The scrutiny of almost every word of Leviticus, the methodology of which is based on the tenets of rhetorical analysis, brings to light a carefully-crafted literary masterpiece, where often form and content have been perfectly blended.

This study explores the vocabulary employed in the extant text of Leviticus. The chosen methodology of rhetorical analysis (with particular emphasis upon terminological patterns) shows a carefully composed text. The basic working hypothesis that Leviticus has been artistically structured around 37 divine speeches 'and the Lord spoke/said to Moses (and Aaron)' . With chapter 16 as its possible structural and theological center has been substantiated both on the microstructural and macrostructural levels. The plethora of significant micro- and macrostructural terminological patterns, suggests original literary cohesiveness and hence single-handed authorship. These findings are of special significance regarding so-called "P" and "H" passages, a "layer of priestly reworking", and, even more, the exegesis and theology of Leviticus.

This first full-scale account of Leviticus by a world renowned anthropologist presents the biblical work as a literary masterpiece. Seen in an anthropological perspective Leviticus has a mystical structure which plots the book into three parts corresponding to the three parts of the desert tabernacle, both corresponding to the parts of Mount Sinai. This completely new reading transforms the interpretation of the purity laws. The pig and other forbidden animals are not abhorrent, they command the same respect due to all God's creatures. Boldly challenging several traditions of Bible criticism, Mary Douglas claims that Leviticus is not the narrow doctrine of a crabbed professional priesthood but a powerful intellectual statement about a religion which emphasizes God's justice and compassion.

The well-known parallels between Genesis and Leviticus invite further reflection, particularly in regard to the rhetorical and theological purpose of their lexical, syntactical, and conceptual correspondences. This volume investigates the possibility that the final-form text of Leviticus is an indirect reference to Genesis 1–3 and examines the rhetorical significance of such an allusion. The face of Pentateuch scholarship has shifted dramatically in the last forty years, resulting in the questioning of many received truths and the employment of a host of new, renewed, and often competing methodologies by biblical scholars. This study sits at the intersection of these recent interpretive trends. G. Geoffrey Harper uses insights from the fields of intertextuality, rhetorical criticism, and speech act theory to create a methodological framework, which he applies to three Leviticus pericopes. Chapters 11, 16, and 26 are examined in turn, and for each the assessment of potential parallels at lexical, syntactical, and conceptual levels reveals a complex web of interconnected allusion to the creation and Eden narratives of Genesis 1 and 2–3. Moreover, Harper probes the theological and rhetorical import of these intertextual connections and explores how Leviticus ought to be understood in its Pentateuchal context. This comprehensive study of the connections between these two sections of the Hebrew Bible sheds light on both the literary artistry of these ancient texts and the persuasive purposes that lie behind their composition.

This volume examines the formation, final form, themes, and interpretation of the Book of Leviticus. Contributors include well-known experts on Leviticus: Baruch Levine, Jacob Milgrom, Graeme Auld, Andreas Ruwe, and James Watts address Leviticus in its compositional and literary context; Alfred Marx, Mary Douglas, Walter Houston, and Adrian Schenker treat issues of cult and sacrifice; and Rene Peter-Contesse, Lester Grabbe, and Calum Carmichael discuss Leviticus on the priesthood. A groundbreaking section on Leviticus in translation and interpretation includes essays by Sarianna Metso and Eugene Ulrich, Martin McNamara, David Lane, Peter Flint, Robert Kugler, Bruce Chilton, Hannah Harrington, Gerhard Bodendorfer, Linda Schearing, and Judith Romney Wegner. These essays will serve students of Leviticus well for long time to come.

Publisher Description

This book argues that literary features and ritual dynamics within the book of Leviticus enlighten each other. The first two chapters establish that one may read Leviticus as a coherent literary work and define the genre of Leviticus as "narrativized ritual," a complex blending of descriptive narrative and prescriptive ritual. In conversation with Catherine Bell, they present several aspects of the text that are ritualized and show how this ritualization implies a negotiation of power relations among participants. The third and fourth chapters examine the first half of Leviticus, both the legal sections in Lev. 1-7 and 11-15 and the narratives in Lev. 8-10 and 16. These sections alternate between establishing the ritual system and exposing gaps and ambiguities in that system.Chapter 5 turns to the second half of Leviticus, traditionally called the Holiness Code. The ritual language found in this section is less formal and precise, mirroring the way in which the concept of holiness is expanded and extended to the whole people. As this material concludes the book, it relativizes and democratizes the strict ritual system contained in the first half.