Leviticus 19-21 Holiness

Thoughts

Leviticus 19

The theme for this chapter is Holiness – “You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.”

Respect parents and Sabbath and reject idols.

Reminder for peace offerings procedures – do not eat on the third day

Justice and compassion in community life:

• Leave gleanings for the poor and foreigner 
• Prohibitions against stealing, lying, and deceit 
• Do not swear falsely by God’s name 
• Do not oppress your neighbor or rob 
• Treat the disabled with care and respect 
• Practice fair judgment and no partiality 
• No slander, hatred, or vengeance 
• “Love your neighbor as yourself”

No mixing of different kinds of animals, seeds, or fabrics

Instructions for sexual relations with a slave woman

Fruit trees: 3 years forbidden, 4th year holy, 5th year allowed to eat (beneficial for trees)

Prohibitions of Pagan Practices 

• No blood consumption or divination 
• No cutting hair or beards in pagan ways 
• No tattoos or self-cutting for the dead 
• No prostitution of daughters 
• Keep Sabbaths and revere the sanctuary 
• Avoid mediums and spiritists 

Love foreigners and be honest

Leviticus 20

We have the first paragraph here dedicated to the issue with offering children to Molech. If you want the details you can look it up but it was a horrific way of sacrificing children to a false deity.

God uses the phrase “whoring” (root זָנָה zanah) a lot in these chapters to describe Israel’s rejection of God.

Capital Offenses and Other Penalties

• Cursing parents: Death 
• Adultery and incestuous relationships: Death or being “cut off” 
• Bestiality: Both human and animal put to death 
• Uncovering nakedness of near relatives: Punishments include childlessness, disgrace, or being cut off 

Verse 21: If a man takes his brother’s wife, it is impurity – the word here is נִדָּה (niddah) which is same word for menstruation impurity

Leviticus 21

God allows exceptions for priests being near dead people – including close relatives except married sisters (she belongs to her husband’s family)

Leviticus 21:4 in Hebrew is לֹא יִטַּמָּא בַּעַל בְּעַמָּיו לְהֵחַלּוֹ or “Not will be defiled baʿal among his people to get sick. Translations use “chief, husband, etc” for ba al. Basically a priest must not make himself unclean for someone outside his immediate family (even if he’s close to them by marriage)because doing so would profane his holy status.

No pagan mourning practices (shaving, cuts, etc).

No marriage to divorced women or non-virgins

Daughters of priests to be burned if ‘whoring’

High priests have stricter rules with mourning – cannot be around even dead parents’ bodies and cannot marry widows

No one with a physical defect may offer sacrifices (they may still eat the holy food)

• Blind or lame
• Disfigured face
• Deformed limb
• Broken hand or foot
• Hunchbacked or dwarfed
• Eye defect 
• Skin disease
• Crushed testicles

Questions

Why does Leviticus 20 end with that verse? It seems out of place? It starts the chapter with that so I’m sure its literary framing or something.

Is Leviticus 21 16- end the only blemishes that disqualified from being a priest?

Application

We are starting to get past the rituals sections of Leviticus and see how holiness impacts how we act in the community. We must have integrity and compassion for the poor. We see that there are punishments for conforming to the patterns of this world. And we see that those who are called to lead and serve others have a higher standard as their role reflects God. I am trying to see how in my life I am living out holiness to those around me or if I am conforming to the patterns of this world without realizing it.