Leviticus appears to be the Law that Moses wrote to act like a constitution for the people. It seems primitive and brutal to modern ears, but it was more merciful than the contemporary Egyptian and Assyrian laws that Moses probably based it on; "...underlying all the minute detail is a grand plan, which was to create a society that was fair and honoured God." [9]
"In his fascinating and enlightening book Surprised by Hope (SPCK, 2007), Tom Wright points out that the Jewish people celebrated the beginning of harvest as well as the end. Passover was celebrated at the beginning of their wheat harvest and Pentecost similarly at the start of their barley harvest. At these festivals the firstfruits of the respective crops were presented to the Lord. They celebrated at least two harvest festivals every year." [8] It has been suggested that the festivals were adaptations of pre-existing agricultural celebrations, as many festivals are today[1 p.136].
Leviticus contains detailed instructions concerning various kinds of offerings, as indicated in the structure below.
People's duties regarding offerings
Burnt offerings 1:1–17
Grain offerings 2:1–11
Peace offerings 3:1–17, 7:28–34
Sin offerings 4:1–35
Guilt offerings 5:1–6:7
Wave offerings 7:32
Priests' duties regarding offerings:
Burnt offerings 6:8–13, 7:8–10
Grain offerings 6:14–18
Consecration offering 6:19–24
Sin offerings 6:25–30
Guilt offerings 7:1–7
Peace offerings 7:11–21, 7:28–34
Forbidden foods 7:22–27
Consecration and vestments of the Priests 8:1–36
Sacrifices commence 9:1–10:20
Clean and unclean foods 11:1–47
Childbirth 12:1–8
Medical conditions 13:1–15:33
Entering the sanctuary 16:1–19
Scapegoat 16:20–34
No private sacrifices 17:1–14
Animals that die naturally 17:15–16
Sexual relations 18:1–30
Commandments and consequences 19:1–20:27
Priestly rules 21:1–22:33
Calendar 23:1–34
Sabbath 23:3–4
Feast of the Passover 23:5–9
Feast of Firstfruits 23:10–22
Feast of Atonement 23:23–32
Feast of Tabernacles 23:33–33
Sanctuary lamps and loaves 24:1–9
Blasphemy incident 24:10–23
Seventh year 25:1–7
Jubilee year 25:8–23
Redemption 25:24–55
Blessings and curses 26:1–46
Miscellaneous rules 27:1–34
The references to sabbaths emphasize complete rest, with a few mentions of offerings (on the day after the sabbath) or worship.
"Leviticus is a very practical book. Think of it as an instruction manual. Imagine someone has said to you ‘you need to work hard to be as holy as you can’ and you say to them ‘but what does that mean in practice?’ This conversation, when it happened in Ancient Israel, produced the book of Leviticus. We need to understand that the practical details may have changed for us but the need to be holy has not." [4]
© David Billin 2002–2024
Commentary
1:1–17 People's duties: Burnt offerings
See also 6:8–13 and 7:8–10. The patriarchs offered burnt offerings at key moments: Noah (Genesis 8:20) and Abraham with Isaac (Genesis 22) so the principle was long-established, and its purpose in this context is not explained.
1:4A hand on the animal's head indicated ownership[5 p.143] and so identified the person who would benefit from the sacrifice; but the animal was then handed over to the priest.
1:5–9The animal's body is divided into three categories: the blood is especially holy, representing the animal's life (17:11) and must be sprinkled on the altar; the inner parts are reserved for a burnt offering to the Lord; and the extremities may be eaten. The term "burnt offering" is literally "that which goes up" which implies that God is above[5 p.143–4].
The types of creature which may be eaten include scaly fish (11:9) yet the list of those whose blood may not be eaten omits fish (7:26) implying that fish blood may be consumed. Perhaps only warm blood is counted as having life within it.
Another interpretation is that the "life" that is in the blood is the breath of God, as in Genesis 7:15, a breath that can be extinguished by drowning in the case of animals and birds, but not fish.[7]
2:1–11 People's duties: Grain offerings
See also 6:14–18.
2:12–16 People's duties: Firstfruits
See also 23:10. Offering the first batch of a long-awaited crop requires great trust that a full crop will follow, an echo of the patriarch Abraham's willingness to offer his son Isaac (Genesis 22).
2:13"Seasoned with salt" informs Mark 9:49 and is quoted in Colossians 4:6. The RSV translation[3] makes it a reference to the covenant between God and his people.
3:1–11 People's duties: Peace offerings
See also 7:11–21 and 7:28–34.
4:1–35 People's duties: Sin offerings
See also 6:25–30.
5:1–6:7 People's duties: Guilt offerings
Shekel: see Appendix 2 Money.
See also 7:1–7.
6:8–13 Priests' duties: burnt offerings
See also 7:8–10.
6:14–18 Priests' duties: grain offerings
See also 2:1–11.
6:19–24 Priests' duties: consecration offering
6:25–30 Priests' duties: sin offerings
See also 4:1–35.
6:25–30The important feature of the Sin Offering is that the animal was given grace to transmit holiness (verse 27).
6:30See Leviticus 17:10–14 and comments on Matthew 26:28.
7:1–7 Priests' duties: guilt offerings
See also 5:1–6:7.
7:8–10 Priests' duties: burnt offerings
See also 6:8–13.
7:11–21 Priests' duties: peace offerings
See also 3:1–17 and 7:28–34.
7:22–27 Priests' duties: forbidden foods
See also 11:1–47 and 17:15–16.
7:26See Leviticus 17:10–14 and comments on Matthew 26:28.
7:28–34 People's duties: Peace offerings
See also 3:1–17 and 7:11–21.
7:27Blood: see comment on 1:5–9.
7:32 People's duties: Wave offerings
8:1–36 Consecration and vestments of the Priests
8:8Urim and Thummim: see Appendix 2 Urim and Thummim.
9:1–10:20 Sacrifices commence
9:8It was apprpriate that Aaron sacrificed a calf for his own sin, because he made the golden calf in Exodus 32:1–4.
10:3Perhaps Aaron was silent because he knew he should have spoken to his sons earlier.
10:9See comment on Luke 1:15.
11:1–47 Clean and unclean foods
See also 7:22–27 and 17:15–16.
11:22See comment on Matthew 3:4.
12:1–8 Childbirth
This law would ensure that a woman would be left alone and obliged to rest for a while after childbirth[6]. See Luke 2:24 for its application to Jesus's birth.
12:4
See Appendix 2 Waste.
13:1–15:33 Medical conditions
14:4Hyssop: See Appendix 2: Hyssop
14:6Hyssop: See Appendix 2: Hyssop
14:49Hyssop: See Appendix 2: Hyssop
14:51–52Hyssop: See Appendix 2: Hyssop
15cf. Jesus's statement "it is not what goes into a man that makes him unclean, but comes out".
15:16f
See Appendix 2 Waste.
15:25
See Appendix 2 Waste.
16:1–19 Entering the sanctuary
16:7–34 The Scapegoat
See comments on Matthew 27:15–26.
16:21See comment on Mark 14:46.
17:1–14 Private sacrifices
17:10–14See comments on Matthew 26:28. This command is repeated without the explanation in Leviticus 6:30, Leviticus 7:26, and Leviticus 19:26. This command should prevent the Hebrews from catching viruses from live or recently-killed animals, avoiding pandemics.
Blood: see comment on 1:5–9 and Appendix 2 Waste.
17:15–16 Animals that die naturally
See also 7:22–27 and 11:1–47.
18:1–30 Sexual relations
18:21Child sacrifice: see also 20:2.
18:22The English translations of this verse clearly say that some (I do not know which) acts between men are abhorrent to God, apparently a euphemism for something sexual. The text formed part of the covenant Law, and speaks of abhorrence that is a feature of God. It does not ban love or desire, nor does it apply to women's relationships.
The Hebrew is unclear, reading literally "you shall not bed a male the beddings of a woman" (the word for "woman" in Hebrew also means "wife"). The same is true of Leviticus 20:13.[2] Tension between homo- and hetero-sexuality is apparent in Genesis 19:4f and Judges 22:19f. See also Deuteronomy 22:6, Leviticus 20:13, Matthew 19:5, Romans 1:27, Ephesians 5:31, 1 Timothy 1:10.
The question is, does this apply to Christians today? Christians are not under the Law (see Appendix 2 Law), but that does not mean we are free to sin (Romans 6:14–15). A comparable question, that of circumcision, arose in the earliest days of the church, and the conclusion then was that Christians are free apart from abstaining from fornication and from consuming meat sacrificed to idols, blood, and the meat of an animal that was strangled (Acts 15:28–29). the Ten Commandments are also considered applicable to Christians. So Christians are not bound by this verse, but should avoid promiscuity.
18:28cf. Leviticus 20:22.
19:1–20:27 Commandments and consequences
God's people are to be visibly different from their neighbours, not worldly.
19:2–4Jesus paraphrased this "be perfect..." (Matthew 11:28). Holiness involves loyalty in key relationships: with God, with parents, and with self.
19:6This is a practical instruction: cooked meat would be unsafe to eat after being kept out in a warm climate without refrigeration for more than a day and a half.
19:9See Leviticus 23:22.
19:11See comment on Exodus 20:16.
19:13cf. Deuteronomy 24:14–16, Matthew 20:1–16, Luke 10:7, Romans 4:4, James 5:4.
19:18cf. Mark 12:31. In Romans 12:19 Paul quotes Deuteronomy 32:35, but the same idea appears in this verse.
19:26See Leviticus 17:10–14 and comments on Matthew 26:28.
19:27Pagan rituals involved hair cutting.[1 p.86]
20:2 People's duties: Child sacrifice
See also 18:21.
20:13See comments on Leviticus 18:22.
20:18
See Appendix 2 Waste.
20:25 Clean and unclean animals
Certain types of creature were classified as unclean regardless of what they had or had not done, and there was no remedy to convert an unclean animal into a clean one. However, unclean creatures are not alienated from God; all types of creature, clean and unclean, were saved in the Ark and promised God's protection in Genesis 9:12. The effect of classifying an animal as unclean was to make the Hebrews leave it alone, not using it for sacrifice or food. The division was apparently lifted in Peter's vision at Joppa (Acts 10:9–15).[6]
Creeping on the ground: cf. the deceiving serpent in Genesis 2.
21:1–22:33 Priestly rules
21:16–23cf. Deuteronomy 23:1. The lifting of these restrictions was prophesied in Isaiah 56:4–5 and confirmed in Luke 14:16-24.
22:2See comments on Amos 2:7.
22:4This command was the basis of the priest's behaviour in the Parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:29–37.
23:1–34 Calendar
23:3–4 Sabbath
23:5–9 Feast of the Passover
23:10–22 Feast of Firstfruits
23:22This is a repeat of Leviticus 19:9, and confirms the "Feast of Weeks" harvest festival commanded in Exodus 34:22–26. The consequences of failing to keep this law are foretold in Amos 8:6bf. This law is addressed to rich land-owners, and does not address the need of the poor to glean in other places (cf. Ruth 2:2).
23:23–32 Feast of Atonement
23:33–33 Feast of Tabernacles
23:34According to Nehemiah 8:17, this law and many like it were not kept from the death of Joshua to the return under Nehemiah and Ezra.
24:1–9 Sanctuary lamps and loaves
24:10–23 Blasphemy incident
24:20cf. Matthew 5:38f.
25:1–7 Seventh year
25:8–23 Jubilee year
The idea behind these commands is that the land does not belong to people outright, but belongs to the Lord. If land is bought and sold, the exchange is not permanent.
25:9See Appendix 2 Trumpet.
25:19See comments on Luke 1:55.
25:24–55 Redemption
See also chapter 27 for further rules about redemption.
25:39–42cf. Deuteronomy 15:12.
25:49This restriction was fulfilled by Jesus our redeemer who is described as our "brother and sister and mother" (Matthew 12:50).
26:1–46 Blessings and curses
26:8This promise was reversed in Isaiah 30:17.
26:30High Places: see comment on Numbers 33:52.
27:1–34 Miscellaneous rules
27:3Shekel: see Appendix 2 Money.
27:6See Exodus 22:29 and Luke 2:23.
27:25Shekel: see Appendix 2 Money.
27:30This is a holy tithe (which according to Numbers 18:26 went to the Levites, who had to tithe it again) not to be confused with the sabbatical tithe in Deuteronomy 14:22 which the giver consumed.
References: