The Book of Leviticus
About
Leviticus is the third book of the Bible, and it flows directly out of the events in the previous book of Exodus. Israel has been freed from slavery in Egypt, and they’ve gathered at the foot of Mount Sinai to enter into a covenant relationship with God. However, as soon as they agreed to the relationship, they rebelled and violated the foundational terms of the covenant. God had wanted his glorious presence to dwell in the midst of Israel within the tabernacle, but their sin damaged the relationship so that even Moses, Israel’s representative, was unable to enter the tent.
Who Wrote the Book of Leviticus?
Context
Key Themes
- God’s care for the poor, vulnerable, and mistreated
- Faithfulness to the covenant
- Remembrance of who God was and is
- God’s requirements for the Israelites to be holy so that he might dwell in their midst
Structure
Leviticus Overview: A Holy God and a Rebellious People
The book of Leviticus opens by immediately reminding us of this problem: “The Lord called to Moses from the tent” (Lev. 1:1). Moses’ inability to enter the tent is an image of the relational rift between God and Israel. How can God’s people, who have proven selfish and rebellious, be reconciled to the holy God? That’s what the book of Leviticus is all about—how God graciously provides a way for sinful, corrupt people to live in his holy presence.
Now, let’s pause for a moment to explore this core idea that God is “holy” because it’s foundational for understanding this biblical book. The word means simply “to be set apart, unique.” And in the Bible, God is set apart from all things because of his unique role as Creator and the author of life itself. God is holy, and when he shows up in person, the space around him also becomes holy and set apart because it’s permeated with God’s life, power, and purity. If Israel wants to live in God’s holy presence, they also need to become holy by dealing with their sin. That’s what the book of Leviticus is all about.
Leviticus has an amazing symmetrical literary design, exploring three main ways that God enables Israel to live in his presence. The outer sections (Lev. 1-7 and 23-25) describe the rituals Israel is to practice in the presence of God’s holiness. The inner sections (Lev. 8-10 and 21-22) focus on the role of Israel’s priests as mediators between God and Israel. Inside those are two matching sections (Lev. 11-15 and 18-20) that focus on Israel’s purity. At the center of the book (Lev. 16-17) is a key ritual, the Day of Atonement, that brings all the themes of the book together. Finally, the book concludes with a section (Lev. 26-27) where Moses calls Israel to be faithful to the covenant.
Leviticus 1-7: Sacrifices and Feasts
The first section (Lev. 1-7) explores the five types of ritual sacrifices Israel was to perform. Two of them were ways an Israelite could thank God by offering back to God symbolic tokens of what he first gave them. The other three were different ways of apologizing to God. As an Israelite offered up the life-blood of an animal, they would acknowledge that their sin had created more evil and death in God’s good world. And to make it clear that God would rather forgive a person than destroy them, this animal would symbolically die in their place and “atone” for or, more literally, “cover” their sin. Through these rituals, the Israelites were constantly reminded of God’s grace but also of his justice and the seriousness of evil and its consequences.
The second set of rituals (Lev. 23-25) lays out the seven annual feasts of Israel: the feasts of Passover, Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits, Pentecost, Trumpets, Day of Atonement, and Tabernacles. Each of these feasts retold a different part of the story of how God redeemed Israel and led them through the wilderness on the way to the promised land. By celebrating these feasts, Israel would remember who they were and who God was to them.
Leviticus 8-15: The Path to Purity and Holiness
In chapters 8-10, Aaron and his sons are first ordained as priests to enter God’s presence on Israel’s behalf, while the matching section (Lev. 21-22) outlines the qualifications for being a priest. Priests were called to the highest level of moral integrity and ritual holiness, as they represent the people before God and then represent God to the people.
As the book of Leviticus progresses, we find out why the holiness of the priests matters so much. After Aaron’s family is ordained (Lev. 8-9), two of the sons waltz right into God’s presence and flagrantly violate the rules. They are consumed by God’s holiness on the spot. This story is a haunting reminder of the paradox of God’s holy presence—its pure goodness can become dangerous to those who rebel and insult God’s holiness. This is why it’s important that Israel’s priests become holy, as well as all of the people of Israel. This is what the next inner sections are all about. Chapters 11-15 are about the ritual purity required of the Israelites, while chapters 18-20 are about their moral purity.
Here is what’s underneath all this purity and impurity language. Because God is holy and set apart, the Israelites need to be in a state of holiness themselves in order to enter his presence, which was called being “clean” or “pure.” God’s presence was off-limits to anyone who wasn’t in a holy state, which was called being “unclean” or “impure.” An Israelite could become impure in a few ways: contact with reproductive body fluids (Lev. 12; Lev. 15), having a skin disease (Lev.13a, 14a), touching mold or fungus (Lev. 13b, 14b), or touching a dead body (Num. 19). For the Israelites, these were associated with mortality and the loss of life, which gets us to the core symbolic idea here. You become impure when you're contaminated by touching death, which is the opposite of God’s holiness whose essence is life. Now, simply being impure was not sinful or wrong. Touching those things is a normal part of life. Impurity was a temporary state that lasted a week or two and then was over. What was wrong was to enter into God’s presence with symbols of death and impurity on you.
The last way of becoming impure was eating certain animals.The kosher food laws are found in this section as well (Lev. 11). There have been many theories about why certain animals were considered impure and off-limits, like to promote hygiene (no bats or slugs) or to avoid cultural taboos (pigs or octopus), but the text isn’t explicit about any of these reasons. The only thing that’s clear is the basic point—these animals were a set of cultural symbols to remind them that God’s holiness was to affect all areas of their life.
Leviticus 16-27: A Call to Live Differently
The corresponding section is about Israel’s moral purity (Lev. 18-20). They were called to live differently than the Canaanites. They were to care for the poor instead of overlooking them. They were to have a high level of sexual integrity, and they were to promote justice throughout their land.
At the center of the book (Lev. 16-17) we find a long description of one of Israel’s annual feasts, the Day of Atonement. Not every Israelites’ sin and rebellion would be accounted for through individual sacrifices, so once a year, the high priest would use two goats to represent all the unacknowledged sins of the entire nation. One goat would be sacrificed as a purification offering to atone for the sins of Israel. The other animal was called the scapegoat. The priest would confess the sins of Israel and symbolically place them on this goat and cast it out into the wilderness. Again, it’s a powerful symbol that illustrates God’s desire to remove sin and its consequences from Israel so that they can live together in peace.
The book concludes (Lev. 26-27) with Moses calling on Israel to be faithful to all the terms of the covenant. He describes all the blessings of peace and abundance that will result if Israel obeys the laws. He also warns them that if they are unfaithful and dishonor God’s holiness, it will result in disaster and ultimately exile from the promised land.
To see how Leviticus fits into the story of the Torah, it’s helpful to look at the first sentence of the next biblical book, Numbers: “The Lord spoke to Moses in the tent” (Num. 1:1). He made it inside! In other words, now that the symbolic rituals of Leviticus are being practiced, Moses can enter God’s presence on behalf of Israel. Despite their failures, God has provided a way for their sin to be covered, and they can now live with God in peace. From this perspective, the book of Leviticus is a powerful expression of God’s holy and gracious mercy.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are some of the most common questions people ask online about this book.
“Leviticus” is the Latin transliteration of the Greek Leuitikon, which means “connected to those from the tribe of Levi.” The name Leviticus reflects the importance of a group of priests from Israel’s tribe called the Levites, or the Levitical priesthood. The Levites are given a unique priestly role to offer sacrifices and care for the tabernacle, where God chooses to dwell among his people.
However, the book of Leviticus includes instructions for the Levites and teaching for all Israel about how to live as partners and friends of God—as a kingdom of priests and holy people (Exod. 19:6). As such, the people are set apart by God for the purpose of blessing all the families or nations of the Earth (see Gen. 12:2-3).
Leviticus holds a prominent place within the Hebrew Bible at the center of the Torah (the first five books of the Bible):
- Genesis
- Exodus
- Leviticus
- Numbers
- Deuteronomy
The placement of Leviticus at the heart of the Torah draws us to consider how the heart of Israel's story is about God bringing humans back into his presence—back to the way original humanity lived as one with God in the garden of Eden. Leviticus provides the ancient Israelites with instruction (or law) for life in God’s presence outside of Eden’s garden. It directs them into a way of living that’s united with a holy God.
With over 150 occurrences of the Hebrew root for “holy” (qadash), the key theme of Leviticus is holiness. Leviticus suggests that when Israel follows God’s way, it becomes a “set-apart” or “holy” people who bless the world. By ignoring God’s way, the opposite happens. So Leviticus exists in the Bible not only as a collection of God’s commands and laws for ancient Israel, it also establishes a larger principle that says life with God is specifically directed by God. This suggests that those who wish to experience God’s presence and blessing will learn to trust his will and his way.
We also see writers of the New Testament draw upon the same concepts of holiness, communicating the idea that a holy or set-apart life with God is defined and directed by God. The New Testament records Jesus of Nazareth saying that all of the Hebrew Bible’s laws (which include Leviticus) are fulfilled in himself. Essentially, living in Jesus’ way of devoted love for God and impartial, generous love for neighbor becomes the deeper, fuller way of trusting and following God’s laws, including those established in Leviticus.
The offerings in Leviticus include things like wine, olive oil, grain, and at times sacrificial animal killings, which seem strange (if not abhorrent) to many modern readers. But animal sacrifice rituals were common in the ancient Near East, typically viewed as a way to please or appease the gods. The sacrifices in Leviticus look similar, but—based on the rest of the Hebrew Bible narrative—these offerings actually function in an unexpected way.
When humans ignore God’s instruction in the garden of Eden, God removes them from the garden (Gen. 2-3). As the place of God’s presence, life in the garden is endless and good. But life outside the garden leads to corruption and, in the end, it all returns to dust (Gen. 3:19). So why not simply walk back into the garden? God places two cherubim (think winged, mysterious, angelic creatures) and a flaming sword to block re-entry into the garden (Gen. 3:24). The cherubim and sword imagery reveal that humans will die if they try to re-enter.
This is the point of animal sacrifices. When we read about the tabernacle or the temple, we notice that the space where God dwells, the holy of holies, is protected by an entrance adorned with images of cherubim (Exod. 26:31-33; 1 Kgs. 6:31-32). The altar upon which offerings are burned with fire symbolically recalls the flaming sword between the two cherubim that block re-entry to Eden. So what’s the point?
Through the different kinds of offerings in Leviticus, especially the “burnt offering” (when the entire animal is burned to ash as a way to symbolically send it “up” to God), biblical authors suggest that God will somehow accept the life of an animal in order to preserve the life of the human. The ultimate purpose is to bring the human “through death”—back into the endless and good life originally intended and back to living as one with God.
Through the offerings described in Leviticus, the people entrust their lives to God and celebrate their relationship with him. And since some of the offerings instruct the Israelites to share the meat of the sacrificial animal with others, they also foster harmony within the community.
The opening movement of Leviticus describes five sacrifices or offerings:
- Burnt offering (Lev. 1)
- Grain offering (Lev. 2)
- Peace or fellowship offering (Lev. 3)
- Sin or purification offering (Lev. 4)
- Guilt or reparation offering (Lev. 5:1-6:7)
The sin offering (also called the purification offering) cleansed the people and the tabernacle, God ’s dwelling place among them, from the community's ritual impurities or unintentional moral failings (Lev. 4, Lev. 14). Both sin and things that represent death (like a skin disease) acted like pollutants, contaminating individuals or communities.
The sin offering required either a blemish-free bull or goat which was slaughtered at the entrance to the tabernacle. The animal’s blood was then sprinkled on the altar, and its fat burned on the altar. The rising smoke symbolized the animal's life rising toward the skies. And the life-blood of the sacrificial animal would cleanse ritual impurities so that the people could continue to live in God’s presence.
But by itself, the sin offering could not deal with the problem of intentional sin. To find cleansing and forgiveness for intentional sins, sacrifice had to be accompanied by confession and repentance—a commitment to turn away from wrongdoing and toward God’s ways.
Leviticus 16 provides instructions for a once-per-year ceremonial day called Yom Kippur in Hebrew, or “Day of Atonement” in English. The Day of Atonement consists of three main movements: a preparation ritual, a cleansing ritual, and a scapegoat ritual.
First, in the preparation ritual, the high priest bathes himself and puts on a white linen tunic.
Second, in the cleansing ritual, the high priest sacrifices a bull for himself and a goat for the people, and sprinkles the animals’ blood on the cover of the ark of the covenant in the holy of holies, as well as on the altar in the holy place. This ceremony “makes atonement” (kipper, Lev. 16:16-18), which most likely means to “wipe away.” In other words, the blood of the sacrificed animals would purify God’s holy space from the defilement of people’s sins.
Third, in the scapegoat ritual, the high priest takes another goat and places his hands on its head, confessing the sins of the Israelites over the goat and then releasing it into the wilderness. This final ritual transfers Israel’s guilt to the animal and removes it from the camp.
The Day of Atonement is designed to restore the purity of God’s dwelling place to preserve the fellowship between God and his people.
While some of the instructions in Leviticus 19 overlap with the Ten Commandments (like honoring your mother and father, keeping the Sabbath, and avoiding idolatry—see Lev. 19:3-4 and Exod. 20:4-6; Exod. 20:8-12), the Ten Commandments are found in Exodus 20:1-17 and Deuteronomy 5:6-21.
Leviticus 19 focuses on offering instructions about what it looks like for Israel to “be holy” (Lev. 19:2) or set apart from the nations around them. And these instructions cover a wide range of concerns. For example, God instructs the Israelites not to glean the edges of their fields but to leave generous remains for the poor and vulnerable to get food (Lev. 19:9-10). He also protects women by prohibiting men from selling their daughters as prostitutes (Lev. 19:29). And he calls his people to respect elders (Lev. 19:32), welcome foreigners (Lev. 19:33-34), and be honest and just in business dealings (Lev. 19:35-36).
Because we don’t live in the ancient Near East, some of the instructions in Leviticus 19 will seem distant or strange to us, like the command not to “make any cuts in your body for the dead” (Lev. 19:28). Yet this chapter offers modern-day followers of Jesus valuable wisdom. It teaches us that holiness is about how we worship God and also how we treat one another. In fact, Jesus quotes Leviticus 19:18 as the second greatest commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself” (see Matt. 22:39). We are holy as God is holy when we love our neighbors by seeking their flourishing.
Leviticus 19:28b says, You shall not make the mark of a tattoo on yourselves; I am Yahweh" (BP translation), which leads some people to wonder if the Bible is saying that getting a tattoo is a sinful act. Interestingly, the larger passage also includes prohibitions against wearing garments made from two kinds of material (see v. 19), but few people today wonder if it’s sinful to wear a cotton-polyester blend jacket or socks made of more than one fiber. And while we find a prohibition against certain beard trimming styles in Leviticus 19:27, most of us don’t see facial hair styling as a moral issue. So how do we decide if tattoos are something that God condemns in every situation?
The Hebrew word for “tattoo” (qa‘qa‘) appears only here in the Hebrew Bible, and there isn’t much evidence for how tattoos functioned in the ancient world. But the introduction to Leviticus 19 calls the Israelites to be set apart as God’s representatives (Lev. 19:1-2) and the whole chapter shows them how to live as God’s people, rather than following the ways of the nations around them.
After the introduction, the repeated refrain “I am Yahweh (your God)” breaks the rest of the chapter up into fifteen sections (in five groups of three). This clear structure invites us to interpret each verse in the context of its larger section. And the section where we find the prohibition against tattoos focuses on avoiding the religious practices and mourning rituals of the ancient Near Eastern world (Lev. 19:26-28). For example, verse 26 warns against divination, which Israel’s neighbors used to try to determine the will of the gods.
Also, the Hebrew text uses word order to draw a close parallel between the statement about tattoos and the preceding line—“You shall not make any cuts for the dead on your flesh” (Lev. 19:28a, BP Translation), which suggests that we should read these lines together. So it’s likely that God gave this command about tattoos, not because he thinks tattoos are always bad, but because of what the tattoos might have meant in that context. They were physical marks or cosmetic alterations directly associated with ancient mourning practices involved in the worship of the dead or other gods—and that’s what God wanted them to avoid.