Charting the Course

Outlining any biblical text is essentially a superficial exercise, in that there are multiple ways of organizing the given content and no one schema ought to be considered definitive.  That said, here is a rough sketch of the content of Leviticus that I find helpful, and that will inform our journey:

I.  The Sacrificial Cult: Chs 1-10
1-7          Sacrificial Offerings: Their Ritual and Disposal
8-9          The Installation of the Priests
10            Systems Failure

II.  Ritual Pollution and Purification: Chs 11-17
11            Forbidden and Permitted Foods (Transition)
12-15       Pollution from Bodily Fluids and Skin Disease
16            Purifying the Sanctuary and the High Priest
17            On the Shedding of Animal Blood

III.  Holiness: Ch 18-27
18            Pollution from Forbidden Unions: Defining the Family (Transition)
19.3-4      Frame at Beginning
19-20       Holiness in Public/Private Behavior
21-22       Holiness in Priestly Behavior
23            Holiness in the Calendar
24            Miscellaneous
25            Regulations Concerning Land and Slaves
26.1-2      Frame at End
26.3-46    Holiness Confirmed or Denied: The Blessing and the Curse
27            Assessments for the Priests: Appendix

I cannot stress enough the importance of reading the text yourself.  Find a translation you like (I'll be reading Fox's The Five Books of Moses, which beautifully maintains the structure and phrasing of the Hebrew), and read it slowly, one section at a time.  Read with the overall picture in mind, the entire book in one sitting.  Read it more than once.

As you read,
- pay attention to beginnings and endings.  What happens in chapter 1, and chapter 27 (or 26)?  How does a particular chapter, scene, or section begin and end?
- listen to repeated phrases, like "I am the Lord your God."  When do they show up, and what contexts are they used in?  Do they always have the same effect, carry the same weight?  Imagine you are receiving these words not on the page but orally - what effect do you think it would have the first, the fifth, the twentieth time you heard that phrase?  What are the points of contact that hearing a particular phrase would recall, or the connections it would suggest?
- look for connections, not explanations; why is the text arranged in the order that it is?  Is there something about the story at the end of chapter 10 that can help us understand the story at the beginning?  Why does certain material show up in the places that it does?

I do hope you'll be reading along with us as we journey; I promise you'll have a much better trip!

For our next session, read chapters 1-7: Sacrificial Offerings - Their Ritual and Disposal