It's been fixed a little bit, based on comments by my lecturer. I really need to stop making such dumb referencing errors. It's sloppy academic writing!
Pentateuch Minor Exegesis
Pericope: Leviticus 19:1-37 (RSV)
Pericope: Leviticus 19:1-37 (RSV)
Leviticus is a detailed
guide to the requirements for right worship of God in both temple ritual and
everyday life, given to Moses by God at the making of the covenant on Sinai. Its
location at the centre of the Torah indicates that it was considered the heart
of the Mosaic Covenant. It can be broadly divided into sections on sacrifice
and the priesthood, purity, and finally a holiness code, in which the pericope
is located. These laws deal with “practical holiness”, that is, how to live so
that one’s holiness is not only ritual, but also manifested in one’s interior
attitudes and, by extension, the visible expression of those attitudes through one’s
choices. This paper will argue that the author is expressing the idea that God’s people must be holy in a
complete way, such that their internal relationship with God is consistent with
their external actions.
Israel’s
call to holiness derives from the fact that they are God’s people, and He is
supremely holy.[1]
That preservation of this holiness is the author’s concern of this chapter is
evident in that, throughout Leviticus, the topic for most messages from God is
set in the first sentence that follows, “And the LORD
said to Moses, ‘Say to all the congregation of the people of Israel…’”[2],[3]
It is of grave concern to God that they remain holy because without holiness,
they cannot be in relationship with Him,[4]
and relationship with them is what He desires,[5] so that they may be His instrument by which He eventually sanctifies the whole world, uniting humanity with Himself in heaven, in accord with His original intention for each individual.
That
the author is concerned with the people remaining in God’s covenant is further
manifested through the incorporation of the Ten Commandments throughout the
passage. It is in these commandments that the essence of the means of remaining
in the covenant is found.[6] Given
that most of the commands in this pericope are also apodictic laws,[7]
such that the Ten Commandments blend easily with the other commands,[8] it
seems that the passage is expanding on how this covenantal relationship is to
be lived out. This is seen also in the way that specific negative injunctions[9] are
frequently coupled with a corresponding positive injunction,[10]
helping to shape an understanding of what God-fearing behaviour should look
like. The frequent refrain, “I am the Lord” reveals the reason that God doesn’t
give specific consequences- Israel is expected to obey simply because these
laws are given by God, which is in keeping with the fact that they are
apodictic.[11]
Thus God, being the Lord Almighty, and having established the means for His
people to be in relationship with Him, expects that His people will respond
appropriately, avoiding defilement[12]
and thus remaining in that relationship.
It
appears that the author thought that this preservation of holiness demanded
that Israel have the proper interior dispositions, towards both Him and their
fellow-man. God first and foremost insists that they worship Him alone, giving
a real sense of exclusivity- He is their God,[13]
and they are His people,[14]
and they are to fear Him.[15]
This entails rejecting all kinds of idols,[16] mediums,[17]
and magic.[18]
Regarding their neighbour, the Israelites are told to love not only their
fellow countryman,[19]
but also the sojourner as themselves,[20]
and to not “hate your brother in your heart”,[21]
nor “bear any grudge.”[22] Thus
their fundamental attitude to God and, by extension, also to man ought to be a
loving one, if they are to be holy.
The
sacred writer goes on to lay out specific ways in which love ought to be
manifested in daily life. Such a list, however, could never be exhaustive, and
so they function as examples of the general idea: namely, that love cannot
remain as a merely abstract emotion- it must also have concrete expression in
actions. This elicits a particular concern for justice,[23]
especially for the most vulnerable- the deaf,[24]
blind,[25]
poor,[26]
and the sojourner.[27] Justice
is tied to honesty,[28]
in that it is just to pay wages that are due,[29]
and to not cheat those whom one trades with.[30] The
elderly are to be honoured,[31]
as are one’s parents,[32]
as well as the sanctity of life.[33]Most
importantly, justice necessarily requires that God is given the worship due to
Him. He asks them to refrain from profaning His name,[34] keep
His Sabbaths, and to reverence His sanctuary.[35] Hence
the incompatibility of holiness and lack of love is reaffirmed in light of the
connection between love and justice.
The
author includes sacrifices as an integral part of life. Their function with
respect to holiness is to both reflect and reinforce man’s inner worship of
God, which not only restores one to holiness when it has been lost through sin,[36]
but also assists in ordering one’s life to God alone.[37]
These liturgical actions must be carried out just as God directs, with severe
punishment if tampered with.[38]
Offerings are not only to be made in the temple, but also through self-denial
of the immediate fruits of one’s crops, which is promised to result in the
blessing of richer yields.[39] Therefore,
the author sees no separation between the liturgy and the life of the people of
Israel. They should be integrated together, which implies that holiness entails
living such that one’s ritual worship, the attitudes of one’s heart, and the
choices that one makes are all in harmony.
The
allegorical sense recalls Christ’s perfect sacrifice, which made possible the
restoration of relationship between God and all humanity, realised through
sanctifying grace, which makes individuals holy by sharing in God’s divine
life. The moral sense clearly reveals the necessity of loving one’s neighbour
as oneself, as we are repeatedly encouraged to do, even to the point of loving
one’s enemies.[40]
Finally, in the anagogical sense, we see that the Church, as the new Israel, is
also called to be holy,[41]
and Christ has in fact already sanctified His Bride,[42]
since nothing unclean can enter Heaven.[43] In
conclusion, the text reveals that holiness is not a mere external appearance,
nor is it only an internal attitude to God, but rather a reality that
encompasses the whole person, which is
most fully expressed through true love of God and of one’s neighbour.
REFERENCE
LIST:
Boadt,
Lawrence, Reading the Old Testament- an
Introduction (Mahwah, New Jersey: Paulist Press, 1984)
Catholic Church, Catechism of the Catholic Church: 2nd
Edition, English translation for USA (Washington, USA: Libreria Editrice
Vaticana, 1997)
Fretheim,
Terence., The Pentateuch (Abingdon Press, 1996)
Hahn,
Scott (ed.), Catholic Bible Dictionary
(New York: Doubleday Religion, 2009)
Kleinig, John W., Leviticus (Concordia
Commentary) (Concordia:
St Louis, 2003)
Larsson,
Goran., Bound for Freedom: The Book of
Exodus in Jewish and Christian Traditions (Hendrickson: Peabody, 1999)
The
Holy Bible Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 2004)
Wenham,
G. J., Exploring the Old Testament: A Guide to the Pentateuch (IVP: Downers
Grove, 2003)
BIBLOGRAPHY:
Baltzer,
Klaus, The Covenant Formulary in Old
Testament, Jewish, and early Christian writings (Great Britain: Fortress Press, 1971)
Casciaro,
Jose Maria (Ed.)., The Navarre Bible-
Pentateuch (Dublin: Four Courts Press, 1999)
Freedman, David (Ed.), Eerdman’s Dictionary of the Bible (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2000)
Fretheim,
Terence., The Pentateuch (Abingdon Press, 1996)
Hahn,
Scott (ed.), Catholic Bible Dictionary
(New York: Doubleday Religion, 2009)
Kleinig, John W., Leviticus (Concordia
Commentary) (Concordia:
St Louis, 2003)
The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary (Volumes 1-6), David Noel Freedman (Ed.) (London: Yale University Press, 1992)
Larsson,
Goran, Bound for Freedom: The Book of
Exodus in Jewish and Christian Traditions (Hendrickson: Peabody, 1999)
The Catholic Bible Concordance Revised Standard Version Catholic
Edition C.W. Lyons and Thomas Deliduka (compilers) (Steubenville: Emmaus
Road Publishing, 2009)
The
Holy Bible Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 2004)
The New Jerusalem Bible Study Edition (London: Darton, Longman
& Todd, 1994)
Wenham,
G. J., Exploring the Old Testament: A Guide to the Pentateuch (IVP: Downers
Grove, 2003)
[1]
Lev. 19:2; Lev. 20:26; Lev. 11:44-45 (Unless otherwise noted, all references
from the Bible will be from the Revised Standard Version)
[2]
Lev. 19:1-2; may also be “Say
to the people of Israel”, as in Lev. 4:2
[3]
For example, Lev. 11:2 reveals
that what follows will be details of what can and can’t be eaten; Lev. 12:2
indicates that Lev. 12 will deal with the states of being clean or unclean with
relation to a woman giving birth; Lev. 13:2 shows that the following laws will
discuss the laws pertaining to how various types of disease should be regarded.
[4]
Terence Fretheim, The Pentateuch, p.
134; also John Kleing, Leviticus,
pp.3-4: “Since he was holy and his people were sinful, his mere presence
presented a danger to them. By itself it was never neutral, for he was present
with them either in life-giving grace or in deadly wrath… thus God established
the ritual for the daily sacrifice to give the people safe access to him and
his blessings.” In other words, the people had to be ritually clean or pure in
order to be in God’s holy presence and share in his holiness. Falling into a
state of uncleanness or impurity resulted in loss of one’s holiness, and one
needed to become pure again. Hence, to remain holy is equivalent to remaining
in relationship with God.
[5] For example, in Hos. 11:1-4, God is presented as a loving father, who
called His people out of Egypt so that they might know, love and worship Him
[6]
Goran Larsson, Bound for Freedom- The Book of Exodus in
Jewish and Christian Traditions, p. 139
[7]
These are laws that are “strong, dramatic demands…
with an unstated, but threatening, hint that disobedience will be severely
dealt with.” Their counterparts are the casuistic laws, which follow the
pattern of: “if someone does this
thing, then he receives this
punishment.” Lawrence
Boadt, Reading the Old Testament, p.
185 The only two examples of casuistic laws here are Lev. 19:7-8 and Lev.
19:20-22. Lev. 19:29,31 mention consequences, rather than punishments that will
be inflicted.
[8]
“Blend” here refers to the
fact that most commands are given in the same form, beginning with either “you
shall”, or “you shall not”, so that the Ten Commandments are not made
particularly distinct.
[10]
For example: “You shall not
take vengeance or bear any grudge… but you shall love your neighbour as yourself.” (Lev. 19:18); or “you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you
gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor
and for the sojourner.” (Lev. 19:10)
[11]
Since apodictic laws, as
stated above in footnote 7, are worded as though it is enough that the order has been given,
and the punishments are implied rather than stated explicitly- Boadt, Reading the Old Testament, p. 185
[12]
Lev. 19:31
[13]
Lev. 19:3,25,31,-32,34,36
[14]
Lev. 19:32; there are many
occurrences of this elsewhere, such as in Ex. 6:7
[15]
Lev. 19:14, 32
[16]
Lev.19:4
[17]
Lev. 19:26,31
[18]
Lev. 19:26,31
[19]
Lev.19:18
[20]
Lev. 19:34
[21]
Lev. 19:17
[22]
Lev. 19:18
[23]
Lev. 19:15
[24]
Lev. 19:14
[25]
Lev. 19:14
[26]
Lev. 19:9-10
[27]
Lev. 19:9-10,34
[28]
Lev. 19:11- honest both in
speech and in not taking what is not yours; Gordon Wenham, Exploring the Old Testament- A Guide to the Pentateuch, p.97
[29]
Lev. 19:13; CCC 1807
[30]
Lev. 19:35-36; Scott Hahn, Catholic Bible
Dictionary, p.951
[31]
Lev. 19:32; Prov. 16:31
[32]
Lev. 19:3
[33]
Lev. 19:16, and Lev. 19:26
with Lev. 17:11-12
[34]
Lev. 19:12
[35]
Lev. 19:3,30
[36]
Such as in Lev. 19:21-22
[37]
Hahn, Catholic Bible Dictionary,
p.794- 797
[38]
Lev. 19:5-8
[39]
Lev. 23-25
[40]
Mt. 5:43; Mk. 12:31; Rom. 13:9; Gal.
5:14; Jas. 2:8; Furthermore, love of God and hatred of one’s brother are
incompatible- 1 Jn.
4:20
[41]
1 Pet. 1:15-16
[42]
Eph. 5:27
[43]
Rev. 21:27
