Week 6: Leviticus and Deuteronomy

Question 1

Leviticus and Deuteronomy

Covenant at Sinai and Journey in the Wilderness

Answer 1

As the book of Exodus continues, many more divine instructions are given to Moses, so much so that the narrative itself becomes almost a framework for materials inserted into it.

The giving of the Torah at Sinai comprises the central section of the Pentateuch.

The laws, instructions and imagery at the Covenant at Sinai is much later, and reflects back onto the understanding of the Covenant event.

40 years: liminal stage or threshold moment

Question 2

The Torah is expressed in both apodictic (absolute) and casuistic (case-by-case) laws

Answer 2

Apodictic Laws: Absolute laws (10 Commandments)

Casuistic Laws: Case-by-case laws (Code of Hammurapi)

Question 3

Apodictic Laws

Answer 3

Absolute laws (10 Commandments)

Question 4

Casuistic Laws

Answer 4

Case-by-case laws (Code of Hammurapi)

Question 5

There are three sets of the Ten Commandments:

Answer 5

Exodus 20

Exodus 34 (Ritual Decalogue: 10 instructions about different liturgical instructions)

Deuteronomy 5 (similar to Ex 20)

Question 6

In addition to the “Ten Commandments,” there are different law codes:

Answer 6

COVENANT CODE (Exodus 21-23): Agricultural

RITUAL CODE (Exodus 25-31; 35-40):Precise, liturgical, highly ordered, geared toward Levitical priests (descendents of Aaron and Levites)

HOLINESS CODE (Leviticus 17-26): the people are also meant to be holy

DEUTERONOMIC CODE (Deuteronomy 12-16): reflects an urban setting, talks about a king and war-time, and concerned with leadership and proper recognition of God

Question 7

How does critical scholarship explain the various law codes in the Pentateuch?

Answer 7

The final Priestly editors of the Pentateuch inserted into an older narrative legal and ritual traditions of different origins and dates, in part to provide them with a special authority by associating them with Moses and the revelations at Sinai.

Question 8

Exodus 15: Moses goes up and down the mountain twice

Answer 8

Emphasis on Moses’ physical strength and shows Moses as a mediator between the divine and humanity.

God’s covenantal relationship with people has moved from all humanity to a specific generation of a single family.

Now they are described as priestly, indicating their distinctiveness from all other peoples.

Qadosh: holy (“separate”)

• Sabbath is separate from all other days
• Ark of the Covenant is separate from the rest of the Tabernacle
• The land of Israel is separate from all other lands

The Exodus began with the names, and now they are called the “congregation of the sons of Israel”

Question 9

Qadosh

Answer 9

holy (“separate”)

Question 10

Parity Covenant

Answer 10

covenant between two equals

Question 11

Grant Covenant

Answer 11

covenant between a superior and inferior, without needing anything in exchange from inferior (simply a grant)

Question 12

Suzerainty Covenant

Answer 12

Covenant between a suzerain (powerful person/overlord), and a vassal, with stipulations and conditions. Suzerainty treaties existed at the national level and were common in the ancient world. Hittites and Assyrians use the format of suzerainty treaties.

Question 13

Elements of a Suzerainty Treaty

Answer 13

( 1 ) Identification of the Suzerain

( 2 ) History of the relationship between parties (Father-Son or Love)

( 3 ) Stipulations

( 4 ) Provision for deposit of copies of treaty in temples and public readings

( 5 ) Divine witnesses to the treaty

( 6 ) Blessings and Curses

Question 14

If the Israelites articulate their relationship with God through a known political formulation (the Suzerainty Treaty format), what does this suggest about how they understand their relationship with God and who God is for them? What does it say about how they viewed their relationship with other nations?

Answer 14

You can only enter into one Suzerainty treaty at a time, so Israel cannot enter into any other covenants. God’s sovereignty entails Israel’s complete independence from all other nations.

Question 15

Were the Israelites monotheists?

Answer 15

No. Exodus 20: “I am the Lord your God … you shall have no other gods but me.” They were monaltry.

Question 16

Polytheism

Answer 16

Worship of many gods.

Question 17

Henotheism

Answer 17

Acknowledgement of many gods, but worship of one main god most of the time; occasional worship of other gods as needed.

Question 18

Monolatry

Answer 18

Exclusive worship of only one god, with the acknowledgement that other gods exist.

Question 19

Monotheism

Answer 19

Exclusive worship of only one God. No other recognition of any other gods

Question 20

Code of Hammurapi:

Answer 20

One of the very first ancient law codes to be discovered (1901, Susa, Persia)

Approximately 300 laws in no particular order.

All casuistic laws: deals with particular circumstances (dealing with theft, perjury, marriage, medical malpractice, real estate, banking, etc.).

Written in first person by Hammurapi himself. Hammurapi was a ruler over babylon. These laws are seemingly meant to glorify him.

Picture of Marmaduke (most in ancient babylon could not read)

Main message: God is giving the power to the king, law comes from the divine realm. There is no higher authority than God.

Embodies two key legal principles:

1. Laws were binding and penalties for crimes were fixed
2. Punishment should fit the crime (proportionately retributive)

No evidence that this code was cited in specific legal actions.

Question 21

Lex Talionis (“Law of the Talion”): “Eye for an eye” (Ex 21:22-24) → retribution

Answer 21

Parallels with Code of Hammurabi.

Intended to moderate retributive justice.

These laws are aimed to order society with corrective justice, since there are no police to govern and order society.

Not equal between classes of people.

Question 22

Structure of Exodus Ending:

Answer 22

Covenant Code (20:22-23:33)

Covenant Ratification (24)

Ritual Code (25-31; 35-40)

Episode of the Golden Calf (32)

Ritual Decalogue (34)

Question 23

Covenant Code: Criminal and Civil Law (20-23)

Answer 23

A variety of social regulations, including laws concerning women and slaves (casuistic law), with no clear order, in Exodus 20-23 (ratified in Exodus 24). Includes laws dealing with criminal and civil matters, and contains regulations concerning worship. Reflects a specifically Israelite religious worldview (e.g. Sabbath). Laws are set in explicitly religious context and deity is the ultimate authority. Laws and instructions to Moses concerning: Ark, Tabernacle, Priestly Vestments, Ordination.

Reflects an agrarian society, c. 1000 BCE.

Question 24

Orthopraxis

Answer 24

Right practice/worship

Question 25

Ritual Code

Answer 25

Specifications for the Ark, Cherubim, Tabernacle, and Court of the Tabernacle.

These instructions proceed outward from the source of holiness.

Question 26

Ritual Decalogue

Answer 26

Following divine instructions, Moses returned to top of Sinai to get another set of the 10 Commandments to replace tablets he had broken.

The replacement set are not duplicates, they are very different from decalogue in Exodus 20. 10 instructions about different liturgical instructions.

These “ten words” are a set of commandments explicitly identified as text of the Covenant (signifies different ancient decalogue tradition).

Ritual Decalogue

(1) Defines God’s character
(2) Concerned with aspects of worship:
- Forbids intermarriage with Canaanites
- Emphasizes the exclusivity of worship of YAHWEH
- Ethnic and ritual purity
- Instructions regarding the firstborn offerings (v. 19-20)
- Establishes regular holy days (Sabbath)

Emphasizes that worship of YAHWEH cannot be corrupted by the practice of the Canaanites.

Question 27

LEVITICUS

Answer 27

(way)yigra: “(and) he [Yahweh] summoned”

Leviticus continues the narrative of the stay at Sinai with more divine instructions given to Moses and Aaron.

Leviticus has a reputation as a law book, but law and narrative are intertwined.

• Concerns ritual matters
• Shaped entirely by Priestly writers
• Preserves a complex set of traditions

Question 28

Structure of Leviticus:

Answer 28

Sacrifices and Offerings (Lev 1-7)
The Consecration Ceremonies and their Aftermath (Lev 8-10)
Purity and Impurity (Lev 11-15)
The Day of Atonement (Lev 16)
The Holiness Code (Lev 17-18)
Prohibited Sexual Relationships (Lev 18 & Lev 20)

Question 29

Sacrifice (minah)

Answer 29

A type of offering or gift involving the death of an animal common throughout Ancient Near East. At the most basic level, sacrifice is understood as a way of communicating with the divine realm. Sacrifice was understood as a shared meal with a deity (either entire is burnt, and offered to deity or it is shared amongst deity and people), and was intended to show devotion. (4 Types of Sacrifices: Burnt, Grain, Well-Being, Sin and Guilt Offerings)

Question 30

4 Types of Sacrifices:

Answer 30

Burnt Offering/Holocaust (olah: “that which goes up”): the entire animal is consumed by the fire

Grain Offering (cooked or raw): gift from the poor

Offerings of Well-Being (“peace offering”): Thanksgiving, Voluntary

Sin and Guilt Offerings (Scapegoats)

Question 31

2 Reasons for Sacrifices

Answer 31

( 1 ) Existential/Theological: sacrifice is a gift back to God

( 2 ) Practical/Pragmatic: system of collection and distribution because animals, grain and drink were brought to Tabernacle and a portion was offered, and the rest was distributed

Tithing: 1/10th of agricultural harvest offered to God, and the rest was divided amongst everyone

Question 32

On sacrifices, Leviticus includes:

Answer 32

(1) instructions concerning sacrifices (2) types of sacrifices to be offered to YHWH

Question 33

Ritual Impurity

Answer 33

Has to do with ritual cleanliness and uncleanliness (not a sin)

Question 34

Moral Impurity

Answer 34

Has to do with action and behaviour (sinful)
Two kinds of moral impurity
Advertent: intentional
Inadvertent: committing a sin without realizing it

Question 35

Day of Atonement

Answer 35

Day of Purification and Cleansing; the ritual serves to purify the priest, the sanctuary and the people.

The effects of moral impurity we believed to be an invisible scum that stuck to the Holy of Holies (where God’s glory dwells) over the course of the year, and the worry was that God’s presence would leave.

Question 36

Scapegoat

Answer 36

The Day of Atonement restored the purity of the temple through the scapegoat, because the scapegoat bares the sins of the people. This is a way for Israel to maintain the purity of the sanctuary. The effects of moral impurity we believed to be an invisible scum that stuck to the Holy of Holies (where God’s glory dwells) over the course of the year, and the worry was that God’s presence would leave. Israelites sent a goat into the wilderness to atone for the morally impure sins of the Temple.

Question 37

Jewish Purity & Impurity

Answer 37

“Clean” and “Unclean”
Ritual cleanliness and uncleanliness.

Clean/Pure is that which is suitable for human use, and in some cases, required for continued membership in Israel’s covenantal community, described as Yahweh’s “holy nation.”

No comprehensive system.

Those who had contact with impure become impure themselves.

Question 38

The Holiness Code (17-26)

Answer 38

Attributed to 7th century BCE

Originated among priests in Temple in Jerusalem. Complicated literary history.
Includes an independent source; two sources P and H.

Curses seem to reflect exile in 6th c. BCE.

The Concept of Holiness
Words containing consonants of the root holy (Heb. q-d-sh) occur more than twice as many times in 10 chapters of Holiness Code as in other 7 chapters of Leviticus.

“Holiness” (qodesh): means “separation”

Question 39

Prohibited Sexual Relationships (18 & 20)

Answer 39

How Israelites are to act differently from Canaanites and Egyptians.

Sexual prohibitions addressed to men. List the mostly female relatives with whom sexual intercourse (“uncovering the nakedness of”) was prohibited.

Lists are not comprehensive, obvious ommissions exist. Not all of prohibitions were always in force in ancient Israel.

Question 40

DEUTERONOMY

Answer 40

Deuteronomy will go through all of these laws again, and includes the laws of the kings and prophets.

At the end of deuteronomy, Moses dies.

The Pentateuch ends without getting into the Promised Land, and Joshua is designated to be Moses’ successor. Moses sets the bar for what it means to be a true and good Israelite.