26 October 2009
LEVITICUS
Here we conclude the Torah, or Five Books of Moses (also called the Pentateuch, or Five Scrolls). Leviticus is a Priest text and refers to the "Levite" priesthood, whose line is traced back to Moses' brother, Aaron. It concerns the relationship between Yahweh (God) and his holy people, which also means a "separate" people. The idea is that Creation is good and any violation of the goodness of Creation must be made right, by atonement (at-one-ment with God). These are rules for being at one with God. Since man is bound to do evil, at least there is a set way ("ritual") in which to restore the goodness of Creation, honored every 7th day.
1
1: The LORD called Moses, and spoke to him from the tent of meeting, saying,
The tent of meeting is symbolic; it means God dwells with Israel as a people. The theophany that Moses saw (the burning bush) is now a permanent part of the lives of the Israelites.
3: "If a man's offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he shall offer a male without blemish; he shall offer it at the door of the tent of meeting, that he may be accepted before the LORD;
Since God is holy, offerings (sacrifices) must be without fault, perfect of its kind.
4: he shall lay his hand upon the head of the burnt offering, and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him.
By laying one's hand on the animal, the person's sin is transferred to the beast; the animal is a substitute. A transgression (sin, evil, misdeed) is an insult to the goodness of God's creation; it deserved death (the blood of the sinner); but God in his mercy allowed a substitute.
5: Then he shall kill the bull before the LORD; and Aaron's sons the priests shall present the blood, and throw the blood round about against the altar that is at the door of the tent of meeting.
The E places Moses above Aaron; the P text goes out of its way to place Aaron above Moses.
5
1: "If any one sins in that he hears a public appeal to testify and though he is a witness, whether he has seen or come to know the matter, yet does not speak, he shall bear his iniquity.
One sins by NOT doing as much as by DOING. One has no right to be silent in defense of justice, or "he shall bear his iniquity" (sin). We call these sins of omission; the other sins are sins of commission. An example of the first is seeing someone stealing but not stopping him or reporting him; the second is stealing itself.
2: Or if any one touches an unclean thing, whether the carcass of an unclean beast or a carcass of unclean cattle or a carcass of unclean swarming things, and it is hidden from him, and he has become unclean, he shall be guilty.
Life and death must be separated. The idea of separation is central to the Priestly text of Creation: day from night, etc.
6
1: The LORD said to Moses,
2: "If any one sins and commits a breach of faith against the LORD by deceiving his neighbor in a matter of deposit or security, or through robbery, or if he has oppressed his neighbor
3: or has found what was lost and lied about it,
5: he shall restore it in full, and add a fifth to it, and give it to him to whom it belongs, on the day of his guilt offering;
7: and the priest shall make atonement for him before the LORD, and he shall be forgiven for any of the things which one may do and thereby become guilty."
8
6: And Moses brought Aaron and his sons, and washed them with water.
7: And he put on him the coat, and girded him with the girdle, and clothed him with the robe, and put the ephod upon him.
8: And he placed the breastpiece on him, and in the breastpiece he put the Urim and the Thummim.
Scholars are unclear what the Urim and Thummim were but believe they were tokens, like the Chinese I-ching, which, by flipping, would answer Yes or No to a question. Such lots survived into the New Testament; after Judas' betrayal of Jesus, lots are thrown to decide his successor, to complete the number 12.
10: Then Moses took the anointing oil, and anointed the tabernacle and all that was in it, and consecrated them.
The act of anointing is where we get the word "Messiah," which means "anointed."
12: And he poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron's head, and anointed him, to consecrate him.
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23: And Moses and Aaron went into the tent of meeting; and when they came out they blessed the people, and the glory of the LORD appeared to all the people.
24: And fire came forth from before the LORD and consumed the burnt offering and the fat upon the altar; and when all the people saw it, they shouted, and fell on their faces.
This shows that God is present among the Israelites.
10
1: Now Nadab and Abi'hu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer, and put fire in it, and laid incense on it, and offered unholy fire before the LORD, such as he had not commanded them.
2: And fire came forth from the presence of the LORD and devoured them, and they died before the LORD.
8: And the LORD spoke to Aaron, saying,
10: You are to distinguish between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean;
11: and you are to teach the people of Israel all the statutes which the LORD has spoken to them by Moses."
1. God is holy, 2. The holy cannot mix with the unholy, 3. Of course the text insures that Aaron's family line (the Aaronid priests) will have sole authority, even over the Levites.
11
These dietary laws are called "kosher" in Hebrew. Because of Peter's vision of a sheet with all foods in it, Christians ignore the dietary laws. Jesus had replaced Moses as Lawmaker: "It is not what goes into a person that defiles him, but what comes out."
These are sensible cautions; if a dead insect falls into your pot, break the pot (not the expensive pots, though!). A seed is clean, unless water has touched it, because water starts the process of life; and life and death cannot mix (just like in leaven).
38: [I]f water is put on the seed and any part of their carcass falls on it, it is unclean.
45: For I am the LORD who brought you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God; you shall therefore be holy, for I am holy."
12
1: The LORD said to Moses,
2: "Say to the people of Israel, If a woman conceives, and bears a male child, then she shall be unclean seven days, as during her menstruation.
Note the double standard: a woman is impure twice as long for having a female child! But this may be in honor of the woman; because a female birth is worth TWICE the life of a male birth in terms of future births. As for the fact of impurity: blood and life do not mix, so the woman is impure. Note, these laws also protect the woman after childbirth.
3: And on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.
This is the act of circumcision we already noted. Jesus was a Jew and was circumcised. Christians honor this day on New Year's Day (7 days after Christmas), called in the Catholic Calendar, the Feast of the Circumcision.
5: But if she bears a female child, she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her menstruation; she shall continue in the blood of her purifying for sixty-six days.
6: "And when the days of her purifying are completed, whether for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring to the priest at the door of the tent of meeting a lamb a year old for a burnt offering, and a young pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering,
8: And if she cannot afford a lamb, then she shall take two turtledoves or two young pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering; and the priest shall make atonement for her, and she shall be clean."
Jesus' mother sacrificed two doves; she was too poor to make a more expensive sacrifice.
13
1: The LORD said to Moses and Aaron,
2: "When a man has on the skin of his body a swelling or an eruption or a spot, and it turns into a leprous disease on the skin of his body, then he shall be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons the priests,
3: and the priest shall examine the diseased spot on the skin of his body; and if the hair in the diseased spot has turned white and the disease appears to be deeper than the skin of his body, it is a leprous disease; when the priest has examined him he shall pronounce him unclean.
45: "The leper who has the disease shall wear torn clothes and let the hair of his head hang loose, and he shall cover his upper lip and cry, `Unclean, unclean.'
46: He shall remain unclean as long as he has the disease; he shall dwell alone in a habitation outside the camp.
The word often translated as "leprosy" means here any skin disorder, not the leprosy we know today. The point is to separate life from death; dying skin is death and must be separated from the life. These rules make sense today, though we have other ways to protect the healthy.
16
This is the main holy day in the Jewish calendar, called Yom Kippur ("kippur" means atonement). The sins of the people are put on the goat and the goat is then kicked out into the wilderness (the wilderness is "anti-Creation"). We get our modern word "scapegoat" from this text. It can be read as a type of Jesus' scapegoat death; Jesus took the sins of the people on his own head.20: "And when he has made an end of atoning for the holy place and the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall present a live goat;
21: and Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their transgressions, all their sins; and he shall put them upon the head of the goat, and send him away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is in readiness.
31: It is a sabbath of solemn rest to you, and you shall afflict yourselves; it is a statute for ever.
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10: "If any man of the house of Israel or of the strangers that sojourn among them eats blood, I will set my face against that person.
11: For the life of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it for you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement, by reason of the life.
This explains the meaning of blood in the sacrifice.
18
1: And the LORD said to Moses,
21: You shall not give any of your children to devote them by fire to Molech, and so profane the name of your God: I am the LORD.
Sacrifice to Molech was common. The Jews "sublimated" sacrifice, with moral purpose.
22: You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.
This has caused grief among homosexuals. V. 28 links possession of the land to moral conduct. To sin is to corrupt the land as well as oneself. This was true in Greek culture too, as in Oedipus Rex.
23: And you shall not lie with any beast:
28: lest the land vomit you out, when you defile it, as it vomited out the nation that was before you.
19
1: And the LORD said to Moses,
2: "You shall be holy; for I the LORD your God am holy.
Note the imitation of God, in a dialogue: God empowers us, but we in turn must imitate God's goodness (holiness). Holiness is defined as "separation," because the world (as Jesus said) is evil (note: the "world" is a social construct, not the "earth" that God created). It is this "world" that belongs to Satan by the time of the New Testament.
9: "When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field to its border or gather the gleanings after your harvest.
10: And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the sojourner: I am the LORD your God.
15: "You shall do no injustice in judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor.
It's just as unjust to favor the weak in matters of justice as to favor the strong.
17: "You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason with your neighbor, lest you bear sin because of him.
18: You shall not take vengeance or bear any grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.
33: "When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong.
34: He shall be as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.
35: "You shall do no wrong in judgment, in measures of length or weight or quantity.
36: I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.
20
10: "Both the adulterer and the adulteress shall be put to death.
24: I am the LORD your God, who have separated you from the peoples.
22
1: And the LORD said to Moses,
20: You shall not offer anything that has a blemish, for it will not be acceptable for you.
23
4: "These are the appointed feasts of the LORD.
5: In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month in the evening, is the LORD's passover.
Passover is later taken over by Christians as Easter, another kind of resurrection or rebirth from death to life, also in spring. Note the difference between the Passover and the week-long feast of Unleavened Bread.
6: And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread to the LORD; seven days you shall eat unleavened bread.
10: "Say to the people of Israel, When you come into the land which I give you and reap its harvest, you shall bring the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest;
11: and he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, that you may find acceptance; on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it.
15: "And you shall count from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven full weeks shall they be,
16: counting fifty days to the morrow after the seventh sabbath; then you shall present a cereal offering of new grain to the LORD."
This is the feast of weeks, fifty days later. This became Pentecost in the Christian calendar, when the new Christians spoke in tongues, inspired by the Holy Spirit (book of Acts). Churches of the Holy Spirit are called Pentecostal churches.
24: "In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall observe a day of solemn rest, a memorial proclaimed with blast of trumpets, a holy convocation.
25: You shall do no laborious work; and you shall present an offering by fire to the LORD."
26: And the LORD said to Moses,
27: "On the tenth day of this seventh month is the day of atonement; and you shall afflict yourselves and present an offering by fire to the LORD.
This is the scapegoat ritual noted above.
34: "On the fifteenth day of this seventh month and for seven days is the feast of booths to the LORD.
This Feast of Booths honors the time the Israelites lived in the Wilderness. The meaning of these feasts was revised over time; as with the Passover, which was probably an agrarian (agriculture) feast, later linked to the founding historical event of the Jewish people: the Exodus.
42: You shall dwell in booths for seven days; all that are native in Israel shall dwell in booths,
43: that your generations may know that I made the people of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God."
25
1: The LORD said to Moses on Mount Sinai,
2: "Say to the people of Israel, When you come into the land which I give you, the land shall keep a sabbath to the LORD.
3: Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard, and gather in its fruits;
4: but in the seventh year there shall be a sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a sabbath to the LORD; you shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard.
This is the sabbatical year, honoring Genesis's creation again. This is still observed among faculty, who deserve a sabbatical every 7 years. It has agricultural value too.
8: "And you shall count seven weeks of years, seven times seven years, so the time of the seven weeks of years shall be to you forty-nine years.
10: And you shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants; it shall be a jubilee for you, when each of you shall return to his property and each of you shall return to his family.
11: A jubilee shall that fiftieth year be to you; in it you shall neither sow, nor reap what grows of itself, nor gather the grapes from the undressed vines.
12: For it is a jubilee; it shall be holy to you; you shall eat what it yields out of the field.
13: "In this year of jubilee each of you shall return to his property.
23: The land shall not be sold permanently, for the land is mine; for you are strangers and sojourners with me.
This idea of being strangers on the earth continues in the New Testament, as in 1 Peter, addressed to "God's elect, strangers in the world" (1.1). Note one cannot exploit one's neighbor; this motif of "redemption" (in the economic sense) is wonderfully developed in the book of Ruth and continues in the story of Jesus:
25: "If your brother becomes poor, and sells part of his property, his next of kin shall redeem what his brother has sold.
35: "And if your brother becomes poor, and cannot maintain himself with you, you shall maintain him; as a stranger and a sojourner he shall live with you.
36: Take no interest from him or increase, but fear your God; that your brother may live beside you.
37: You shall not lend him your money at interest, nor give him your food for profit.
Morality and freedom are entwined in history:
38: I am the LORD your God, who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan, and to be your God.
55: The people of Israel are my servants, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.
26
13: I am the LORD your God, who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, that you should not be their slaves; and I have broken the bars of your yoke and made you walk erect.
14: "But if you will not listen to me,
33: I will scatter you among the nations; and your land shall be a desolation, and your cities a waste.
34: "Then the land shall rest, and enjoy its sabbaths.
Leviticus concludes with blessings and curses similar to treaties between a superior and inferior nation: rewards if one follows the contract, curses if one doesn't. Note the sarcasm: if God's people do not observe rest (the Sabbath) as they should, they will do so against their will: the land will observe the Sabbath while they are exiled from it. This was a later addition, referring to the Exile, which had already taken place.
1
49: "Only the tribe of Levi you shall not number, and you shall not take a census of them among the people of Israel;
50: but appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the testimony, and over all its furnishings, and over all that belongs to it.
51: When the tabernacle is to set out, the Levites shall take it down; and when the tabernacle is to be pitched, the Levites shall set it up. And if any one else comes near, he shall be put to death.
3
5: And the LORD said to Moses,
12: "I have taken the Levites from among the people of Israel instead of every first-born that opens the womb among the people of Israel. The Levites shall be mine,
13: for the first-born are mine; on the day I slew the first-born in the land of Egypt, I consecrated for my own the first-born in Israel, both man and of beast; they shall be mine: I am the LORD."
The Levites are a substitute for the first-born, who belong to God.
6
22: The LORD said to Moses,
This is the Aaronic (Priestly) Blessing, probably the most famous text from the book of Numbers:
23: "Say to Aaron and his sons, Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them,
24: The LORD bless you and keep you:
25: The LORD make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you:
26: The LORD lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.
27: "So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them."
8
1: Now the LORD said to Moses,
2: "Say to Aaron, When you set up the lamps, the seven lamps shall give light in front of the lampstand."
3: And Aaron did so; he set up its lamps to give light in front of the lampstand, as the LORD commanded Moses.
The lampstand (menorrah) symbolized God's undying light; John's Jesus (Gospel of John) is called "the light of the world."
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15: On the day that the tabernacle was set up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, the tent of the testimony; and at evening it was over the tabernacle like the appearance of fire until morning.
17: And whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tent, after that the people of Israel set out; and in the place where the cloud settled down, there the people of Israel encamped.
23: At the command of the LORD they encamped, and at the command of the LORD they set out; they kept the charge of the LORD, at the command of the LORD by Moses.
10
11: In the second year, in the second month, on the twentieth day of the month, the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle of the testimony,
12: and the people of Israel set out from the wilderness of Sinai; and the cloud settled down in the wilderness of Paran.
14
2: And the people murmured against Moses and Aaron; "Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness!
With perfect justice, God will do just that: kill them in the wilderness, or before they enter the Promised Land.
3: Why does the LORD bring us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey; would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?"
4: And they said to one another, "Let us choose a captain, and go back to Egypt."
11: And the LORD said to Moses, "How long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me, in spite of all the signs which I have wrought among them?
12: I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they."
In other words, God will start over, with Moses as the new Israel.
13: But Moses said to the LORD,
17: I pray thee, let the power of the LORD be great as thou hast promised, saying,
18: `The LORD is slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but he will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of fathers upon children, upon the third and upon the fourth generation.'
Note how cleverly Moses argues, with fine rhetoric: he begs God to show his Power by his Mercy instead of by his punishment, quoting God's own words as Testimony against God.
19: Pardon the iniquity of this people, I pray thee, according to the greatness of thy steadfast love, and according as thou hast forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now."
20: Then the LORD said, "I have pardoned, according to your word;
21: but truly, as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD,
22: none of the men who have seen my glory and my signs which I wrought in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have put me to the proof these ten times and have not hearkened to my voice,
23: shall see the land which I swore to give to their fathers; and none of those who despised me shall see it.
25: Now, since the Amal'ekites and the Canaanites dwell in the valleys, turn tomorrow and set out for the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea."
15
37: The LORD said to Moses,
38: "Speak to the people of Israel, and bid them to make tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put upon the tassel of each corner a cord of blue;
39: and it shall be to you a tassel to look upon and remember all the commandments of the LORD, to do them, not to follow after your own heart and your own eyes, which you are inclined to go after wantonly.
40: So you shall remember and do all my commandments, and be holy to your God.
41: I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the LORD your God."
These tassels are evident when the edge of Jesus' garment is touched in the Gospels.
20
2: Now there was no water for the congregation; and they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron.
3: And the people contended with Moses, and said, "Would that we had died when our brethren died before the LORD!"
7: and the LORD said to Moses,
8: "Take the rod, and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water; so you shall bring water out of the rock for them; so you shall give drink to the congregation and their cattle."
9: And Moses took the rod from before the LORD, as he commanded him.
10: And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, "Hear now, you rebels; shall we bring forth water for you out of this rock?"
11: And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his rod twice; and water came forth abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their cattle.
12: And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "Because you did not believe in me, to sanctify me in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them."
Why were Moses and Aaron punished? One theory is they did not believe in the power of God's word by itself, without the rod (the rod represents Moses' power, not God's). Another theory is just obedience: they should have listened to God's exact instructions. Another reason is by speaking "we" instead of "He" (God), thus claiming God's power for themselves. Regardless, for this they were denied entry to the Promised Land. Yet the final book of the Torah, Deuteronomy, claims Moses was punished for the sins of the people, making Moses look good.
13: These are the waters of Mer'ibah, where the people of Israel contended with the LORD, and he showed himself holy among them.
23: And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron at Mount Hor, on the border of the land of Edom,
24: "Aaron shall be gathered to his people; for he shall not enter the land which I have given to the people of Israel, because you rebelled against my command at the waters of Mer'ibah.
28: And Moses stripped Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Elea'zar his son; and Aaron died there on the top of the mountain. Then Moses and Elea'zar came down from the mountain.
29: And when all the congregation saw that Aaron was dead, all the house of Israel wept for Aaron thirty days.
21
4: >From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the people became impatient on the way.
5: And the people spoke against God and against Moses, "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food."
6: Then the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died.
7: And the people came to Moses, and said, "We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD and against you; pray to the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us." So Moses prayed for the people.
8: And the LORD said to Moses, "Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and every one who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live."
9: So Moses made a bronze serpent, and set it on a pole; and if a serpent bit any man, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.
Jesus refers to this text (above) in the Gospel of John; for even so, Jesus will be lifted up (on the cross).
22
1: Then the people of Israel set out, and encamped in the plains of Moab beyond the Jordan at Jericho.
3: And Moab was in great dread of the people, because they were many; Moab was overcome with fear of the people of Israel.
4: So Balak the son of Zippor, who was king of Moab at that time,
5: sent messengers to Balaam the son of Be'or at Pethor, which is near the River, in the land of Amaw to call him, saying, "Behold, a people has come out of Egypt; they cover the face of the earth, and they are dwelling opposite me.
6: Come now, curse this people for me, since they are too mighty for me; perhaps I shall be able to defeat them and drive them from the land; for I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed."
God's blessing is greater than Balaam's; in fact God controls Balaam. This is a comforting message to the Jews.
20: And God came to Balaam at night and said to him, "If the men have come to call you, rise, go with them; but only what I bid you, that shall you do."
21: So Balaam rose in the morning, and saddled his ass, and went with the princes of Moab.
This is another famous story, with some problems. Is Balaam, a pagan prophet, good or bad (he's later killed by the Israelites)? Also, why does God first tell him to go, then prevent him from going? Perhaps to show his absolute power. The point, however, is that even a donkey (ass) sees more than a pagan prophet.
22: But God's anger was kindled because he went; and the angel of the LORD took his stand in the way as his adversary.
27: When the ass saw the angel of the LORD, she lay down under Balaam; and Balaam's anger was kindled, and he struck the ass with his staff.
28: Then the LORD opened the mouth of the ass, and she said to Balaam, "What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?"
29: And Balaam said to the ass, "Because you have made sport of me. I wish I had a sword in my hand, for then I would kill you."
30: And the ass said to Balaam, "Am I not your ass, upon which you have ridden all your life long to this day? Was I ever accustomed to do so to you?" And he said, "No."
31: Then the LORD opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way, with his drawn sword in his hand; and he bowed his head, and fell on his face.
34: Then Balaam said to the angel of the LORD, "I have sinned, for I did not know that you stood in the road against me. But if it is evil in your sight, I will go back again."
35: And the angel of the LORD said to Balaam, "Go with the men; but only the word which I bid you, that shall you speak." So Balaam went on with the princes of Balak.
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7: And Balaam took up his discourse, and said, "From Aram Balak has brought me, the king of Moab from the eastern mountains: `Come, curse Jacob for me, and come, denounce Israel!'
8: How can I curse whom God has not cursed? How can I denounce whom the LORD has not denounced?
9: For from the top of the mountains I see him, from the hills I behold him; lo, a people dwelling alone, and not reckoning itself among the nations!
Balak makes the proper sacrifices (omitted); but they don't help. Balaam can only bless the Israelites, part of God's promise to Abraham. Other blessings that follow also repeat God's blessings to Israel:
10: Who can count the dust of Jacob, or number the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my end be like his!"
11: And Balak said to Balaam, "What have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have done nothing but bless them."
12: And he answered, "Must I not take heed to speak what the LORD puts in my mouth?"
13: And Balak said to him, "Come with me to another place, from which you may see them; you shall see only the nearest of them, and shall not see them all; then curse them for me from there."
15: Balaam said to Balak, "Stand here beside your burnt offering, while I meet the LORD yonder."
16: And the LORD met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, "Return to Balak, and thus shall you speak."
18: And Balaam took up his discourse, and said, "Rise, Balak, and hear; hearken to me, O son of Zippor:
20: Behold, I received a command to bless: he has blessed, and I cannot revoke it.
23: For there is no enchantment against Jacob, no divination against Israel; now it shall be said of Jacob and Israel, `What has God wrought!'"
25: And Balak said to Balaam, "Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all."
26: But Balaam answered Balak, "Did I not tell you, `All that the LORD says, that I must do'?"
27: And Balak said to Balaam, "Come now, I will take you to another place; perhaps it will please God that you may curse them for me from there."
28: So Balak took Balaam to the top of Pe'or, that overlooks the desert.
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2: And Balaam lifted up his eyes, and saw Israel encamping tribe by tribe. And the Spirit of God came upon him,
3: and he took up his discourse, and said,
5: "How fair are your tents, O Jacob, your encampments, O Israel!
9: Blessed be every one who blesses you, and cursed be every one who curses you."
10: And Balak's anger was kindled against Balaam, and he struck his hands together; and Balak said to Balaam, "I called you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have blessed them these three times.
11: Therefore now flee to your place; I said, `I will certainly honor you,' but the LORD has held you back from honor."
12: And Balaam said to Balak, "Did I not tell your messengers whom you sent to me,
13: `If Balak should give me his house full of silver and gold, I would not be able to go beyond the word of the LORD, to do either good or bad of my own will; what the LORD speaks, that will I speak'?
14: And now, behold, I am going to my people; come, I will let you know what this people will do to your people in the latter days.
17: I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not nigh: a star shall come forth out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel.
19: By Jacob shall dominion be exercised, and the survivors of cities be destroyed!"
Christians read this as a prophecy of Jesus ("a star shall come forth out of Jacob, and a scepter out of Israel").
25: Then Balaam rose, and went back to his place; and Balak also went his way.
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A second census is taken to see who will enter the Promised Land of the new generation and to divide up the land:52: The LORD said to Moses:
55: "The land shall be divided by lot; according to the names of the tribes of their fathers they shall inherit.
56: Their inheritance shall be divided according to lot between the larger and the smaller."
64: But among these there was not a man of those numbered by Moses and Aaron the priest, who had numbered the people of Israel in the wilderness of Sinai.
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12: The LORD said to Moses, "Go up into this mountain of Ab'arim, and see the land which I have given to the people of Israel.
13: And when you have seen it, you also shall be gathered to your people, as your brother Aaron was gathered,
14: because you rebelled against my word in the wilderness of Zin."
22: And Moses did as the LORD commanded him; he took Joshua and caused him to stand before Elea'zar the priest and the whole congregation,
23: and he laid his hands upon him, and commissioned him as the LORD directed through Moses.
Laying hands on someone transferred virtues as well as sins (Leviticus). The laying on of hands became common in the early Christian church and is common in evangelical churches.
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50: And the LORD said to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho,
51: "Say to the people of Israel, When you pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan,
52: then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their figured stones, and destroy all their molten images, and demolish all their high places;
53: and you shall take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have given the land to you to possess it.
55: But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then those of them whom you let remain shall be as pricks in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall trouble you in the land where you dwell.
56: And I will do to you as I thought to do to them."
This is exactly what will happen, since the Israelites will not drive everyone out. This is prophecy after the fact.
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9: And the LORD said to Moses,
14: "You shall give three cities beyond the Jordan and three cities in Canaan, to be cities of refuge.
15: These six cities shall be for refuge for the people of Israel, and for the stranger and for the sojourner among them, that any one who kills any person without intent may flee there.
16: "But if he struck him with a weapon, so that he died, he is a murderer; the murderer shall be put to death.
19: The avenger of blood shall himself put the murderer to death; when he meets him, he shall put him to death.
22: "But if he stabbed him suddenly without enmity, or hurled anything on him without lying in wait,
23: or used a stone, by which a man may die, and without seeing him cast it upon him, so that he died, though he was not his enemy, and did not seek his harm;
24: then the congregation shall judge between the manslayer and the avenger of blood, in accordance with these ordinances;
25: and the congregation shall rescue the manslayer from the hand of the avenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to his city of refuge, to which he had fled, and he shall live in it until the death of the high priest who was anointed with the holy oil.
31: Moreover you shall accept no ransom for the life of a murderer, who is guilty of death; but he shall be put to death."
Only blood can pay for life. Hence the sacrifice system, and Jesus as the final sacrifice for Christians.
"Deuteronomy" means "second law," as the book was named in the Greek translation. Almost all scholars agree that the book was written probably in the 7th century BCE after the fall of the northern kingdom (Israel) to the Assyrians (722 BCE). Much of the book must have been written after Judah's (King Josiah's) reform era in 622; hence the name "second law," though a better phrase would be "revived law."
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1: These are the words that Moses spoke to all Israel beyond the Jordan in the wilderness.
Note the phrase "all Israel"; because, like the American Constitution, this pact lasts into the future.
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1: And Moses summoned all Israel, and said to them, "Hear, O Israel, the statutes and the ordinances which I speak in your hearing this day, and you shall learn them and be careful to do them.
2: The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb.
Note Moses' great rhetoric: the covenant is contemporary: it continues to this day. Israel is not then but NOW. The Lord spoke with "YOU." Horeb = Sinai.
3: Not with our fathers did the LORD make this covenant, but with us, who are all of us here alive this day.
4: The LORD spoke with you face to face at the mountain, out of the midst of the fire,
5: He said:
Now follow a repeat of the 10 Commandments, with minor changes. The most important change is that people are reminded to keep the Sabbath because they were once slaves in Egypt (in Exodus the reference is to God resting on the Seventh day). Exodus explained the Sabbath theologically; Deuteronomy explains the Sabbath historically: you were once slaves, so you should honor your freedom every 7th day.
15: You shall remember that you were a servant in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out thence with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore the LORD your God commanded you to keep the sabbath day.
Another important correction: the wife is now treated with more dignity, placed at the beginning instead of in the middle of the list of what not to covet:
21: "`Neither shall you covet your neighbor's wife; and you shall not desire your neighbor's house, his field, or his manservant, or his maidservant, his ox, or his ass, or anything that is your neighbor's.'
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This is one of the most honred verses in the Bible. It's called the Shema (after the first word, "hear"). The point is 1. God is One, not many, 2. There is one God, despite other gods talked about, 3. There is one place of worship. Centralization of worship begins here, though some centralization was suggested in earlier texts. By the time of the kingdoms, people were worhsipping God almost everywhere, including at home. Abuses crept in because of this. God was mixed with native gods. Poor sacrifices were made, etc. 4: "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD;
5: and you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.
Jesus quotes this as one of the two main commandments, along with the law to love one's neighbor as oneself (Leviticus). Note again the "heart and soul" motif: the law must be lived.
6: And these words which I command you this day shall be upon your heart;
7: and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.
8: And you shall bind them as a sign upon your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.
These are called phylacteries. On the doorposts they're called mezzuzahs, small cases in which are deposited verses from Deuteronomy 6:4-9 and 11:13-21 (both versions of the Shema, "to love God with one's whole heart and soul"). (A mezzuzah case, scroll that goes inside the case, and the mezzuzah case as it looks hung on the doorpost are seen in an animated gif file, left.) Jesus criticizes exaggerated displays of devotion among the Pharisees: "Everything they do is done for men to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long. . . ." (MATT 23:5).
9: And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
12: then take heed lest you forget the LORD, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
V. 16 is one of three verses from this book that Jesus quotes to the Devil when he's tempted. Note in v. 21 more reminding of being slaves, as if to say, "God is your only dignity." This remains true today: we are what we love.
16: "You shall not put the LORD your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah.
20: "When your son asks you in time to come, `What is the meaning of the testimonies and the statutes and the ordinances which the LORD our God has commanded you?'
21: then you shall say to your son, `We were Pharaoh's slaves in Egypt; and the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. . . .
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1: "When the LORD your God brings you into the land which you are entering to take possession of it, and clears away many nations before you, the Hittites, the Gir'gashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Per'izzites, the Hivites, and the Jeb'usites, seven nations greater and mightier than yourselves,
3: You shall not make marriages with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons.
4: For they would turn away your sons from following me, to serve other gods; then the anger of the LORD would be kindled against you, and he would destroy you quickly.
This would be called genocide today. But the writer is writing after the event and knows that the Jews have accepted other values leading to present problems, including exile.
5: But thus shall you deal with them: you shall break down their altars, and dash in pieces their pillars, and hew down their Ashe'rim, and burn their graven images with fire.
6: "For you are a people holy to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his own possession, out of all the peoples that are on the face of the earth.
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5: Not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart are you going in to possess their land; but because of the wickedness of these nations the LORD your God is driving them out from before you, and that he may confirm the word which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
A reminder to the Israelites that they live only by God's grace/goodness.
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12: "And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul,
13: and to keep the commandments and statutes of the LORD, which I command you this day for your good?
"Circumcision" has already begun to be used symbolically, as in image or a change of heart (v. 16). Hebrew makes superlatives (-est) by gentives ("of"): "lord of lords," "song of songs," etc. mean "greatest lord" or "best song," etc. "Holy of Holies," King of Kings," etc. Note how this precedes a reminder to respect foreigners, orphans, etc.
16: Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn.
17: For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the terrible God, who is not partial and takes no bribe.
18: He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing.
19: Love the sojourner therefore; for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.
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28: "At the end of every three years you shall bring forth all the tithe of your produce in the same year, and lay it up within your towns;
29: and the Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance with you, and the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, who are within your towns, shall come and eat and be filled; that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands that you do.
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1: "At the end of every seven years you shall grant a release.
2: And this is the manner of the release: every creditor shall release what he has lent to his neighbor; he shall not exact it of his neighbor, his brother, because the LORD's release has been proclaimed.
Note this is a new law, of the heart as well as of the flesh (v. 10). The giver must give in the right mind. Jesus will develop this idea. Jesus also refers to v. 11. Below the giver is warned not to resist giving to the poor because the Sabbath (7th) year is near, and thus the giver will lose his profit.
10: You shall give to him freely, and your heart shall not be grudging when you give to him.
11: For the poor will never cease out of the land; therefore I command you, You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in the land.
19: You shall not pervert justice. . . .
20: Justice, and only justice, you shall follow, that you may live and inherit the land which the LORD your God gives you.
Syncretism (mixing religions) was more dangerous than outright apostasy, or turning away from God. Because it was more difficult to see. Asherah was one of many fertility goddesses (Asheroth in plural). Obviously people worship those goddesses because everyone wants children or Nature's fertility in the form of rain (hence Ba'al worship).
21: "You shall not plant any tree as an Ashe'rah beside the altar of the LORD your God which you shall make.
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14: "When you come to the land which the LORD your God gives you, and you possess it and dwell in it, and then say, `I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are round about me';
15: you may indeed set as king over you him whom the LORD your God will choose. One from among your brethren you shall set as king over you; you may not put a foreigner over you, who is not your brother.
Apparently Jews were trading people for horses. Later verses may refer to Solomon's abuses as king:
16: Only he must not multiply horses for himself, or cause the people to return to Egypt in order to multiply horses, since the LORD has said to you, `You shall never return that way again.'
17: And he shall not multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away; nor shall he greatly multiply for himself silver and gold.
18: "And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law, from that which is in the charge of the Levitical priests;
19: and it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God, by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them;
20: that his heart may not be lifted up above his brethren, and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, either to the right hand or to the left; so that he may continue long in his kingdom, he and his children, in Israel.
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These verses are sometimes used, typologically, of Jesus:
15: "The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brethren -- him you shall heed --
18: I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brethren; and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him.
19: And whoever will not give heed to my words which he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him.
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15: "A single witness shall not prevail against a man for any crime or for any wrong in connection with any offense that he has committed; only on the evidence of two witnesses, or of three witnesses, shall a charge be sustained.
16: If a malicious witness rises against any man to accuse him of wrongdoing,
17: then both parties to the dispute shall appear before the LORD, before the priests and the judges who are in office in those days;
18: the judges shall inquire diligently, and if the witness is a false witness and has accused his brother falsely,
19: then you shall do to him as he had meant to do to his brother; so you shall purge the evil from the midst of you.
20: And the rest shall hear, and fear, and shall never again commit any such evil among you.
21: Your eye shall not pity; it shall be life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
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St. Paul later refers to this curse of being hung from a tree to explain the curse that Jesus assumed by hanging from a tree (cross):
22: "And if a man has committed a crime punishable by death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree,
23: his body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but you shall bury him the same day, for a hanged man is accursed by God; you shall not defile your land which the LORD your God gives you for an inheritance.
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4: You shall not see your brother's ass or his ox fallen down by the way, and withhold your help from them; you shall help him to lift them up again.
5: "A woman shall not wear anything that pertains to a man, nor shall a man put on a woman's garment; for whoever does these things is an abomination to the LORD your God.
6: "If you chance to come upon a bird's nest, in any tree or on the ground, with young ones or eggs and the mother sitting upon the young or upon the eggs, you shall not take the mother with the young;
7: you shall let the mother go, but the young you may take to yourself; that it may go well with you, and that you may live long.
8: "When you build a new house, you shall make a parapet for your roof, that you may not bring the guilt of blood upon your house, if any one fall from it.
10: You shall not plow with an ox and an ass together.
12: "You shall make yourself tassels on the four corners of your cloak with which you cover yourself.
Hence in the Gospels a woman who can't stop her bleeding touches the hem of Jesus' garment (v. 12 above).
25: "If in the open country a man meets a young woman who is betrothed, and the man seizes her and lies with her, then only the man who lay with her shall die.
26: But to the young woman you shall do nothing; in the young woman there is no offense punishable by death, for this case is like that of a man attacking and murdering his neighbor;
27: because he came upon her in the open country, and though the betrothed young woman cried for help there was no one to rescue her.
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American abolitionists must have valued v. 15, which justified not returning escaped slaves from the southern states:
15: "You shall not give up to his master a slave who has escaped from his master to you;
16: he shall dwell with you, in your midst, in the place which he shall choose within one of your towns, where it pleases him best; you shall not oppress him.
24: "When you go into your neighbor's vineyard, you may eat your fill of grapes, as many as you wish, but you shall not put any in your vessel.
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6: "No man shall take a mill or an upper millstone in pledge; for he would be taking a life in pledge.
7: "If a man is found stealing one of his brethren, the people of Israel, and if he treats him as a slave or sells him, then that thief shall die; so you shall purge the evil from the midst of you.
Most of these laws are humane, defending the dignity of people even though they're poor.
10: "When you make your neighbor a loan of any sort, you shall not go into his house to fetch his pledge.
11: You shall stand outside, and the man to whom you make the loan shall bring the pledge out to you.
12: And if he is a poor man, you shall not sleep in his pledge;
13: when the sun goes down, you shall restore to him the pledge that he may sleep in his cloak and bless you; and it shall be righteousness to you before the LORD your God.
14: "You shall not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy, whether he is one of your brethren or one of the sojourners who are in your land within your towns;
15: you shall give him his hire on the day he earns it, before the sun goes down (for he is poor, and sets his heart upon it); lest he cry against you to the LORD, and it be sin in you.
16: "The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, nor shall the children be put to death for the fathers; every man shall be put to death for his own sin.
17: "You shall not pervert the justice due to the sojourner or to the fatherless, or take a widow's garment in pledge;
18: but you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt and the LORD your God redeemed you from there; therefore I command you to do this.
19: "When you reap your harvest in your field, and have forgotten a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it; it shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow; that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.
20: When you beat your olive trees, you shall not go over the boughs again; it shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow.
21: When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you shall not glean it afterward; it shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow.
22: You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt; therefore I command you to do this.
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11: "When men fight with one another, and the wife of the one draws near to rescue her husband from the hand of him who is beating him, and puts out her hand and seizes him by the private parts,
12: then you shall cut off her hand; have no pity.
13: "You shall not have in your bag two kinds of weights, a large and a small.
14: You shall not have in your house two kinds of measures, a large and a small.
15: A full and just weight you shall have, a full and just measure you shall have; that your days may be prolonged in the land which the LORD your God gives you.
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Most scholars agree that the Jewish covenantal laws were based on international vassal covenants at the time: weaker nations agreed to follow stronger kings and guaranted both blessings and curses (should they break the contract). But here God is the King of Kings.
15: "If you will not obey the voice of the LORD your God or be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command you this day, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you.
25: "The LORD will cause you to be defeated before your enemies.
26: And your dead body shall be food for all birds of the air, and for the beasts of the earth; and there shall be no one to frighten them away.
30: You shall betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her; you shall build a house, and you shall not dwell in it; you shall plant a vineyard, and you shall not use the fruit of it.
32: Your sons and your daughters shall be given to another people, while your eyes look on and fail with longing for them all the day; and it shall not be in the power of your hand to prevent it.
64: And the LORD will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other; and there you shall serve other gods, of wood and stone, which neither you nor your fathers have known.
This is the Jewish Diaspora (or dispersion). Then comes the final insult: the people God, freed from Egypt, will return to Egypt freely (to escape the Babylonians).
68: And the LORD will bring you back in ships to Egypt, a journey which I promised that you should never make again; and there you shall offer yourselves for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no man will buy you."
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1: "And when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where the LORD your God has driven you,
2: and return to the LORD your God, you and your children, and obey his voice in all that I command you this day, with all your heart and with all your soul;
3: then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes, and have compassion upon you, and he will gather you again from all the peoples where the LORD your God has scattered you.
19: I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse; therefore choose life, that you and your descendants may live. . . .
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1: So Moses continued to speak these words to all Israel.
2: And he said to them, "I am a hundred and twenty years old this day; I am no longer able to go out and come in. The LORD has said to me, `You shall not go over this Jordan.'
7: Then Moses called Joshua, and said to him in the sight of all Israel, "Be strong and of good courage; for you shall go with this people into the land which the LORD has sworn to their fathers to give them; and you shall put them in possession of it.
30: Then Moses spoke the words of this song until they were finished, in the ears of all the assembly of Israel:
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1: "Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak;
3: For I will proclaim the name of the LORD. Ascribe greatness to our God!
4: "The Rock, his work is perfect; for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and right is he.
5: They have dealt corruptly with him, they are no longer his children because of their blemish; they are a perverse and crooked generation.
39: "`See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god beside me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand."
In this theodicy, God causes everything, good and evil. In such a monotheism, this must be so. Later the idea of the Devil creeps into Jewish thought and by the time of Jesus, the Devil owns the world and offers it to Jesus!
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1: And Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho. And the LORD showed him all the land,
4: And the LORD said to him, "This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, `I will give it to your descendants.' I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not go there."
5: So Moses the servant of the LORD died in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD,
9: And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands upon him; so the people of Israel obeyed him, and did as the LORD had commanded Moses.
10: And there has not arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face.
V. 10 is another of those "tell-tale" lines, showing the text was written much later than in Moses' time, since it is written: "And there has not arisen a prophet since. . . ." meaning a long time ago.
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