(Leviticus 25:14 - 25:34)
"When you sell land to any of your own people, or buy land from them, do not cheat one another. When you buy land from a neighbor, the price should be based upon the number of years since the last Jubilee Year. The seller must take into account the number of years until the next jubilee. The more years there are until the next jubilee, the higher the price, the fewer the years, the lower the price. The reason for this is that the person selling you the land is actually selling a certain number of harvests. Show respect to your god by not cheating each other. Thus says your god Jehovah.
"Observe my statutes and obey my decrees and you will live securely in the land. The land will produce bountiful harvests, you will be able to eat your fill and live in security. But you might ask, 'What will we eat on the seventh year, since we are not allowed to plant or harvest crops during that year?' Rest assured that I will so bless your fields on the sixth year that the land will yield a crop that will last for three years. When you plant your fields in the eighth year you will still be eating the large crop from the sixth year. (In fact you will still be eating it when the new crop is being harvested on the ninth year!)
"You cannot sell the land permanently, for it belongs to me; you live upon it only as a resident alien would. When land is purchased, the right of the seller to buy it back must be honored. If one of your fellow Israelites falls into poverty and is forced to sell a piece of family property, a close relative should have the opportunity to reclaim it for him. If there is no family member to do so, but the original owner acquires enough wealth to buy it back, he may do so from the person he sold it to, after figuring a discount for the number of years to the next Jubilee. In this way, the original owner may return to his land. If, however, he cannot afford to pay for his land, it must remain with the new owner until the next Jubilee Year. At that time the property will revert to the original owner, who can live again on his own land.
"Anyone who sells a dwelling in a walled city has the right to reclaim it up to a full year after the purchase. During that year he has the right to buy it back, but if it is not bought back within the year, then the sale of the dwelling will become final. It will become the permanent property of the buyer and not to be returned in the Jubilee Year. However, a dwelling in a village, that is, an unwalled settlement, is to be treated like any other property in the countryside. It may be bought back anytime by the original owner and must be returned to him in the Jubilee Year.
"Members of the tribe of Levi retain the right to buy back any house in the towns belonging to them. Real estate sold by the Levites or property in the towns belonging to them must be returned to them during the Jubilee Year, since the property in their towns are their sole inheritance in Israel. The pastureland around the Levite towns may not be sold at all and is their permanent possession."
Notes
1. Laws concerning the disposition of land seem absurd to promulgate at a time when the migrant Israelites own no land and will not do so for several decades. But the chickens are being well counted before they hatch and the far-sighted Jehovah is supposedly establishing the ground rules long before the game is to be played. (Pardon the mixed metaphor!) It must be reiterated that Levitical law was obviously not established with a divine wave of the hand on Sinai, but evolved over many generations, many hundreds of years. To give custom and human-devised law authority, it is made out to be the command of the national deity -- standard practice among ancient and primitive societies.
2. Jehovah guarantees that there will be good harvests on the sixth year so that on the seventh year the land may lay idle. Really! Jehovah will apparently continually manipulate and manage the weather to benefit the Israelites and that bountiful harvests are assured if the Israelites follow his will. The idea that God (or, more commonly, the gods) actively controls climatic conditions and that every "act of God" is divinely ordained is an old one. For it has always been difficult for man to acknowledge that the venting of Nature's wrath, a drought, a flood, a hurricane, or a tornado, is simply a purposeless, random event. A companion to this view is that the righteous, those favored by the gods, will be rewarded with good fortune: crops yields are in direct proportion to the piety of the farmer.
3. Property and land ownership was regarded differently in Hebrew society than it is today. Firstly, all the land belongs to Jehovah. No one else can really own the land. (This is not conceptually dissimilar to monarchial nations where the crown technically owns all the land.) In most cases, an Israelite merely holds purchased property for a period of time, but families do seem to have permanent ancestral rights over certain tracts of land. It is to be assumed that upon settlement in Canaan there will be allotments of land to tribes, clans, and families, rather the way William the Conqueror divided up England after the Conquest. Any sale of these allotments will be more like a leasing agreement with the land reverting to the original owner after a period of time, here, by the advent of the Jubilee Year that occurs every 50 years. The original owner has the right to terminate at his discretion what is tantamount to a lease. The difference, though, between this arrangement and a lease is that here the "leasee" must make the entire payment up front. In modern terms, it would work like this: Pete wants to expand his farm and would like to plant wheat on a tract of land owned by Joe. He is willing to pay $1000 a year for the land. That's OK with Joe. Since it’s 12 years until the next Jubilee Year, Pete must fork over to Joe $12,000. He can then farm the land for 12 years. At the end of that time he must give it back to Joe. If Joe decides he wants the land back after 6 years time, he has the right to rescind their agreement, but he must give Pete $6000 to get his land back. If he can't afford to do so, he has to wait until the Jubilee Year when it will be returned to him without charge. This was an agrarian plan not without merit. It prevented the disenfranchisement of the poor and the creation of a permanently landless and, therefore, restive and disgruntled class of people, yet it did not impede those who were ambiguous, hard-working, and savvy from acquiring wealth. Ownership of land has been a sticking point in many, if not most societies, ancient and modern. Special problems are created when the indigenous population owns all the land, but is idle, while hard-working, ambitious immigrants are barred from owning property, or, when the ambitious immigrants buy up all the land and leave the indigenous people landless and destitute. The Hebrews found an admirable way of avoiding these extreme situations.
4. We see this early on in the history of civilization a difference between the city and the country/small town. Final after a period of a year are sales of dwellings in cities (in ancient and medieval times, any settlement that had a wall around it), unlike the sale of dwellings in towns, or of farmland and pastures. Cities have always attracted immigrants, foreigners, merchants, and travelers, a turnover of a diverse population. Different rules had to be in force. This is also due to the fact that city-dwellers probably didn’t own farmlands or pastures upon which they could subsist. The prosperity of even these ancient cities would depend upon the ability of its inhabitants to buy and sell freely, to transfer property and real estate.
5. The Levites, the tribe from which the priests of Jehovah come, would not receive the same sort of land allotment the other tribes did. They could, therefore, claim special, compensatory privileges. They made sure that they could, since it is they who are writing the rules, as is evidenced by the name of this book.
Sunday, October 12, 2014
Sabbath and Jubilee Years
(Leviticus 25:1 - 25:13)
When Moses was on the mountain in Sinai, Jehovah told him to give the following instructions to the people of Israel, "When you have settled upon the land I am giving you, the land itself must observe a Sabbath, a time of rest, every 7 years. For 6 years you should plant your fields, prune your vineyards and harvest your crops, but the 7th year must be a Sabbath year of total rest. During that year, devoted to Jehovah, you must not doing any planting or pruning. You must not harvest what has grown untended in your fields, or pick the fruit of your unpruned vines. It must be a year of complete rest for the land. However, whatever the land yields during the Sabbath Year will be subsistence for yourself, your male and female slaves, the hired hands and migrant workers who live with you, as well as your livestock and the wild animals on your property. Whatever grows wild on the land may be eaten.
"Counting off 7 weeks of sabbath years, that is, 7 times seven years, the result adds up to 49 years. On the Day of Atonement (on the 10th day of seven month, Tishri) of the 5oth year a ram's horn should sound loudly throughout the land. The 50th year will be regarded as holy, and liberty will be proclaimed throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It will be for you a jubilee. Everyone should return to his ancestral lands and to his own family. The 50th year will be a jubilee for you. You must not plant or harvest what has grown untended in your fields, or pick the fruit of your untended vines. For this is the Jubilee Year, holy to you. You must eat only what grows wild on your land. In this Jubilee Year each person must return to his own property."
Notes
1. The concept of letting fields lie fallow every few years is a sound and long-observed agricultural practice. However, letting all of one's fields go untilled for a year would seem unwise, since it is impossible to predict whether there will be a good harvest or not. A bad harvest before the Sabbath Year would result in a hungry community.
2. The demand that on the Sabbath Year one must leave to rot on the vine and in the field any fruits and crops that might grow on their own seems an incredible waste. But the commands of Jehovah, arbitrary as they are, must be obeyed.
3. On the Jubilee Year everyone is to return to his family and ancestral property. One wonders to what extent Israelites, even in later times, would have traveled and settled away from where they were born.
When Moses was on the mountain in Sinai, Jehovah told him to give the following instructions to the people of Israel, "When you have settled upon the land I am giving you, the land itself must observe a Sabbath, a time of rest, every 7 years. For 6 years you should plant your fields, prune your vineyards and harvest your crops, but the 7th year must be a Sabbath year of total rest. During that year, devoted to Jehovah, you must not doing any planting or pruning. You must not harvest what has grown untended in your fields, or pick the fruit of your unpruned vines. It must be a year of complete rest for the land. However, whatever the land yields during the Sabbath Year will be subsistence for yourself, your male and female slaves, the hired hands and migrant workers who live with you, as well as your livestock and the wild animals on your property. Whatever grows wild on the land may be eaten.
"Counting off 7 weeks of sabbath years, that is, 7 times seven years, the result adds up to 49 years. On the Day of Atonement (on the 10th day of seven month, Tishri) of the 5oth year a ram's horn should sound loudly throughout the land. The 50th year will be regarded as holy, and liberty will be proclaimed throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It will be for you a jubilee. Everyone should return to his ancestral lands and to his own family. The 50th year will be a jubilee for you. You must not plant or harvest what has grown untended in your fields, or pick the fruit of your untended vines. For this is the Jubilee Year, holy to you. You must eat only what grows wild on your land. In this Jubilee Year each person must return to his own property."
Notes
1. The concept of letting fields lie fallow every few years is a sound and long-observed agricultural practice. However, letting all of one's fields go untilled for a year would seem unwise, since it is impossible to predict whether there will be a good harvest or not. A bad harvest before the Sabbath Year would result in a hungry community.
2. The demand that on the Sabbath Year one must leave to rot on the vine and in the field any fruits and crops that might grow on their own seems an incredible waste. But the commands of Jehovah, arbitrary as they are, must be obeyed.
3. On the Jubilee Year everyone is to return to his family and ancestral property. One wonders to what extent Israelites, even in later times, would have traveled and settled away from where they were born.
Wednesday, October 1, 2014
Punishment of a Blasphemer
(Leviticus 24:10 - 24:23)
A certain man whose mother was an Israelite and whose father was an Egyptian had accompanied the Israelites on their Exodus. It happened that a fight broke out in camp between this man and an Israelite, and, during the fight, this son of Israelite woman blasphemed -- he uttered in a curse the name of Jehovah. He was thus brought to Moses. (This man's mother was, by name, Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri of the tribe of Dan.) They held him under close arrest until Jehovah's will in this matter could be learned.
Jehovah instructed Moses, "Let those who heard him utter the blasphemy take charge of him and bring the blasphemer to a place outside of camp. There let him be stoned to death by the entire community. Tell the people of Israel that those who curse their god will be punished for their sin. Anyone who commits blasphemy by cursing in the name of Jehovah will be stoned to death by the entire community of Israel. Indeed, any native born-Israelite or foreigner who lives among you that is guilty of blasphemy by cursing in my name is to be put to death.
"Furthermore, anyone who takes the life of another human being must be put to death. Anyone who causes the death of an animal must make restitution to the owner, that is, a live animal for the one that was killed. Anyone who inflicts injury on another person must be injured in the same way, a broken bone for a broken bone, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth; the perpetrator must suffer the same injury as his victim. Whoever kills an animal may make restitution, but whoever kills a human being must be put to death. This is the law for both foreigner and native-born citizen alike. Thus says Jehovah your god."
Moses conveyed what Jehovah had said to the Israelites. They did indeed take the blasphemer outside of camp and there stoned him to death, doing exactly as Jehovah had commanded Moses.
Notes
1. This incident is, for some reason, inserted in the midst of the explanations of Jehovan laws and Hebrew customs. But it is quite illuminating. --- However, it is not clear in the story exactly how the Egyptian-Israelite, the mixed-ethnicity camp follower, blasphemed or cursed Jehovah. Did he use his name as a cuss word? Did he say “Jehovah d--n it!” or "D--n Jehovah!" Did he suggest that Jehovah was a lousy god or even tell his Israelite opponent that Jehovah should go f--- himself, or something to that effect? Whatever it was, it was deemed serious enough an infraction of the prohibition against dissing Jehovah that the matter was brought to Moses. Moses has to consult Jehovah to find out what to do. And Jehovah responds with the pronouncement of a sentence that is swiftly enacted -- an ideal justice system!?
2. It was the custom of ancient Egyptians to curse their gods as well as praise them. Thus, the act of this half-Egyptian Israelite was doubly offensive. It violated Jehovan law and it also conformed to a noxious foreign custom.
3. The laws set down for the Israelites apply equally to foreigners or resident aliens living with them. This is equitable, but in this instance was there a prejudice against the accused because he was half Egyptian? (Undertones in the text suggest a disapproval of mixed marriages.) We cannot know, but we can be pretty sure that the accused had no opportunity to defend himself, present his case, offer extenuating circumstances, or profess contrition and plead for mercy. With a presumptive god serving as prosecutor, judge and jury, there would be no need for legal proceedings.
4. At times there are in the Levitical ordinances suggestions of a nascent legal system and moral sensibilities that are almost modern. At other times they betray values that are primitive, barbaric, and tribalistic. Executing someone for an act of blasphemy, especially one that probably occurred under stress, during the anger of the moment, is more than draconian. It reveals an unbending, fanatical mindset, much like that of the contemporary Islamic Jihadist who believes that any sign of disrespect to his god to be a capital offense. But this conforms to Jehovah's legal doctrine, that man's greatest moral responsibility is obedience to him.
5. The infamous moral imperative, "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth," is unambiguously presented here. If you knock a man's eye out in a fight, you must let him gouge out your eye. If you break his leg, your leg must also be broken. This is the morality of getting back at others for what they've done to you. This is the morality of raw emotion and animal instinct, of the caveman and the criminal. This is the morality of revenge, blood feuds, brutality, cruelty, hatred, and unforgiveness. But there's flaw in this morality: the original offense may seem justified to the perpetrator. His punishment is, therefore, deemed unjust, an act that itself requires punishment. There ensues an endless cycle of reprisals. "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth," results in a world of sightless, toothless men.
6. Jehovah must be fairly proud of his people, for they followed his orders to kill the man who offended him and did so with no apparent reluctance. He has what he wants, a docile, sheep-like people who will mindlessly obey and do what they are told, who do not criticize or question, but accept, who make no moral judgments on their own, but defer to him, who will do their thinking for them.
7. Leviticus tells us nothing of the backstory, who the blasphemer was, what the quarrel was about, and who his mother Shilomith was. Other sources of legend fill in the gap and satisfy our curiosity. Supposedly, the Egyptian father was a taskmaster who killed Shelomith’s father and, one assumes, raped her. This was the very man that Moses had killed. The blasphemer’s grievance was that he could not camp with his mother. Poor chap -- it seems as if he was paying for the sins of his father.
A certain man whose mother was an Israelite and whose father was an Egyptian had accompanied the Israelites on their Exodus. It happened that a fight broke out in camp between this man and an Israelite, and, during the fight, this son of Israelite woman blasphemed -- he uttered in a curse the name of Jehovah. He was thus brought to Moses. (This man's mother was, by name, Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri of the tribe of Dan.) They held him under close arrest until Jehovah's will in this matter could be learned.
Jehovah instructed Moses, "Let those who heard him utter the blasphemy take charge of him and bring the blasphemer to a place outside of camp. There let him be stoned to death by the entire community. Tell the people of Israel that those who curse their god will be punished for their sin. Anyone who commits blasphemy by cursing in the name of Jehovah will be stoned to death by the entire community of Israel. Indeed, any native born-Israelite or foreigner who lives among you that is guilty of blasphemy by cursing in my name is to be put to death.
"Furthermore, anyone who takes the life of another human being must be put to death. Anyone who causes the death of an animal must make restitution to the owner, that is, a live animal for the one that was killed. Anyone who inflicts injury on another person must be injured in the same way, a broken bone for a broken bone, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth; the perpetrator must suffer the same injury as his victim. Whoever kills an animal may make restitution, but whoever kills a human being must be put to death. This is the law for both foreigner and native-born citizen alike. Thus says Jehovah your god."
Moses conveyed what Jehovah had said to the Israelites. They did indeed take the blasphemer outside of camp and there stoned him to death, doing exactly as Jehovah had commanded Moses.
Notes
1. This incident is, for some reason, inserted in the midst of the explanations of Jehovan laws and Hebrew customs. But it is quite illuminating. --- However, it is not clear in the story exactly how the Egyptian-Israelite, the mixed-ethnicity camp follower, blasphemed or cursed Jehovah. Did he use his name as a cuss word? Did he say “Jehovah d--n it!” or "D--n Jehovah!" Did he suggest that Jehovah was a lousy god or even tell his Israelite opponent that Jehovah should go f--- himself, or something to that effect? Whatever it was, it was deemed serious enough an infraction of the prohibition against dissing Jehovah that the matter was brought to Moses. Moses has to consult Jehovah to find out what to do. And Jehovah responds with the pronouncement of a sentence that is swiftly enacted -- an ideal justice system!?
2. It was the custom of ancient Egyptians to curse their gods as well as praise them. Thus, the act of this half-Egyptian Israelite was doubly offensive. It violated Jehovan law and it also conformed to a noxious foreign custom.
3. The laws set down for the Israelites apply equally to foreigners or resident aliens living with them. This is equitable, but in this instance was there a prejudice against the accused because he was half Egyptian? (Undertones in the text suggest a disapproval of mixed marriages.) We cannot know, but we can be pretty sure that the accused had no opportunity to defend himself, present his case, offer extenuating circumstances, or profess contrition and plead for mercy. With a presumptive god serving as prosecutor, judge and jury, there would be no need for legal proceedings.
4. At times there are in the Levitical ordinances suggestions of a nascent legal system and moral sensibilities that are almost modern. At other times they betray values that are primitive, barbaric, and tribalistic. Executing someone for an act of blasphemy, especially one that probably occurred under stress, during the anger of the moment, is more than draconian. It reveals an unbending, fanatical mindset, much like that of the contemporary Islamic Jihadist who believes that any sign of disrespect to his god to be a capital offense. But this conforms to Jehovah's legal doctrine, that man's greatest moral responsibility is obedience to him.
5. The infamous moral imperative, "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth," is unambiguously presented here. If you knock a man's eye out in a fight, you must let him gouge out your eye. If you break his leg, your leg must also be broken. This is the morality of getting back at others for what they've done to you. This is the morality of raw emotion and animal instinct, of the caveman and the criminal. This is the morality of revenge, blood feuds, brutality, cruelty, hatred, and unforgiveness. But there's flaw in this morality: the original offense may seem justified to the perpetrator. His punishment is, therefore, deemed unjust, an act that itself requires punishment. There ensues an endless cycle of reprisals. "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth," results in a world of sightless, toothless men.
6. Jehovah must be fairly proud of his people, for they followed his orders to kill the man who offended him and did so with no apparent reluctance. He has what he wants, a docile, sheep-like people who will mindlessly obey and do what they are told, who do not criticize or question, but accept, who make no moral judgments on their own, but defer to him, who will do their thinking for them.
7. Leviticus tells us nothing of the backstory, who the blasphemer was, what the quarrel was about, and who his mother Shilomith was. Other sources of legend fill in the gap and satisfy our curiosity. Supposedly, the Egyptian father was a taskmaster who killed Shelomith’s father and, one assumes, raped her. This was the very man that Moses had killed. The blasphemer’s grievance was that he could not camp with his mother. Poor chap -- it seems as if he was paying for the sins of his father.
Menorah and Showbread
(Leviticus 24:1 - 24:9)
Jehovah instructed Moses, "Command the Israelites to bring you pure oil from pressed olives for the lamps of the menorah so that an eternal flame may always burn. Aaron should set up the menorah in the Tabernacle just outside the curtain of the Inner Sanctum, where the Chest of Sacred Records is housed, and he must tend it so that from dusk till dawn a flame will always burn there. This is to be an established custom observed through the generations: the lamps on the pure gold menorah standing before the Inner Sanctum must be continually tended.
"Using the finest flour, bake twelve loaves of bread made of two-tenths of an ephah of flour for each loaf. They should be arranged in two rows, six loaves in each row, on the table of pure gold standing before the Inner Sanctum. Place some pure frankincense next to each row as a token offering for the bread, a burnt offering for Jehovah. Every Sabbath this showbread must be laid out before the Inner Sanctum as a condition of my everlasting contract with the people of Israel. These loaves will belong to Aaron and his successors, but since they are sacred, they must be eaten within the confines of the Tabernacle. (It is the privilege of the priests to claim this divinely sanctioned portion of the food offerings made to Jehovah.)"
Notes
1. Aaron and his priests must tend the lamps of the menorah so that they will always burn in the Sanctum. You wonder if this required someone to be up all night on watch, adding oil and trimming the wicks when necessary. If so, it must have been a lonely vigil. How would someone living at that time occupy his solitary hours? Obviously, no internet to surf, no cat videos to look at, no video games to play, no ipod or talk radio or baseball games to listen to. There were no cards to play solitaire with. He could not read, not even the Bible, since it hadn't been written yet. (In fact, for many centuries there would not really be such a thing as a book. Alphabets had yet to be invented and there were only inscriptions and records in Sumerian cuneiform or Egyptian hieroglyphics.) Could a priest bring his knitting into the Sanctum, or engage in whittling? Playing a musical instrument -- what did they have beside the ram's horn and maybe some sort of harp or lyre? -- would have disturbed the sleeping flocks of sheep, and Jehovah might not have like it anyway. It is hard to imagine how the priest would have spent his time, save in meditation.
2. Again we have the huge two-tenth-of-an-ephah loaves of bread, from four quarts of flour -- a gallon! One hopes that the Jehovan priests, fattening up on a diet of such bread and all those choice burnt offerings of beef and mutton (and no healthy pork), had opportunities to work out. Some authorities, though, credibly assert that the omer, rather than the ephah should be used here. Two-tenths of an omer, being about three-quarters of pint, would make the bread conveniently small to fit on the table and not impossibly large.
3. We continually see that Jehovah is placated by various offerings of food. That, one supposes, was all that primitive man could think of. Later, the gods would regularly have things built for them, as does, in fact, Jehovah -- the Tabernacle. In more sophisticated times, men would also make other offerings and promises to their gods, good deeds, quests or crusades, devotional service, acts of self-denial, or abstention from bad behavior. For some reason, the modern worshiper no longer seems to think his god would appreciate a well-cooked fillet.
Jehovah instructed Moses, "Command the Israelites to bring you pure oil from pressed olives for the lamps of the menorah so that an eternal flame may always burn. Aaron should set up the menorah in the Tabernacle just outside the curtain of the Inner Sanctum, where the Chest of Sacred Records is housed, and he must tend it so that from dusk till dawn a flame will always burn there. This is to be an established custom observed through the generations: the lamps on the pure gold menorah standing before the Inner Sanctum must be continually tended.
"Using the finest flour, bake twelve loaves of bread made of two-tenths of an ephah of flour for each loaf. They should be arranged in two rows, six loaves in each row, on the table of pure gold standing before the Inner Sanctum. Place some pure frankincense next to each row as a token offering for the bread, a burnt offering for Jehovah. Every Sabbath this showbread must be laid out before the Inner Sanctum as a condition of my everlasting contract with the people of Israel. These loaves will belong to Aaron and his successors, but since they are sacred, they must be eaten within the confines of the Tabernacle. (It is the privilege of the priests to claim this divinely sanctioned portion of the food offerings made to Jehovah.)"
Notes
1. Aaron and his priests must tend the lamps of the menorah so that they will always burn in the Sanctum. You wonder if this required someone to be up all night on watch, adding oil and trimming the wicks when necessary. If so, it must have been a lonely vigil. How would someone living at that time occupy his solitary hours? Obviously, no internet to surf, no cat videos to look at, no video games to play, no ipod or talk radio or baseball games to listen to. There were no cards to play solitaire with. He could not read, not even the Bible, since it hadn't been written yet. (In fact, for many centuries there would not really be such a thing as a book. Alphabets had yet to be invented and there were only inscriptions and records in Sumerian cuneiform or Egyptian hieroglyphics.) Could a priest bring his knitting into the Sanctum, or engage in whittling? Playing a musical instrument -- what did they have beside the ram's horn and maybe some sort of harp or lyre? -- would have disturbed the sleeping flocks of sheep, and Jehovah might not have like it anyway. It is hard to imagine how the priest would have spent his time, save in meditation.
2. Again we have the huge two-tenth-of-an-ephah loaves of bread, from four quarts of flour -- a gallon! One hopes that the Jehovan priests, fattening up on a diet of such bread and all those choice burnt offerings of beef and mutton (and no healthy pork), had opportunities to work out. Some authorities, though, credibly assert that the omer, rather than the ephah should be used here. Two-tenths of an omer, being about three-quarters of pint, would make the bread conveniently small to fit on the table and not impossibly large.
3. We continually see that Jehovah is placated by various offerings of food. That, one supposes, was all that primitive man could think of. Later, the gods would regularly have things built for them, as does, in fact, Jehovah -- the Tabernacle. In more sophisticated times, men would also make other offerings and promises to their gods, good deeds, quests or crusades, devotional service, acts of self-denial, or abstention from bad behavior. For some reason, the modern worshiper no longer seems to think his god would appreciate a well-cooked fillet.
Thursday, September 25, 2014
Festivals to Be Observed
(Leviticus 23:1 - 23:44)
Jehovah told Moses to convey to the Israelites these instructions: "These are the established festivals that are to be enshrined as official holidays for the religious congregation.
"For six days you will work, but the seventh day, the Sabbath, is to be set aside as a day for rest and religious services. On the Sabbath, dedicated to Jehovah, you will do no work, regardless of where you may live.
"The following are Jehovah's established festivals, official holidays for religious service that are to be observed at the appropriate times of the year.
"There is Jehovah's Passover, which commences on sundown on the 14th day of Nisan, the first month of the year. The 15th day of the month is the time of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. For seven days only unleavened bread may be eaten. On the first day of Passover there should be a sacred convocation, and everyone must take a day off from work. On each day food offerings should be sacrificed to Jehovah, and on the seventh day there should be another sacred convocation, with everyone taking off from work.
The Jehovah told Moses to convey to the Israelites these instructions: "When you have settled in the land I am taking you to and have harvested the first crop, bring to the priest a sheaf from the first grain you reap. The priest should wave it above the altar on the first day after the Sabbath, so that it may be accepted by Jehovah on your behalf. On the same day you should sacrifice to Jehovah a burnt offering of a yearling lamb without defect, along with a grain offering of two tenths of an ephah of finest flour mixed with olive oil -- a burnt offering that will create an aroma most pleasing to Jehovah-- and also a drink offering of one quarter of a hin of wine. You should eat no bread or any fresh or roasted kernels of grain until you make this sacrifice to Jehovah. This will be an established custom that you must observe through the generations regardless of where you may live.
"From the day after the Sabbath, the day that you bring in the sheaf of grain to be waved above the altar, you should count off 7 full weeks. Keep counting until the day after the seventh Sabbath, 50 days; you should then present to Jehovah an offering of new grain. From your home you should bring as an offering to be waved above the altar two loaves of leavened bread made with two-tenths of an ephah of the finest flour. These will be a part of the offerings of first fruits to Jehovah. In addition to the bread, sacrifice as burnt offerings to Jehovah 7 yearling male lambs without defect, a male calf, and 2 rams. These will comprise the burnt offering to Jehovah, accompanying the offerings of grain and drink -- food offerings that will create an aroma most pleasing to Jehovah. Then sacrifice, for a guilt offering, one male goat and, for a peace offering, 2 yearling male lambs. The priest will raise and wave above the altar these offerings to Jehovah as he did with the 2 loaves representing the first fruits of the harvest. These sacred offerings made to Jehovah will belong to the priests. This day will be an official holiday for sacred convocation, with everyone taking off from work. This will be an established custom that you must observe through the generations regardless of where you may live.
"When you harvest your crops do not reap the grain to the edges of the fields, or collect the gleanings that remain. Leave it for the poor and the foreigners who live among you. Thus says Jehovah your god."
Jehovah told Moses, "On the first day of the seventh month of Tishri you are to observe a Sabbath-like day of rest. There should be a sacred convocation proclaimed by blasts of the ram’s horn. Refrain from doing any work and sacrifice a food offering to Jehovah."
Jehovah told Moses, "On the tenth day of the seventh month of Tishri is a Day of Atonement celebrated with a sacred convocation. You are to fast and refrain from work and present sacrifices of food offerings to Jehovah, for this is a day to atone and to purify yourselves before your god Jehovah. Anyone who does not fast on that day should be banished from the community. Anyone who does any work during the course of the day I will strike down in the midst of the people. Do absolutely no work on that day! This will be an established custom that you must observe through the generations regardless of where you may live. It must be a Sabbath-like day of complete rest and you must fast on that day. You are to observe this day of rest from sundown on the ninth day of the month to sundown on the following day."
The Jehovah told Moses to convey to the Israelites these instructions: "On the fifteenth day of same month, five days after the Day of Atonement you should begin to celebrate Jehovah's Festival of Tabernacles, which lasts seven days. On the first day is a sacred convocation, when no one must work. On each of the seven days you must make food sacrifices to Jehovah. On the eighth day is a solemn holiday when burnt offerings to Jehovah are to be made and a sacred convocation held. No one must work on that day.
"Keep in mind that this week-long festival to Jehovah, the Festival of the Tabernacles, begins on the fifth of the month of Tishri. after you have harvested your crops. The first and the eighth day of the festival are holidays of total rest. On the first day collect foliage, branches from citron trees, palm fronds, myrtle boughs, and branches from the willows that grow along the banks of streams -- and rejoice for seven days in honor of your god Jehovah. Celebrate this festival to Jehovah for seven days every year. This will be an established custom to be observed through the generations. Observe it in the seventh month, Tishri. Live in small, temporary shelters for seven days. All native-born Israelites are to do so so that their descendants will remember that I had the Israelites live in such shelters when I brought them out of Egypt. Thus says Jehovah your god."
These are Jehovah's established festivals, celebrated by sacred convocations and food offerings made to Jehovah -- burnt offering, grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings, each on its appropriate day. These festivals are to observed in addition to the Jehovah's regular Sabbaths, and the offerings are in addition to whatever gifts, votive and voluntary offerings you may make to Jehovah.
Moses thus presented to the Israelites instructions for the observance of the annual festivals established by Jehovah.
Notes
1. In summary, these are festival or holidays established by Jehovah:
Passover, comprising the Feast of Unleavened Bread, celebrating the Israelites’ freedom from Egyptian bondage, on the 14th of the first month, Nisan, (late March, April) and lasting for 7 days (later 8 days).
Feast of First Fruits, Festival of Weeks, called in New Testament times, Feast of Pentecost, and now called Shavuot and observed on the 6th day of the 3rd month, Sivan (late May, early June), traditionally the day the Torah was given to the Israelites at Mount Sinai, time of wheat harvest and ripening of fruit.
New Year, or Rosh Hashanah, the first day of the seventh month, Tishri, (September, early October) celebrated with horn blasts, traditionally the day that Adam was created.
Day of Atonement, or Yom Kippur, 10th day of the seventh month, Tishri, (mid September, early October) celebrated with fasting, prayer, sacrifices.
Festival of Tabernacles, or Festival of Booths, Festival of Ingathering, or Festival of the Final Harvest, now known as Sukkot, 15th day of the seventh month, Tishri (late September to late October), 7 days celebrated by eating and sleeping in simple shelters covered with foliage and greenery.
Three of the festivals, Passover, Feast of First Fruits, and Festival of Tabernacles would become pilgrimage holidays during which Israelites were supposed to journey to Jerusalem. How practical this ever was is doubtful.
It must be remembered days begin at dusk. The Jewish calendar is lunar so that the dates of the holidays will vary from year to year in relation to the solar calendar. All these holidays are still celebrated by observant and, to varying degrees, by nonobservant Jews today.
2. Two-tenths of an ephah is about 7 pounds. Those must have been whopping big loaves of bread! A grocery store loaf of bread weighs as little as a pound and a quarter. A quarter of a hin is about a quart or a liter.
3. The second-to-last paragraph ("These are Jehovah's established festivals ...") is misplaced in the middle of the description of Festival of Tabernacles. It is probably not part of Jehovah's speech, so I have inserted it afterwards, where it obviously belongs.
4. It is odd that the names and descriptions of Jehovah's holidays given here is at some variance with those given in Exodus. It is further evidence that the Books of Moses, or their source material, were not all written at the same time or by the same authors. It is obvious that these books, written by and for the benefit of the priestly class, record traditions that were established over time, probably hundreds of years, and not immediately put into practice at the foot of Mount Sinai. It seems unlikely that either Jehovah or Moses would have been telling the freed slaves of Israel wandering in the desert what would be expected of them forty years hence.
5. On the New Year, Rosh Hashanah, it is mentioned here that the ram’s horn, or shofar is sounded. Many translations say “trumpet,” which is not quite accurate. A trumpet generally refers to a wind instrument of metal. Early ones, without keys or valves and of bronze and silver were in use during Moses’ time, but the ram’s horn is the musical instrument used by the Israelites, often for religious purposes. The ram’s horn, like the bugle, requires the player to use his mouth to alter pitch.
Jehovah told Moses to convey to the Israelites these instructions: "These are the established festivals that are to be enshrined as official holidays for the religious congregation.
"For six days you will work, but the seventh day, the Sabbath, is to be set aside as a day for rest and religious services. On the Sabbath, dedicated to Jehovah, you will do no work, regardless of where you may live.
"The following are Jehovah's established festivals, official holidays for religious service that are to be observed at the appropriate times of the year.
"There is Jehovah's Passover, which commences on sundown on the 14th day of Nisan, the first month of the year. The 15th day of the month is the time of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. For seven days only unleavened bread may be eaten. On the first day of Passover there should be a sacred convocation, and everyone must take a day off from work. On each day food offerings should be sacrificed to Jehovah, and on the seventh day there should be another sacred convocation, with everyone taking off from work.
The Jehovah told Moses to convey to the Israelites these instructions: "When you have settled in the land I am taking you to and have harvested the first crop, bring to the priest a sheaf from the first grain you reap. The priest should wave it above the altar on the first day after the Sabbath, so that it may be accepted by Jehovah on your behalf. On the same day you should sacrifice to Jehovah a burnt offering of a yearling lamb without defect, along with a grain offering of two tenths of an ephah of finest flour mixed with olive oil -- a burnt offering that will create an aroma most pleasing to Jehovah-- and also a drink offering of one quarter of a hin of wine. You should eat no bread or any fresh or roasted kernels of grain until you make this sacrifice to Jehovah. This will be an established custom that you must observe through the generations regardless of where you may live.
"From the day after the Sabbath, the day that you bring in the sheaf of grain to be waved above the altar, you should count off 7 full weeks. Keep counting until the day after the seventh Sabbath, 50 days; you should then present to Jehovah an offering of new grain. From your home you should bring as an offering to be waved above the altar two loaves of leavened bread made with two-tenths of an ephah of the finest flour. These will be a part of the offerings of first fruits to Jehovah. In addition to the bread, sacrifice as burnt offerings to Jehovah 7 yearling male lambs without defect, a male calf, and 2 rams. These will comprise the burnt offering to Jehovah, accompanying the offerings of grain and drink -- food offerings that will create an aroma most pleasing to Jehovah. Then sacrifice, for a guilt offering, one male goat and, for a peace offering, 2 yearling male lambs. The priest will raise and wave above the altar these offerings to Jehovah as he did with the 2 loaves representing the first fruits of the harvest. These sacred offerings made to Jehovah will belong to the priests. This day will be an official holiday for sacred convocation, with everyone taking off from work. This will be an established custom that you must observe through the generations regardless of where you may live.
"When you harvest your crops do not reap the grain to the edges of the fields, or collect the gleanings that remain. Leave it for the poor and the foreigners who live among you. Thus says Jehovah your god."
Jehovah told Moses, "On the first day of the seventh month of Tishri you are to observe a Sabbath-like day of rest. There should be a sacred convocation proclaimed by blasts of the ram’s horn. Refrain from doing any work and sacrifice a food offering to Jehovah."
Jehovah told Moses, "On the tenth day of the seventh month of Tishri is a Day of Atonement celebrated with a sacred convocation. You are to fast and refrain from work and present sacrifices of food offerings to Jehovah, for this is a day to atone and to purify yourselves before your god Jehovah. Anyone who does not fast on that day should be banished from the community. Anyone who does any work during the course of the day I will strike down in the midst of the people. Do absolutely no work on that day! This will be an established custom that you must observe through the generations regardless of where you may live. It must be a Sabbath-like day of complete rest and you must fast on that day. You are to observe this day of rest from sundown on the ninth day of the month to sundown on the following day."
The Jehovah told Moses to convey to the Israelites these instructions: "On the fifteenth day of same month, five days after the Day of Atonement you should begin to celebrate Jehovah's Festival of Tabernacles, which lasts seven days. On the first day is a sacred convocation, when no one must work. On each of the seven days you must make food sacrifices to Jehovah. On the eighth day is a solemn holiday when burnt offerings to Jehovah are to be made and a sacred convocation held. No one must work on that day.
"Keep in mind that this week-long festival to Jehovah, the Festival of the Tabernacles, begins on the fifth of the month of Tishri. after you have harvested your crops. The first and the eighth day of the festival are holidays of total rest. On the first day collect foliage, branches from citron trees, palm fronds, myrtle boughs, and branches from the willows that grow along the banks of streams -- and rejoice for seven days in honor of your god Jehovah. Celebrate this festival to Jehovah for seven days every year. This will be an established custom to be observed through the generations. Observe it in the seventh month, Tishri. Live in small, temporary shelters for seven days. All native-born Israelites are to do so so that their descendants will remember that I had the Israelites live in such shelters when I brought them out of Egypt. Thus says Jehovah your god."
These are Jehovah's established festivals, celebrated by sacred convocations and food offerings made to Jehovah -- burnt offering, grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings, each on its appropriate day. These festivals are to observed in addition to the Jehovah's regular Sabbaths, and the offerings are in addition to whatever gifts, votive and voluntary offerings you may make to Jehovah.
Moses thus presented to the Israelites instructions for the observance of the annual festivals established by Jehovah.
Notes
1. In summary, these are festival or holidays established by Jehovah:
Passover, comprising the Feast of Unleavened Bread, celebrating the Israelites’ freedom from Egyptian bondage, on the 14th of the first month, Nisan, (late March, April) and lasting for 7 days (later 8 days).
Feast of First Fruits, Festival of Weeks, called in New Testament times, Feast of Pentecost, and now called Shavuot and observed on the 6th day of the 3rd month, Sivan (late May, early June), traditionally the day the Torah was given to the Israelites at Mount Sinai, time of wheat harvest and ripening of fruit.
New Year, or Rosh Hashanah, the first day of the seventh month, Tishri, (September, early October) celebrated with horn blasts, traditionally the day that Adam was created.
Day of Atonement, or Yom Kippur, 10th day of the seventh month, Tishri, (mid September, early October) celebrated with fasting, prayer, sacrifices.
Festival of Tabernacles, or Festival of Booths, Festival of Ingathering, or Festival of the Final Harvest, now known as Sukkot, 15th day of the seventh month, Tishri (late September to late October), 7 days celebrated by eating and sleeping in simple shelters covered with foliage and greenery.
Three of the festivals, Passover, Feast of First Fruits, and Festival of Tabernacles would become pilgrimage holidays during which Israelites were supposed to journey to Jerusalem. How practical this ever was is doubtful.
It must be remembered days begin at dusk. The Jewish calendar is lunar so that the dates of the holidays will vary from year to year in relation to the solar calendar. All these holidays are still celebrated by observant and, to varying degrees, by nonobservant Jews today.
2. Two-tenths of an ephah is about 7 pounds. Those must have been whopping big loaves of bread! A grocery store loaf of bread weighs as little as a pound and a quarter. A quarter of a hin is about a quart or a liter.
3. The second-to-last paragraph ("These are Jehovah's established festivals ...") is misplaced in the middle of the description of Festival of Tabernacles. It is probably not part of Jehovah's speech, so I have inserted it afterwards, where it obviously belongs.
4. It is odd that the names and descriptions of Jehovah's holidays given here is at some variance with those given in Exodus. It is further evidence that the Books of Moses, or their source material, were not all written at the same time or by the same authors. It is obvious that these books, written by and for the benefit of the priestly class, record traditions that were established over time, probably hundreds of years, and not immediately put into practice at the foot of Mount Sinai. It seems unlikely that either Jehovah or Moses would have been telling the freed slaves of Israel wandering in the desert what would be expected of them forty years hence.
5. On the New Year, Rosh Hashanah, it is mentioned here that the ram’s horn, or shofar is sounded. Many translations say “trumpet,” which is not quite accurate. A trumpet generally refers to a wind instrument of metal. Early ones, without keys or valves and of bronze and silver were in use during Moses’ time, but the ram’s horn is the musical instrument used by the Israelites, often for religious purposes. The ram’s horn, like the bugle, requires the player to use his mouth to alter pitch.
Friday, September 19, 2014
Instructions for Priests
(Leviticus 21:1 - 22:33)
Jehovah told Moses to give the following instructions to the priests: "A priest must not make himself ritually impure by touching the dead body of a relative. Exceptions are made for family members, a father, mother, son, daughter, brother, or a spinster sister whom he supports because she has no husband. However, he should not make himself ritually impure on account of someone who is only a relative by marriage.
"Priests should not shave their heads, shape the edges of their beards, or make cuts in their flesh. They must set themselves apart as holy for their god and not profane his name. They are the ones who make the sacrifices of food to Jehovah, sustenance for their god, and they, therefore, must remain holy.
"Because they are holy to their god, priests must not marry a woman who has defiled herself by being sexually promiscuous or who has been divorced from her husband. Treat the priests as holy because they furnish the food for your god. Consider them holy, for I, Jehovah am holy. It is I who makes you holy. If the daughter of a priest defiles herself by being promiscuous, she has defiled her father's holiness and should be burned to death.
"The High Priest, the leader among his fellow priests, the one who has had the anointing oil poured over his head and who has been consecrated to don the sacred vestments, must not, during mourning, leave his hair disheveled or wear tattered clothing. He should not make himself ritually impure by attending to a dead body, even if it be that of his mother or father. He should not leave the Tabernacle compound for this purpose (and, therefore, defile it), for he has been made holy by the anointing oil of his god. Thus says Jehovah.
“The High Priest may marry only a virgin and never a woman who has been widowed or divorced, or one who has defiled herself by being promiscuous. The virgin he marries should be from his own tribe, so that his offspring will not be disrespected by it. Thus says Jehovah, who has sanctified him."
Jehovah also instructed Moses to tell Aaron, "None of your successors down through the generations may present food sacrifices to Jehovah if he has any kind of defect. No one who has a defect should approach the altar, that is, someone who is blind or lame, who has a disfigured face or a deformed limb, a broken arm or leg, who is a hunchback or a dwarf, who has an eye disease, skin sores or scabs, or has damaged testicles. No successor of Aaron the priest who is to present food offerings to Jehovah should have any defect. If he has a defect, then he must not come near the food offerings to his god. He may, however, eat the sacrificed food, even the most holy offerings. Yet, because of his defect, he may not enter the Inner Sanctum or approach the altar, for that would profane my holy places. Thus says Jehovah, who makes them holy."
Moses conveyed these instructions to Aaron and his sons and to all the people of Israel.
Jehovah also told Moses to instruct Aaron and his sons, "Take care in handling the sacred offerings the Israelites consecrate to me so as not to profane my holy name. Thus says Jehovah.
“Tell them that if any of your successors down through the generations touches these sacred offerings that the Israelites have consecrated to me while he is ritually impure, that person should be removed from the priesthood. Thus says Jehovah. None of Aaron' successors who is infected with tzaraath or has any bodily discharge that renders him ritually impure should eat of the sacred offerings until he has been declared ritually pure. Also, if he becomes ritually impure by touching a dead body or by having an emission of semen, or by touching bugs or vermin that might make him impure, or by being exposed to a person who has, for any reason, become ritually impure, then that person will be ritually impure until evening. He may not eat from the sacred offering until he has taken a bath. After sunset he will be ritually pure again and may eat from the sacred offerings, for this is his food. But he must not eat anything that has been found dead or has been killed by wild animals, and so become ritually impure because of it. Thus says Jehovah.
"The priests are to officiate in such a way that they do not violate my instructions. They will be killed if they are guilty of treating them with contempt. Thus says Jehovah, who has made them holy.
"No one not belonging to the priest's family may partake of the sacred offerings. Even guests or hired workers in the priest's household may not do so. However, slaves purchased by the priest or slaves born in the priest's household may eat his food. If the daughter of a priest marries someone other than a priest then she may no longer eat from the sacred offerings. But if she becomes a widow or is divorced and has no son to support her and returns to live in her father's home as she did when she was young, then she may eat her father's food again. Otherwise, no one outside the priest's household is allowed to eat it.
"If a man unintentional eats a sacred offering, he must make restitution to the priests for it, plus an additional 20%. The priests should not allow the sacred offerings presented to Jehovah by the people of Israel to be defiled by being eaten by unauthorized persons, bringing guilt upon them and requiring them to pay compensation. Thus says Jehovah, who makes them holy."
Jehovah told Moses to speak to Aaron, his sons, and all the Israelites and toinstruct them, "If any of you, whether an Israelite or a resident alien, makes a sacrifice of a burnt offering to Jehovah, either to fulfill a vow or voluntarily, to be accepted the sacrifice must be of a male animal without defect, a bull, a ram, or a billy goat. Don't offer an animal that has any defect, because it won't be accepted on your behalf. When anyone brings from the herd or the flock a peace offering, whether to fulfill a vow or voluntarily, the animal offered for sacrifice must be perfect; it must have no defect of any kind. You must not offer an animal that is blind, crippled, or injured, or which has warts, sores, or scabs. Such animal must never be offered as a burnt sacrifice to Jehovah. You may, however, as a voluntary offering, present cattle or sheep that are deformed or stunted, but not in fulfillment of a vow. If an animal has been castrated or has damaged testicles, you should not offer it to Jehovah. You must never do this in your own country and you must not accept such animals from a foreigner to offer as a sacrifice to your god. Such animals will not be accepted on your behalf, since they are defective and deformed."
Jehovah told Moses, "When a calf, a lamb, or a kid is born it should remain with its mother for seven days. By the eighth day it will acceptable as a food sacrifice for Jehovah. However, whether it be an animal from the herd or the flock, an animal and its mother should not be slaughtered on the same day.
"When you make a thanksgiving offering to Jehovah, be sure that the sacrifice is properly conducted so that it will accepted on your behalf. You must eat all of it on the day it is made and not leave any till morning. Thus says Jehovah.
"Honor all my commandments and follow them. Do not profane my holy name so that I may be regarded as holy among the Israelites. I am the god that makes you holy. I brought you out of Egypt so that I might be your god. Thus says Jehovah.
Notes
1. This excerpt from the priest's rule book is illuminating in several ways. Firstly, there is a reiteration of the concepts of ritually purity which were, one would have thought, already exhaustively elucidated. The High Priest must observe higher standards than the ordinary priest, that is, he must never allow himself to become ritually pure. For instance, unlike a common priest, he is forbidden to attend the dead body of his father, because to do so would made him ritually impure.
2. Illness and injury, defect and deformity not only subtract from the worthiness or ritual purity of a priest they render an animal ineligible for sacrifice in most cases. While it is understandable that Jehovah wants the best and that his people should want to give him the best, there is a suggestion here that physical imperfection is connected to or caused by moral failings. The impression is given that in Hebrew society the disabled were looked upon with disfavor and discriminated against. Indeed, many Christian societies believed that disabilities are punishments from God.
3. It is interesting that a priest's slave could partake of the sacred food of his master when guests or hired workers were not allowed to do so. At least the slave had some perks, even if he was only considered property.
4. Another interesting point is that priests are to marry only within their own tribe (Levi). If they do not do so the children will disgrace the tribe simply because they are partly of some other extraction. And the “mixed race” children would apparently not be accepted by the tribe. Racial purity seemed to have been as important to Jehovah as it was to the Nazis.
5. Priests of Jehovah are not allowed to shave their heads or shape their beards, this being to distinguish them from Egyptian and Canaanite priests. There is probably no other reason for such a grooming code. As is seen throughout the books of Old Testament, Jehovah is ever intent upon separating himself from other gods and establishing ceremonies and customs of worship that will set his people apart from their neighbors. He has a bone to pick with his fellow gods. He resents them and is in competition with them and does all he can to show them up. He strives to create a system of worship and a priesthood that will be superior to those of these rival gods.
6. An animal and his its mother should not be slaughtered on the same day - a respectful piece of etiquette to be sure, perhaps a sop to ancient animal rights advocates. It’s nice the Israelites placed some limits on the wanton killing of animals for religious purposes.
6. Jehovah here claims legitimacy as Israel's god based on his releasing the Israelites from their bondage and bringing them out of Egypt (into the desert!), and not referring to his earlier relations with Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, etc. (Probably because that Jehovah was a different chap altogether!) The statement is very suggestive. It's as if he was not a god before that time, but merely claimed the position after he had, in his eyes, earned it. Jehovah is rather like a white man who goes to live with a primitive tribe and, after wowing the people by performing some wonders made possible by the knowledge he has and the technology he has access to, sets himself up as a god and lays down laws for his worship.
Jehovah told Moses to give the following instructions to the priests: "A priest must not make himself ritually impure by touching the dead body of a relative. Exceptions are made for family members, a father, mother, son, daughter, brother, or a spinster sister whom he supports because she has no husband. However, he should not make himself ritually impure on account of someone who is only a relative by marriage.
"Priests should not shave their heads, shape the edges of their beards, or make cuts in their flesh. They must set themselves apart as holy for their god and not profane his name. They are the ones who make the sacrifices of food to Jehovah, sustenance for their god, and they, therefore, must remain holy.
"Because they are holy to their god, priests must not marry a woman who has defiled herself by being sexually promiscuous or who has been divorced from her husband. Treat the priests as holy because they furnish the food for your god. Consider them holy, for I, Jehovah am holy. It is I who makes you holy. If the daughter of a priest defiles herself by being promiscuous, she has defiled her father's holiness and should be burned to death.
"The High Priest, the leader among his fellow priests, the one who has had the anointing oil poured over his head and who has been consecrated to don the sacred vestments, must not, during mourning, leave his hair disheveled or wear tattered clothing. He should not make himself ritually impure by attending to a dead body, even if it be that of his mother or father. He should not leave the Tabernacle compound for this purpose (and, therefore, defile it), for he has been made holy by the anointing oil of his god. Thus says Jehovah.
“The High Priest may marry only a virgin and never a woman who has been widowed or divorced, or one who has defiled herself by being promiscuous. The virgin he marries should be from his own tribe, so that his offspring will not be disrespected by it. Thus says Jehovah, who has sanctified him."
Jehovah also instructed Moses to tell Aaron, "None of your successors down through the generations may present food sacrifices to Jehovah if he has any kind of defect. No one who has a defect should approach the altar, that is, someone who is blind or lame, who has a disfigured face or a deformed limb, a broken arm or leg, who is a hunchback or a dwarf, who has an eye disease, skin sores or scabs, or has damaged testicles. No successor of Aaron the priest who is to present food offerings to Jehovah should have any defect. If he has a defect, then he must not come near the food offerings to his god. He may, however, eat the sacrificed food, even the most holy offerings. Yet, because of his defect, he may not enter the Inner Sanctum or approach the altar, for that would profane my holy places. Thus says Jehovah, who makes them holy."
Moses conveyed these instructions to Aaron and his sons and to all the people of Israel.
Jehovah also told Moses to instruct Aaron and his sons, "Take care in handling the sacred offerings the Israelites consecrate to me so as not to profane my holy name. Thus says Jehovah.
“Tell them that if any of your successors down through the generations touches these sacred offerings that the Israelites have consecrated to me while he is ritually impure, that person should be removed from the priesthood. Thus says Jehovah. None of Aaron' successors who is infected with tzaraath or has any bodily discharge that renders him ritually impure should eat of the sacred offerings until he has been declared ritually pure. Also, if he becomes ritually impure by touching a dead body or by having an emission of semen, or by touching bugs or vermin that might make him impure, or by being exposed to a person who has, for any reason, become ritually impure, then that person will be ritually impure until evening. He may not eat from the sacred offering until he has taken a bath. After sunset he will be ritually pure again and may eat from the sacred offerings, for this is his food. But he must not eat anything that has been found dead or has been killed by wild animals, and so become ritually impure because of it. Thus says Jehovah.
"The priests are to officiate in such a way that they do not violate my instructions. They will be killed if they are guilty of treating them with contempt. Thus says Jehovah, who has made them holy.
"No one not belonging to the priest's family may partake of the sacred offerings. Even guests or hired workers in the priest's household may not do so. However, slaves purchased by the priest or slaves born in the priest's household may eat his food. If the daughter of a priest marries someone other than a priest then she may no longer eat from the sacred offerings. But if she becomes a widow or is divorced and has no son to support her and returns to live in her father's home as she did when she was young, then she may eat her father's food again. Otherwise, no one outside the priest's household is allowed to eat it.
"If a man unintentional eats a sacred offering, he must make restitution to the priests for it, plus an additional 20%. The priests should not allow the sacred offerings presented to Jehovah by the people of Israel to be defiled by being eaten by unauthorized persons, bringing guilt upon them and requiring them to pay compensation. Thus says Jehovah, who makes them holy."
Jehovah told Moses to speak to Aaron, his sons, and all the Israelites and toinstruct them, "If any of you, whether an Israelite or a resident alien, makes a sacrifice of a burnt offering to Jehovah, either to fulfill a vow or voluntarily, to be accepted the sacrifice must be of a male animal without defect, a bull, a ram, or a billy goat. Don't offer an animal that has any defect, because it won't be accepted on your behalf. When anyone brings from the herd or the flock a peace offering, whether to fulfill a vow or voluntarily, the animal offered for sacrifice must be perfect; it must have no defect of any kind. You must not offer an animal that is blind, crippled, or injured, or which has warts, sores, or scabs. Such animal must never be offered as a burnt sacrifice to Jehovah. You may, however, as a voluntary offering, present cattle or sheep that are deformed or stunted, but not in fulfillment of a vow. If an animal has been castrated or has damaged testicles, you should not offer it to Jehovah. You must never do this in your own country and you must not accept such animals from a foreigner to offer as a sacrifice to your god. Such animals will not be accepted on your behalf, since they are defective and deformed."
Jehovah told Moses, "When a calf, a lamb, or a kid is born it should remain with its mother for seven days. By the eighth day it will acceptable as a food sacrifice for Jehovah. However, whether it be an animal from the herd or the flock, an animal and its mother should not be slaughtered on the same day.
"When you make a thanksgiving offering to Jehovah, be sure that the sacrifice is properly conducted so that it will accepted on your behalf. You must eat all of it on the day it is made and not leave any till morning. Thus says Jehovah.
"Honor all my commandments and follow them. Do not profane my holy name so that I may be regarded as holy among the Israelites. I am the god that makes you holy. I brought you out of Egypt so that I might be your god. Thus says Jehovah.
Notes
1. This excerpt from the priest's rule book is illuminating in several ways. Firstly, there is a reiteration of the concepts of ritually purity which were, one would have thought, already exhaustively elucidated. The High Priest must observe higher standards than the ordinary priest, that is, he must never allow himself to become ritually pure. For instance, unlike a common priest, he is forbidden to attend the dead body of his father, because to do so would made him ritually impure.
2. Illness and injury, defect and deformity not only subtract from the worthiness or ritual purity of a priest they render an animal ineligible for sacrifice in most cases. While it is understandable that Jehovah wants the best and that his people should want to give him the best, there is a suggestion here that physical imperfection is connected to or caused by moral failings. The impression is given that in Hebrew society the disabled were looked upon with disfavor and discriminated against. Indeed, many Christian societies believed that disabilities are punishments from God.
3. It is interesting that a priest's slave could partake of the sacred food of his master when guests or hired workers were not allowed to do so. At least the slave had some perks, even if he was only considered property.
4. Another interesting point is that priests are to marry only within their own tribe (Levi). If they do not do so the children will disgrace the tribe simply because they are partly of some other extraction. And the “mixed race” children would apparently not be accepted by the tribe. Racial purity seemed to have been as important to Jehovah as it was to the Nazis.
5. Priests of Jehovah are not allowed to shave their heads or shape their beards, this being to distinguish them from Egyptian and Canaanite priests. There is probably no other reason for such a grooming code. As is seen throughout the books of Old Testament, Jehovah is ever intent upon separating himself from other gods and establishing ceremonies and customs of worship that will set his people apart from their neighbors. He has a bone to pick with his fellow gods. He resents them and is in competition with them and does all he can to show them up. He strives to create a system of worship and a priesthood that will be superior to those of these rival gods.
6. An animal and his its mother should not be slaughtered on the same day - a respectful piece of etiquette to be sure, perhaps a sop to ancient animal rights advocates. It’s nice the Israelites placed some limits on the wanton killing of animals for religious purposes.
6. Jehovah here claims legitimacy as Israel's god based on his releasing the Israelites from their bondage and bringing them out of Egypt (into the desert!), and not referring to his earlier relations with Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, etc. (Probably because that Jehovah was a different chap altogether!) The statement is very suggestive. It's as if he was not a god before that time, but merely claimed the position after he had, in his eyes, earned it. Jehovah is rather like a white man who goes to live with a primitive tribe and, after wowing the people by performing some wonders made possible by the knowledge he has and the technology he has access to, sets himself up as a god and lays down laws for his worship.
Wednesday, September 3, 2014
Punishments for Violations of Jehovah's Statutes
(Leviticus 20:1 - 20:27)
Jehovah gave Moses further instructions for the people of Israel: "Any Israelite or foreigner residing amongst them who delivers any of his children to be a sacrifice to the god Moloch must be executed. The people of the community should stone such persons to death. I myself will reject them and no longer regard them as my people, because, by sacrificing their children to Moloch, they have disgraced my Tabernacle and profaned my holy name. And if the people of Israel turn a blind eye to them when they sacrifice their children to Moloch and fail to execute them, then I myself will reject them and their families and no longer regard them as my people; this will happen to all who emulate them by prostituting themselves in the worship of Moloch.
"While those who prostitute themselves by putting their faith in mediums and necromancers, I will reject them as well and no longer regard them as my people.
"Set yourself apart by being holy, because I, Jehovah, am holy. Honor my statutes and put them into practice, for it is Jehovah who can make you holy.
"Anyone who curses his father or mother should be put to death, because to curse one's parents is a capital offense.
"If a man commits adultery with his neighbor's wife, both the adulterer and the adulteress should be put to death.
"If a man has sexual relations with a wife belonging to his father, he has dishonored his father: both the man and the woman are to be put to death, for this is a capital offense.
"If a man has sexual relations with his daughter-in-law, he has committed a perverse act, a capital offense; both must be put to death.
"If a man has sexual relations with another man as one would with a woman, he and the other man have committed a despicable act and a capital offense; both men should be put to death.
"If a man has sexual relations with both a woman and her mother, he has committed a depraved act. He and the women should be burned to death in order that no such depravity exist among you.
"If a man has sexual relations with an animal, he should be put to death and the animal killed.
"If a woman offers herself for sexual relations with an animal, both the woman and the animal should be killed. This is a capital offense and both must be put to death.
"If a man marries his sister, the daughter of either his father or his mother, and they have sexual relations, it is disgrace. They should be banished from the community. The man has violated his sister and will be punished for his act.
"If a man has sexual relations with a woman who is menstruating, he has exposed the source of her blood flow and she has allowed it. Both should be banished from the community.
"Do not have sexual relations with your aunt, the sister of either your mother or your father, for that would dishonor a family member. Both are guilty and will be punished.
"If a man has sexual relations with his uncle's wife, he has disgraced his uncle. Both the man and the woman will be punished and will die childless.
"Similarly, if a man has sexual relations with his brother's wife, it is an impure act, for he has disgraced his brother. Both the man and his sister-in-law will be childless.
"You must honor my laws and statutes and put them into practice or else the land I am bringing you to will expel you like vomit. Do not follow the ways of the people I will be driving out before you, for it is because they commit these aforesaid acts that I revile them. But to you I have made this promise, 'You may take possession of their land because I have given it to you as a legacy -- a land flowing with milk and honey.' I am Jehovah your god, who has made a distinction between you and other nations.
"You must, therefore, make a distinction between ritually pure and impure animals and birds. And do not defile yourself by eating crawling bugs, for these I have set apart as being ritually impure for you.
"You must be holy, for I, Jehovah, am holy and I have set you apart from all peoples to be my own.
"A man or a woman who works as a medium or a necromancer is committing a capital offense and must be put to death by stoning."
Notes
1. We have more references to Moloch, the Canaanite god which the Israelites could not have even heard of it since they had not reached Canaan, nor would they for forty years. But Jehovah is nothing if not prepared for the future and prospective transgressions to punish. One wonders how interested the Israelites would be in hearing counsels about how they should act in the Promised Land when that land was so far away in time and distance. And there are so many admonitions against the worship of other gods, one wonders why the Israelites were so prone to stray from their religious commitments. Was Jehovah and his worship so unattractive and unsatisfying to them?
2. We have two statements concerning mediums and necromancers, those who communicate with spirits and those who communicate with the dead. Firstly they are to be rejected, maybe banished. In a second statement, that seems to have been tacked on like an addendum, the mediums and necromancers are now to be stoned to death. This is unequivocal, unlike the statement concerning witches in Exodus. It is clear that the priests of Jehovah needed to stamp out the competition that mediums and necromancers presented. The Jehovan priesthood was as ruthless as the priestly caste of Egypt in guarding their prerogatives and oppressing, if not exterminating their rivals.
3. Parental disrespect can be a capital offense. It is not clear what is required here to merit a death sentence, a formal curse, or merely words that are disdainful or contemptuous. Could a harsh word to your old man, a bit of sass to your mother, or some back talk in a family argument cause you to end up prematurely joining your ancestors? Children do have to be kept in line and their natural rebelliousness curbed. The death penalty for offenders would have seemed an effective solution. One wonders, though, if an Israelite cursed a Moloch-worshiping, Sabbath-violating, pork-eating father, would he be sentenced to death? At any rate, this represents the ultimate in family values. Traditional, static cultures, those that eschew change, reject outside influences, and aspire to retain a fixed social order -- the Hebrew people would fit this -- are usually very family oriented with strong parental authority, with children, even grown-up ones, subservient to their parents.
4. In regard to sexual crimes we have the death penalty for some, banishment for others, although there isn't a clear schedule laid out showing the relative seriousness of the offenses. Apparently the worse thing a man can do, sexually, is to have relations with both a woman and her daughter. The punishment for it is being burned, worse, one assumes, than being stoned or merely put to death. Why is this? Is there some back story concerning this we don't know about? Interestingly, aunt and sister-in-law incest is punished not by human agency, but by the curse of being childless, which Jehovah will presumably carry out. This is a departure from what otherwise is a fairly modern legal philosophy -- these are crimes, if you commit this particular crime, this is your punishment, and that punishment is exacted by political or religious authorities. Here we fall back into the primitive concept of taboo -- you do a certain thing displeasing to the gods and you will be punished by the gods, with ill luck, illness, etc., but always retribution of numinous rather than human origin.
5. With bestiality, sexual union between a man or a woman and an animal (maybe not that uncommon in sheep country!), the animal is judged guilty along with the human and receives the same punishment. Why did Jehovah believe that animals are free moral agencies? Why would he believe they are cognizant of his laws and capable of following them? He apparently saw the offending animal as complicit and having malicious intent, or else providing an irresistible temptation, not a victim or an unwilling, unknowing participant.
6. The man and the woman involved in a case of sexual misconduct are judged equally guilty. The laws here take no account of extenuating circumstances. The condition of a woman being of lower social stature and under the power of a man who can force her to do anything he wants, does not seem to mitigate her culpability.
7. Jehovah here comes down strongly against incest. The early Hebrews, though, seem to have practiced incest with a vengeance, even before they were exposed to the ways of the sinful Egyptians. And that did so apparently without any divine condemnation. Jehovah, or his earlier incarnation, seems to have had no problem with his favorite, Abraham, being married to his half-sister Sarah. By the laws presented here, Abraham should have been shamed and banished at the very least. Was Abraham not subject to these newly promulgated divine laws? Were these laws not then operative? Are moral laws not absolute and universal, but relativistic, based on whatever Jehovah happens to dictate at any particular time and place, for whatever people he chooses?
8. The sexual practices Jehovah condemns and outlaws are apparently practiced by the Canaanites. It seems very likely, just from evidence presented in the Old Testament, that the early Hebrews living in Canaan did so as well. Now, Jehovah, leading his people out of Egypt and back to Canaan does not want them to fall back into their old ways. That is a major theme of his pronouncements and the primary rationale for his statutes. With a series of well-defined laws and draconian punishments, he hopes to uplift the moral character of his people. So the narrative suggests. Jehovah, however, if he is a god, a spirit being, or a human from an advanced terrestrial or extraterrestrial civilization, does, sadly, seem to present the world view of a late first millennium-B.C. human, the attitudes, prejudices, knowledge, and experience of the Hebrew priestly class of that time and nothing more. It convinces one that, if the Jehovah of Moses did exist, then the laws supposedly promulgated by him through Moses were very likely not of his devising, but much later constructs, though possibly based upon regulations Moses may have authored and passed off as divinely inspired (something that almost all ancient lawgivers seemed to have done).
Jehovah gave Moses further instructions for the people of Israel: "Any Israelite or foreigner residing amongst them who delivers any of his children to be a sacrifice to the god Moloch must be executed. The people of the community should stone such persons to death. I myself will reject them and no longer regard them as my people, because, by sacrificing their children to Moloch, they have disgraced my Tabernacle and profaned my holy name. And if the people of Israel turn a blind eye to them when they sacrifice their children to Moloch and fail to execute them, then I myself will reject them and their families and no longer regard them as my people; this will happen to all who emulate them by prostituting themselves in the worship of Moloch.
"While those who prostitute themselves by putting their faith in mediums and necromancers, I will reject them as well and no longer regard them as my people.
"Set yourself apart by being holy, because I, Jehovah, am holy. Honor my statutes and put them into practice, for it is Jehovah who can make you holy.
"Anyone who curses his father or mother should be put to death, because to curse one's parents is a capital offense.
"If a man commits adultery with his neighbor's wife, both the adulterer and the adulteress should be put to death.
"If a man has sexual relations with a wife belonging to his father, he has dishonored his father: both the man and the woman are to be put to death, for this is a capital offense.
"If a man has sexual relations with his daughter-in-law, he has committed a perverse act, a capital offense; both must be put to death.
"If a man has sexual relations with another man as one would with a woman, he and the other man have committed a despicable act and a capital offense; both men should be put to death.
"If a man has sexual relations with both a woman and her mother, he has committed a depraved act. He and the women should be burned to death in order that no such depravity exist among you.
"If a man has sexual relations with an animal, he should be put to death and the animal killed.
"If a woman offers herself for sexual relations with an animal, both the woman and the animal should be killed. This is a capital offense and both must be put to death.
"If a man marries his sister, the daughter of either his father or his mother, and they have sexual relations, it is disgrace. They should be banished from the community. The man has violated his sister and will be punished for his act.
"If a man has sexual relations with a woman who is menstruating, he has exposed the source of her blood flow and she has allowed it. Both should be banished from the community.
"Do not have sexual relations with your aunt, the sister of either your mother or your father, for that would dishonor a family member. Both are guilty and will be punished.
"If a man has sexual relations with his uncle's wife, he has disgraced his uncle. Both the man and the woman will be punished and will die childless.
"Similarly, if a man has sexual relations with his brother's wife, it is an impure act, for he has disgraced his brother. Both the man and his sister-in-law will be childless.
"You must honor my laws and statutes and put them into practice or else the land I am bringing you to will expel you like vomit. Do not follow the ways of the people I will be driving out before you, for it is because they commit these aforesaid acts that I revile them. But to you I have made this promise, 'You may take possession of their land because I have given it to you as a legacy -- a land flowing with milk and honey.' I am Jehovah your god, who has made a distinction between you and other nations.
"You must, therefore, make a distinction between ritually pure and impure animals and birds. And do not defile yourself by eating crawling bugs, for these I have set apart as being ritually impure for you.
"You must be holy, for I, Jehovah, am holy and I have set you apart from all peoples to be my own.
"A man or a woman who works as a medium or a necromancer is committing a capital offense and must be put to death by stoning."
Notes
1. We have more references to Moloch, the Canaanite god which the Israelites could not have even heard of it since they had not reached Canaan, nor would they for forty years. But Jehovah is nothing if not prepared for the future and prospective transgressions to punish. One wonders how interested the Israelites would be in hearing counsels about how they should act in the Promised Land when that land was so far away in time and distance. And there are so many admonitions against the worship of other gods, one wonders why the Israelites were so prone to stray from their religious commitments. Was Jehovah and his worship so unattractive and unsatisfying to them?
2. We have two statements concerning mediums and necromancers, those who communicate with spirits and those who communicate with the dead. Firstly they are to be rejected, maybe banished. In a second statement, that seems to have been tacked on like an addendum, the mediums and necromancers are now to be stoned to death. This is unequivocal, unlike the statement concerning witches in Exodus. It is clear that the priests of Jehovah needed to stamp out the competition that mediums and necromancers presented. The Jehovan priesthood was as ruthless as the priestly caste of Egypt in guarding their prerogatives and oppressing, if not exterminating their rivals.
3. Parental disrespect can be a capital offense. It is not clear what is required here to merit a death sentence, a formal curse, or merely words that are disdainful or contemptuous. Could a harsh word to your old man, a bit of sass to your mother, or some back talk in a family argument cause you to end up prematurely joining your ancestors? Children do have to be kept in line and their natural rebelliousness curbed. The death penalty for offenders would have seemed an effective solution. One wonders, though, if an Israelite cursed a Moloch-worshiping, Sabbath-violating, pork-eating father, would he be sentenced to death? At any rate, this represents the ultimate in family values. Traditional, static cultures, those that eschew change, reject outside influences, and aspire to retain a fixed social order -- the Hebrew people would fit this -- are usually very family oriented with strong parental authority, with children, even grown-up ones, subservient to their parents.
4. In regard to sexual crimes we have the death penalty for some, banishment for others, although there isn't a clear schedule laid out showing the relative seriousness of the offenses. Apparently the worse thing a man can do, sexually, is to have relations with both a woman and her daughter. The punishment for it is being burned, worse, one assumes, than being stoned or merely put to death. Why is this? Is there some back story concerning this we don't know about? Interestingly, aunt and sister-in-law incest is punished not by human agency, but by the curse of being childless, which Jehovah will presumably carry out. This is a departure from what otherwise is a fairly modern legal philosophy -- these are crimes, if you commit this particular crime, this is your punishment, and that punishment is exacted by political or religious authorities. Here we fall back into the primitive concept of taboo -- you do a certain thing displeasing to the gods and you will be punished by the gods, with ill luck, illness, etc., but always retribution of numinous rather than human origin.
5. With bestiality, sexual union between a man or a woman and an animal (maybe not that uncommon in sheep country!), the animal is judged guilty along with the human and receives the same punishment. Why did Jehovah believe that animals are free moral agencies? Why would he believe they are cognizant of his laws and capable of following them? He apparently saw the offending animal as complicit and having malicious intent, or else providing an irresistible temptation, not a victim or an unwilling, unknowing participant.
6. The man and the woman involved in a case of sexual misconduct are judged equally guilty. The laws here take no account of extenuating circumstances. The condition of a woman being of lower social stature and under the power of a man who can force her to do anything he wants, does not seem to mitigate her culpability.
7. Jehovah here comes down strongly against incest. The early Hebrews, though, seem to have practiced incest with a vengeance, even before they were exposed to the ways of the sinful Egyptians. And that did so apparently without any divine condemnation. Jehovah, or his earlier incarnation, seems to have had no problem with his favorite, Abraham, being married to his half-sister Sarah. By the laws presented here, Abraham should have been shamed and banished at the very least. Was Abraham not subject to these newly promulgated divine laws? Were these laws not then operative? Are moral laws not absolute and universal, but relativistic, based on whatever Jehovah happens to dictate at any particular time and place, for whatever people he chooses?
8. The sexual practices Jehovah condemns and outlaws are apparently practiced by the Canaanites. It seems very likely, just from evidence presented in the Old Testament, that the early Hebrews living in Canaan did so as well. Now, Jehovah, leading his people out of Egypt and back to Canaan does not want them to fall back into their old ways. That is a major theme of his pronouncements and the primary rationale for his statutes. With a series of well-defined laws and draconian punishments, he hopes to uplift the moral character of his people. So the narrative suggests. Jehovah, however, if he is a god, a spirit being, or a human from an advanced terrestrial or extraterrestrial civilization, does, sadly, seem to present the world view of a late first millennium-B.C. human, the attitudes, prejudices, knowledge, and experience of the Hebrew priestly class of that time and nothing more. It convinces one that, if the Jehovah of Moses did exist, then the laws supposedly promulgated by him through Moses were very likely not of his devising, but much later constructs, though possibly based upon regulations Moses may have authored and passed off as divinely inspired (something that almost all ancient lawgivers seemed to have done).
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