Leviticus

Introduction

Leviticus is in the middle of the five books making up “the law,” the heart of the Old Testament. It gets its name from the fact that it focuses especially on the ministry of the Levite priests, and the core of the book is the law of holiness. This tells us what God demands of the people who are privileged to belong to him, both in terms of their worship and of their daily lives.

This is enough for us to situate the book. We will understand these laws and liturgical regulations better, which are characteristic of ancient times, if we are willing to remember that holiness—in the biblical sense, is just as real for us now. Holiness is one of the keys to knowing God and it helps us to understand our special vocation as a holy people. We can never overstate the fact that God embraces all of creation in his love, that God is present in it and in the lives of people, that God is very close to us “in secret” (Mt 6:6). Neither should we forget that God is “holy,” that is to say, totally distinct from creation and that his mysterious personality is incredibly beyond anything we can imagine. If God has called us to believe in his Only Son, our mission cannot be confused with any of the paths of wisdom that humankind has ever known: God has chosen us for his own “amazing and mysterious” work. Today, though we are no longer bound by the countless liturgical or sociological precepts of the law, these pages tell us again that we have been set apart in order to serve as leaven.

The spirit of the law never changed after the revelation made to Moses, and became its foundation. However, many developments and adaptations did take place. The “Mosaic Books,” as they are called, reach us in the state in which they were fixed by the Jewish priests of the fifth century before Jesus, at the time of the return from the Exile.

Previously, the influence of the prophets made itself felt. They were asking for a more dynamic faith, an awareness of the demands of justice inscribed in the Covenant and a struggle against alienating foreign influences. They were also speaking about preparing the future. But after the Babylonian captivity, Israel’s need to affirm its identity to face up to the trials of the nation, brought about a conservative trend that would become increasingly stronger over time. Thus, many Jews went back to a religious conservatism made of rituals and traditions that Jesus would severely condemn (Mt 23).

These laws form part of the Scriptures and therefore they are the words of God. But they are words of God addressed to a people who had not yet received Christ. If we receive these words, it does not mean we should put them into practice just as they are since we have passed the first stage of human and religious formation of the Old Testament. In his letters, Paul attacks those who did not want to go beyond the customs and feasts of the Jews (Col 2:16), as well as those who primarily saw God’s word as laws to be observed (Gal 3:1-7). On the other hand, Jesus invites us not to lose anything of the spirit that inspired these laws (Mt 5:17-19).

• 1.1 The Lord spoke to Moses. Each law is introduced by this expression, giving the impression that Moses had dictated these laws which were actually introduced centuries later. Although the law was written long after Moses’ time, the authors of Leviticus used this literary form to convey that the law embodies the spirit of all that God taught Moses on Sinai.

The Hebrews practiced the rituals and customs of their ancestors. Since they were shepherds, they used to offer their animals in sacrifice. Later on, in Canaan, the Israelites found other sacrifices and customs among the pagan Canaanites and they adopted some of them. Yet, the revelation granted to Moses on Sinai provided them with criteria to judge new or old forms of worship:

– God is the only God, the Invisible One who needs nothing but asks that his followers serve him.

– The Lord is the Holy God, totally different from every creature, and Israel, consecrated to God, must remain “holy” and apart from other nations.

– The Lord demands justice; therefore, ritual “purity” must reflect interior sanctity.

At the time this book was written, the Jewish people had only one Sanctuary, the Temple of Jerusalem, and people came from everywhere to offer sacrifices there. The Temple, built by King Solomon (see 1 K 6), was not a very large building (some 25 meters in length by 15 in width) and only the priests went inside. The people used to gather in the paved patios. In the main patio was a large altar made of solid stones, the altar of holocausts, or of totally burned victims. On some occasions, part of the blood was poured on another, in a much smaller altar inside the Temple.

There were various types of sacrifices and for most of them, the priests used to receive part of the victim in payment; the other part would be eaten by the donors at a communion banquet. But, in the holocaust, nothing was eaten because everything was offered to God as a sign of perfect submission.

Like other ancient people, the Israelites believed that the life of every being was in the blood (see Gen 9:5). Thus, the blood belonged to God and no one could eat or drink it. The life and the blood of the sacrificed animal represented the one who offered it: he was delivered from all in him that might be displeasing to God and lead to his death (Lev 17:11). Not without reason did Jesus wish to die by shedding his blood to express that he was giving his life to cleanse his people of their sins. From the Jewish sacrifices, the letter to the Hebrews draws the following lesson which was fulfilled in Jesus’ passion: “there is no forgiveness (of sins) without the shedding of blood” (Heb 9:22).

We should note the frequent use of the expression “without blemish.” The prophets would scold the people who did not observe this command (Mal 1:8-13). We oftentimes give God out of our surplus, and not the best of what we have.

• 4.1 Next come the sin offerings. It is not a question of real sin, the inner sin (Mt 5:22) coming from the person (Mk 7:20), but of faults against the laws regarding worship. In verses 22 and 27, we read: when a leader sins and without intending to do so. This constitutes another kind of fault, a matter of carelessness, 5:1-13.

But in 5:20-26 we deal with other faults which require an offering in reparation because they are real sins.

Paul tells us that the purpose of the law is to make sin evident (Rom 4:15; 7:7). It is true that ancient texts rarely identify real sin: indifference towards God, or rebellion against his established order, errors or ignorance. It would take time to wait for enlightenment, but this fear of sin reminds us that the force of evil is at work in us, even when we are not conscious of it. The day we discover what the love of God is, and how he keeps waiting for us, we shall realize how deeply sinful we are.

The Tent of Meeting (5, 7, 14, 16) is the temple.

• 6.1 Among so many laws dealing with cooking, note the following details:

Verse 5. The fire is never to be put out. A lamb is offered as a holocaust daily in the morning and in the afternoon.

Verse 20. What is offered to God belongs to him and becomes as if totally permeated by the Holiness of God.

Verses 22-23. For the sacrifice to be effective, the meat—which through the sacrifice is made holy—must be eaten. Part of it belongs to the priest: in this way he is assured of a livelihood.

• 8.1 With the detailed description of Aaron’s consecration by his brother Moses, Leviticus wants to teach the ceremony for the consecration of the high priest.

Vestments, ornaments, and purifications express the sacred character of the man “taken from among mortals to be their representative before God and to offer sacrifices for them” (Heb 5:1).

These rituals did not come down from heaven; rather, they reflect the religious mentality of the times. For those people, there were two kinds of people and things in the world: those belonging to God, that is, sacred and others not belonging to God, that is, profane. Some were considered clean, others unclean; some were said to be “holy,” and others to “carry a sin,” which simply meant they could not be used in worship.

God took into account the primitive mentality of the people of those times and educated them little by little. With time, they would discover that sin is not some external blemish, or defect, but human faults. The prophets first, and then the Gospels, would state that sin is what comes from the person.

Priests were consecrated through anointing with oil. Kings would also be consecrated by anointing. Priests and kings would thus be the anointed of God, expressed by the word Messiah in Hebrew, and Christ in Greek. The high priest was called the Christ of God: this prefigured Jesus, priest of the New Covenant, as the Letter to the Hebrews will explain (5–8).

• 10.1 The story in this chapter (the death of Aaron’s sons) is a figurative way of presenting some of the duties of Israel’s priests.

• 11.1 The mission of an Israelite was to participate in the public worship of the only God. Yet, in order to enter into the Temple to take part in a religious assembly, he had to perform various rituals which made him “pure,” as we remarked in commenting on Chapter 8. Being pure or impure did not mean being guilty or not: it only signified readiness to approach the altar, or a lack of readiness.

These regulations helped Israel discover the road to genuine sanctity:

– Some animals honored by the pagans were declared unclean. They were to be avoided.

– Several laws or “taboos” (prohibitions of sacred origin) concerning sexuality helped engender respect for the sacred character of life. Spontaneously, among any primitive people, there are various rules about sex and birth, and so it was among the Jews (see 12:1-8 and Chap. 15).

– Some regulations concerned standards of hygiene, though other reasons are given. For example, the prohibition against eating pork (v. 7) was wise considering that pigs are carriers of disease where cleanliness is lacking. It is the same with leprosy (Chap. 13).

All religious or Christian life is impossible without human formation and the stability of the family. Love does not suffice for the making of a home if the strength of character is absent or if a person marries without having learned to fulfill obligations: hence the importance of education or formation in the family. The law with its manifold precepts, many of which do no more than call for a basic dignity and humanity, prepares people to serve God in truth even if its instructions and its “exterior” rites (Rom 2:28) remain on the level of “the flesh” (Phil 3:3).

Many of the laws, whose purpose escapes us, served mainly to make God’s people different from others in terms of their meals, feasts, and customs.

Israelites, who often settled in the midst of other people, were not to mix with their pagan neighbors: the law, by regulating their lives in every detail, prevented them from adopting the customs of others and prevented them from adopting their thinking as well. Although it is the interior attitude which must differentiate the believer from others, external discipline helps one become aware of one’s own spirit. Old Testament laws addressed a people who had not yet come to religious maturity and for that reason, imposed on them a different way of life.

These laws began to be strictly observed from the time of Ezra and were followed by the Jewish community of the last centuries before Christ. Nehemiah 13 illustrates the danger they were exposed to in being separated from other people.

In Jesus’ time, the Jews clung excessively to these prescriptions which were originally only certain external requirements for those wishing to take part in religious acts. Jesus criticized this confusion of legal purity with the purity of conscience (Mk 7:15).

Verses 5-6. The Scriptures is not a book that teaches science.

• 12.1 Primitive people often contrast the “pure” and noble blood of a male, shed in wars, to the “impure” flow of blood during a woman’s period. Therefore, childbirth and a woman’s periods preoccupy men (they are the ones who impose the rules and make the laws) and they require purification rituals.

In this, we see how, although they are part of the word of God, the rules of the Old Testament were adapted to ancient times and to the criteria of the people of Israel. God’s people were aware of this, which they expressed in their own way by saying that the law was planned by angels: Acts 7:38; Galatians 3:19; Hebrews 2:2.

Jesus and his mother submitted themselves to these rituals (Lk 2:21).

• 13.1 In cases of leprosy, which was considered a contagious disease, the sick person was required to live apart from the community. A leper was considered “unclean,” meaning that he could not participate in public or religious life (see what is said in 8:1 and 11:1).

At a time when misfortunes were thought to be divine punishment, leprosy was seen as a sign of a divine curse. The people easily believed that the leper excluded from the community was actually unclean in God’s eyes.

Among their obligations, priests had to diagnose leprosy and prescribe the isolation of lepers. They were also responsible for verifying cures and for allowing lepers to return to their families. This is what Jesus recalled when he healed lepers (Mk 1:43).

Sacrifices for the purification of lepers were part of ancient folkways. The mysterious “sin” which, according to them, had caused leprosy, was transferred to two birds (14:5). One of them was killed so that the sin would disappear with the bird. For more assurance, the other bird was released to take far away that same sin now dissolved in the dead bird’s blood (14:6-7).

• 15.1 Among all primitive people we find a sacredness surrounding everything related to sex and birth. That is the origin, somehow, of these prescriptions about sexual purity and impurity. It would be wrong to interpret them as if sexual relations were impure in themselves; they are only so when the demands of genuine love are not respected.

The Canaanites, among whom the Israelites settled, yielded to the forces of nature which they thought to be divine, and sexual orgies accompanied all their religious feasts. For the Israelites, however, the many purifications concerning sexual life reminded them that sex was part of human nature as God created it and that its drives had to be subject to the law of God. The baptized person is guided by other considerations: 1 Corinthians 6 and 7.

• 16.1 The ceremony for the feast of Atonement was very expressive: one of two rams was set aside to carry the punishment for sin and therefore had to die; the other was sent off toward Azazel. Symbolically the he-goat bore the sins of the people.

The Letter to the Hebrews, Chapters 9 and 10, recalls these Jewish rituals when it mentions the forgiveness of sins that Christ won through his death and resurrection.

In verses 29-34 it is again said that these commands will be the everlasting law: how do we explain that the Church canceled them when Christ came? Paul explains this in Galatians 3–5.

• 17.1 In this chapter, we have the beginning of the Law of Holiness, or, the law of a people consecrated to God.

The law about blood was a way of instructing about and instilling a sense of the sacred meaning of life. This is summarized in Chapter 17.

Just as with most primitive people, the Hebrews believed that life was in the blood. Therefore, blood was sacred, even the blood of animals, and could only be offered to God (see Gen 9:5). If it was not offered on the altar, it must be poured on the ground, but must not be consumed.

Even at the time of Christ, the Jews felt such a repulsion for blood that, for some years, Christians from other nations observed that law in order not to scandalize their Jewish brothers (Acts 15).

Verse 11 explains why Christ chose a death in which he shed his blood. Whenever we read “Christ saved us through his blood,” we must understand “through the offering of his life.”

• 18.1 The Law of Holiness continues with more sexual prohibitions. These bans, now seen by many people as outdated prejudices, are, in fact, basic to human dignity in the sense that they submit whims to a law. They are also at the root of married fidelity and mutual respect between members of the same family.

As was mentioned in Chapter 15, the Canaanites did not know these bases of human culture (you shall not do what is done in the land of Canaan [v. 3]) and the Israelites saw in such rules a moral responsibility closely related to their Covenant with the Lord which made them into a holy people different from all the other people.

The Israelites, comparing their history to that of Canaanites, already understood what Paul later would clearly say: “The person who sows for the benefit of his own flesh shall reap corruption and death from the flesh” (Gal 6:8). Sexual liberty is attractive as long as one does not notice the aging of his heart and the untruthfulness of his language. At the level of society, sexual liberty means the sterile couple, individuals unfit for strong commitment, and before long, the death of a people.

Do not give any of your children to be sacrificed (v. 21). This, too, was done in Canaan. Where instincts rule, there is no respect for life. It was among God’s people that the dignity of the human person was discovered. Cannibalism was practiced among many ancient groups of people. Among most ancient peoples, a father had the right to destroy a newborn child, not to mention the right to offer human sacrifice.

If you defile the land it will vomit you out (v. 28). In the Promised Land the Israelites have to live according to the laws of the Lord; if they do not observe them, they will be exiled. This stay in the promised land is a sign in the Scriptures. See in particular Deuteronomy 8. Paul recalls this in Galatians 5:21.

• 19.9 Among so many laws which show the still primitive level of God’s people, we marvel to find some prescriptions that teach deeply human attitudes often lacking in us.

These prescriptions, addressed to a race of small farmers, must be interpreted in order to adapt them to the circumstances of our present lives.

They teach us that the “right of ownership” is not absolute and that it never justifies oppression of the poor, nor does it excuse us from helping them. We are ordered to care for our brothers and sisters to assure everyone what is necessary to live.

Do not seek revenge… but love your neighbor as yourself (v. 18). Here, neighbor means the brother of the same race. They must be loved and there must be solidarity with them because God embraces with the same love all those who belong to his people.

Such a solidarity with those of one’s own nation exists in all religions but there is as well the aggression or hostility towards the foreigner. When Jesus speaks to us of love which does not cease at the frontiers of a people (Lk 10:25; Mt 5:43), it will not be a simple extension of the term “neighbor”: it will be the discovery of another relation beyond the solidarity practiced naturally by humans as in the case with certain animals.

• 19. Various customs of pagan religions were also forbidden. Mediums and fortune-tellers were also forbidden just as in Deuteronomy 18:10.

The stranger shall be to you as the native among you (v. 34). You will note that Scripture, which forbids sharing with pagan foreigners, always insists on respecting the alien living in Israel. Along with widows and orphans, foreigners are the most defenseless and they must be protected.

• 20.1 This chapter lists penalties corresponding to the previously listed faults. In some cases, human justice punishes. In others, people are threatened with God’s curse.

Chapters 21 and 22 deal with the responsibilities and privileges of the priests. All these details may seem too external and foreign to the authentic sanctity which the priestly office requires. But, in those days, these prescriptions were valuable teachings and they still teach us about the sacredness of serving the Lord.

• 23.1 Here we are dealing with the feasts or “days” of the Lord. God’s people gather not only to celebrate their joys and sorrows: God is the one who summons them for his feasts through those responsible for his church (do not forget that church means: assembly or congregation).

The weekly day of rest (in Hebrew, Sabbath means rest) is the first of these sacred encounters with God (v. 3).

Then come the three great feasts of Israel:

– the week of unleavened bread, which began with the Passover and recalled the departure from Egypt (vv. 9-14);

– the feast of the seven weeks, or Pentecost (which means the fiftieth day) which was connected with the remembrance of the law given on Sinai (vv. 15-21);

– the feast of Tabernacles, or of booths, to recall the years in the desert (vv. 33-34).

The yearly day of Atonement to ask forgiveness for the people’s sins (vv. 26-32) was celebrated for a while along with the New Year, or during the feast of Tabernacles until it became fixed on a special day.

• 9. Below we single out the offering of the sheaf of the firstfruits, during the feast of unleavened bread, marking the beginning of the harvest.

God does not need anything. If he does ask something from us it is because we need to give of ourselves to be truly human. There is no feast, no shared happiness, no soothed heart if something is not sacrificed.

Tithing or the tenth part of the fruits offered to God, which will serve to feed the Levites and the poor, becomes spiritual wealth for the people of the Scriptures.

In many churches or Christian groups, the members of the community give the tenth part of their revenue: no one, even in poor countries, has become poorer.

The first sheaf offered to God may also mean the first part of the workday given to God; the first contribution of the month given to assist a companion in need; the first moment of rest which spouses together offer to the Lord; it means each believer’s cooperation in the church affairs to make the church free before the powerful.

• 24.17 Eye for eye. In verse 19 we have the so-called “Law of Talion.” This law seems cruel. It appears to accept vengeance as normal. But, in fact, it was an attempt to limit violent impulses such as resentment or the desire for retaliation. This law establishes that an enemy should only be hurt in proportion to the harm suffered: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. This was a way of civilizing people who were quite far from the Christian ideal. Forgiveness, as Christ preached it, is something radically new.

• 25.1 The land needs to be given a rest. We know how, in our own time, many fields have been exhausted by overuse.

The sabbatical year (or the year of rest) occurs every seven years. This custom in Leviticus has a precise meaning: people place their trust in God who will not allow them to die from hunger.

If this sabbatical year occurs in times of need, or after an invasion, we can see that it will be very difficult to observe this prescription (see 1 Mac 6:49). Yet, God himself promised to help those who faithfully observe it (v. 21), which is one of the issues in the Book of Judith.

Every fifty years a Jubilee year is to be celebrated: its value is even more sacred. The word jubilee does not come from jubilation, but both words come from the Hebrew yobel or ram’s horn, which was used to proclaim this holy year. That year, all slaves had to be liberated: all mortgaged fields and houses would return to their owners without payment involved.

You are but strangers and guests of mine (v. 23). In the long chapters of Deuteronomy and Joshua, which relate the conquest of the Holy Land and its distribution, the land is always seen as an inheritance. It is the inheritance that God gives to the tribes of his people. The land, then, belongs to each of the tribes, and so, along with private property, there are also lands belonging to the community, lands which are distributed periodically.

The year of the jubilee is, therefore, very holy because it intends to establish a perfect reconciliation, not only among Israelite brothers, but also with God. He is also invited to cancel the debts. The holy year celebrated by all the people maintains the hope of a holy year whose cost will be shouldered by God himself, on the way to salvation: see Isaiah 61:1, a text which Jesus applies to himself (Lk 4:19).

This guaranty, given to the poor and the unfortunates of an inalienable heritage is expressed within the framework of rural society, but the spirit that gives life to it is at the heart of the Scriptures: in front of God, any right to property has limitations. How can we not think here of the ravages of liberalism which have only expanded in the course of the centuries? Powerful nations, which enjoy years of economic advancement over others, have preached and imposed on others the free-market. This allowed them to impose their products on others, while local production suffers and, with corruption, they became owners of the resources of the subsoil, of the markets of agricultural products, and finally, of real power itself. The past two centuries have justified the language of the prophets who do not speak of the rich and poor, but of poor and oppressors.

In the last century, the Church has not ceased to denounce the evils of liberalism. It must be acknowledged that, by doing so, she did not always have a clear vision of what the modern world was and was frequently mistaken, opposing the wrong adversary. But the condemnation is still justified more than ever in this time when the religion of liberalism holds quasi-monopoly on the means of communication and meets only token opposition. We anticipate the moment when Christians will openly proclaim the demands of the Scriptures. Every people of every race and nation have their own heritage which is more valuable than the land itself. No one should have the power to make workers jobless by making their way of doing things obsolete; no one should be able to control prices of life’s necessities or hold a stranglehold on the economy or make excessive profits on goods that people need to survive.

• 35. These paragraphs are the work of Jewish priests animated by worthy zeal but in the context of a primitive economy that no longer exists. They have given rise to many scruples, many refusals from 13th to 15th centuries when the extension of commerce called for capital. Many Christians, because of these prohibitions, refused to take part in the system.

“Do not take interest from him” (v. 36, see Dt 23:1-20 and Lk 6:34-38). Such is the law of solidarity and fraternal love. But the coming of big business and industry has raised another question: it became necessary to “interest” investors and encourage them to lend the necessary funds. Here, as in many other human realities, we see that every law is linked to a certain time and a certain way of life. Each generation has to invent its way of living, its fidelity to the word of God. That is why, when we study in the Scriptures the laws relevant to a particular problem, we observe an evolution of one text to another, in fact, of one epoch to another (cf. Ex 21:2-11; Lev 25:39-43; Dt 15:12-18).

• 26.3 The law of God is a law of life. When people do not follow it, they destroy themselves. Here God requires of his people justice, kindness, and respect for life. He can exact it for facts will justify his words: he promises infallibly benefits or disasters.

The end of this chapter, written during the exile, describes the decadence of the Jewish people just before their exile. This destruction was, in some sense, “God’s punishment”: but it was also the consequence of their faults, because any society, which disregards the foundations of a moral life is digging its own grave.

This chapter presents as opposite poles: peace and fruitfulness on the one hand, and on the other, the insecurity, waste, and division among people who do not listen to God:

– injustice breeds violence;

– sexual license weakens the sense of sacrifice;

– national resources are wasted on luxury and repressive forces;

Such people come to the point of eating the flesh of their own children (Dt 28:53).