Book of Leviticus
In Leviticus, God tells the Israelites and their priests, Aaron and his sons, how to make offerings in the Tabernacle and how to conduct themselves while camped around the holy tent sanctuary.
Leviticus takes place during the month or month-and-a-half between the completion of the Tabernacle (Exodus 40:17) and the Israelites' departure from Sinai (Numbers 1:1, 10:11).
The book teaches that faithful performance of the sanctuary rituals can make that possible, so long as the people avoid sin and impurity whenever possible.
The purpose is to underline the character of altar priesthood (i.e., those priests with power to offer sacrifices to God) as an Aaronite privilege, and the responsibilities and dangers of their position.
The reasoning behind the food rules are obscure; for the rest the guiding principle seems to be that all these conditions involve a loss of "life force", usually but not always blood.
The "holiness" injunctions which give the code its name begin with the next section: there are penalties for the worship of Molech, consulting mediums and wizards, cursing one's parents and engaging in unlawful sex.
[14] The code ends by telling the Israelites they must choose between the law and prosperity on the one hand, or, on the other, horrible punishments, the worst of which will be expulsion from the land.
[15] Chapter 27 is a disparate and probably late addition telling about persons and things serving as dedication to the Lord and how one can redeem, instead of fulfill, vows.
The writers expected them to be put into practice in Israel's temple, so the rituals would express this theology as well, as well as ethical concern for the poor.
[23] Many other interpreters have followed Milgrom in exploring the theological and ethical implications of Leviticus's regulations (e.g., Marx, Balentine), though some have questioned how systematic they really are.
[24] Ritual, therefore, is not taking a series of actions for their own sake, but a means of maintaining the relationship between God, the world, and humankind.
)[27] In chapter 10, God kills Nadab and Abihu, the oldest sons of Aaron, for offering "strange incense".
Commentators have read various messages in the incident: a reflection of struggles between priestly factions in the post-Exilic period (Gerstenberger); or a warning against offering incense outside the Temple, where there might be the risk of invoking strange gods (Milgrom).
"[31] Holiness in ancient Israel and the Hebrew Bible had a different meaning than in contemporary usage: it might have been regarded as the essence of Yahweh, an invisible but physical and potentially dangerous force.
Its influence is evident among the Dead Sea Scrolls, which included fragments of seventeen manuscripts of Leviticus dating from the 3rd to the 1st centuries BC.
Nevertheless, Leviticus constitutes a major source of Jewish law and is traditionally the first book children learn in the Rabbinic system of education.
"[45] Christians generally have the view that the New Covenant supersedes the Old Testament's ritual laws, which includes some of the rules in Leviticus.
[46] In Homilies on Leviticus, the third century theologian, Origen, expounded on the qualities of priests as models for Christians to be perfect in everything, strict, wise and to examine themselves individually, forgive sins, and convert sinners (by words and by doctrine).
