Leviticus 1-10, HCOT (2013)

HISTORICAL COMMENTARY ON THE OLD TESTAMENT *** LEVITICUS 1-10 96465_HCOT_Leviticus_VWK.indd 1 19/06/13 11:57 HISTORICAL COMMENTARY ON THE OLD TESTAMENT Editorial team: Cornelis Houtman (Kampen, The Netherlands) Gert T.M. Prinsloo (Pretoria, South Africa) Klaas Spronk (Kampen, The Netherlands) Wilfred G.E. Watson (Newcastle, UK) Al Wolters (Ancaster, Ontario, Canada) 96465_HCOT_Leviticus_VWK.indd 2 19/06/13 11:57 LEVITICUS 1-10 by James W. Watts PEETERS LEUVEN – PARIS – WALPOLE, MA 2013 96465_HCOT_Leviticus_VWK.indd 3 19/06/13 11:57 A catalogue record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. Cover design by Dick Prins. ISBN 978-90-429-2984-5 D/2013/0602/xx © 2013 — Peeters, Bondgenotenlaan 153, B-3000 Leuven (Belgium) All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. 96465_HCOT_Leviticus_VWK.indd 4 19/06/13 11:57 CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . XI BIBLIOGRAPHY AND ADDITIONAL ABBREVIATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . XIII INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Orientation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . §1. CONTENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . §1.1 Translating Leviticus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . §1.1.1 Ritual vocabulary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . §1.1.2 Verbs in commandments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . §1.1.3 Forms of address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . §1.2 The text of Leviticus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . §1.3 Structure and form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . §2. CONTEXTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . §2.1 Leviticus in the Pentateuch and in the Bible . . . . . . . . . . . . §2.2 Performing Leviticus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . §2.2.1 Oral performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . §2.2.2 Ritual performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . §2.2.3 Leviticus in art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . §2.3 Leviticus in recent scholarship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . §2.3.1 Compositional histories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . §2.3.2 Literary interpretations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . §2.3.3 Symbolic systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . §2.3.4 Theological symbolism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . §2.3.5 Theories of sacrifice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . §2.3.6 Ritual theories and interpretations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . §2.3.7 Ideological criticisms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . §2.3.8 Rhetorical analyses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . §2.3.9 Histories of interpretation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . §2.3.9.1 Leviticus in Second Temple Judaism . . . . §2.3.9.2 Leviticus in Rabbinic Judaism . . . . . . . . . . §2.3.9.3 Leviticus in early and medieval Christianity §2.3.9.4 Leviticus in modern Judaism . . . . . . . . . . . §2.3.9.5 Leviticus in modern Christianity . . . . . . . . §3. RHETORIC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . §3.1 Ritual rhetoric in the ancient Near East and the Pentateuch §3.2 Legal rhetoric: the social function of ancient law . . . . . . . . 1 4 4 4 8 9 10 12 20 20 24 24 28 33 39 40 47 50 54 55 58 64 69 72 74 75 77 80 83 86 91 100 96465_HCOT_Leviticus_VWK.indd 5 19/06/13 11:57 Contents VI §3.3 Temple rhetoric: audience and diaspora . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . §3.4 Rhetoric about priestly authority . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . §3.5 Scripturalization and anti-priestly rhetoric . . . . . . . . . . . . . . §3.6 Rhetoric about wives: Midianites, Cushites, Samaritans . . §3.7 Rhetoric about ancestors: Aaronides, Zadokites, Levites . . §3.8 Sectarian rhetoric: Jews, Samaritans, Christians . . . . . . . . . §3.9 Leviticus’s cultural rhetoric: God, pollution, law, ethics . . 104 107 111 119 123 129 132 COMMENTARY INTRODUCTION TO LEVITICUS 1-7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137 Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Search for Ritual Genres . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rhetorical Features of Leviticus 1-7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Rhetorical Aim of Leviticus 1-7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137 139 143 149 RISING OFFERINGS (1:1-17) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155 Translation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Essentials: Contents, Contexts, Rhetoric . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Exposition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Additional Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Structure of Leviticus 1-3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Structure of Leviticus 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Explaining the Priority of the Rising Offering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The History of the Rising Offering. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Exegesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Heading (1:1-2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bulls (1:3-9) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sheep and Goats (1:10-13) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chickens and Pigeons (1:14-17) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155 156 158 158 159 165 168 172 175 175 184 214 218 COMMODITY OFFERINGS (2:1-16) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226 Translation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Essentials: Contents, Contexts, Rhetoric . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Exposition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Additional Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Structure of Leviticus 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . History and Interpretation of the Commodity Offerings . . . . . . . History and Interpretation of Incense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . History and Interpretation of the Bread Offerings . . . . . . . . . . . . Exegesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226 227 229 229 229 233 238 244 249 96465_HCOT_Leviticus_VWK.indd 6 19/06/13 11:57 Contents VII Raw Semolina Offerings (2:1-3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bread Offerings (2:4-10) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Digression on Additives (2:11-13) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . First Produce Offerings (2:14-16) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249 256 260 265 AMITY SLAUGHTER OFFERINGS (3:1-17). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267 Translation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Essentials: Contents, Contexts, Rhetoric . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Exposition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Additional Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Structure of Leviticus 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . History and Interpretation of the Amity Slaughter Offering . . . . . Exegesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267 268 270 270 270 272 276 SIN AND GUILT OFFERINGS (4:1-5:26/Eng. 6:7) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292 Translation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Essentials: Contents, Contexts, Rhetoric . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Exposition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Additional Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Structure of Leviticus 4-5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . History and Interpretation of the Sin and Guilt Offerings . . . . . . History and Interpretation of Blood Rituals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . History and Interpretation of ‫“ כפר‬Mitigation / Atonement” . . . . Exegesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Heading (4:1-2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The High Priest’s Sin Offering (4:3-10) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Assembly’s Sin Offering (4:13-21) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Leader’s Sin Offering (4:22-26) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Individual’s Sin Offering (4:27-34) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Circumstances that Require a Sin Offering (5:1-6) . . . . . . . . . . . The Individual’s Sin Offering, continued (5:7-13) . . . . . . . . . . . The Guilt Offering (5:13-26/Eng. 6:7). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292 296 298 298 299 303 316 322 328 328 330 340 347 352 354 362 366 PRIESTLY INCOME FROM OFFERINGS (6:1/Eng. 6:8-7:38). . . . . . . 376 Translation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Essentials: Contents, Contexts, Rhetoric . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Exposition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Structure of Leviticus 6-7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . History and Interpretation of Income from Offerings . . . . . . . . . Verse by Verse Exegesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Law of the Rising Offering (6:1-6, Eng. 6:8-13) . . . . . . . . . 376 380 382 382 386 390 390 96465_HCOT_Leviticus_VWK.indd 7 19/06/13 11:57 Contents VIII The Law of the Commodity Offering (6:7-11, Eng. 6:14-18). . . . . The Perpetual Commodity Offering (6:12-16, Eng. 6:19-23) . . . . . The Law of the Sin Offering (6:17-23, Eng. 6:24-30) . . . . . . . . The Law of the Guilt Offering (7:1-6) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Comparisons of Priestly Incomes Among Offerings (7:7-10) . . . . The Law of the Amity Slaughter Offering (7:11-21) . . . . . . . . . Prohibitions on Consuming Fat and Blood (7:22-27) . . . . . . . . . Worshippers’ Participation in and Priests’ Prebends from Amity Slaughter Offerings (7:29b-34) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Concluding Refrains (7:35-38) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395 402 406 408 410 412 419 INTRODUCTION TO LEVITICUS 8-10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 429 THE CONSECRATION OF PRIESTS AND TABERNACLE (8:1-36) . . . 436 Translation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Essentials: Contents, Contexts, Rhetoric . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Exposition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Additional Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Structure of Leviticus 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Ancient Textual Rhetoric of Divine Command and Human Fulfilment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ritual Interpretations of Leviticus 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . History and Interpretation of Consecrating and Vesting . . . . . . . Exegesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Preparations (8:1-4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Vesting (8:5-9) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Anointing and Vesting Again (8:10-13). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Sin Offering (8:14-17) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Rising Offering (8:18-21) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Filling Offering (8:22-29) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Anointing Again (8:30). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Seven Days of Consecration (8:31-36) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 436 438 441 441 441 INAUGURATION OF THE TABERNACLE SERVICE (9:1-24) . . . . . . . 479 Translation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Essentials: Contents, Contexts, Rhetoric . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Exposition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Structure of Leviticus 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . History and Interpretation of Cult Initiation Stories . . . . . . . . . . Exegesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Instructions and Preparations (9:1-7) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The High Priest’s Offerings (9:8-14) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 479 480 482 482 484 488 488 492 96465_HCOT_Leviticus_VWK.indd 8 421 425 443 446 448 452 452 454 463 466 469 470 473 474 19/06/13 11:57 Contents IX The People’s Offerings (9:15-21) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Blessings and Theophany (9:22-24) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 495 498 RITUAL FAILURE AND RITUAL AUTHORITY (10:1-20) . . . . . . . . . . 503 Translation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Essentials: Contents, Contexts, Rhetoric . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Exposition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Additional Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Structure of Leviticus 10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Literary Form and Rhetorical Function of Ritual Failure . . . . History and Interpretation of Priests as Teachers of Torah . . . . . Interpreting Echoes of Nadab and Abihu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Interpreting Stories of Errant Sons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Exegesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ritual Failure and Consequences (10:1-7) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Priestly Authority in Ritual and Teaching (10:8-11) . . . . . . . . . . Ritual Observance and Innovation (10:12-20) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 503 504 507 507 508 511 517 520 523 525 525 537 543 AUTHOR INDEX OF BIBLIOGRAPHIES AND FOOTNOTES . . . . . . . . 553 VOLUMES OF THE HISTORICAL COMMENTARY ON THE OLD TESTAMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000 ABBREVIATIONS OF PERIODICALS, REFERENCE WORKS, AND SERIES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 000 96465_HCOT_Leviticus_VWK.indd 9 19/06/13 11:57 INTRODUCTION Orientation What is the significance of an unperformed ritual? What is the meaning of an unread text? The most basic purpose of commentary is to explain the meaning of a text and the significance of its contents. One of the purposes of the HCOT commentary series is also to describe the history of the text’s interpretation, that is, its meaning over time. In a commentary on the book of Leviticus, however, these three goals frequently lead in different directions. Leviticus is part of the sacred scripture of two large and ancient religious traditions, Judaism and Christianity. Synagogues since antiquity have read the entire Torah through over the course of one year, or sometimes three years. The sounds of the words of Leviticus and the images they evoke have played a central role in Jewish ritual. In traditional Jewish education, children first learn to read Hebrew by reading Leviticus. The offerings mandated by Leviticus, however, have fallen into abeyance. Its ritual instructions for presenting animals, bread, and grain at the sanctuary have not been practised (much) since the Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 C.E. because most Jews believe that these rituals can only be practised legitimately in a fully functioning Temple, if they should be performed any more at all. In their place, rabbinic literature devoted many pages to elucidating every detail of the rituals described in the Torah. For the ancient rabbis and their successors, studying Torah along with prayer and acts of charity took the place of offerings that are no longer possible. Churches, by contrast, do not read Leviticus very often, if at all. Christians do not usually include verses from Leviticus in the lectionary readings for public worship, except to ground some major holy days in the festival calendar of chap. 23 and to read portions of chap. 19 as preface to the love commandment in 19:18. They especially avoid the rules for offerings, having inveighed since antiquity against any practice of animal “sacrifice.” One frequently hears of attempts to read the Bible through that foundered on the book of Leviticus, or skipped it altogether. Yet key terms and ideas from the book, such as sacrifice, atonement, sin, guilt, priesthood, purity, holiness, love of neighbour, and Jubilee have played central roles in Christian theology and practice from antiquity to the present. Leviticus is also scripture for a third religious tradition, the Samaritans, who number now less than one thousand people. Samaritan ritual practices 96465_Leviticus_01.indd 1 19/06/13 10:41 2 Introduction, Orientation and polity differ in crucial respects from those of Jews and Christians. The most famous difference is that Samaritans still perform the Passover sacrifice annually, since the rules for it in Exodus 12 prescribe a home offering rather than in a Temple. The Samaritans’ Temple on Mount Gerizim was destroyed in the second century B.C.E. Also unlike Jews and Christians, Samaritans continue to be led by a hereditary high priest claiming descent from Aaron, just as Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers mandate. Despite these differences, all three religious traditions that revere this book as scripture prohibit people from performing many of its ritual instructions. That has stimulated attempts to interpret their meaning in non-literal ways using midrash, typology, allegory, theology, and ideological critique. The fact that many people dislike the book has enhanced its mystique for other readers, who look for its meaning in a variety of creative ways. So what is the significance of an unperformed ritual? And what is the meaning of an unread text? The intuitive answer, that unperformed rituals and unread texts have no meaning, is clearly wrong in the case of Leviticus. The rituals depicted in its text mean a great deal, because Jews, Samaritans and Christians continue to ritualize Leviticus as part of their scriptures. Leviticus’s status as the third book of scripture has remained virtually uncontested throughout the histories of these three religions, despite the fact that people do not observe many of its offering instructions or, among Christians, even read much of its text. It retains its place among the sacred scrolls and books reproduced by each religion. Thus the book and its contents have meaning, but these meanings do not come simply from the words on its pages. They are rather the accumulated product of millennia of ritualization. (For a discussion of ritualization and ritual theory, see §2.3.6 below.) Ritualizing scriptures takes place through semantic interpretation in sermons, classes, and commentaries (like this one). Religious communities and individuals also ritualize the performance of scriptures in public recitations and private meditations. They ritualize its iconic form by displaying and manipulating the physical scrolls and codices in which its text is written. Like the scriptures of other religious traditions, Torah and Bible gain and retain their status as scripture by their ritualization in all three of these dimensions (Watts 2006 = 2013a, 8-30). Leviticus remains scripture because it is part of these ritualized complexes. Therefore if the job of this commentary is to explain the meaning of Leviticus, it cannot stop with the book’s words, much less their original referents. The meanings conveyed by Leviticus and its component parts are clearly much more and other than just that. Nor can it stop with just the history of its verbal interpretation. Leviticus itself emphasizes compliance 96465_Leviticus_01.indd 2 19/06/13 10:41 Introduction, Orientation 3 with its ritual and legal stipulations by their performance rather than their symbolic interpretation, so the book’s effects must be charted in ritual and legal practices as much as in written commentaries. In addition, Leviticus like all ancient texts was written to be read aloud. Unlike most modern texts, it continues to be performed in that manner, at least by Jews and Samaritans. Therefore, this commentary must also pay attention to verbal performances of Leviticus in so far as there is evidence for that history, and for the book’s manifestations in the visual arts as well. The meanings of Leviticus have been broadcast by the sounds of its words and the sight of the books and scrolls that contain it as much as by semantic interpretation of its contents, which have themselves been manifested in ritual and legal performances as well as in sermons and commentaries. Out of all this emerges the phenomenon of scripture, of which Leviticus is an integral part. Biblical commentary should focus on explaining a book’s meaning as scripture, because it is its status as scripture that generates most of the interest in commentary in the first place. By its meaning as scripture, I do not mean just theological or homiletical commentary, or interpretation that primarily engages traditional authorities of one or more religious traditions. That is the approach taken by many commentaries that aim to take seriously the book’s scriptural status (e.g. Balentine, Radner, Elliott). However, scripturalization proceeds not only through theological exposition, but also through performative and iconic ritualizations in various forms as well as other kinds of semantic interpretation (translations, paraphrases, “rewritten Bibles,” strings of quotations, etc.). All these need to be taken into account when addressing the meanings generated by Leviticus as part of Jewish, Samaritan and Christian scriptures. This historical commentary on Leviticus therefore addresses the history of its interpretation, and also the history of its influence on performances of both the text and of the rituals described in the text. It evaluates the impact of its iconic ritualization in Torah scrolls and Bibles. Most of all, it explains how and why Leviticus became part of scripture and what its role in that development tells us about the function of scriptures in religious communities. In the commentary that follows, I summarize the main points of each chapter in the Essentials section under the headings “Contents,” “Contexts” and “Rhetoric.” This Introduction to the Commentary is organized in the same way. Discussion of the contents (§1) of Leviticus includes its literary form and genres, its structure and outline, its Hebrew text and this commentary’s English translation. I start with translation because most readers encounter the words of Leviticus first in one or another modern language. I also explain why I translate most of the offering names that appear throughout this commentary differently than other translations do. Leviticus’s contexts (§2) describe 96465_Leviticus_01.indd 3 19/06/13 10:41