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.

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.

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).   

Statutes of Jehovah

(Leviticus 19:1 - 19:37)

Jehovah spoke to Moses and told him to give the following instructions to the entire community of Israel, "Be holy because I, your god Jehovah is holy."

"You all must show respect to your mother and father, and you must observe the Sabbath.  Thus says your god Jehovah.

"Do not fall back into worshiping idols or casting brazen images of gods for yourself.  Thus says your god Jehovah.

"When you make a peace offering to Jehovah make sure you that you carry it out with proper procedures so that it may be accepted on your behalf.  The sacrifice should be eaten on the day that it is offered -- or the next day, but by the third day, anything left over should be burned up.  If it is eaten on the third day, it is spoiled and, therefore, I will not accept it.  Because they have desecrated what is sacred to Jehovah, those who eat it will be subject to punishment and should be banished from the community.

"When you harvest your crops, do not reap to the edges of your fields or gather up the remains.  And in regard to your vineyards, do not pick them entirely clean or collect all the grapes that have fallen to the ground.  Leave them for the poor and for the foreigners living among you.  Thus says your god Jehovah.

"Do not steal.  Do not deceive or lie to one another.  And do not swear falsely in my name, profaning the name of your god.  Thus says Jehovah. 

"Do not defraud your neighbor or steal from him.  Do not make those who work for you wait until the next day to receive their wages.

"Don't mock the deaf or trip up the blind. 

"You must respect your god.  Thus says Jehovah.

"In legal matters do not pervert justice either by favoring the poor or by deferring to the rich and powerful, but judge all your people with equal fairness.

"Do not spread slanderous gossip among your neighbors.

"Do not take advantage of your neighbor's death.  Thus says Jehovah.

"Do not bear resentment in your heart against any of your tribe.  Reprove your neighbor when he is in the wrong so that you will not share his guilt.   Nor should you seek vengeance against your neighbor, or bear a grudge against him, but respect him as yourself.  Thus says Jehovah. 

“Keep my statutes!

"Do not permit your livestock to breed with other species.  Do not plant a field of yours with more than one kind of crop.  And do not wear garments composed of two different kinds of materials.

"If a man has sexual relations with a female slave that has been promised to another man but the transfer of ownership has not taken place and she has not been given her freedom, there should be legal sanction.  However, since she is not a free woman, but still a slave, the death penalty is not appropriate.  Instead, the male offender should make a guilt offering to Jehovah, bringing a ram to the Sacrificial Altar.  There, before the entrance to the Sanctum, the priest will make atonement for him with the sacrificed ram, and the sin he has committed will be forgiven.

"When you cultivate the land and plant fruit trees, refrain from harvesting the fruit for three years.  You are prohibited from eating the fruit for those three years.  On the fourth year, the entire harvest is to be consecrated to Jehovah as an offering of thanksgiving.  But, on the fifth year, the fruit may then be eaten.  Following this practice, and your harvests will increase.  Thus says your god Jehovah.

"Do not eat any food with blood in it.

"Do not practice fortune telling or augury.

"You should not shave the hair off the sides of your head or shape the edges of your beard.

"Do not cut or scourge yourself during mourning, or put any mark on your body.  Thus says Jehovah.

"Do not disgrace your daughter by making her a prostitute, or the country will be filled with whores and promiscuity. 

"Keep the Sabbath as a day of rest and regard with reverence my Tabernacle.  Thus says Jehovah.

"Do not consult mediums or necromancers or defile yourself by association with them.  Thus says your god Jehovah.

"Stand in the presence of your elders and honor the aged, for, by doing so, you show respect to your god.  Thus says Jehovah.

"When a foreigner lives among you, do not abuse him; he should be treated as if he were a native-born inhabitant.  Respect him as you would yourself.  Remember that you were once foreigners living in Egypt.  Thus says your god Jehovah.

"Do not be dishonest when making measurements of  length, width, and volume.  You should  employ accurate scales with true weights -- an honest ephah and an honest hin.

"I am Jehovah your god, the one who brought you out of Egypt.  You must not only honor my statutes and ordinances, but put them into practice.  Thus says Jehovah."

Notes
1.  Jehovah, who has already laid out the Ten Commandments and other lists of statutes he demands the Israelites observe, has another go at listing do's and don't's, reiterating what he has already discussed, but also broaching new areas.  Some, like not stealing, or refraining from selling your daughter into prostitution (which seems like a moral no-brainer), are of consequence, while others, like restrictions on trimming your beard, seem like mere tribal customs, significant only in that they may serve to distinguish the Israelites from other peoples.  (Maintaining a unique ethnic identity was always a high priority for the Israelite and, later, Jewish people.)

2.  The Ten Commandments prohibits the making and worshiping of idols.  This prohibition is restated, but with the implication that the Israelites used to be idol worshipers and are here warned against falling back into their former bad habits.  It is not made clear if this pertained to the adoration of household spirits, some other god, or Jehovah himself.
 
3.  There are some interesting references to charitable practices, most notably the provision that farmers and fruit growers leave some of their crop for the poor and destitute.  It was a widespread and common practice, though, up until modern times, for the poor to be allowed to glean harvested fields and not be chased off the land as trespassers by angry farmers. 
 
4.  Considering that the Israelites were anything if not xenophobic, it is surprising how accommodating they were expected to be of foreigners and resident aliens.  The laws of hospitality, however, are ancient, if not prehistoric.
 
5.  In addition to many sound precepts, such as equal justice under the law, honest sales practices, and a prohibition against vengeance seeking, there are some more sophisticated moral concepts that involve attitudes rather than actions.  This is the first biblical exhortation to "love your neighbor as yourself."  (Since the word love is used in so many different ways and often ambiguously, I have used what I believe to be the more accurate "respect.")  There is also a prohibition against nurturing grudges and harboring resentments that foreshadows the Christian view that one should forgive one's enemies.  Here, though, it seems the proscription against resentment, grudges, and revenge applies only to fellow Israelites and maybe neighbors, not enemies.   At this early point in history the tribalistic mentality and conditional morality was universal: one treats members of the tribe, the in group, differently than the out group.

6.  One should not allow your livestock to breed with other animals.  Why was this a matter of concern to Jehovah?  One would think that mating cows with rams would be unproductive in any case.  Is this a prohibition against selective breeding, perhaps seen as unnatural?  Was it wrong, for instance, to mate different breeds of cattle?  The prohibition, perhaps of more symbolic than practical significance, reinforces Jehovah’s preference for and insistence upon homogeneity and uniformity.  And a distaste for man tampering with the natural world.

7.  Planting a field with only one crop might make agronomic sense, but wearing clothes made of different materials, where's the harm in that?  (The cotton-nylon blend, the fur collar, the leather arm patches are sadly, but emphatically non-Levitical.)  Clothes at that time were made primarily of wool, linen, leather or animal skins.  What was the reference here?  Was there some connotation of sinful luxury or abnormality in clothes of more than one fabric, such as wool and linen? 
 
8.  The provision on the cutting of the hair and the beard is anything but clear.  It is hard to figure out precisely what is being prohibited.  I believe Jehovah meant to outlaw Egyptian and Canaanite styles, specifically square-cut beards, shaven heads with side locks (which Egyptian youths wore), and “round” haircuts.  That the hair on the sides of the head be not cut, which is probably not what is meant at all, is followed today by ultra-orthodox Jews, resulting in what most people regard as an extremely unbecoming hair style.   That the beard be not shaped makes a little more sense.  Many ancient peoples sported highly dressed beards, sometimes braided or artfully sculpted.  Jehovah probably did not want his people to imitate styles that suggested cultures he regarded as decadent.   It should be mentioned that this provision did not mean that the beard should not be cut at all, only that the edges of it not be so evenly trimmed that it gave the appearance of being artificial and dressed.  Jehovah, ever eschewing the artifices of civilization, wanted his people to be not only simple and obedient, but natural, down-to-earth, folksy, and shaggy-bearded, and not like the sophisticated Egyptians.
 
9.  Jehovah specifically prohibits two types of mystical activity, fortune-telling and communication with the dead.  There is no suggestion that either of these activities are bogus, only that they should not be practiced.  This is mere protection of turf: the proclamations of dead might compete with Jehovah's message and fortune tellers would surely be rivals for his prophets.  Moreover, mediums of any sort would infringe upon the prerogatives of his priests who must maintain their monopoly on communing with the divine.  (Of course, one may safely conclude that these statutes were likely devised not by Jehovah, but by his priests, to safeguard their professional interests, to further their own agenda, and to enhance their influence and control over the people.)

10.  The provision against cutting or marking the body is misunderstood.   Most translations say "cut for the dead," which seems senseless.  The reference is to cutting or scourging oneself while grieving the death of a love one.  This was the custom among some ancient peoples, certainly the Amorites and the Scythians and perhaps even the Egyptians and the Canaanites.  “Tattooing” is often used in most translations, but this not the correct term, since tattooing, as we know it, a Polynesian custom, was unknown in the ancient Middle East.  The reference is to the practice of marking the body, perhaps with paint or a hot iron.  The marks on the skin, symbols or pictures, may have had religious significance.  This was the custom among some ancient tribes, but our knowledge of the matter is sparse.

11.  The prohibition against fathers inducing their daughters to become prostitutes probably references the custom of among many peoples, the Babylonians, the Greeks, the Phoenicians, and the Canaanites to operate temple brothels and to attach religious sanction to such promiscuous sex.  

12.  An ephah was a dry measure equal to .6 bushels.  The hin, a liquid measure, was approximate to a gallon.

Prohibited Sexual Relations

(Leviticus 18:1 - 18:30)

Jehovah told Moses to instruct the people of Israel: "Thus says Jehovah, who is your god.  You should not behave like the people of Egypt, where you formerly resided, nor like the people of Canaan, into whose land I am bringing you.  Do not adopt their customs!  Obey my laws and follow my decrees, for I am Jehovah, your god.  By keeping my laws and decrees you will preserve your life.  Thus says Jehovah!

"No one should engage in sexual intercourse with any close relation.  Thus says Jehovah.

"Do not dishonor your father by having sexual relations with your mother.  She is your mother, you must not have sex with her!  Nor should you have sexual relations with any of his wives. for that, too, would dishonor your father.

"Do not have sexual relations with a sister -- nor with a half sister, your father's or mother's daughter, regardless of whether she grew up with you in your household or not.

"Do not have sexual relations with your granddaughter, whether she be your son's child or that of your daughter, for that would dishonor you.

"Do not have sexual relations with a stepsister, a daughter of any of your father's wives, for she is still a sister to you.

"Do not have sexual relations with your father's sister: she is your aunt.  Nor should you have sexual relations with your mother's sister: she is an aunt.  Do not disgrace your father's brother by having sexual relations with his wife, for she is also an aunt.

"Do have sexual relations with both a woman and her daughter, nor should you marry or have sexual relations with her granddaughter, whether the child of a son or daughter.  They are of her family and to have sexual relations with them would be an act of violation.

"Do not marry your wife's sister or engage in sexual relations with her while your wife is still living, for that would make them rivals.

"Do not seek to have sexual intercourse with a woman during the ritually impure part of her menstrual period.

"Do not dishonor yourself by having sexual relations with a wife who belongs to a member of your tribe.

"Do not permit any of your children to be offered as a human sacrifice upon the fiery altars of the god Moloch, for that would bring discredit upon the name of your god -- who is I, Jehovah.

"Do not have sexual relations with a man as one would with a woman, for homosexuality is an abomination.

"You must not defile yourself by having sexual intercourse with an animal, nor should a woman seek to have sex with an animal -- it is a perversion!

"Do not defile yourself by any of these acts -- which are practiced by the peoples I am going to drive out of the land before your arrival.  Even the land has become so completely defiled that I will punish it for its sins and make it eject its inhabitants as if they were vomit.  You must obey all my laws and decrees!  You must not commit any of these detestable acts: that applies to foreigners residing among you as well as native-born Israelites.  All of these acts are practiced by the inhabitants of the land where I am taking you, so much so that they have defiled the land.  And if you similarly defile the land, it will eject you as if you were vomit, just like the peoples who lived there before you.

"Anyone who commits these detestable acts can no longer belong to the community of Israel.  Therefore, observe my prohibitions against engaging in any of these practices that were done by the people who preceded you.  Do not defile yourselves with them!  Thus says Jehovah, your god."

Notes
1.  The people of Egypt, the land that the Israelites have left, and the people of Canaan, where they are to settled, are more or less demonized by Jehovah.  By painting your enemy as morally degraded or perverse, you lend greater justification for killing him.  It has always been done to justify war or invasion.  Even in America the Germans were portrayed as blood-thirsty, barbaric Huns during World War I, and in World War II the Japanese were dismissed as puny, subhuman Orientals with buck teeth and glasses.  Here, the Canaanites are depicted as indulging in immoral and unnatural sexual practices.  This furnishes a moral rationale for Jehovah's plan to drive them out of their country and give their land to the "virtuous" Israelites.

2.  It is well known that the Egyptians, the royal family at any rate, engaged in incestuous practices; marriages between close family members were preferred in order to preserve the purity of the royal line.  (The Pharaohs believed themselves to be descended from the gods.  Perhaps they were, perhaps they were the descendants of extraterrestrial hybrids and claimed kingship and divine devotion on that account.)

3.  The continuing theme of Jehovah's pronouncements is that his people, the Israelites, should zealously preserve their customs and the resist any pressure to alter them.  Assimilation, adaptation, these are an anathema.  The upside of this attitude is that a people is able to survive as a unique ethnic identity; the downside is that it tends to regard other peoples as alien, inferior, or evil.

4. The prohibition against sexual relations within the family seem very natural and are consistent with modern norms and with modern law.  (These were probably needed since their early history, recounted in Genesis, shows a marked tendency on the part of Hebrews to be severely inbred.)  There are a few prohibitions, however, that we today would find unnecessary.  While few might chose to have sexual relations with both a mother and a daughter, I'm not sure many would find that morally offensive in itself.  One is reminded that the actor Rod Cameron, a man who rode tall in the saddle, divorced his wife to marry his mother-in-law.  When he did so (in 1960), eyebrows were probably raised, but not moral indignation.  And as far as Americans today are concerned, the prohibition against sexual relations with in-laws, those related by affinity rather than by consanguinity, probably fits into the category of "nice people don't do it," but is not a matter for legal proscription.  England, though, has always been stricter on such matters, in accordance with levitical tradition.  For instance, rules of the Anglican Church long prevented a man from marrying his deceased wife’s sister.  (Although a few courageous souls, such as Jane Austen’s brother Charles, managed to get away with it.)   An English law of 1835 expressly forbade such unions until it was repealed in the early 20th Century.  Legal prohibitions against marrying an in-law of a living ex-spouse remained in effect there until 1960!  --- Moderns can be still be strict regarding sexual unions between those of close consanguinity -- in America cousin marriages are still illegal in about half of the states of the union.  Surprisingly, Leviticus makes no mention of cousins.

5.  Jehovah takes for granted the existence of polygamy, from which there arises some unique moral problems.  One is prohibited, for instance, from marrying the sister of a current wife (and disturbing the harem with sibling rivalry).  Such problems and the legality of marrying sisters, would again arise among polygamist Mormons of the late 19th Century. 

6.  Several Hebrew patriarchs seemed to have violated the sexual prohibitions stated here, for instance, Abraham was married to his half-sister Sarah.  Are these laws meant to apply to Israelites from this point onward, or are past offenders, who would have been unaware of the laws, subject to moral sanction?  Also, there is no suggestion by Jehovah that these laws are meant to apply to any people other than Israelites, his people.  He expressly states that other peoples live by their own laws, which, of course, are inferior to his.

7.  Nearly all the prohibitions here are directed towards men, and one gets the impression that woman are not considered morally conscious beings.  The sole law directed toward the female of the species is that she should refrain from seducing any animals and engaging in bestiality -- most flattering!  The honor and reputation of the woman does not seem to be a consideration in sexual relations, for instance, if you have sex with your dishy auntie, she is not the one who is disgraced, but the uncle.  Everything is from the male perspective.  Even though there is presented throughout the Old Testament a large number of influential and powerful women, it must be remembered that women were at that time the property of males.  And improper sexual relations with them often seem to be merely a violation of property rights.

8.  A provision that one would think would be easy to follow is not allowing your child to be sacrificed to Moloch, a Canaanite god who demanded human sacrifices.  At this point, the Israelites are still camped out in the desert of Sinai.  They hadn't seen Canaan yet and wouldn't for a very long time.  Why this prohibition should be inserted here is not obvious, since it has nothing to do with sexual conduct.   At any rate, the cult of Moloch was pervasive in the region.  Moloch was represented by a human figure with a bull’s head.  Statues would feature a hole in the belly and a ramp leading to it. Inside the hole a fire would consume sacrifices of babies and children, offered to ensure good fortune for the family.

9.  The condemnation of homosexuality is not surprising; only recently has it found any level of acceptance in Judeo-Christian culture.  It should be noted that while homosexuality has been disparaged as a perversion and a moral degradation, the disapproval of it also arises from the belief that it undermines procreation; societies in the past have usually had a strong interest in increasing their populations -- the Israelites certainly did.  (The author of Exodus brags about the tremendous growth in the Israelite slave population and inflates exponentially the number of people who could have participated in the Exodus.)  Homosexuality, however, was probably accepted, if not honored by many, if not most ancient peoples, although our knowledge on the subject is limited.  We do know the Greeks were famous advocates of the practice. (Plato, who apparently disapproved, was a rare outlier in his views.)  These opposing attitudes toward homosexuality highlight clearly the disparity between Greco-Roman and Judeo-Christian mores. 

Unlawful Sacrifices and the Consumption of Blood

(Leviticus 17:1 - 17:16)
Jehovah told Moses to tell Aaron, his sons, and all the Israelites this: "It is the commandment of Jehovah that any Israelite who sacrifices a bull or a cow, a lamb, or a goat in the camp -- or outside it, instead of bringing it to entrance to the Sanctum and offering it as a sacrifice on Jehovah's altar before the Sanctum, shall be guilty of a crime; he has shed blood and must be banished from the community.  The purpose of this order is so that the Israelites who are now making sacrifices in open fields, will bring their sacrifices to the priest at the entrance to the Sanctum, where he can present them as peace offerings to Jehovah.  It is there the priest can sprinkle the blood against the Sacrificial Altar before the Sanctum and burn the fat so that it may create an aroma pleasing to Jehovah.  The people must stop prostituting themselves by making sacrifices to goat gods!  This is a permanent order that will stand for the people throughout the generations.

"Also stress to the people that anyone, Israelite or a foreign resident, who makes a burnt offering or peace offering -- but does not bring it to the Sacrificial Altar before the entrance to the Sanctum so that it may be presented to Jehovah -- should be banished.

"And if a native Israelite or foreign resident consumes any blood, I will be opposed to that person and reject him as a member of the congregation.  The essence of the life force resides in the blood.  I have demanded that blood be shed upon the altar for the sake of atonement.  Indeed it is the blood, in place of a life, that achieves atonement.  Therefore, I demand of the people of Israel that no Israelite or foreign resident consume blood.  And any Israelite or foreign resident who hunts and kills an animal or bird (one approved for eating) must drain out the blood and cover it with dirt.  The life force of every creature resides in the blood.  That is why I tell the people of Israel, 'You must never consume blood, for it is the life force of every creature," and that is why whoever consumes blood must be banished from the community.

"And if a native Israelite or foreign resident eats the meat of an animal that has died naturally or has beenkilled by animal predators, he must bath and wash his clothes.  He will remain ritually impure until evening, but will thereafter be pure.  However, if he does not bathe or wash his clothes, he will be subject to divine punishment."

Notes
1.  The prohibition against individual, unsupervised sacrifices is, like many laws here, supposedly set down by Jehovah, a means to enforce uniformity in worship and to ensure for the priesthood a monopoly in the control of religious practice.  Exclusivity in dealing with the divine is a prerogative the religious establishment has always jealously defended, whether it be of ancient Israel, Egypt, or medieval Europe.  Priests of the church, synagogue, or temple function as intermediaries, middle men between human worshipers and the deity.  They do not appreciate and often do not tolerate competition; free-lance practitioners are made unwelcome, so much so that they have often been put to death.  The notion that a layman may seek or find divine communion without the intercession of the priesthood has always been rejected by religious authorities for reasons that are patently self serving.  Priests always make it very clear that the god recognizes them as his only agents on earth.  Thus the lone Israelite devoutly making a sacrifice to Jehovah in a field is viewed the same as would be a heretic during the time of the Inquisition.

2.  A complaint is voiced about the Israelites making sacrifices to what seems best translated as "goat gods."  There is obviously a back story here the authors vouchsafe no information about.  All along, though, we find the Israelites seeking to worship gods other than Jehovah.  Considering all the things that Jehovah has done for them, one wonders why.

3.  The prohibition against the consumption of blood is explained here in a rare recourse to the metaphysical.  Blood is believed to possess the life force.  (Almost all translations use simply "life," but I contend "life force" is what is meant.)  Perhaps they thought it housed the soul.  (The function of the blood was not understood by ancient man, but everyone would know that a person bleeds when wounded and dies if he loses too much blood.)  It is, therefore, the mystical qualities of blood that make it essential for sacrifices and for atonement.  It is likely that other ancient and primitive peoples who practiced blood sacrifices believed similarly.

4.  It is unclear if it is morally objectionable to eat a rare steak or not.  How it is possible to eat meat without some blood being present in it?

5.  It is mandatory to bathe and wash your clothes after eating an animal that dies on its own or was killed by another animal.   (We apparently aren't done with ritual purity.) This might be difficult for the priests to enforce, though some dire, but unspecified punishment is inflicted upon those who do not obey the edict.  One might conclude that those who violate the laws of ritual purification would be much more cleanly than the average Israelite, having to bathe and wash their clothes so frequently.

Ritual of Atonement

(Leviticus 16:1 - 16:34)

Jehovah spoke to Moses after the death of Aaron's two sons who were killed while improperly ministering at the altar.  "Warn your brother Aaron that he must not enter the Inner Sanctum beyond the veil and approach the Judgment Seat (that is, the lid of the Chest of Sacred Records) any time he wishes, or he is apt to be killed when I manifest myself in a cloud above the Judgment Seat.  Aaron should carefully follow this procedure whenever he enters the Inner Sanctum:  He must present a young bull as a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering.  He must garb himself in the sacred vestments: he must don the linen tunic and the linen undergarments, fasten the linen sash round his waist, and put the linen turban on his head.  And he must bathe before putting them on.

"From the congregation of Israel he should receive two male goats as a sin offering and a ram as a burnt offering.  Aaron must offer in sacrifice his own bull as a sin offering to make atonement for himself and the other members of the priesthood.  Then he should take the two goats and bring them to the Sacrificial Altar that stands before the entrance to the Sanctum. 

“He is to cast sacred lots for the goats to determine which one will be sacrificed to Jehovah and which will banished as the scapegoat.  The goat chosen by lot for Jehovah is to be sacrificed as a sin offering.  The one chosen by lot to be the scapegoat should be presented live before the altar and then sent off into the desert to complete the ritual of atonement for the people.

"Aaron is take the bull as the sin offering to make atonement for himself and his household and slaughter it as a sacrifice.  After he has done so, he should take a censer full of burning embers (from the Sacrificial Altar that stands before the Sanctum) and two handfuls of powdered aromatic incense.   When he has passed through the veil into the Inner Sanctum, he should sprinkle the incense into the censer so that smoke from the burning incense will rise up and cover the Judgment Seat, that is, the lid of the Chest of Sacred Records.  --- If he does not follow these instructions, he will die.

"He should take some of the blood from the sacrificed bull and dab it upon the top of the Judgment Seat and with his finger he should sprinkle blood seven times in front of it.  He should sacrifice the goat that is the sin offering of the people and bring its blood into the Inner Sanctum so that he may sprinkle it upon and before the Judgment Seat, as was done with the bull's blood.  This will purify the Inner Sanctum, to make atonement for the impurity and rebelliousness, and all the sins of the Israelites.  But he must do the same for the entire Tabernacle which remains standing in the midst of their impurity.  No one should be allowed in the Tabernacle from the time Aaron enters the Inner Sanctum to purify it, and no one should be allowed to enter it until after he leaves, having made atonement for himself and the priests and atonement for the entire community of Israel. 

"Aaron should then go out to the Sacrificial Altar that stands before the entrance to the Sanctum and purify it.  He should do this by taking some of the blood from the sacrificed bull and goat and dabbing it on each horn of the altar.  With his finger he should sprinkle blood seven times over the altar in order to purify and consecrate it and make atonement for the impurities of the Israelites.

"When Aaron has finished purifying the Inner Sanctum, the Tabernacle, and the Sacrificial Altar, he should present the live goat.  He will hold the goat's head in both of his hands and confess to it all the sins and transgressions and iniquities of the Israelite people, the guilt of which is thus transferred to the head of the goat.  A designated person will then take it into the desert.  When a desolate, uninhabited country is reached, the person will set the goat free, so that it may carry away all the people's sins.

"Aaron should then return to the Sanctum and take off the linen vestments he donned before he entered the Inner Sanctum; he should leave them there. While in the Tabernacle he should bathe himself and change his clothes.  He should then come out of the Sanctum and present his burnt offering and the people’s burnt offering to make atonement both for himself and for the people.  The fat of the sin offering will be burnt on the altar.

"The person chosen to lead the scapegoat into the desert should wash his clothes and bathe and may afterward come back into camp.  The carcasses of the bull and the goat that were sacrificed as sin offerings and whose blood was used to purify the Inner Sanctum should be taken outside of camp, where their hides, flesh, and organs are to be burned.  He who burns them must bathe and wash his clothes before returning to camp.

"This shall be for you an established practice: every year on the tenth day of the seventh month you should do penitence and refrain from doing any work -- both citizens and resident aliens alike  -- for this will be the Day of Atonement when offerings are made to cleanse you of your sins in the eyes of Jehovah.  It will be a Sabbath-like day of rest and penitence; this will be a permanent observance.  Wearing the sacred linen vestments, Aaron's successor, anointed and consecrated as high priest, will purify the Inner Sanctum, the Tabernacle, the Sacrificial Altar, the priests, and the entire congregation.  Making this atonement for the sins of Israel’s people must be done every year."

Moses would do what Jehovah had instructed him.

Notes
1.  The Hebrew text makes no clear distinction between atonement and purification, whether they are two different things or the same.

2.  One is again reminded what a bloody business being a priest was -- rather like a butcher who gets to wear fancy clothes, but who, if he makes a misstep, may be struck down dead.  One wonders how the linen garments of the priest could have remained clean with all that blood being splattered about.  Did Israelite laundries possess advanced methods of stain removal?

3.  And it seems a shame that the spectacularly beautiful gold Judgment Seat and the stunning bronze horns of the Sacrificial Altar should be sullied by blood.  Was it later wiped off?  There is no reference to cleaning up after sacrifices, only instructions on the disposal of the carcasses of sacrificed animals.  How long, might one ask, would it take for the dried blood encrusted on the altar horns to become gross and unsightly?  And one wonders whether that incense was strong enough to banish the inevitable stench of the slaughterhouse that must have regularly pervaded the Tabernacle.

4.  The Inner Sanctum is Jehovah's special place, and he demands special rituals to be performed before the priest may enter it.  Jehovah manifests himself there as a cloud above the Judgment Seat.  There is a great deal of ambiguity in the Torah concerning the physical appearance of Jehovah.  In Genesis he is as a man who walks and talks and eats cottage cheese.  In Exodus he is a burning bush, whatever that might have been.  He appears in an airship during the Exodus.  He communes with Moses on the mountain more or less man-to-man.  It can be assumed he had the form of a man, though even Moses is not allowed to glimpse his face.  His appearance, nevertheless, is awe-inspiring, fearsome even.  But, more and more, Jehovah becomes less and less material.  He is now a cloud.  Does this cloud suddenly materialize in the Inner Sanctum or does it travel from elsewhere and enter the Inner Sanctum?  Is his being contained in the cloud, or does the cloud obscure a physical, even humanoid form?  And then there is the matter of the incense Aaron must burn in the Inner Sanctum.  The burning incense is intended to create a cloud of smoke obscuring the Judgment Seat.  Jehovah arrives there in a cloud and now he needs another cloud in which to hide himself?  This may have a practical purpose of obscuring the form of Jehovah so that no one may see him as he really is, or it may merely a means of creating a mystique, an aura of mystery surrounding religious worship -- the Wizard of Oz effect.

5.  Many translations refer to burning coal being placed in the censor, or incense burner.  Coal, as we define it today, a mined mineral, was scarcely known, let alone used in ancient times.  Charcoal, almost pure carbon obtained by slowly burning wood, is probably meant -- more likely than dried animal dung, which was a common fuel at that time.

6.  The ritual of the scapegoat is interesting but not unique.  (I use the traditional term “scapegoat,” since it is so familiar.  The meaning of the Hebrew word Azazel is conjectural -- a desert demon?)  Man has always had a strong desire to free himself from the burden of guilt his sins impose upon him. Primitive and ancient man found an easy out by transferring guilt into an inanimate object, or, in this case, an animal and then destroying or banishing the receptacle of that guilt.  Most peoples seem to have folk or religious traditions of this sort.  Often effigies are burned.  Sometimes a human sacrifice is made.  Communal guilt and communal expiation exist in societies where the group, the collective, has primacy over the individual, who is significant only as a part of the whole.  The transfer of guilt, though, is tenuous philosophically.  It is contrary to the concept, held by most people today, that individuals are only responsible for their own acts and not for the acts of others, and that others should not pay for what we have done.  Generally we believe that guilt can be expunged only by remorse, repentance, compensatory good deeds, and sometimes a period of ostracism -- or the Catholic method of expiation consisting of confession, prayer, and attendance of mass.

7.  Lots are cast to see which goat is to be sacrificed and which is to be the scapegoat and sent into the desert.  Perhaps this was a use for the mysterious Urim and Thimmim (small tablets, stones?) that the high priest carried inside the chest piece of his vestments and were used in divination.

8.  Aaron is supposed to bathe after he has performed the purification ceremony and leave his priestly vestments in the Sanctum.  One assumes he undressed in the curtained Sanctum and not in the more open Tabernacle courtyard, considering Hebrew prohibitions against viewing the naked body.  It is not clear, though, what bathing facilities would have existed in the Sanctum: he would not have had access to, nor would he have found sufficient, the bronze wash basin that stood outside the Sanctum.  (It was meant for hand washing.)  Would there be a portable bath tub or maybe a handy bucket of water, sponge, and towel? 

9.  Jehovah's harping on the sins and impurities of the Israelites gives the impression, perhaps not a false one, that they were a pretty rum lot.  Jehovah expresses obvious contempt for his Chosen People.  Why, one might ask, did he choose them?  Wouldn't the Hittites or the Nubians or the Minoans, or even the Scythians have been more worthy of his patronage?    
    
10.  The Day of Atonement occurs in early autumn (in the northern hemisphere) in the month of Tishrei of the Hebrew lunar calendar. Traditionally, it is believed to be the date that Moses received the second set of Ten Commandment tablets and the Israelites made atonement for their sin of the Golden Calf.  The Day of Atonement is observed by Jews today as Yom Kippur (literally, “day to atone”), the holiest day in the religious calendar and one celebrated even by those who are non-practicing Jews. Depending upon the moon, it may occur from mid September to mid October.