Leviticus 22 - Priestly purity [part 2]
5/11/23
Scripture
Leviticus 22
Questions
Abstain from that which belongs to God
1 And YHWH spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to Aaron and his sons that they must deal respectfully [נָזַר, nā·zǎr] with the children of Israel’s votive offerings, and they must not profane my holy name, which they are consecrating to me; I am YHWH.
Nā·zǎr means to keep separate [see Leviticus 15:31]. What does this mean for an offering? What is an application for us today?
Ritually clean priests [again]
3 “Say to them, ‘Throughout your generations, any man from any of your offspring who comes near the votive offerings that the children of Israel consecrate to YHWH with his uncleanness on him, that person shall be cut off from before me; I am YHWH.
Why can an ritually unclean priest not approach YWHW? Why is the penalty so severe?
What follows is a list or reminders of things that name any Israelite, including a priest, unclean…
4 “ ‘Anyone from Aaron’s offspring, if he is afflicted with a skin disease or a fluid discharge, shall not eat in the sanctuary until he is clean; and the one who touches any unclean person or a man from whom an emission of semen goes out, 5 or a man who touches any swarmer that is unclean for him or who touches a person who is unclean for him due to whatever his uncleanness, 6 a person who touches such a thing shall be unclean until the evening, and he shall not eat from the votive offerings, except when he washes his body with water 7 and the sun sets, and he shall be clean; then afterward he may eat from the votive offerings, because it is his food. 8 He shall not eat a naturally dead body or a mangled carcass, to become unclean by it; I am YHWH.
9 “ ‘And they shall keep my obligation, and they shall not incur guilt because of it, so that they die through it, because they have profaned it; I am YHWH who consecrates them.
The priest’s household
10 “ ‘And any stranger shall not eat the votive offering; nor shall a temporary resident of a priest or a hired worker eat the votive offering. 11 And a priest, if with his money he buys a person as his possession, that one may eat it, and the descendants of his house themselves may eat his food. 12 And a priest’s daughter, when she marries a layman [lit. “she becomes for a strange man”], she herself may not eat the votive offering. 13 And a priest’s daughter, when she becomes a widow or divorced or there is no offspring for her, and she returns to her father’s house as in her childhood, she may eat from her father’s food, but any stranger shall not eat it. 14 And if a man eats the votive offering unintentionally, then he shall add to it a fifth of it, and he shall give the votive offering to the priest. 15 And they shall not profane the children of Israel’s votive offerings that they present to YHWH, 16 and so cause them, by their eating their votive offerings, to bear guilt requiring a guilt offering, because I am YHWH, who consecrates them.’ ”
Michael Heiser comments…
The logic is to elevate the Holy One and set him apart from all others. Everybody else except for him has to be made fit for sacred space. He, by definition, is fit for sacred space. Where he is is sacred space. Everybody else has to be prepared for it lest they contaminate it. These laws of explanation and inclusion reinforce the idea.1
The votive offering could be eaten by a priest’s household. Why can the priest’s slave eat [v11] but his daughter married to a “strange man” [v12] may not? What does this remind us about the family?
Acceptable offerings
17 And YHWH spoke to Moses, saying, 18 “Speak to Aaron and to his sons and to all the children of Israel, and say to them, ‘Anyone from the house of Israel or from the alien in Israel who presents his offering for any of their vows or for any of their freewill offerings that they present to YHWH as a burnt offering, 19 it must be without defect to be acceptable for you: a male among the cattle, among the sheep, or among the goats. 20 You shall not present any animal in which is a physical defect, because it shall not be acceptable for you. 21 And if anyone brings a sacrifice of fellowship offerings for YHWH to fulfill a vow or as a freewill offering from the cattle or from the flock, it must be without defect to be acceptable; there must not be any physical defect in it. 22 The blind or the injured or the maimed or the seeping or one with a skin disorder or one with a skin eruption—these you shall not present to YHWH, nor shall you give from them an offering made by fire on the altar for YHWH. 23 As fort an ox or sheep that is deformed or that is stunted, you may present it as a freewill offering, but for a vow it will not be accepted. 24 And you shall not present anything for YHWH with bruised or shattered or torn or cut-off testicles, and you shall not do such in your land. 25 And you shall not present your God’s food from any of these by the hand of a son of a foreign land, because their deformity is in them; a physical defect is in them; they shall not be accepted for you.’ ”
How did these regulations remind the Israelites of Eden? What was their, and our, hope for the future?
Compassion on animals
26 And YHWH spoke to Moses, saying, 27 “When an ox or a sheep or a goat is born, and it shall be under its mother for seven days, and from the eighth day and beyond it is acceptable as an offering made by fire for YHWH. 28 And you shall not slaughter an ox or a sheep and its young on the same day. 29 And when you sacrifice a sacrifice of thanksgiving to YHWH, you must sacrifice it to be acceptable for you. 30 It must be eaten on that day; you must not leave over anything from it until morning; I am YHWH.
Levine, a Jewish scholar, writes…
Traditionally, this prohibition has been explained as expressing compassion for living creatures.2
Do you agree? Remember this is the ANE.
31 “And you shall keep my commands, and you shall do them; I am YHWH.
32 “And you shall not profane my holy name, so that I may be consecrated in the midst of the children of Israel; I am YHWH, who consecrates you, 33 the one who brought you out from the land of Egypt to be as God for you; I am YHWH.”
We are to keep God’s commands but it is God who consecrates us, i.e. make us holy? Discuss.
We have repeatedly seen that God required purity in all areas of life, even the small details like menstruation, skin conditions etc. This, at first seems petty but, what does it teach us about all of life and God [Matthew 10:29] and holiness?
More
Bible Project’s Guide to Leviticus»
Bible Project’s Leviticus Scroll podcasts»
Michael Heiser’s Naked Bible podcast 63: Introducing Leviticus»
S. Heiser, Michael. Notes on Leviticus: from the Naked Bible Podcast (p. 278). BlindSpot Press. Kindle Edition.
Levine, Baruch A. The JPS Torah Commentary: Leviticus: The Traditional Hebrew Text With the New JPS Translation. Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society, 2003, 152.