What can we learn from Moses in the book of Leviticus?

Answer 1

All the laws of Leviticus. However, concerning Moses' personality we don't see very much in Leviticus, since according to tradition the Torah was dictated by God (Exodus 24:12) and Leviticus contains almost no descriptions of events. It is all laws. Even when it is Moses speaking or doing something (see Leviticus ch.8), he is doing so according to God's exact words. To learn about Moses, you would want to see Exodus, Numbers, plus a few passages in Deuteronomy.

There is, however, one passage in Leviticus (10:16-20) which is very significant. In it, Aaron corrects Moses for having forgotten the proper application of a certain law, and Moses immediately accepts Aaron's correction, implicitly admitting his mistake. This shows Moses' humility (see Numbers ch.12) and the fact that he knew that obedience to God is more important than his own honor.

To Jews this has the further significance of informing our belief that any human claiming infallibility is, by definition, a falsifier. If Moses could err, any human can and will err too.

It should be pointed out that Moses' expressing his displeasure (10:16) should not be seen as meaning that Moses was ever prone to anger. In every case in which Moses does this (Exodus 16:20, Numbers 31:14), it is in response to a violation (or a perceived violation) against a Torah-matter. He expressed displeasure to show the importance of obedience to God. Moreover, the Hebrew word for actual anger is not used in these passages.

See also:

Moses' biography