Leviticus

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According to the Masoretic tradition, Leviticus has 27 chapters and 859 verses. The Babylonian cycle of readings (which is followed today by all Jewish communities) divides the book into ten pericopes (sedarot), while according to the Palestinian triennial cycle of Second Temple times, it contains 25 sections. Jewish tradition maintains that Leviticus, in common with the other books of the Pentateuch, was dictated by God to Moses.

From the standpoint of Bible criticism, Leviticus derives from a single priestly source (known as P), although some designate Leviticus 17-26 "the Holiness Code" and assign it to another source (H). While Jewish tradition regards the book as an integral part of the Torah given by God on Mount Sinai, critical scholarship has different views concerning the era in which it was composed. For example, it has been suggested that Leviticus was the last volume of the Pentateuch to have been edited and that the editing was only completed after the Return to Zion from Babylonia. On the other hand, Yeḥezkel Kaufmann, the modern Israeli Bible scholar, considered Leviticus to be the most ancient source, a remnant of the laws governing sacrifices in the High Places. The Jerusalem scholar Mosheh David Cassuto maintained that the book is actually a collection of traditions which were handed down to Moses and from one generation to the next, all of them beginning: "The Lord spoke to Moses, saying." Thus, according to Cassuto, there is no reason to believe that the volume is much later than the time of Moses.

Third book of the Pentateuch, called by the early rabbis "the Priests' Manual." The role of the priest is defined in pedagogic terms: to teach the distinctions "between the holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean" (10:10; cf Ezek 44:23). This is necessary to prevent Israel's moral sins and physical impurities from polluting the sanctuary and causing its eventual abandonment by God. The priests are therefore charged with a double task: to instruct Israel to purify themselves of their pollution, and to purge the sanctuary of its pollution. However, Leviticus is not just a collection of rituals; one may justifiably seek a moral basis behind every ritual act.

Chapters 1-7 depict the sacrificial system: chapters 1-5 list the sacrifices from the point of the donor: chapters 1-3, the spontaneously motivated sacrifices; chapters 4-5, the expiatory sacrifices. Chapters 6-7 regroup these sacrifices in order of their sanctity and frequency.

The sacrifices discussed in these chapters share the characteristic of responding to an unpredictable religious and emotional need; they are to be distinguished from the sacrifices connected with the public feasts and fasts as determined by the calendar (chaps. 9; 16; 23; cf Num chaps. 28-29).

The "burnt offering" must be chosen from male, unblemished and eligible species of the herd, flock and birds. Its function here is expiatory (Lev 1:4), but in the priestly texts, whenever it is offered by an individual, the motivation is joyful (cf 22:17ff; Num 15:1-11). In non-priestly texts, the burnt offering denotes a tribute brought by subjects to their overlords, whether human (Judg 13:15-18) or divine (I Sam 3:14). It could be either animal or vegetable (Gen 4:3; I Sam 2:13): in a priestly context, however, it is exclusively cereal, either choice flour or roasted grain (Lev 2:14-16). The restriction to cereal emphasizes that man's tribute to God should be from the fruit of his labors on the soil. The peace offering (chap. 3) is motivated solely by elation. Its rules are similar to those of the burnt offering. Being of lesser sanctity, its portions are assigned to the donor as well as to God. The choicest internal fats (suet) are turned to smoke. The purification offering removes the impurity inflicted upon the sanctuary by the inadvertent violation of prohibitive laws (chap. 4) or by the creation of severe physical impurity (chaps. 12-14, see below). The failure to cleanse minor impurity immediately upon its occurrence also requires the purification offering. The other exclusive expiatory sacrifice is the reparation offering prescribed for sacrilege against the property of God or man (5:14-6:7).

Chapters 8-10 depict the inaugural service at the sanctuary. The priests are inducted after the priestly vestments and the tabernacle are completed and consecrated (chap. 8). It is not Aaron, however, but Moses who dominates the scene. He is the one who conducts the inaugural service, consecrates the priests, and apportions all the tasks. Following the week of consecration, the priests commence their official duties. They offer up special sacrifices for the people "that the glory of the Lord may appear" (9:6; cf vs. 4, 23). Indeed, the whole purpose of the sacrificial system is revelation, the assurance that God is with his people. During the service the eldest sons of Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, are killed by a divine fire because they offered incense with "profane fire", most probably brought from elsewhere than the altar (cf 16:12; Num 16:46). The cereal and well-being offerings are eaten by the priests in accordance with Leviticus 6:16 and 7:28-34. But the procedure for the purification offering is switched from the individual (6:26) to the communal form (10:12); Aaron does not eat the sacrificial meat, but destroys it, because it has been doubly polluted by the sin and death of his sons (10:19).

Chapters 11-15 prescribe the laws of impurities, whose basic rationale is the binary opposition of life and death. Impurity is that which symbolizes death and hence must be avoided and eliminated.

Animal carcasses generate impurity (11:24-44) except for those declared fit for consumption (11:1-23). But the permitted species are so few that these laws clearly aim to limit Israel's access to animal flesh. This rationale is also implied by the explicit reason cited in the text: holiness (11:44-47; cf 20:22-26), a word which bears the dual connotation of "sanctification" (by emulating God's nature, 11:44) and "separation" (from the impurities of the pagans, 20:22-26). Holiness is the antonym of impurity; it represents the forces of life.

Blood and semen are forces of life. Thus their loss from the genital organs is declared an impurity. After the birth of a boy or girl, the parturient is impure for 40 or 80 days respectively, after which, sacrifices are offered (chap. 12). Natural discharges of men and women are purified by bathing (15:16-18, 19-24), but pathological discharges require sacrificial expiation (15:2-15, 25-30).

Chapter 16 gives the regulation for the Day of Atonement ritual.

Chapters 17-27 have been called the Holiness Source (designated as H) by scholars who suggest that it constitutes an independent code in which moral and ritual laws alternate, and whose motivation is holiness. Others, however, question this theory, pointing out that chapter 17, the alleged beginning of the code, is connected thematically and verbally with the preceding chapters while chapters 25-26, the alleged conclusion, form an independent scroll, to judge by their unique vocabulary (e.g. 25:18-19; 26:5), theme (25:8-13; 26:34-35, 43) and redaction (25:1; 26:46). Nonetheless, much of the language, ideas and premises in chapters 17-27 differ from the first part of Leviticus.

Chapter 17 states that whosoever kills a sacrificial animal outside the sanctuary is guilty of murder (17:3-4). Two ends are thus achieved: sacrifice to "demons" is abolished (vs. 5-9), and expiation for killing the animal is assured through the ritual by which its lifeblood is returned to its creator either upon the altar (vs. 10-12), or by being drained and covered by earth, in the case of game animals (vs. 13-14; cf Deut 12:16).

Chapters 18-20 are thematically united: chapter 20 prescribes the penalties for the illicit relations and homicidal cult practices of chapter 18 (cf 20:1-5) and for violating the ban on magic of 19:31 (cf 20:6). Moreover, the entire unit is framed by a single goal: dissociation from the Canaanites whose idolatry and criminal practices pollute the divinely chosen land (18:3, 24-30; 20:22-24).

The positive aspect of holiness – imitatio dei, the life of godliness – is spelled out in the ethical and ritual commands of chapter 19, reaching its climax in the commandment to love all persons (v. 18), including resident aliens (v. 34). Such love must be tangibly expressed in deeds: equality in civil justice (20:2-24:16, 22; cf Num 35:15), free loans (25:35-55; cf Deut 10:18) and free gleanings (19:9-10).

Defects which disqualify sacrifices also disqualify priests from officiating (chaps. 21-22). Chapter 23 contains a festival calendar; being addressed to the lay farmer rather than the priest, it omits the New Moon festival (when the Israelite has no special duties or prohibitions). Indeed, with the exception of verses 13 and 18-20, all requirements of the public cult are ignored, and only the offerings of the individual farmer are enumerated. Chapter 25 deals with the sabbatical and jubilee years.

A threat of total destruction and exile appears in chapter 26 as it does in three other books of the Bible: Deuteronomy, Jeremiah and Ezekiel (whose eschatology is largely based on this chapter). These also share with chapter 26 the pre-prophetic view that cultic sins alone determine the nation's collapse – idolatry (v. 1) and the neglect of the sabbatical system (vs. 2, 34-35) being specified here.

Chapter 27 discusses the commutation of gifts to the sanctuary. The organizing principle of this chapter is that gifts offerable on the altar may never be desanctified, but nonofferable gifts (with the exception of proscriptions) may be desanctified by their sale or redemption.

In comparison with the rest of the Pentateuch, Leviticus is relatively uncomplicated. Critical scholars attribute it to two priestly sources: an older source, P, which has been assimilated and redacted by a younger source, H. In the main, P is found in chapters 1-16 and H in chapters 17-26. However, traces are found of P within H (e.g. 17:3-4; 23:13, 18-20) and of H within P (e.g. 11:43-45; 16:29-34).

• Old Testament

Dansk (Danish)
n. - 3. mosebog

Nederlands (Dutch)
Leviticus (derde boek van Oude Testament)

Français (French)
n. - Lévitique

Deutsch (German)
n. - Levitikus (3. Buch Mose)

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (θρησκ.) Λευιτικό

Italiano (Italian)
Levitico

Português (Portuguese)
n. - levítico (m) (Rel.)

Русский (Russian)
Левит (книга Ветхого Завета)

Español (Spanish)
n. - Levítico

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - Tredje mosebok

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
利未记

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 利未記

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 구약 레위기

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - レビ記

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) السفر الثالث من العهد القديم في الكتاب المقدس, , سفر اللاويين‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮ויקרא (חומש)‬

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