LEVITICUS
Kevin A. Wilson
Leviticus
stands at the heart of the
Torah. It falls between the salvation of
Israel out of Egypt in the book of
Exodus and the journey to the promised
land in Numbers. In Leviticus, God
gives those laws that will govern the
lives of the people of Israel as they seek
to live as a community with God in
their midst. It contains the ordination of
the first priests, the institution of the
sacrificial system, and numerous
concepts and precepts that are central to
what it meant to be the people of God in
ancient Israel. And nestled among these
laws is one Jesus listed as the second
most important commandment: “Love
your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus
19:18; cf. Matthew 22:39; Mark 12:31;
Luke 10:27).
But despite its centrality and importance, Leviticus also remains one of the
most neglected books of the Bible
among Christians. It is rarely read for
devotional study and is only infrequently—if ever—the subject of church
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Bible studies. Leviticus does not fare
much better in the church’s worship.
Both the lectionary in the 1979 Book of
Common Prayer and the Revised
Common Lectionary assign Sunday
readings from Leviticus only two times
in the three year cycle, and in both instances the reading is optional.
Some of the neglect of Leviticus can
be traced to the complexity and seeming
irrelevance of the book. Leviticus focuses on minutiae such as which parts
of the animal should be burned on the
altar and which parts should be burned
outside the tabernacle (Leviticus 1–7).
It goes on for two whole chapters on the
subject of skin diseases (Leviticus 13–
14). And it deals with economic laws
that seem out of touch with modern
ways of doing business (Leviticus 25).
Understanding these laws is necessary,
however, if one wants to understand the
rest of the Bible. The sacrificial system
instituted in Leviticus is the basis for
sacrifices throughout the Old Testament
and was still in place during the life of
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Jesus. The passages on skin diseases
form the backdrop to the story of Jesus
and the healing of the lepers (Matthew
8:1-4; Mark 1:40-45; Luke 5:12-16),
while the economic justice envisioned
by Leviticus 25 is seen by Luke as
fulfilled in the ministry of Christ (Luke
4:18-19). It is fair to say that without an
understanding of Leviticus, our understanding of the rest of the Bible is
incomplete.
But not all of the neglect of Leviticus can be blamed on the book itself.
Some of the blame falls on our own
distaste of anything that smacks of
legalism. Since the mid-nineteenth
century, it has been common to view
the religion of the Hebrew Bible as an
originally lively faith, with an apex in
the preaching of the prophets, that later
devolved into a dead, legalistic religion,
as seen in the priestly material of the
Pentateuch. Such a view owes much to
the New Testament’s criticism of the
priests in Jesus’ time, but Protestant
churches have often carried this idea to
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the extreme in the wake of the
Reformation. Anything that appears
hierarchical and legalistic seems suspect
to us, and Leviticus certainly falls in
that category.
Fortunately, in the last few decades
this negativity towards texts from
priestly circles in the Old Testament has
begun to be tempered by a more positive evaluation. Instead of dating all
priestly material to the postexilic period
and viewing it as a calcified form of an
earlier, more vital religion, scholars
have begun to recognize that a good
deal of the priestly material comes from
the preexilic period. Far from being a
dead legalism, the priestly theology—
including that in Leviticus—was a lifegiving tradition that existed alongside
the prophets and complimented their
work. In fact, some of the prophets,
such as Isaiah and Ezekiel, drew heavily
on the priestly traditions to address the
religious and social issues of their time.
Like these prophets, the modern church
needs to learn to appropriate the rich
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theological heritage of ancient Israel’s
priesthood for our modern life as the
community of God.
The Origins of Leviticus
The Pentateuch is a composite document. Unlike modern books, which are
written by one author, the Torah developed over time. Different theological
streams of thought came together to
form the first five books of the Bible.
Genesis, Exodus, and Numbers are a
mixture of priestly and non-priestly
material. The non-priestly material is
often referred to as the Yahwist (J), due
to its use of the divine name Yahweh
(German: “Jahweh”) prior to its revelation to Moses on Mount Sinai. The
book of Deuteronomy (D), on the other
hand, stands apart from Genesis–
Numbers, having been written by
authors who were a part of neither the
priestly nor the Yahwistic schools. In
the postexilic period, these three strands
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were combined into the Pentateuch as
we have it today.
The priestly material in the Torah
does not all come from the same time
period. One set of traditions—often
called the Priestly Torah (PT)—arose in
the preexilic period. These traditions
were the official theology of certain
temple priests in Jerusalem. The second
set of traditions reached their final form
in the period after the Babylonian exile
(597–538 B.C.E.). These texts are a
product of a group of priests that have
been labeled the Holiness School (HS).
In addition to contributing their own
material to the Torah, it is likely that the
Holiness School was responsible for
combining J, PT, and D to create the
Pentateuch in its canonical form.
The book of Leviticus is the only
book in the Torah made up solely of
priestly material. The extended account
of Israel’s year-long sojourn at Mount
Sinai running from Exodus 19 to
Numbers 10 contains some material
from J, but none of it is found in
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Leviticus. Leviticus is entirely of priestly origin, including traditions from both
PT (predominant in Leviticus 1–16) and
HS (predominant in Leviticus 17–27).
This is not to say, however, that material in Leviticus pertains only to
priests. This misconception dates back
to the Greek translation of the Old
Testament, which gave the title
Leutikon to the book because it thought
the text applied primarily to the priests,
i.e., the Levites. It is from that Greek
tradition that we get the English title
Leviticus. But the Hebrew name for the
book is wayyiqrä´, which is taken from
the first words of the book: “And God
called (to Moses).” God called to Moses
in order to deliver the law to him for
passing on to the people. While Leviticus does contain material of importance
to the priests, the priesthood is never
seen in isolation from the people. For
example, Leviticus 1–7 contains instructions for how the priests are to
officiate in sacrificial rites, but the people of Israel are the ones who are to
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bring the sacrifices. They have as big a
role—if not bigger!—in bringing their
offerings to God.
Structure and Setting
Leviticus can be divided into four
sections. The book opens with a manual
of sacrifice in chapters 1–7. Here we
find instructions for the five major types
of sacrifices in ancient Israel: the burnt
offering, the grain offering, the offering
of well-being, the sin offering, and the
guilt offering. This is followed by the
only narrative section of the book, the
ordination of Aaron and his sons as
priests in Leviticus 8–10. Next come
chapters containing laws for maintaining purity (chapters 11–16). The
concluding section, known as the
Holiness Code (chapters 17–27), provides instructions for living as holy
people so that God may dwell in their
midst.
With the exception of chapters 8–
10, Leviticus contains no narrative
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sections, yet it is integrally connected to
the narrative logic of the book of
Exodus. Exodus begins with the people
of Israel in Egypt, and through the first
half of the book God works to deliver
them from slavery. Once freed, they are
led to Mount Sinai where God makes a
covenant with them: Israel will be the
people of Yahweh, and Yahweh will be
their God (Exodus 6:6-8, 19:3-6). After
making the covenant, God gives Moses
instructions for the building of the
tabernacle (Exodus 26–31), the movable
shrine that will serve as the place of
worship in the wilderness. The people
of God make the tabernacle according
to the plans provided (Exodus 35–40)
and God takes up residence in the
tabernacle (Exodus 40:34-38).
This leads directly into the book of
Leviticus, which is set up as instructions
given by God from inside the tabernacle. Now that God has begun to dwell
in the midst of the people, the people
can begin to bring offerings to God. The
instructions for these sacrifices are giv10
en in chapters 1–7, but in order to offer
sacrifices a priesthood needs to be instituted. This takes place in Leviticus 8–9.
The ordination of the priests requires
sacrifices to be offered, which explains
why the ordination comes after the
manual of sacrifice.
Once the priesthood is installed,
however, problems immediately develop. Two of Aaron’s sons, Nadab and
Abihu, offer improper sacrifices before
the Lord and are struck down by God.
Immediately, the question arises: how
can a sinful people live with a holy God
in their midst? Will not their sins
pollute the shrine, making it unfit for
God’s presence? These questions are
answered by the rest of Leviticus, which
provides laws by which the people of
God can order their lives in such a way
as to maintain holiness. And when the
people’s uncleanness does pollute the
tabernacle, God provides a means of
grace in the annual Day of Atonement,
which cleanses the people and the
tabernacle from impurity (Leviticus 16).
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Once the instructions are in place for
living as a holy community, the people
are ready to leave Mount Sinai and
continue towards the promised land in
the book of Numbers.
The Priestly World
The priestly worldview that underlies Leviticus sees the world as a highly
structured place. The priests who wrote
Leviticus also wrote the familiar creation story in Genesis 1. There, we are
presented with a world in which
everything has a place and everything is
in its place. Each plant and animal is
created “according to its type” (vv. 1112, 21, 24-25) and each is assigned to
its appropriate sphere of existence: land,
sea, or sky. And God saw that it was
good (vv. 4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31).
Yet for the priestly authors, creation
is not completed until the building of
the tabernacle in Exodus 35–40. Unlike
the Yahwist, who shows God living in
the midst of humanity in the garden of
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Eden, the priestly authors picture God
coming to dwell with humanity only
with the completion of the tabernacle
(Exodus 25:8). In many ways, the iconography of the tabernacle reflects that
of the garden of Eden. The cherubim
atop the ark in the middle of the tabernacle (Exodus 25:17-22) mirror the
cherubim who guard the way back to
Eden (Genesis 3:24), while the
branched menorah with its blossoms
(Exodus 25:31-40) calls to mind the tree
of life in the garden of Eden (Genesis
3:22-24). When the people of Israel
come to worship God at the tabernacle,
they are allowed to reenter Eden
temporarily.
The laws in the book of Leviticus
make it possible for God to dwell in the
tabernacle by maintaining its purity. But
they also serve to protect the people.
One of the central ideas behind Leviticus is that God is holy, and, in order to
be the people of God, Israel must be
holy as well. This is the reason for the
oft repeated phrase in Leviticus: “You
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shall be holy, for I the LORD your God
am holy” (19:2; 20:7), often shortened
to “I am the LORD your God” (18:2,
30), or simply “I am the LORD” (18:5;
cf. Exodus 6:2).
The people must be holy not simply
because they should imitate God, but
also because when the holy came into
contact with the unholy, the latter was
in danger of being destroyed. An example of this can be seen in the death of a
man named Uzzah, who touched the ark
of the covenant when David was transporting it to Jerusalem (2 Samuel 6:68). Uzzah was unholy, so his contact
with the ark brought about his death.
The ark was enshrined in the tabernacle,
so any contact with the tabernacle required the people to be holy, lest they
suffer Uzzah’s fate.
We must not think, however, that
the people of Israel followed the law in
order to make themselves holy. Although it is a common misconception
that the Israelites had to earn holiness
through obedience to the law, this is not
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the case. Instead, holiness was a gift
granted by God to the people when the
covenant was made at Mount Sinai.
They could never become holy on their
own, but through God’s free gift and
indwelling presence they were sanctified to be the people of God.
But although they could not gain
holiness by their own actions, they
could lose it, so the laws in Leviticus
are intended to allow the people to
maintain holiness. By following the
law, they could retain the holiness that
was a gift from God. This allowed God
to live in their midst and made it
possible for the people to worship at the
tabernacle. And when they did lose their
state of holiness, God provided a way
for them to regain it, namely, the
sacrifices instituted in Leviticus 1–7 and
the Day of Atonement in Leviticus 16.
Leviticus for Today
When we take the time and effort to
dive into the book of Leviticus, it has a
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powerful message for the church today.
Far from being concerned with dead
laws that weigh us down, Leviticus
resounds with the word of God to us in
our modern life.
Holiness. Holiness is not a concept that
is heard much in the modern world, but
it is an idea that we should pursue as
Christians. Like the ancient Israelites,
we have been granted holiness, although we are more likely to call it salvation or righteousness. This holiness
has been granted us as a gift through
faith in Jesus Christ and we should do
everything in our power to make sure
that we do nothing to mar that gift.
Reading Leviticus, one finds a focus on
holiness that calls us—both as
individuals and a community of faith—
to self-examination. Like the people of
Israel, we must make sure that nothing
stands between us and our relationship
with God.
Ritual. Leviticus also reminds us of the
importance of ritual. Although it is pos16
sible for ritual to devolve into lifeless
repetition, true worship has a profound
impact on those who attend. And worship is not a spectator sport. The study
of the rituals in Leviticus teaches us that
both priests and the laity are active in
the worship of God. The rituals in
which we participate not only draw us
closer to God but also actually transform us. Just as the holiness of the
Israelites was restored through the
sacrifices, so is our holiness restored
each week through our participation in
the Eucharist.
Wholeness. Finally, Leviticus calls us
to consider every aspect of our lives as
a part of who we are as Christians. No
detail is too small to pass over. From
skin irritations (Leviticus 13–14) to
bodily discharges (Leviticus 15), and
from the second greatest commandment
(Leviticus 19:18) to the material our
clothes are made of (Leviticus 19:19),
all aspects of our lives are important to
God. Leviticus shows us a life of faith
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focused not only on what we do on
Sunday but also on the tiniest minutiae
of our day-to-day living. It is commonplace to say that the devil is in the
details, but for Leviticus, it is God who
is found in the details.
Drawing Closer to God
Despite its status as one of the most
neglected books of the Bible, Leviticus
can be one of the most rewarding
studies for those who take time to mine
its depths. It calls us to a life as the holy
people of God and provides us with new
ways of exploring what it means to be
holy. And as we learn to be holy, as the
Lord our God is holy, we can draw
closer to God, knowing that the Lord is
in our midst.
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Dr. Kevin A. Wilson is an Anglican biblical scholar,
who has served as a missionary and professor of
biblical studies at Lithuania Christian College in
Eastern Europe. Among his several publications is
Conversations with Scripture: The Law (Harrisburg:
Morehouse, 2006). He maintains a fascinating Bible
blog at: http://bluecord.org/biblioblog/.
Cover image from Christoph Weigel’s 1695
collection of biblical images, Biblia ectypa, courtesy
of the Pitts Theology Library, Candler School of
Theology, Emory University.
The Bible Briefs series is a joint venture of Virginia
Theological Seminary and Forward Movement
Publications.
www.vts.edu
www.forwardmovement.org
© 2008 Virginia Theological Seminary
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