libations (see, e.g., ANET, 95, 338–39, 343–45).

 

For example, when Utnapishtim, the Noah figure in the Gilgamesh Epic, offers sacrifices after the seven-day flood:

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The gods smelled the savor,
The gods smelled the sweet savor,
The gods crowded around the sacrificer like flies (COS 1.132, p. 460).

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It would appear they had no one to feed them the entire week!