Leviticus

A few weeks ago in Jerusalem, I was on a tour of the Western Wall tunnels with an Israeli guide.  She’s a fifth-grade teacher by day, but she supplements her income by taking tourists along through excavated passageways in the evening.  As we had some time to talk personally, I asked her about her job teaching the Bible at a (Jewish) religious school.  I believe she said that the curriculum for that year is Deuteronomy and Kings.  I commented that those are great books.  She replied that they ‘re all good.  I said, well, Leviticus isn’t so great.  She said that she loves Leviticus.

Now, I’ve made an off comment (or a dozen) in recent years about the nature of Leviticus and my lack of love for it.  Recently, however, I was very aware of two things: (1) I was loving every book of the Bible I was studying and (2) I would be studying Leviticus in connection with my arguments project.  I had no fear, however, that I would change my opinion of this very boring book.

It is boring, right?  I mean the entire 27 chapters is legal material, with a couple of narratives thrown in.  The narratives consist of one longer one (chs. 8-10), which mostly reads along the lines of “And he sprinkled some of it on the altar seven times” (Lev 8:11), and a shorter one which lasts seven verses and consists of the stoning of a blasphemer (Lev 24:10-16).  Back to the first narrative, the most interesting thing about it is that nobody knows just why Aaron’s two sons died.  They offered “unauthorized fire” and then fire came out of the tabernacle and burned them up (using words identical to the previous chapter where fire came out and consumed the animal sacrifices).  We don’t know what was “unauthorized/foreign/strange” about their sacrifice, only that they paid dearly for it (Lev 10:1-3).

So, why I am writing this post?  Am I writing to say, “hey, I was right, Leviticus is lame”?  Probably not.  If I felt that way, I’d maintain the recent radio silence.  Instead, in the course of five days, I have become fond of this book.  Why?  For one, I understand it better.  Two, there’s a literary artistry that I was ignorant of before.  Three, there are some good books about it that provide some helpful insights.  A word about each point.

One thing that I understand better is why the book is arranged the way it is.  The book proceeds roughly from public to private.  It begins with the sacrificial system and ends with personal life matters.  More than that, there’s a reason why each section is placed where it is.  You might expect that the first thing in Leviticus is a description of the Levites (given the name of the book).  Or, if you ‘re picking up from Exodus, you might expect Moses to fulfill the commands the Lord had previously given him to consecrate the priests.  The tabernacle had been constructed, but the priests were not ready to serve.  Yet Moses does not begin the book this way.  Instead, he begins with seven chapters describing the sacrifices.  Why?  When you read the account of the priests ‘ consecration (Lev 8-9), there are a number of sacrifices required.  In order for that to be understandable, the sacrifices have to be described first.  There are other examples of just how this book “works,” but this gives you a taste.

I did not focus much on the literary artistry in the book, largely because of time constraints.  But an example of this is the use of triads throughout the book.  For instance, the first three sacrifices are grouped together (Lev 1-3).  Each of these is divided into three parts.  That makes for easier reading and easier remembering, if you ‘re sensitive to it.

Finally, there are some good books about Leviticus that make the process of study more enjoyable (in my opinion).  Because of time, I was limited in what I could use.  But I would recommend Gordon Wenham’s commentary on the book (in the NICOT series).  Wenham also has a Guide to the Pentateuch that gives briefer synopses of each book, and I like both his insights and the brevity.  A good article on the book was written by N. Kiuchi in the Dictionary of the Old Testament: Pentateuch.  If you ‘re interested in spending more time in the book, any of these will help you along.  One major aspect that some of the books will help you to understand is the relationship of Leviticus to the New Testament.

All of this does cause me a problem.  I need, for personal and pedagogical reasons, a book that I can use as a contrast, a book to beat up on.  I have cities that fill that role when talking about geography (Fresno, Arad), and I have people that serve in that capacity when talking about archaeology (RASM) or politics (JC).  Who can stand in for Leviticus now?