Deuteronomy 14

After reading chapter 14:

*Here we find a list of more dos and don'ts for the Israelites. Don't shave your head or cut yourself for the dead. Do eat ruminants, don't eat pigs. Don't even touch a dead pig. Do eat sea creatures that have both fins and scales. Do eat "clean" birds. Do not eat unclean birds, including bats. Do not eat flying insects that swarm, except the clean ones. Do not eat anything found dead, but you can give it to foreigners to eat. The difference is the Israelites are "holy." These regulations were also in Leviticus 11.

*Then there are the regulations for tithes, which is a tenth of everything produced. They get to eat the tithe at the designated place of worship. But if it is too far away, they trade the tithe in for silver, go to the place Yahweh designates for worship, buy food and drink, and have a party with their relatives,  not forgetting to give something to the Levites. Every three years, the tithes are to be stored to provide food for the Levites, foreigners, orphans, and widows. This is a bit different than the instructions for tithes in Leviticus 27, where it seems implied that the tithes are given to the priests, um the lord, not eaten themselves.

Leviticus wrap up

First, what did we not see in Leviticus: Heaven, Hell, eternal punishment or reward, demons, devils, miracles, Satan, any mention or hint of a messaiah or son of God,

What did we learn about Yahweh:
-He favors the Israelites over all other people and the Levites over all other Israelites.
-He approves of slavery, unless it involves Israelites
-He is extraordinarily obsessed with ceremonial cleanness and the number seven.
-He is loves animal sacrifices, gifts of food that he will never eat, and money that he will never use.
-He is ruthless and unbending in his punishments for disobedience, not considering circumstances.
-He seems unaware of simple preventative measures for mold, how to keep land fertile, how to treat wounds, and other things an omniscient God should know.
-He places a lower value on females than males.
-He lives in an inner area of the tabernacle tent, hovering over the arc, between the cherubim's wings..
-He is only to be visited once a year, on the day of atonement,  by the high priest.
-All the info about him and his laws was supposedly given to Aaron and the people by Moses.

We also learned that there was unrest in the camp. Some people made their own sacrifices to other gods out in the fields. Some even blasphemed Yahweh. It was made quite clear that doing your own thing could have dire consequences, namely death or excommunication. Execution  included stoning and burning. Aaron's sons, Nadab and Abihu, used the wrong kind of incense and were blasted out of existance by God.

All that aside, what we see is an extraordinary amount of control over the personal lives and possessions of others given to the priestly class. This is a true theocracy. Certainly no one today wants that.

One thing to remember is that these laws were supposedly  created over three thousand years ago for the Israelites as a nation, living in the "promised land." Nowhere do these passages imply that any other people living in any other place are expected to abide by them, least of all  in modern America. To expect otherwise is delusional.

Other legal codes predate this Mosaic law by several hundreds of years and use some of the same terminology, such as the code of Hammurabi. They are also better attested to in the archaeological record, being found on very ancient clay tablets and stones. The mosaic law can not be proven to be anywhere near as old as it claims to be.

There is no concrete evidence for any of the specific events in this book. It does not claim to be written by Moses or to be the word of God.

Edited 10/25/15

Leviticus 27

After reading Leviticus 27:

*I found this chapter a little confusing and had to read it multiple times, along with the study bible notes. Here is what it seems to be saying, at face value:

Things and people can be given (dedicated) to the lord by special vows. But the actual person or item doesn't have to be physically given, an amount of money equivalent to the gift can be given. Who do you think got the money? Did you say the priests? I'm thinking that would be a good guess. What would God do with money?

There are rules for each type of gift:
-A gift of a person (as though you can give people as gifts) is represented by a monetary amount based on their age and gender. The most valuable people were between twenty and sixty years of age. Young children were of the least value.  Females were less valuable than males. Frankly, this appears to me to be a substitute for human sacrifice.
-A ceremonially clean animal gift to the lord is accepted outright and becomes holy.
-A ceremonially unclean animal gift to the lord must be presented to the priest who will judge it as good or bad. The priest will set a value for the animal. If the person wishes to give money in place of the animal, he must add a fifth to the value.
-A house dedicated to the lord is to be judged good or bad by the priest, who will set its value. If the person wishes to give money in place of the house, he must add a fifth to the value. It seems that, among other things, the priests would have controlled the market value of real estate.
-Family land dedicated to the lord is to have a monetary exchange value of the amount of seed it would take to plant on it, but only in the year of Jubilee. Its monetary value decreases during the years between Jubilees. The priests set the value, and if the person wishes to substitute money for the gift of land, he must add a fifth of the value. If he does not substitute money for the land, he doesn't get the land back at the Jubilee. It becomes holy land belonging to the priests, of course.
-Previously purchased, non-family land dedicated to the lord is valued by the priests according to how close to the Jubilee it is. In the year of the Jubilee it reverts to its family of origin.
-A first born animal may not be dedicated to the lord because it already belongs to him. If it happens to be unclean, he can buy it back at a fifth more than its value (determined by the priests) or the priests will sell it themselves.

The money used to redeem property is silver shekels. The standard is the sanctuary shekel.

Now, apparently, Devoting something to the lord is different than Dedicating something. People or property devoted to the lord cannot be redeemed monetarily. Everything devoted becomes holy, probably meaning it now belongs to the priests.

People devoted to destruction cannot be redeemed monetarily, they must be put to death. I take this to mean that anyone incurring the death penalty, because of breaking the aforementioned  laws in Leviticus, cannot get out of their sentence by monetary redemption.

*Added to everything else, a tithe of everything that a person's land produces,of all food and livestock,  must be given to the lord. (Read the priests) It can be monetarily redeemed by adding a fifth to its value, which was probably determined by the priests.

There ends the book probably written by priests, outlining laws, duties, responsibilities, plus priestly  privileges and job benefits.

Leviticus 26

After reading Leviticus 26:

*It seems that we have reached the end of the law making. This chapter is about rewards and punishments for following or not following all those laws.

First we have the rewards for absolute obedience to Yahweh's commands:
-Rain
-Plentiful crops
-Peace in the land
-An absence of wild animals ( It appears God doesn't know this would hurt the ecosystem, not to mention cause an increase in small rodents.)
-An absence of war
-The ability to slaughter their enemies easily (What defines an enemy?)
-An increase in population (This can also backfire, too many people becomes a strain on the economy and the land. But that idea is contrary to tribal thinking.)
-God will live and walk among them, even though they will never personally see or hear him and they will have to take the priest's word for it.

Next we have consequences for failing to carry out all of god's commands, which will violate his covenant:
-Disease
-Famine
-Subjugation to enemies
-Imaginary fears
-Attacks by wild animals
-War in the land, which will cause plagues and deprivation
-They will eat their own children.
-God will tear down places of idol worship. (Well, not him personally, but his agents, the priests.)
-Cities will be ruined and the land will get an enforced Sabbath rest.
-They will waste away as captives in the lands of their enemies.

All these afflictions will be multiplied seven times over. But, after they are punished,  if they confess their sins, the land will be waiting for them to return from their exile. God won't forget about them.
They will not be completely destroyed and he will remember his covenant with them.

Wow! This all eventually came true. Isn't it miraculous? Well,  it might have been if these passages were actually written in the time of Moses. There is more reason to believe they were written after the   Babylonian and Persian exiles. (See Leviticus.) Even if it was written beforehand, these kind of events happened with alarming frequency throughout the ancient world. Were the other conquered people's gods punishing them in the same way that Yahweh punished the Israelites? Since the Babylonians and Persians prospered against the Israelites, does that mean Yahweh favored them at the time, even though they worshipped other gods?

Leviticus 25

After reading Leviticus 25:

*Verses 1-5 are instructions for the establishment of a sabbath year, once the Israelites take over the promised land. For six years they are to plant, prune, and harvest. On the seventh year they are to let the land rest, no planting, no pruning, no harvesting. They can't even reap or harvest what grows naturally. (Verse 5) So, what will the Israelites eat that year? Why, whatever the land produces of course! (Verse 6) This makes no sense to me. Maybe some sense can be squeezed out if it means all wild produce that grows on previously non-cultivated land is ok, like wild greens, nuts, and berries. Can we say massive starvation rates every seventh year? The study bible attempts to say that this practice is good for cultivated land, which makes it obviously divine. What it ignores is that there are better people -designed practices for improving the fertility of the land that don't include people not eating what grows naturally.

*Verses 8-54. On the fiftieth year, after seven times seven years, there is to be a jubilee year. What follows is a list of rules for that year. We will just hit the highlights.

-This is also a year of Sabbath rest for the land. Here, the question of what the Israelites will eat on Sabbath years is answered. Supposedly, on the sixth year, Yahweh will give them a huge bumper crop that would last for three years. So, no worries. I wonder how that worked out for them in reality.

-Yahweh owns the land, they will just be tenants. So the sale of land is never permanent. In the year of Jubilee, the possession of the land reverts to its original Israelite possessor if it was sold. All buying and selling of land is to be done with this understanding. Houses in walled cities don't count. There are exceptions to these rules for the Levites. (Read priests) All property originally owned by Levites must be returned at the Jubilee, even a house in a town. In fact, the pastureland surrounding a town owned by Levites must not ever be sold. It is their permanent possession. This is just another reason to consider that maybe the priests came up with these rules themselves.

-If another Israelite becomes poor, his countrymen are to loan the person money without charging interest and sell them food, without making a profit. This is so they can keep living in the land with other Israelites. If an Israelite sells himself to another Israelite because he is poor, he should not be treated as a slave, but as a hired worker. On the year of Jubilee he goes free, back to his own clan and property. Fellow Israelites must not be sold as slaves. Does that mean God is opposed to slavery? Read on.

-Israelites  may buy and sell male and female slaves, as long as they are not other Israelites. When they buy such a slave, the slave becomes their  property. They can will the slaves to their children as inherited property and can make them slaves for life, but they must not rule ruthlessly over other Israelites. Verse 46. By inference, it is okay to rule ruthlessly over anyone who is not an Israelite.

-If an Israelite becomes poor and sells himself to a rich foreigner living in their land, he is not a slave for life. He is to be treated as a hired worker by law. He and his relatives have the right to pay for his freedom. If he is not free by the time of the Jubilee, he and his children go free at that time. Wives of the Israelite servants are not mentioned in these passages.

-In this chapter we see Yahweh's  clear preferential treatment of the Israelites, and especially the Levites, when it comes to human and civil rights.

Leviticus 24

After reading Leviticus 24:

*More instructions from Yahweh: the Israelites are supposed to provide clear olive oil for the lamps outside the tabernacle. Aaron is to tend the lit lamps continually from evening to morning. When does the poor man get to sleep?

*Each sabbath, twelve loaves of bread of the finest flour, in two stacks of six, are to be placed on the golden table in front of the lord. Beside each stack, some incense is to be place to represent the bread and be a food offering to the lord, because Aaron and his sons are going to eat the real bread. It is most holy.

*In the middle of this we are told a story of young man who utters a curse using god's name. This is considered blasphemy. God tells Moses he is to be taken outside the camp and stoned to death by the Israelites. That is the penalty for blasphemy, no matter who does it. The Israelites obeyed.  After that, god gives a rule that anyone who kills another person must be killed, a life for a life.  Does no one see the contradiction here? Oh, that's right, if God tells you to kill the person, then you're okay.

*Next, we are told anyone who injures his neighbor is to receive the same injuries in return, fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. The same laws apply to everyone. Even if a person has been injured by stoning? Does the stonee get to return his injuries to the stoner? We all know it didn't work that way. God's laws to kill superseded his laws to refrain from killing. You try to make sense of that.

-After reading the Wikipedia article on stoning, apparently, since there were multiple stoners involved, no one could tell whose stone was the one responsible for the death, so no one was technically guilty. Loophole.

Leviticus 23

After reading chapter 23:

*This chapter is about special days and events and how to observe them.

- The Sabbath: every seventh day is a day of rest

-The Passover: starts at twilight on the 14 th day of the first month. On the first day is a sacred assembly and no work. For seven days unleavened bread is eaten. This is called the feast of unleavened bread. Every day an offering is to be made to the lord by fire. On the seventh day is another sacred assembly and no work. There is no mention of a Passover lamb.

-The next event is not named here but my study bible says it must be the Feast of First Fruits, also held in the first month of the year, right after the Passover week was over. It is to be held on the day after the  Feast Of Unleavened Bread's seventh day Sabbath. The first grain harvested is to be waved before the lord and a one year old lamb is to be sacrificed as a burnt offering, together with flour, oil and wine. The Israelites are not to eat anything made from that year's grain until this offering is made.

-Again, the next event is not named here but the study bible says it was the Feast of Weeks. From the date of the last event, seven weeks are counted, or 50 days to the day after the seventh sabbath. This is what came to be known as Pentecost. It is a big slaughter event with the sacrifice of seven lambs, a bull, and two Rams as a burnt offering. Plus, there is to be the sacrifice of a goat for a sin offering and two lambs as a fellowship offering. The lambs are to be waved in front of the lord. They are a sacred offering to the lord, for the priests. That is also a day with no work.

-On the first day of the seventh month, there is another day off and sacred assembly with an offering by fire. This is a day for blasting trumpets. Why? It doesn't say.

-On the tenth day of the seventh month, is the day of atonement, which we covered in Leviticus 16. This is a day of enforced rest and fasting.

-On the fifteenth day of the seventh month begins the Feast of Tabernacles which lasts for seven days.
The first day is a sacred assembly and no work. Every day offerings are to be made to God by fire. On the eight day is no work, an assembly and an offering. On the first day they are supposed to rejoice with fruit and Palm branches, somehow. They are also to live in booths, or mini tabernacles (tents?) for the seven days of this festival, to remind them of their time in the desert, which they were supposedly still experiencing when these laws were given.

*These specific events and offerings are required and are lasting ordinances for the generations to come. Of course, we all know the Jews no longer make sacrifices by fire. Why don't they? Well, the short answer is these lasting ordinances had some nuances that changed over the generations, which eventually made it impossible for the Jews to follow this tradition in the way they believed they must. We will see how that plays out as we make our way through the bible.  A longer answer is Here. 

Remember, we are basically looking at a plain reading of the bible. Jewish believers do not practice Sola Scriptura, but  have a rich tradition of extra- biblical commentary and interpretation which is beyond the scope of this reader.

Leviticus 22

After reading chapter 22:

*More rules about the "sacred offering" for the priests:
-They must treat the offerings to God with respect, even though God doesn't need them, he won't use them, and they will get to use the leftovers from the offerings themselves.
-They must not come near the offerings if they are unclean or they will be cut off from Yahweh's presence. Does that mean they will no longer be able to serve as a priest or does it mean excommunication?
-A descendant of Aaron will not be allowed to eat any of the sacred offerings, if he is unclean by an infectious skin disease or bodily discharge, until he is cleansed. What will he eat, and where will he get it from?
-He also can't eat any of the sacred offering if he is unclean from touching something defiled by a corpse or a person with an emission of semen (How will he know? Did the priests have to ask all the men they came in contact with if they had an emission of semen in the last 24 hours? ),  touching an unclean crawling animal, touching an unclean person, or eating found meat. These will make him unclean and he will have to wash and wait til evening to be magically clean again.
-They must keep these requirements or they will be guilty (Of what?) and may die because of it. Verse 9

*No one at at all outside of the priest's immediate family may eat any of the sacred offering, with one exception: his personal slaves. Yes, priests can buy and own slaves, Yahweh has no objections. If the priest's daughter marries outside the priesthood, she is no longer permitted to eat from this holy food. But if she is widowed or divorced and has to come back to live with her father, she can eat the food.

*If anyone eats the sacred food by mistake, he must pay the priest back and add a fifth of the value to it. Who is the extra fifth for, God or the priest?

*Verses 17-25 are rules for the physical condition of the animals to be sacrificed. They must have no defect or blemish of any kind when it is a burnt offering or fellowship offering that is used to fulfill a special vow or as a free will offering. An animal with damaged testicles will not be accepted, presumably this includes castrated animals. These are not acceptable as food for their God. (Or the priests.) Verse 25.

*An newborn sacrifice must remain with its mother for seven days. After that, it is free to be ritually killed, burnt, and eaten. A mother animal and her young may not be slaughtered for sacrifice  on the same day. Why? Well, that's another mystery. It certainly can't be to recognize the sanctity of motherhood.

*We end with a reminder that Yahweh is holy, and he makes the Israelites holy, so they better do what he says.

Articles of interest:
Herodotus on animal sacrifice in ancient Egypt
Scholarly article on sacrifice in Britannica

Leviticus 21

After reading Leviticus 21:

*Here we have rules for all the priests, the sons of Aaron:
-A priest may not make himself ceremoniously unclean for anyone except a close blood relative: father, mother, unmarried sister, son, daughter, or brother. He must not make himself unclean for anyone just related by marriage, which seems to include his wife. That would defile him. (Defilement is another  one of those abstract concepts that has an ambiguous meaning. But we know one thing, it is BAD. )
-He must not shave his head, or cut the edges of his beard or his body. The study bible says this is what other religious groups did at the time.
-He must not marry a divorced woman or a prostitute. Why? Because priests are holy. Why? Because they offer food to a God who doesn't eat it.  That's all.
-If his daughter becomes a prostitute, she must be burnt to death. When we think about reasons why a daughter might become a prostitute, maybe it's the father who should be burnt to death for not taking better care of his daughter.

*Rules for the high priest:
-He must not have messy hair or tear his clothes.
-He must not enter a place that has a dead body.
-He must not make himself unclean for anybody, even a blood relative.
-He must not leave the tabernacle area. (Will he keep his sanity? )
-He cannot marry anyone but a virgin, or he will defile his offspring. Lovely. "I'm sorry dear, you are defiled because your mother was not a virgin when we married, that's just the way it is. Yahweh said so."

In the future, only physically perfect specimens of manhood, who are descendents of Aaron. may offer food to God. (The God who doesn't eat food.) They must be not be blind, lame, dwarfed, or disfigured in any way. Why? Because God is holy. Why? Because he said so! There is some compensation, they are still allowed to eat any food left over when God is done with it. Hey, free food without working for it, just because they are descendents of Aaron? We should all be so defective. Someone else can be holy.

Leviticus 20

After reading chapter 20:

*This chapter contains the penalties for breaking previously mentioned laws.
-For giving a child to Molech, the penalty is stoning the perpetrator to death and excommunication of the perpetrator's family. Here it seems clearer that this is some kind of child sacrifice, which would be abhorrent.
-For visiting a medium, the penalty is excommunication.
-For cursing a father or mother, death. This is not modern bad language cursing, but old fashioned magical type cursing that is supposed to harm the person cursed, the opposite of blessing. Of course it has no real effect.
-For sleeping with a close female relative, both are to be put to death, no matter if the woman was forced.
-For having intimate relations with another man, both are to be put to death.
-For marrying a woman and her mother, all are to be burnt to death.
-For a man or woman having intimate relations with an animal, both are to be put to death.
-For a man marrying his sister, they will both be excommunicated. This lighter sentence may reflect that this was a more common cultural occurance. Egyptian kings often married their sisters and Abraham did also.
-For sleeping with a menstruating woman, excommunication.
-For sleeping with an aunt or a sister- in- law, they will die childless. That's an odd punishment that doesn't seem to have much punch. What if they don't care? What if they already have children?
-For being a medium, stoning to death, even though mediums are fakes.

One wonders how much stoning, burning, and excommunication actually went on.

The Israelites are to keep all the laws they've been given, including those regarding clean and unclean animals, so that they can possess the land God will give them. All the bad things are what the people who are living in that land have been doing, that's why they deserve to be driven out, according to Yahweh.

Leviticus 19

After reading Leviticus 19:

*Here we see Yahweh telling Moses to speak to the Israelites and give them more rules. Some of these have been stated before, so I'll just go over the new ones.
-They are not to reap to the edges of their fields or thoroughly strip the vineyards of grapes, but to leave something for the poor and non-Israelites to gather.
-Do not hold back the wages of a hired man.
-Do not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block in front of the blind. It's a shame that anyone would have to be told this. Unfortunately, things like that probably happen today.
-Do not pervert justice, judge your neighbor fairly, not based on his social standing.
-Do not endanger your neighbor's life.
-Do not hate your brother in your heart. How would anyone know if you don't tell them?
-Tell your neighbor straight up when he's doing something wrong, so you won't share his guilt.(Verse17)
-Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge, but love your neighbor as yourself.
-Do not mate different kinds of animals. Generally speaking, this is not actually possible, unless we are talking about closely related animals.
-Do not plant your field with two kinds of seed. This is monoculture which has advantages and disadvantages.
-Do not wear clothing woven of two kinds of material. This is a mystifying rule, one broken without compunction throughout the world. I've seen various extra-biblical explanations, but the text does not provide us with one.

*Verses 20-22 are very disturbing. If a man sleeps with a slave girl who was promised to another man, they will not be put to death, because she is just a slave. (Notice that slavery is not said to be wrong, and the woman is treated as an object to be possessed.) The guy has to sacrifice a ram at the tabernacle for a sin offering, then he will be good to go. What will become of the girl? We are not told.

-The fruit of newly planted fruit trees is forbidden to be eaten for three years. On the fourth year, all its fruit is to be given to the priests, um, the lord. That will insure an increase in future harvests. Yeah, riiight. (There is nothing wrong or special about eating any fruit produced by a tree in the first four years. It doesn't do anything to the tree.)
-Do not practice divination or sorcery. You mean like their illustrious ancestor Joseph, who had a special cup for divination? Why doesn't God tell us it is nonsense?
-Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip the edges of your beard. Another mystifying rule.
-No cutting or tattoos.
-Do not make your daughter a prostitute. Duh.
-Do not use mediums or spiritualists. (No seances. Notice we aren't told they are fakes, which they are, of course.)
-Show respect for the elderly.
-Foreigners living among them must not be mistreated, but must be treated as one of their own people.
-Do not use dishonest standards when measuring and weighing in business transactions.

The agriculture rules cannot be enforced until they actually own land. Many of the other rules are only applied to people within the community, as we shall see later.

Edited.

Leviticus chapter 18

After reading chapter 18:

* This chapter appears to be laws regarding sexual conduct. It also appears to be directed exclusively to men, which is not surprising, considering it was a patriarchal society. Anyway, men were not to have intimate relationships with:

*Any close relative-
Their mothers.
Any woman married to their father.
Their sisters- either their fathers' daughters or their mothers' daughters. (Oops, Abraham, the founder of the faith, was guilty!)
Their granddaughters.
Their aunts- mothers' sisters or fathers' sisters, and wives of fathers' brothers. (It doesn't mention wives of mothers' brothers. )
Their daughters- in- law. (Judah and Tamar)
Their sisters- in- law.
The daughters of a woman they are intimate with. Presumably, this includes one's own daughters.
The granddaughters of a woman they are intimate with.
Their wives' sisters, while their wives are still living. (Shades of Rachel and Leah, the founding mothers of the tribe of Israel.)

There is no mention of nieces or cousins. Plus, if Genesis is real history, the first couple of generations after Adam must have broken these rules, granted they weren't established yet. The first few generations after Noah would have had only cousins to choose from.

*Other sexual relationships men are forbidden-
With a menstruating woman
With their neighbor's wife
With another man (boys are not mentioned in these passages.)
With an animal

These lists do not include slave women, and other women who are not forbidden but may not want to have sex.

*Relationships forbidden to women-
With an animal. This probably reflects the reality that in human relations, women had no choice.

Verse 11 mentions sacrificing children to Moloch. It would seem out of place among these other acts, unless there was some implied sexual misconduct. Perhaps it is figurative future offspring (also translated seed) that are being sacrificed in a ritual that involves a forbidden sexual activity. There is no way of knowing for sure. Apparently, some scholars think accounts of child sacrifice are exaggerated by the conquering nations. Also, it is clear that the writers of the bible had strong biases against other people groups. We are looking at a story from one side only. Actual child sacrifice may have been a common practice, but how common and how widespread is debatable.

No one who lives among them may do these things, or they will be cut off from the community. The Israelites are warned that where they are going, the people practice these things. Therefore not only the people are defiled, but the land as well and it was punished. (I didn't know land could be punished. Abused, yes, but punished?)Therefore, since the land vomited those people out, it will vomit the Israelites out if they do these detestable things.  (Wait a minute! Verse 24 starts out talking in the future tense, but verse 25 is in past tense, as thought these events had already happened. So which is it?)

Leviticus chapter 17

After reading chapter 17:

*In this chapter, the Israelites are told they must never make a sacrifice of any kind anywhere but in front of the tabernacle. If they do, they will be considered guilty of bloodshed and will be excommunicated. According to verse 5, they were doing this in the open fields and must stop. So...the Israelites weren't all in favor of this Yahweh worship and tabernacle stuff after all, were they? In spite of what previous chapters have said, according to this, some of them had been doing their own thing all along, even worshipping some kind of goat idol. (Verse 7)  I knew over a million people were too many for Moses and the priests to control, assuming it all happened, which is unlikely. If this was written around the 6th century as some scholars believe, then some unauthorized, independent sacrificing may have been going on then. Either that or insulting language was used to try to prevent The Israelites of the time from even considering it. This could  be a way for the priests to say, "See, Yahweh, through Moses,  forbade it a long time ago." It would strengthen the priest's position of authority and give them control over the meat that was sacrificed.

*I wonder if non-religious killing of animals, just to cook and eat them, was allowed. Was it also considered bloodshed? Or was all animal slaughter always supposed to be done in the context of a sacrifice?

*Another emphasis of this chapter is the ban on eating blood. It is expressly forbidden for any Israelite or foreigner living among them to eat the blood of any animal. It must be drained from the animal's body,  or they will be evicted from the community. The stated reason is that blood is the life force of the animal and Yahweh gave it to them to use at the altar, to make atonement for their lives, bringing us back to the sacrifice. Wasn't Yahweh thoughtful?

*The chapter ends with the admonition that found meat is unclean. Anyone who eats it must wash. They will be unclean til evening.

Leviticus chapter 16

After reading chapter 16:

*After the deaths of Nadab and Abihu, Yahweh told Moses to tell Aaron that he couldn't come into the most holy place, were the ark was behind a curtain inside the tabernacle, whenever he wanted. He had to follow a special procedure first. He must wash and put on special clothes and underwear. He was to sacrifice a bull to atone for his sins. Then he takes a censer with fire and incense into the part of the tabernacle tent where the ark is. The smoke from the fire will keep him from seeing the lid of the ark, called the atonement cover, or he would die. Even though he can't see it because of the smoke, he is to sprinkle some of the bull's blood on it. No one but Aaron is allowed in the tabernacle during this ritual. (Why couldn't Yahweh give these instructions to Aaron himself? Who is really in charge here? )

*Then Aaron is to take  two goats to front of the tabernacle. One goat is to be sacrificed as a sin offering for the sins of Israel. Again, he takes its blood behind the curtain where the ark is and sprinkles the goat's blood on the lid. This is to atone for the sins of the Israelites for the most holy place.Then he repeats the blood sprinkling procedure for the tabernacle itself, and again for the altar, to cleanse it from the uncleanness of the Israelites.

*The second goat is the "scapegoat." Aaron puts his hands on its head and confesses all the sins of the Israelites over it. This transfers the sins to the goat. Then it will be sent out into the desert. After that, Aaron goes back into the tabernacle, takes a bath and changes to his regular clothes. Then he sacrifices a ram as a burnt offering and  burns the fat of the sin offering. The people who help with the scapegoat and the disposal of the remnants of the sacrifices must wash themselves and their clothes afterward.

*All this is to be done on the 10th day of the seventh month every year. It is the day of atonement, a lasting ordinance. It will also be considered a sabbath day, an enforced day of rest.  Whoever is current high priest is the official  who performs the duties described. It will clean the Israelites' sin slate for the year, in a manner of speaking.

*I find the whole thing depressing. Why would an eternal, omnipotent, benevolent, purely spiritual, God make a tribe of desert nomads perform such elaborate bloody rituals for him, or else? Sin and uncleanness are abstract concepts not concrete things. People don't walk around with actual piles of sins on their shoulders, that disappear when some animals are killed. Sins can't be transferred from people to goats. Notice that first the Israelites had to be told how unclean they were, then they were given a way to get rid of the uncleanness. God is giving them the medicine for the sickness he invented. He still does this for christians today.

*One way religious people get around the obvious wierdness of all these laws and rituals is to claim that they have metaphorical significance that trumps the literal meaning. If that is so, the text certainly gives no indication of it. Also, the death threats for non compliance appear to be quite literal.

Leviticus chapter 15 , part 2

*When a woman menstruates, she is automatically unclean for seven days, or as long as any bleeding lasts.  It can vary wildly from woman to woman. During this time, anything and anyone who touches her, her bed, or anything she sits on will become unclean. A person who touches her must wash their clothes and themselves, but they will still be unclean til evening. A man who has relations with her during this time will be unclean for seven days, and any bed he lies on will also be unclean. Here's the kicker: After the bleeding stops, a woman is still ceremonially unclean for another seven days! In this passage, a woman is not required to wash before she is considered clean again. On the eighth day, she has to take a couple of birds to the priest to sacrifice as a sin offering and a burnt offering. This is how atonement is made for the uncleanness of her discharge, as if it is her fault.

*Wouldn't the God who made women be responsible for the way their bodies work? Menstrual blood is not a sign of disease or misbehavior, it is completely natural and normal. It does not contaminate another person in any way to come in contact with a menstruating woman. Plus, every healthy woman on earth is subject to a menstrual cycle for almost 40 years of her life. Just these regulations alone would have made a woman unclean half of every month. Then add in the days after her husband exercised his marital rights and the months after childbirth, she could be unclean over more than half her lifetime. At least she had  other women to commiserate with. But why should she have to live with such a stigma for something she has no choice in?

*I am also struck by the irony of these regulations. Obviously the ancient Israelite men who made these regulations had no idea what happens inside a woman's body on a monthly basis. (Yes, men, why would a god care?) For example, they must have been completely unaware of ovulation times or they might not have decided a woman was unclean for so long, if they wanted children. Most women with regular cycles ovulate on or about the 14th day of the cycle, just when an Israelite woman would be considered clean again. If a woman tended to ovulate early by a just a couple of days, she might never have children, especially if she or her husband are concientious rule followers.  Other women would seem to be much more fertile when it was really just a matter of timing.

*All these clean and uncleanness rules make me wonder about unbroken chains of uncleanness. How could you know for sure that a particular thing or person hadn't been touched by someone who had touched someone, who had touched someone else unclean, ad infinitum? Seriously, you could go crazy thinking about this stuff. Plus, could you imagine trying to enforce these rules on a population the size of Austin, Texas?

*Something else to think about: What kind of people today are concerned with imaginary contamination, rituals, repetitive washing, and counting?

*Verse 31 implies that Israelites who don't separate themselves from things that make them unclean deserve to die for defiling the dwelling place of God. This chapter has basically  told them that sex makes people unclean, so they're toast.

Edited.

Leviticus chapter 15, part 1

After reading chapter 15:

*This chapter is kind of disgusting. Here we are told about bodily discharges of various kinds.

*The first kind is experienced by men. It does not clearly state which body part it comes from. My study bible says it was probably diarrhea or urethral discharge that is a symptom of a health problem. Anyway, this guy is unclean. Anything and everything that touches him, or that he touches, will be unclean. Even if he spits on a person, that person will be unclean. Anything and anyone that comes in contact with the person with such a discharge must be washed. (That's probably a good idea. ) They will be unclean til evening, that magical time, except for clay pots, they must be broken. After the discharge goes away, he counts the magic seven days then washes himself and his clothes, and he will be clean. Personally, I think the washing should happen sooner, but that's just me. Remember though, this cleanness and uncleanness is purely ceremonial, and not to be confused with cleanliness. After a man is clean, he has to take two birds to the priest to be sacrificed as a sin offering and a burnt offering, to make things right with God, because bodily discharges are the result of sin......maybe, maybe not.

*Next is an emission of semen. No matter how it happens, it makes a man unclean.(Sorry guys.) He must wash his whole body and he will be unclean til evening. If a woman is involved, they must both wash and will be unclean til evening. Is all this beginning to make you wonder when a person is actually clean enough for God? Is there a point at which they just threw up their hands and said, "I'm perpetually unclean, so what." Or did they practice the don't ask, don't tell method of cleanness? Maybe it just became standard practice to take a bath every morning to avoid any issues about issues.( ha, ha.) Would they have to tell their neighbors, children, or servants when they were unclean?  Was a couple's bed "unclean" on the morning after? Were the priests celibate? How could they work for God and handle sacred stuff if they were unclean regularly? Who would make the sacrifices and perform the rituals if all the priests came to work one day and admitted they were all unclean? Notice how, in the case of the man with this kind of issue, it is not said that everything he touches becomes unclean, just himself and/or his wife. Plus, he isn't required to make a sin offering.

*I can imagine scenarios with uncleanness wars between rivals or enemies. "Ha! I just made him unclean and he doesn't even know it." Or "Come any closer and I'll touch you!" Or "You can't do anything to me, I'm unclean. Pbbbbt!"

Leviticus chapter 14

After reading chapter 14:

*Now we learn about cleansing from infectious diseases. This is not a medical procedure but a religious ritual performed AFTER a person has healed. It is to insure the person's ceremonial cleanness, whatever that means.

* This involves: killing a bird over water/ using cedar, scarlett wool and hyssop to sprinkle the bloody water seven times on the person being cleansed/ releasing a bird into the fields/washing clothes/ shaving off all hair and bathing/ staying outside their tent for seven days/ shaving all hair and washing clothes again/ on the eighth day, sacrificing three lambs, flour and oil (unless the person is poor, then one lamb and two birds will do).

*The priest is to sacrifice a lamb as a guilt offering (The person must have been guilty of something or they wouldn't have been sick, right? ) and put some of its blood on the right ear, right thumb, and right big toe of the person to be cleansed. Then he sprinkles some oil seven times before the lord. Next, he puts some oil on the same places he put the blood, and puts the rest on the person's head. Wait, we are not done yet. We must also have a burnt offering and a grain offering. This is the priest making atonement on behalf of the formerly diseased person. Finally, he is "clean." Was it worth the trouble?

*The second half of the chapter is about cleansing a house from mildew, once they come to the promised land. Yahweh tells Moses and Aaron in verse 34 that HE will put the spreading mildew in people's houses. When that happens, the priest closes up the house for seven days to see if the mildew spreads, which of course it will. The contaminated stones are to be torn out and replaced,  and the walls are to be scraped and replastered. This is actually a pretty reasonable course of action. If the mildew reappears, the house is to be torn down. Anyone who goes into the house will be unclean til evening and must wash their clothes.

*If the house stays mildew free after treatment, a priest is to come and purify it. Again we go through the killing of a bird over water and sprinkling of the bloody water on the house seven times. Then it will be magically clean.

While researching hyssop, I found that it is unclear just what plant was meant by the word that is translated hyssop in the bible.

Leviticus chapter 13, part 2

* Now that we are done with skin ailments, we move on to mildew found on articles made of wool, linen, or  leather. If the mildew is green or reddish, it is spreading mildew. It must be shown to the priest. The article is to be isolated for seven days. If the mildew is still spreading, the article is definitely unclean and must be burned. If the mildew does not spread, the article must be washed and isolated for another seven days. If it looks the same, even though it has not spread, it is unclean and must be burnt. If the mildew has faded, it can be cut out and the article can be used. However, if the mildew reappears in that article and spreads, it must be burnt. If the mildew is gone after washing, an article is clean.

*Today we know that mildew is caused by a fungus that grows in dampness. If materials are kept dry, by regular exposure to circulating air, dry heat, or strong sunlight, they will not mildew. Also, vinegar works well to kill fungus. These are all things ancient people could have used instead of the wait and see method favored by the priests. This tells me they didn't know or care about prevention, just the ambiguous status of clean or unclean.

Leviticus chapter 13, part 1

After reading Leviticus 13:

*This chapter is about infectious skin diseases. I should say up front  that I am not a medical professional, and neither were the ancient Israelite priests. From this chapter, it seems to me that standard practice was: If it looks bad, it is bad. They had no scientists with microscopes and Petri dishes to tell them exactly what was causing a particular issue. These things must be looked at by a priest to determine if a person was clean or unclean: Rashes, swellings, or bright spots.

So what is bad? (Automatically unclean):
-Sores on skin that have turned white, have white hair, and are more than skin deep
-spreading rashes and raw flesh
-White swellings with white hair and raw flesh, which sounds a lot like the first item on the list.
-A white or pink swelling that appears after a boil has healed and is more than skin deep and has white hair.
-A white or pink swelling, after a boil heals, that is not more than skin deep and doesn't have white hair, but is spreading.
-A burn that has raw flesh, is more than skin deep and has white hair.
-A burn that is not more than skin deep and doesn't have white hair, but is spreading.
-A sore on the head or chin, more than skin deep, with thin yellow hair. Called an itch.
-An itch that is spreading, no matter what it looks like.
-Reddish white sores on bald heads

Not so bad, or iffy: (Requiring  isolation to watch for a magical seven days)
-White spots on skin that are only skin deep and do not have white hair.
-A white or pink swelling that appears after a boil has healed, but does not have white hair and is not more than skin deep and does not spread.
-A burn that is not more than skin deep and does not have white hair and does not spread.
-A sore on head or chin not more than skin deep, with no black hair and no yellow hair, not spreading.

Clean:
-Skin and hair turning white from head to toe, without raw flesh.
-Skin that was raw flesh but has healed and turned white.
-The scar after a boil has healed.
-The scar from a burn
-An itch in the head or chin that is healing and is growing black hair
-Dull white spots
-Bald heads and foreheads without sores

What's with the white hair? As far as I know that is not a sign of disease. What happens to a person in isolation? How do they live their daily lives? After the seven days of isolation are up, they are to go back to the priest to be declared clean or unclean. If declared clean, they must wash their clothes (Not their bodies?) and they will be good to go. If declared unclean from an infectious skin disease, they must wear torn clothes, and  let their hair be messy, which are signs of grief. They must also cover the lower part of their face and yell,"Unclean, unclean." As long as they have the disease they must live alone outside the camp.

So, basic priestly medical duties consist of wait and see what happens, then diagnosis of clean or unclean. No treatments, no wound care, no basic hygiene instructions like washing or covering wounds to keep them clean. The priest's only concern was ceremonial cleanness or uncleanness.

Leviticus chapter 12

After reading chapter 12:

*This chapter addresses purification after childbirth, as though childbirth makes someone impure. I can't remember where I heard it, but I agree with the statement that the Israelites seem to have an obsession with blood. Blood is Bad. We have not been told it up to this point, but the blood of a woman makes her guilty of uncleanness. After she waits the proscribed times following childbirth, she must make two sacrifices before she can be considered clean, a burnt offering and a sin offering. Presumably this means there is something sinful associated with childbirth. Between childbirth and purification, she must not touch anything sacred or visit the sanctuary. She's got cooties.

*Before the offerings can be made, there must be a waiting period. If she had a boy, she is ceremonially unclean for seven days after giving birth. Then she must wait 33 more days to be "purified," a total of 40 days. (Two magic numbers in one command! It must be holy.) I don't understand the difference between the first seven days and the following 33 days. She's still considered unclean until the priest pronounces her clean.

*A newborn male is to be circumcised at 8 days old. I have some questions. Who does the circumcising? Wouldn't the baby be considered unclean since he is in constant contact with his mother? If he is unclean, wouldn't anyone who comes in contact with him also become unclean? Did fathers avoid contact with their wives and newborns during this time? That would be sad. Will we get answers to these questions later?

*Oh, unlucky woman who has a daughter! She is unclean for 14 days, then must wait another 66 days to be purified. That is twice as long as it takes after birthing a male. Extra magic must be needed to counteract the girl cooties.

*After childbirth, it is possible for  a woman to  experience some bleeding for up to 40 days, but highly unlikely for it to go longer than that. Plus, there are no fundamental differences between birthing a daughter or  a son. That is just, well, silly.