“DEVOTED TO DESTRUCTIONâ€. A CASE OF HUMAN SACRIFICE IN LEVITICUS 27?
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25159/1013-8471/2540Abstract
This article reflects on Leviticus 27:28–29 and the possible relation of this text to the practice of human sacrifice in ancient Israel. The article provides an overview of the current state of the debate on human and child sacrifices, before focusing on Leviticus 27. With regard to this chapter, it is argued that, although added later, it forms a suitable conclusion to the book of Leviticus. The chapter is analysed as a whole before the article focuses on verses 28 and 29. The article concludes that these verses are very vague about what is taking place, and that this vagueness was probably deliberate.Metrics
References
Achenbach, R 2008. Das Heiligkeitzgesetz und die sakralen Ordnungen des Numeribuches im Horizont der Pentateuchredaktion, in Römer 2008:145–176.
Bertholet, A 1901. Leviticus. KHAT 3. Tübingen: J.C.B. Mohr Paul Siebeck.
Blum, E 2009. Issues and problems in the contemporary debate regarding the Priestly writings, in: Schectman & Baden 2009:31–44.
Braulik, G 1995. Die dekalogische Redaktion der deuteronomischen Gesetze. Ihre Abhängigkeit von Levitikus 19 am Beispiel von Deuteronomium 22,1–12; 24,10–22; 25,13–16, in Braulik 1995:1–25.
Braulik, G (ed.) 1995. Bundesdokument und Gesetz. Studien zum Deuteronomium. HBS 4. Freiburg: Herder.
Brekelmans, C H W 1959. De Ḥerem in het Oude Testament. Nijmegen: Centrale Drukkerij.
_______ 1971. ×Ö¶ רֵח hÌ£erêm Bann, in Jenni & Westermann 1971:635–639.
Cholewinski, A 1976. Heiligkeitsgesetz und Deuteronomium. Analecta Biblica 66. Rome: Biblical Institute Press.
Collins, J J 2004. Introduction to the Hebrew Bible. Minneapolis: Fortress Press.
Crüsemann, F 1997. Die Tora. Theologie und Sozialgeschicht des alttestamentlichen Gesetzes. Second edition. Gütersloh: Kaiser.
Currid, J D 2004. A study commentary on Leviticus. Darlington: Webster.
Day, J 1989. Molech. A god of human sacrifices in the Old Testament. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Eberhart, C A (ed.) 2011. Ritual and metaphor: sacrifice in the Bible. Resources for Bible Study 68. Atlanta: SBL.
Eissfeldt, O 1935. Molk als Opferbegriff im Punischen und Hebraischen und das Ende des Gottes Moloch. Halle: Max Niemeyer.
Elliger, K 1966. Leviticus. HAT 4. Tübingen: Mohr.
Elwell, W A & Beitzel, B J (eds) 1988. Baker encyclopedia of the Bible. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House.
Fabry, H-J & Jüngling, H-W (eds) 1999. Levitikus als Buch. BBB 119. Bonn: Philo.
Fisher, M C 1988. Vow, in Elwell & Beitzel 1988:2128.
Gane, R E 2004. Leviticus, Numbers. Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
Gerleman, G 1977. Nutzrecht und Wohnrecht. Zur bedeutung von ××—×–×” und × ×—×œ×” ,ZAW 89:313– 325. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/zatw.1977.89.3.313
Gerstenberger, E S 1993. Das 3. Buch Mose. Leviticus. ATD 6. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.
Gorman, F H 1997. Divine presence and community: a commentary on the book of Leviticus.
Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans.
Grabbe, L L 1997. Leviticus. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press.
Grünwaldt, K 1999. Das Heiligkeitsgesetz Leviticus 17–26. Urspüngliche Gestalt, Tradition und Theologie. BZAW 271. Berlin: De Gruyter.
Jenni, E & Westermann, C (eds) 1971. Theologisches Handwörterbuch zum Alten Testament. Band 1. München: Chr. Kaiser Verlag.
_______ 1976. Theologisches Handwörterbuch zum Alten Testament. Band 2. München: Chr. Kaiser Verlag.
Hartley, J E 1992. Leviticus. Dallas: Word.
Heider, G C 1985. The cult of Molek: a reassessment. Sheffield: JSOT Press.
Hieke, T 2014a. Levitikus 1–15. Freiburg: Herder. (HTK)
_______ 2014b. Levitikus 16–27. Freiburg: Herder. (HTK)
Joosten, J. 1996. People and land in the Holiness Code. An exegetical study of the ideational framework of the law in Leviticus 17–26. VTS 67. Leiden: Brill. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004275911
Keller, C A 1976. × ×“×¨ ndr geloben, in Jenni & Westermann 1976:39–43.
Kilchör, B 2015. Mosetora und Jahwetora. Das Verhältnis von Deuteronomium 12–26 zu Exodus, Levitikus und Numeri. BZAR 21. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvc2rmx0
Klostermann, A 1877. Ezechiel und das Heiligkeitsgesetz, ZLThK 38:401–445.
Knohl, I 1995. The sanctuary of silence: the priestly Torah and the holiness school. Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns.
Krapf, T M 1992. Die Priesterschrift und die vorexilische Zeit. Yehezkel Kaufmanns vernachlässigter Beitrag zur Geschichte der biblischen Religion. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.
Lange, J P; Schaff, P & Gardiner, F 2008. A commentary on the Holy Scriptures: Leviticus. Bellingham: Logos Bible Software.
Levine, B A 1989. Leviticus. Philadelphia: Jewish Publishing Society. Maarsingh, B 1974. Leviticus. Nijkerk: Uitgeverij G F. Callenbach B.V.
Mathews, K A 2009. Leviticus: holy God, holy people. Wheaton: Crossway Books.
Meyer, E E 2005. The Jubilee in Leviticus 25: a theological ethical interpretation from a South African Perspective. EXUZ 15. Münster: Lit Verlag.
_______ 2010. Dating the Priestly text in the pre-exilic period: Some remarks about anachronistic slips and other obstacles, Verbum et Ecclesia 31/1:1–6. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/ve.v31i1.423
Milgrom, J 1990. Numbers. JPS. New York: Jewish Publication Society.
_______ 1991. Leviticus 1–16: a new translation with introduction and commentary. New York: Doubleday. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5040/9780300261110.0006
_______ 2000. Leviticus 17–22: a new translation with introduction and commentary. New York: Doubleday.
_______ 2001. Leviticus 23–27: a new translation with introduction and commentary. New
York: Doubleday.
Nelson, R D 1997. ḥerem and the Deuteronomic social conscience, in Vervenne and Lust 1997:39–54.
Niditch, S 1993. War in the Hebrew Bible: a study of the ethics of violence. Oxford: OUP.
Nihan, C 2007. From Priestly Torah to Pentateuch. A study in the composition of the book of Leviticus. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1628/978-3-16-151123-3
Otto, E 1999. Innerbiblische Exegese im Heiligkeitzsgesetz Levitikus 17–26, in Fabry and Jüngling 1999:125–196.
_______ 2007. Das Gesetz des Moses. Darmstadt: WBG.
Römer, T (ed.) 2008. The books of Leviticus and Numbers. BETL 215. Leuven: Peeters.
Rooker, M F 2000. Leviticus. Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishing Company.
Ruwe, A 1999. “Heiligkeitzgesetz†und “Priesterschriftâ€. Literaturgeschichtliche und rechtssystematische Untersuchungen zu Leviticus 17,1–26,2. FAT 26. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck.
Sakenfeld, K D (ed.) 2009. The new interpreter’s dictionary of the Bible. Volume 5. Nashville: Abingdon Press.
Schectman, S & Baden, J S (eds) 2009. The strata of the Priestly writings. Contemporary debate and future directions. ATANT 95. Zürich: Theologischer Verlag Zürich.
Schmid, K 2008. Literaturgeschichte des Alten Testaments: Eine Einführung. Darmstadt: WBG.
Spence-Jones, H D M 1909. Exodus. London: Funk & Wagnalls Company.
Stavrakopoulou, F 2004. King Manasseh and child sacrifice. Biblical distortions of historical realities. BZAW 338. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110899641
Stern, P D 1991. The Biblical HEREM. A window on Israel's religious experience. Atlanta: Scholars Press.
Tatlock, J R 2006. How in ancient time they sacrificed people: human immolation in the Eastern Mediterranean Basin with special emphasis on ancient Israel and the Near East. Unpublished PhD. Dissertation. University of Michigan.
_______ 2009. Sacrifice, Human, in Sakenfeld 2009:19.
_______ 2011. The place of human sacrifice in the Israelite Cult, in Eberhart 2011:33–48.
Tidball, D 2005. The Message of Leviticus. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press. Van der Merwe, C; Naudé, J & Kroeze, J 1999. A Biblical Hebrew Reference Grammar. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press.
Van Gemeren, W A (ed.) 1997. New international dictionary of Old Testament theology & exegesis. Volume 3. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House.
Vervenne, M & Lust, J (ed.) 1997. Deuteronomy and Deuteronomic Literature. Festschrift C.H.W. Brekelmans. BETL 133. Leuven: Peeters.
Wakely, R 1997. × ×“×¨ ,in van Gemeren 1997:37–41.
Waltke, B K & O’Connor, M 1990. An introduction to Biblical Hebrew syntax. Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns.
Watts, J W 2013. Leviticus 1–10. HCOT. Leuven: Peeters.
Weinfeld, M 1972. The worship of “Molech†and of the Queen of Heaven and its background, Ugarit Forschungen 4:133–154.
Wellhausen, J 1963. Die Komposition des Hexateuchs und der Historischen Bücher des Alten Testaments (1899). 4th ed. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter & Company. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110820089
Wenham, G J 1979. The book of Leviticus. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing Company.
Wiersbe, W W 1996. Be holy. Wheaton: Victor Books.
Willis, T M 2009. Leviticus. Nashville: Abingdon.
Zehnder, M 2005. Umgang mit Fremden in Israel und Assyrien: ein Beitrag zur Anthropologie des “Fremden†im Licht antiker Quellen. BWANT 168. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
