Leviticus is part of the Pentateuch
The adjective levitical is used to describe what is linked to the Levites . A Levite, meanwhile, was an Israelite who was part of the tribe of Levi and dedicated himself to serving his temple.
In the Old Testament
Written with an initial capital letter, the term Leviticus refers to one of the books that is part of the Tanakh and the Old Testament . The text is a kind of manual aimed at the priests who led the cult in the tribe of Levi. It is necessary to point out that these were specially chosen.
Leviticus is one of the constituents of the Pentateuch , the set of the first five books of the Bible . Genesis , Exodus , Numbers and Deuteronomy are the rest of the works that make up the group.
According to Judeo-Christian tradition, Moses is the author of Leviticus, in the same way as the other books of the Pentateuch. However, scholars maintain that Leviticus has several authors, even from different times. The book , as it is known today, would have been developed between the 6th century and the 4th century BC .
One of the arguments used to oppose the theory that Moses was the sole author of the five books is that his death is narrated in them. In addition to including different times and contexts, in the books of the Pentateuch you can see currents of thought or traditions such as the following: Elohist, Yahwist, Priestly and Deuteronomist.
General characteristics
Located between the Exodus and the book of Numbers , Leviticus represents a pause in the narration of the historical events that tell how the Hebrew people were liberated. In this case, it is oriented to the standards of purity and holiness that Yahweh ( God ) demands.
In Leviticus, in this way, the sacrifices that Yahweh indicates within the framework of the liturgy of the Hebrews are listed. Purity laws also appear in its content.
Leviticus can be said to detail priestly duties. It indicates how the people of Israel should govern themselves to achieve their holiness, teaching religious truths and moral precepts through rituals .
Until then, never before had all the holocausts been brought together in Jewish literature, and this tells us that it must have represented a great challenge for their authors. The history of the people of Israel is one of the hardest of humanity, and we can say that when Leviticus was written there was still no authentic and accurate source of all the related events.
Summarizing what has been explained so far, the content of this book shows three well-defined parts : laws of sacrifices; consecration of priests; laws of purity and holiness applied to relationships with God and neighbor.
Recounts the difficult events of the Israelite people
A difficult book to interpret
Both for people today without experience in reading ancient texts and for those who do not belong to the Jewish religion, Leviticus is a particularly difficult book to understand, particularly because it is one whose essence is closely linked to Judaism . In fact, even for a Jewish person its interpretation can present certain challenges.
All of this explains why many people skip over it and turn to the next book, Numbers , to follow the story that begins in Genesis and Exodus , all three considerably less complex in their narrative and therefore easier to understand.
Having said this, we should not deny the qualities of Leviticus, a book without equal in its time with content that can be very enriching if read carefully. Throughout its pages it reaffirms the holiness and purity of the Israelite people, Yahweh's favorite.