CHAPTER 23
This is a pretty generic on, in which God tells the Hebrew
what holidays they are to celebrate.
OK, but this has been covered previously. Well, now it’s covered again.
What’ s interesting is how many of these holidays could be celebrated by
any religion – including traditional pagan/pantheistic religions. They have the Pentecost, which is due to
bringing in sheafs when farming. There’s the Feast of Booths, which is about
the final harvest. These are the sorts
of holidays people had for the spirit of the forest. While I understand the importance, it seems a little low rent for
the Master of the Universe.
Now, there is the Day of Atonement and there is
Passover. Those are the sorts of
holidays that set the Hebrew apart, but what’s interesting is how their
holidays are a mix of typical and distinctive.
CHAPTER 24
This is a short chapter and the first half just rehashing
some of the boring procedural stuff for the Lord’s dwelling that’s already
repeatedly put the reader to sleep.
But suddenly, shockingly – the second half gets
interesting. It tells a story – one of
the very few in Leviticus. Someone says
the Lord’s name in vain among the Israelites and that of course violates a
commandment. So what should his punishment
be? They ask Moses, who asks God, who
tells him – stone the bastard.
Wow. That’s harsh.
Strangely, immediately after the stoning, God says his,
“Whoever takes the life of a human shall be put to death.” Look, I get the longstanding tradition of execution
not being the same as murder (just like killing in war is approved of), but
it’s just so jarring to see that line immediately after someone has been stoned
to death for such a petty offense.
Looks like the Bible was trying to make a point there.
It’s just the start of more laws – really, same laws as
before, only this time God farms out his wording to Hammurabi: “fracture for
fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth.”
However that might sound to the modern ear, the notion was that the
punishment must fit the crime. It
should be reciprocal.
CHAPTER 25
Well now, this is an interesting chapter on economics. (I never thought I’d write a sentence saying
“an interesting chapter on economics.”)
This is about the Jubilee. Every
50th year, the Israelites are supposed to have a special year – a
full year of celebration. You’re not to
work during it, but use up what you’ve saved.
More than that, you repay debts, and let people out of debts.
Essentially, it’s one big write-off of all debts to your fellow
Hebrew. I’ve heard this referenced with
the spiraling cost of student debt and the overall big split in income/wealth
in the modern world – that what we need in a modern day Jubilee Year to wipe
our debts out and let everyone stand on their own feet. The notion here is you should treat your
fellow Israelite properly. You should
act ethically. And keeping someone in
perpetual debt cuts against that.
Actually, debt relief is just part of what this is all
about. It also stresses the importance
of acting properly the your fellow member of the community at all times. Don’t charge interest. If someone has to sell themselves to you to
make up for a debt, treat them like a laborer, not a slave. It’s all based on ethical treatment. Land can be reclaimed/redeemed as well, not
just debts. Buildings, too.
Oh, and it’s based on who really is in charge. “The land shall not be sold irrevocably; for
the land is mine, and you are but resident aliens and under my authority.” It isn’t your land – it isn’t your private
property – it’s all really God’s property.
And don’t forget it.
The Bible is typically used for conservative ends
politically, but there are plenty here they ignore (obviously) and some of that
can be used for liberal ends. For all
the talk of homosexuality being wrong in the Bible, there is more talk about
not exploiting each other. Chapter 25
of Leviticus if the Bible of Occupy Wall Street.
Oh, but all this stops at the line of the community. If an Israeli becomes your slave, treat him
as a laborer, but if a non-Israeli becomes you slave, sure – treat him like a
slave.
CHAPTER 26
This chapter is about how God will treat the Israelites if
they’re good and how he’ll treat the Israelites if they’re bad. No real
surprises – if they follow God’s laws, they’ll get food, and peace, and plenty,
and happiness, and puppies, and rainbows, and unicorns.
But two-thirds of the chapter is what he’ll do if they’re
bad. Dark things, man – he’ll do dark,
nasty, horrible things. Terror,
illness, famine, weakness, bad weather, wild beasts, dead livestock,
pestilence, and even worse. They’ll end
up so bad that you will, “begin to eat the flesh of your own sons and
daughters.” Yeah, that’s driving the
point home. Life will be hell, you’ll
have no sanctuary in the enemy’s land, you will be “so fainthearted that the
sound of a driven leaf will pursue” you.
He won’t wipe them out.
He’ll just torture the Hebrew until they mend their ways. Then God will return to the covenant with
Jacob. (God coms off like a stalker
here. Like the boyfriend or girlfriend
that just won’t accept a break up).
Really driving it home for narrative effect, it’s not just a litany of
bad things he’ll do, but God keeps pausing and saying (in so many words) “and
if that isn’t enough, if that doesn’t make you wake up and smell the All
Mighty, I’ll do this and hurt you sevenfold worse than before”). But, once they wake up, he will give them
Canaan back.
It is jarring, fearful, wrath of the Lord stuff. Imagine reading it as a devout Jew in, say,
1944-45. You’re living through it then
if anyone ever has. (And then you get Israel in 1948. Is it any wonder a
generation of Jews grew up with first of middle names like “Israel”?)
Oh, and there’s this – a line about if they still live with
“uncircumcised hearts.” That
foreshadows Christianity and the debates of the post-crucifixion apostles on if
they should accept Gentiles. There is
talk of “circumcision of the heart” by guys like St. Paul.
CHAPTER 27
The last chapter isn’t a very impressive one. It’s about
conditional promissory notes and what they are worth. Men are worth more than women.
People in the prime of life are worth more than the old or young. It’s usually a flat rate – unless it’s a
male in the prime of his life.
I didn’t get much from this one.
Concluding thoughts
OK, that ends Leviticus, famous (infamous?) as the first
really boring book in the Bible. It’s
not exciting, but there is some interesting meat there, especially in the
middle. Also, it’s not nearly as boring
as the back half of Exodus, with its never ending talk of cubits.
But this is where Bible readers often stop. This is when the Torah gets lost in the
weeds and details. It would be like the
Constitution spent half of its time setting up laws at length over fishing
rights. This isn’t the essential stuff;
it’s the details and implications of the essentials. But, since it’s written by the priests who spent their time
dealing with all those details and implications, we get it in the Bible here.
EDITED to add: click here to begin the next book: Numbers: Chapters 1 to 4.
No comments:
Post a Comment