Leviticus
Leviticus, the central book of the Pentateuch, deals with the areas of ritual worship and religious, criminal and civil law, which were central to the cultural life and governance of all ancient Near Eastern societies and generated a vast quantity of preserved texts and objects. We will find similar ritual procedures, infrastructure, terminology and concepts, as well as similar approaches to law in terms of literary context, formulation, reasoning and content between Israelite and surrouding cultures. It is abundantly clear that Leviticus was meant to communicate with and address the needs of real people in the context of their ancient Near Eastern culture, which contained a number of positive elements worthy to be affirmed and continued. At the same time, we recognize crucial differences that highlight and give depth perspective to the uniqueness of Israel’s God and his timeless message through Leviticus, which was countercultural in important respects.
Historical Setting
According to the narrative framework of the Pentateuch, God gave the legislation of Leviticus to Israel through Moses in the Sinai Desert during the first month of the second year after the Israelites exited from slavery in Egypt, before they moved on toward the land of Canaan (compare and ). Within the framework of Biblical chronology, this was during the second half of the second millennium BC.
Literary Setting
Some major features of Leviticus relate to similar aspects of other ancient Near Eastern texts.
1. Divine speech in a narrative setting. Compare, e.g., the Sumerian Cylinder A of Gudea, which extensively quotes the deities Ningirsu and Nanshe regarding construction of the Eninnu temple in Lagash.
2. Instructions for performance of rituals and festivals. Compare the Ugaritic Rites for the Vintage.
3. Rules for priests and other persons regarding their treatment of sacred things. Compare the Hittite “Instructions to Priests and Temple Officials.”
4. Laws grouped by topic. Compare the Hittite and Mesopotamian law collections.
5. Blessings and curses after laws (ch. ). Compare the epilogues to the Laws of Lipit-Ishtar and the Code of Hammurapi. ◆
Key Concepts
• Ritual impurity is not the same as sin, but either can restrict access to God’s presence.
• Holiness distinguishes God from people and God’s people from other people.
• Sacred space must be defined and preserved (the job of priests).
• Sacrifice is a mechanism to allow people to pray to God, thank God, preserve sacred space for God and be in relationship with God.