Source One Leviticus 101 18:22 and 20:13

The is so complicated, there are few commentaries—books devoted to explaining the history, theology, various interpretations, language issues, and contradictions within a biblical text—that exist. Even within the Jewish tradition, and scholars often spend more time on the Mishna—a collection of ancient interpretations—than the Book of Leviticus itself. There are lots of reasons for this, the main one being that Leviticus is not easy to understand in the twenty-first century.

My purpose here is to provide a general background that will by definition lack nuance; I have consulted about a dozen different sources and take information most liberally from Leviticus by Milgrom, the late, great Jewish scholar whose work on Leviticus is regarded as the finest of the last two centuries. I also chose Dr. Milgrom because Leviticus is first and foremost a Jewish text.

In an attempt to make sense of our two passages from Leviticus, I will highlight five things. Again, my aim is to make the complicated things understandable without over- simplification; there are not simple answers to these questions and anyone who says there are is not a scholar, and this is a situation in which scholarship matters. For greatest ease of use, follow along with the audio recording on the website.

1. The whole of Leviticus is about how to live in the land God was giving to the Hebrews, the Holy Land (modern day and Palestine). Leviticus 20:22-26: “22 You shall keep all my statutes and all my ordinances, and observe them, so that the land to which I bring you to settle in may not vomit you out. 23 You shall not follow the practices of the nation that I am driving out before you. Because they did all these things, I abhorred them. 24 But I have said to you: You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess, a land flowing with milk and honey. I am the LORD your God; I have separated you from the peoples. 25 You shall therefore make a distinction between the clean animal and the unclean, and between the unclean bird and the clean; you shall not bring abomination on yourselves by animal or by bird or by anything with which the ground teems, which I have set apart for you to hold unclean. 26 You shall be holy to me; for I the LORD am holy, and I have separated you from the other peoples to be mine.” We also see this is Leviticus 18:2-3 and 18:24.

a. This means that the Levitical Code (the laws/rules set forth in Leviticus) is not meant to apply to anyone outside of the covenant community (re: not us), nor in any place other than “the land flowing with milk and honey.” This is really important: from an historical point of view, these laws are not meant for us.

2. We must understand that Leviticus is a collection of documents, not a single one, that contain numerous contradictions. This is because it was written piecemeal, over time, by people in different contexts, often without an awareness of the other laws that would later be joined together. Leviticus has many authors and editors.

a. Examples. “For example, the tithe laws are revealed to three times. In Leviticus, the farmer gives his tithes to God (27:30*); in Numbers, to the Levites (18:21*); and in Deuteronomy, to himself (14:23*). Moreover, Numbers and Deuteronomy limit the tithe to grain (barley and wheat), must (fresh wine), and oil (olive), whereas Leviticus imposes the tithe on all produce and animals.”1

b. There are literally dozens of contradictions, such as: the lawfulness of marrying your sister (Genesis 20:12 vs. Leviticus 18:11, 20:17); dating the Feast of Unleavened Bread begin (Ex 12:18 vs. Lev 23:6); whether a Hebrew can own a fellow Hebrew as a slave (Ex 21:2; Deuteronomy 15:12-18 vs Leviticus 25:39- 43); for more examples, the website http://contradictionsinthebible.com/category/leviticus/ is an excellent resource.

c. Judaism is much, much more comfortable with contradictions and unresolved questions than is Christianity. In fact, Judaism maintains that ambiguity and contradiction is necessary to enter into the mystery of God. Remember, the word “Israel” means “one who wrestles [with God].” These texts are evidence of the wrestling and our continued reading of them shows that the wrestling goes on.

3. “Abomination” does not mean what we think it means. Our Methodist siblings have put together a wonderful resource on the clobber verses; https://www.rmnetwork.org/newrmn/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Booklet-about- -and-the--Sept.-2016.pdf. This quote is especially helpful:

To Bible readers of today, the word “abomination” conjures up disgust, horror, or evil, but to the ancient Hebrews the word we translate as “abomination” simply meant unclean, taboo, or forbidden. The uses the word “abomination” in reference to numerous things that were forbidden for the ancient Israelites, many of which make little or no sense to us today. For example, the Bible declares it an “abomination” to sow a field with two different kinds of seeds, or to weave a cloth from two different kinds of fibers (:19 and Deuteronomy 22:11). It also uses the word “abomination” in Leviticus 11 in reference to a long list of foods that the Israelites were forbidden to eat, including shrimp, crab, pork, rabbit and many kinds of birds. (Helminiak, pg. 58).

a. When we read “abomination,” we should substitute “unclean.” Why, then, is something unclean and what does that mean? Why is it so important? There are many complicated reasons, but for our purposes we will highlight just a few.

i. The Jewish people believe that God not only gave them the land, but that God lives in the land, too. The expression “cleanliness is next to godliness” has an origin, and Levitical law is it. The land is holy therefore the people must be holy. Unclean things are an affront to God.

ii. According to Dr. Milgrom, Judaism was different from other religions because they did not believe in demons (this becomes complicated because many Jews DID believe in demons, including Jesus), but for a specific reason: whereas other religions would blame bad things on demons, Judaism said that community problems are human problems. There aren’t demons, there is clean and unclean. There is God and that which opposes God. These can and do exist simultaneously within the human person. We can be good people who do bad things while remaining good people.

iii. Here’s what’s important, though: the problem was the temporary condition of uncleanness. It was not the person themselves. It was behaviors or normal human functions—secretion of bodily fluids, contact with dead bodies, contact with forbidden animals (only animals with a cleft foot that chews its own cud are acceptable)—that posed a threat to the cleanness of the land, the people, and God’s sanctuary. There is that which promotes life and there is that which leads to death.

4. Leviticus is a book of ritual. Much, if not most of the text, concerns the “expiation” of sin; that is, being freed from sin and the impact of sin; stated more exactly, how we go from states of uncleanness to cleanness. This can be confusing. For example, it is a sin to kill, even animals. Yet, the people of Israel are not commanded to be vegetarians. How, then, does one eat meat and remain “clean”? The answer is, by offering the animal as a sacrifice, draining it completely of blood, which is a life offering to God. The animal is killed in an act of sin and dies in an act of salvation. (This is the origin of scapegoats and also the theology behind Jesus as the sacrificial Lamb of God.)

a. Why are rituals important? Milgrom writes, using the scholarship of anthropologist Mary Douglas, “Since then, her anthropological school has taught me, among other things, that when a ‘primitive’ community wished to preserve and teach its basic values, it did not rely on words but ensconced them in rituals. Accordingly, I have discovered that the rituals in Leviticus contain fundamental values that in aggregate prescribe a holy and ethical life.”2

b. The rituals, therefore, tie into the foundational ideas we discussed above: the land is given by God, must remain holy, and that holiness is maintained through religious rituals and sacrifices. Disturbingly, these rituals also include death sentences.

5. Leviticus 20 mandates death sentences for a wide variety of sexual offenses, including dishonoring your mother and father (20:9), adultery of various sorts (20:10-12), having sex with a mother and her daughter (20:14), bestiality (20:15), uncovering the nakedness of a daughter or sister (20:17), having sex with a woman during her menses (20:18). However, there is no penalty for rape or murder listed in Leviticus 20.

a. The underlying issue for all of these offenses is procreation and marriage. Leviticus 21 continues with a list of offenses that regulate marriage of divorced or widowed women, much favoring those who are virgins.

b. This culture had very distinct and limiting notions of gender and gender-roles. Let us think about how damaging it has been to say that men should not cry, or women should not be able to do more than get married and have babies. Recall our discussion of rape as an act of honor/shame when we considered Sodom and Gomorrah.

c. Remember, there is no word for homosexual in Hebrew or Greek. However, there are many regulations regarding the spilling of a man’s seed (the story of Onus, root of onanism) outside of a woman’s body. What is forbidden by Leviticus are those sexual acts that do not result in impregnation or those that have a greater chance of leading to birth defects.

d. Finally, these are forbidden acts within the land that God has given. When we pull the Levitical Code out of its context, we turn it into something that it is not: a universal code for all persons in all places at all times.

The Bottom Line

Does Leviticus outlaw homosexuality? No. There is no mention of lesbianism and what is outlawed is a sex act between two men in the land that God has given. The is silent on relationships outside of Israel and between people not of the covenant community (which we as Christians are not).

If we are going to insist on following one part of the Levitical Code, we must follow ALL of it. No more wearing shirts with two different fabrics; no more eating meat and dairy together; no more shellfish. There are 613 commandments as part of the covenant code.

The Levitical Code made sense for an ancient community trying to differentiate itself from its neighbors. Much of Leviticus contains examples of what the pagans did, and how the people of God were different because of their rituals, beliefs, and actions. This helped them understand and draw near to God. This is NOT our situation. We live in an era of science, a time in which people of different religions should seek to find harmony rather than discord.

1 Jacob Milgrom, A Continental Commentary: Leviticus: A Book of Ritual and Ethics (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2004), 1–2.

2 Jacob Milgrom, A Continental Commentary: Leviticus: A Book of Ritual and Ethics (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2004), 1–2.