Numbers 3

Levite Day!

Sons of Aaron / Duties of the Levites / Census of the Levites / Redemption of the Firstborn

The Levites were sort of glossed over in the previous two chapters because they function separately from the twelve tribes. As we will see, the Levites serve a ritual function for the Israelites.

Sons of Aaron: Numbers 3.1-4

The chapter kicks off with a brief genealogy of Aaron and Moses "at the time when the Lord spoke with Moses on Mount Sinai" (Num 3.1). This specific detail helps to set the location - or at least remove the reader in time and space from the revelation on Mount Sinai.

Aaron's sons are Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. Nadab and Abihu died for making an offering incorrectly back in Leviticus 10. They left no children. Eleazar and Ithamar, however, continued to serve as priests, assisting their father.

Duties of the Levites: Numbers 3.5-13

The Lord tells Moses to gather the Levites. A distinction is then made between the Levite Aaron and his descendants and the rest of the Levitical tribe. The tribe will perform duties for Aaron in front of the tent of meeting. They will perform ritual functions and be responsible for the upkeep of the tabernacle. However, the Levites will not be priests.

The Lord then tells Moses that he accepts the Levites as substitutes for the firstborns that are to be consecrated to God. This dedication of the firstborns (and substitution of the Levites) is explicitly linked to the killing of the firstborns in Egypt. God states:

The Levites shall be mine, for all the firstborn are mine; when I killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I consecrated for my own all the firstborn in Israel, both human and animal; they shall be mine. I am the Lord.
(Num. 3.12-13)

Rather than requiring compulsory service of the firstborns that have been consecrated for the Lord, the Levites in effect redeem the firstborns, in some ways they are similar to the scapegoat, taking on some symbolic aspect of a feature of a group of people.

Census of the Levites: Numbers 3.14-39

The Levites were ignored in the census covered yesterday, but today their own census is taken.

The census is taken by ancestral houses (the sons of Levi), which are broken up into clans (the sons of the sons). The heads of the ancestral houses are Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

• Gershon's sons: Libni and Shimei. 
• Kohath's sons: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. 
• Merari's sons: Mahli and Mushi.

The Levite census reports males one month old and upward. Contrast this to the census of the other twelve tribes, which counted males of fighting age, 20 and up. The Levites do not have to fight, and therefore all their males are counted. The census results also list the location where the ancestral house is to camp, as well as the responsibilities of the group, pertaining to specific parts of the sanctuary. Below are the results of the census:

Gershonites

Members: 7,500

Leader: Eliasaph son of Lael

Camp to the west of the tabernacle

Kohathites

Members: 8,600

Leader: Elizaphan son of Uzziel

Camp to the south of the tabernacle

Merari

Members: 6,200

Leader: Zuriel son of Abihail

Camp to the north of the tabernacle

Moses and Aaron and Aaron's sons are to camp to the east, in the most desirable position. Eleazar son of Aaron is to be chief over all the leaders and all those responsible for the sanctuary.

The text states the census comes to 22,000, but in fact the total should be 22,300. I'm not going to quibble over 300 people.

Redemption of the Firstborn: Numbers 3.40-51

The firstborns are all to be enrolled, even though the Levites serve as substitutes for them. And remember God's commandment that all firstborn humans and livestock are to be given to God? Well, the Levites' livestock is to serve as a substitute for those livestock that were to be sacrificed! That is pretty convenient. And it turns the Levites into a very symbolic people. They are people utterly devoted to God. Indeed, they represent all the firstborns. Their cattle exist simply so other cattle do not need to be sacrificed to God.

There just so happen to be 273 firstborns among the Israelites who have no Levites to substitute for them. That is, the firstborn Israelites outnumber the Levites. These firstborn Israelites are to be redeemed at five shekels apiece. The money is given to Aaron, presumably for the preservation of the sanctuary. The system is interesting. It is based on the arbitrary belief that each firstborn must be dedicated to the Lord, and that the Levites may redeem them. The rest of the money is a sort of a tax, therefore, for the number of firstborns being out of balance with those taking care of the sanctuary. This truly is government at work.

Numbers 1-2

The First Census of Israel / The Order of Encampment and Marching

The First Census of Israel: Numbers 1

It is the first day of the second month of the second year since the Israelites fled Egypt, and God tells Moses to finally take the census God commanded in Exodus. The census counts males that are twenty years old and older - everyone in Israel who is able to go to war.

And, because numbers likes numbers and lists, what follows is a list of helpers from each tribe, eac man  the head of his ancestral house:

1. From Reuben, Elizur son of Shedeur.
2. From Simeon, Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai.
3. From Judah, Nahshon son of Amminadab.
4. From Issachar, Nethanel son of Zuar.
5. From Zebulun, Eliab son of Helon.
From the sons of Joseph:
6. from Ephraim, Elishama son of Ammihud;
7. from Manasseh, Gamaliel son of Pedahzur.
8. From Benjamin, Abidan son of Gideoni.
9. From Dan, Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai.
10. From Asher, Pagiel son of Ochran.
11. From Gad, Eliasaph son of Deuel.
12. From Naphtali, Ahira son of Enan.
(Num. 1.5-15)

Notice that Levi is left out. This is because the Levites were priests. Therefore to maintain the perfect number 12, two sons of Joseph - Israel's favorite son - are chosen as tribal leaders.

What follows is another list, this one of all twelve tribes being accounted for. There are twelve entries, and each entry follows the same pattern:

The descendants of [son of Israel], their lineage, in their clans, by their ancestral houses, those of them that were numbered, according to the number of names, individually, every male from twenty years old and upwards, everyone able to go to war: those enrolled of the tribe of Simeon were [number].

The book of Numbers loves lists, as it turns out. Below I have summed up the results of the census. The tribal names correspond to the names of Israel's sons:

1. Reuben - 46,500
2. Simeon - 59,300
3. Gad - 45,650
4. Judah - 74,600
5. Issachar - 54,400
6. Zebulun - 57,400
7. Ephraim (son of Joseph) - 40,500
8. Manasseh (son of Joseph) - 32,200
9. Benjamin - 35,400
10. Dan - 62,700
11. Asher - 41,500
12. Naphtali - 53,400

The literary purpose of the census is to demonstrate Israel's might by revealing the size of the army that will fight in order to enter the promised land. Note that the census covers those going to war, imbuing this chapter from the beginning with overtones of combat. Ancient censuses, of course, served to determine how many were able to fight. But the placement of the census at the beginning of the book sets the stage for the rest of the book. In total, 603,550 of the Israelites will be able to fight:

"So the whole number of the Israelites, by their ancestral houses, from twenty years old and upward, everyone able to go to war in Israel - their whole number was 603,550. The Levites, however, were not numbered by their ancestral tribe along with them"
(Num. 1.45-47)

The exclusion of the Levites is based on the Levites' service of the Lord with the tabernacle. Because they are constantly with the tabernacle, they may not take part in fighting, and therefore are not included in the military census.

The Order of Encampment and Marching: Numbers 2

The Israelites are to camp by tribe, each camp facing the tent of meeting. There shall be three tribes in each cardinal direction, extending out in a cross (no Christian imagery intended) from the tabernacle. Check out the symmetry employed by the biblical author. Two adjacent sides are listed, then the center, then the remaining two adjacent sides:

To the east, listed from the outside going inward to the tent, are Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun.
To the south, listed from the outside going inward to the tent, are Reuben, Simeon, and Gad.
In the center is the tent of meeting, surrounded by the Levites.
To the west, listed from the outside going inward to the tent, are Ephraim, Manasseh, Benjamin.
To the north, listed from the outside going inward to the tent, are Dan, Asher, and Naphtali.

Each side is designated a "regimental encampment" and assigned the name of the outermost tribe. [The eastward camp is Judah, the southward is Reuben, the westward is Ephraim, the northward is Dan.] When marching, the camps shall leave in the following order: Judah, Reuben, Ephraim, Dan. The Levites shall march with the camp in whose quadrant they camped.

The militaristic diction comes to the fore in Numbers 2, and I think it is not just the prejudice of the translators that makes it so. The following phrases caught my attention: regiments, regimental encampments, ensigns (the signs of the tribes), march, set out. The biblical author seems to be setting the Israelites up for battle.

It is clear that the biblical author favored the tribe of Judah, and was probably himself (/themselves) from the kingdom of Judah, in the south. Favoritism is apparent in Judah's numbers: 74,600 fighting-age men is 11,900 more than the next closest tribe. Also, Judah is to lead the march and is in the position facing the sunrise. A sunrise, of course, is a symbol of hope, birth, newness, and vitality. At least here, Judah represents the strength of Israel.

Leviticus Wrap-Up

On the Bible as Literature

Leviticus was a very difficult section of the bible to cover. I was considering this as I drove up to Ithaca the other day, listening to the Interfaith Voices podcast. Lo and behold, the podcast featured an analysis of Judaism. While this blog is not about analyzing religion, it did give some excellent food for thought.

Host Maureen Fiedler spoke of the Torah:

"There are lots of laws. Anybody who's ever looked at the book of Leviticus can go blurry-eyed at the number of minute laws and regulations, many of which would have no application in the world today or some of which would appear incredibly harsh."

I hear ya. And if you've been following this blog with blurry eyes, you hear her as well. The context of the quotation fits into a discussion of Judaism as a religion of story and law. Its scripture, too, is all story and law. Leviticus just happens to be a book that concerns law. In future books I might treat this differently - I don't seem to have maintained many readers through this exercise. I don't blame anyone for dropping off. This was a difficult section for me to read and relate, and surely difficult to relate to.

In any case, Fiedler's gues, Stephen Prothero, brought up some great points in the discussion of Judaism that when tweaked can help to elucidate a reading of religious scripture as literature. Stephen Prothero is the author of God is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions that Rule the World and Why Their Differences Matter. He is also a regular contributor to the new CNN Belief Blog.

Prothero sought what problem Judaism as a religion is trying to solve, and what is the solution:

"My take on it is that Judaism is the way of exile and return. The problem is exile. The problem is that we are apart from God, apart form our community, and we have to return. We have to get back to God, get back to our community. This has antecedents in the exile of the Jews from the Promised Land, the exile of the Jews from the Temple."

This helps to explain the biblical story, and those dialectical tensions I have been writing about. The divine contract of Leviticus 26 really helps to sum up the reasons for exile. It is like the plot of the entire bible is here revealed. If humans follow God, they prosper. If they do not, they will find themselves in exile. The biblical authors set up a story of people disobeying God and then returning to worship him, just as people are exiled from a land and then return. The exile coincides with a loss of faith as the return coincides with a renewal of faith. The exile and return are the religious messages, which are derived from the messages of obedience and disobedience established in the texts.

Obedience, of course, hinges on law. Therefore there is a lot of legal material in the bible. Without these laws, the Israelites would have nothing to obey or disobey. Without these laws, there would not be cause and logic in the story. The bible is a very well-crafted piece of literature, even without a religious context.

Leviticus 27

Leviticus 27 / Leviticus Wrap-Up

Votive Offerings: Leviticus 27

Leviticus 27 comprises a list of instructions that continues from Leviticus 25. For modern minds, it might make sense for Leviticus 26 to be the last book of the bible, with its instructions for keeping on God's good side. However, this is not the way the authors chose to arrange the bible. The effect is such that Leviticus 27 functions like an appendix of various offerings not mentioned elsewhere.

I have to admit, I do not understand this chapter well. What does dedication get you, besides recognition by God? Is it necessary in any religious capacity? From what I have read, I would imagine that these laws go back to much older ideas...

In any case, ou may devote a number of objects to the Lord, and Leviticus 27 lists these and their accompanying directives. Enjoy these handy charts. Impress your friends!

Humans equivalencies in vows to the Lord
[That is, the equivalent amount to give as a dedication to God in lieu of a human that will do service]

Males age 20 to 66: 50 shekels silver

Females age 20 to 66: 30 shekels silver

Males age 5 to 20: 20 shekels silver

Females age 5 to 20: 10 shekels silver

Males age 1 month to 5 years: 5 shekels silver

Females age 1 month to 5 years: 3 shekels silver

Males age 60+: 15 shekels silver

Females age 60+: 10 shekels silver

Assessments for those who cannot afford a human dedication will be made by a priest on a case-by-case basis, depending on what a family can afford.

Animal offerings

Regularly sacrificed animals are holy. This holiness is nontransferrable to animals that have not been conecrated. In the case of substitution, both animals are deemed holy.

Unclean animals are assessed by a priest on a case-by-case basis, with an additional 20% tacked on.

Consecrating Houses

Assessed by a priest. It may be redeemed by the original owner with an additional 20% tacked on [a great way to make some money back if you have someone's property!].

Consecrating land

Value is based on equivalence: 50 shekels silver is equal to a homer of barley seed. The jubilee year merits special considerations. 

Misc.

Firstling clean animals cannot be consecrated. Nor can unclean animals, but these are valued by a priest with 20% added.

Everything devoted to the Lord may not be sold or redeemed. Not even humans. This is God's no-exchange policy.

Tithes of produce belong to the Lord, but may be redeemed with 20% added. The herd and flock tithes are one-tenth of the herd or flock. These may not be substituted with money.

The book ends:

These are the commandments that the Lord gave to Moses for the people of Israel on Mount Sinai.
(Lev. 27.34)

It's been a long journey. Look for tomorrow's entry - Leviticus wrap-up!

Letivicus 26

The Divine Contract: Leviticus 26

The story of the bible is about the relationship between God and God's people, the Israelites.

One way of measuring the relationship is through dialectical tensions - the tensions between what God wants the Israelites to do, and what they do in reality. Another way of measuring the relationship with God is through covenants. So far God has made covenants with Noah, Abraham, and Jacob/Israel. The purpose of the divine covenant established with Abraham and updated with Jacob/Israel is essentially to keep the dialectical tensions to a minimum. In other words, God's covenant is an attempt to ensure the Israelites do as God wishes. The terms are given quite simply: if the Israelites do what God requires, they will thrive. If the Israelites do no do what God requires, they will suffer. In today's selection God makes a contract with the Israelites. It is not quite a covenant, but it spells out punishments and rewards for disobeying and honoring the covenant.

The terms of this contract with Israel are quite explicit in the following passage. The contract consists of a statement of rewards for obedience, a statement of penalties for disobedience, and a message of redemption. The terms are quite eloquent, the language beautiful, so I have quoted liberally. I really do recommend reading this one on your own by clicking the "Leviticus 26" link above.

And now...the divine contract.

Rewards for Obedience: Leviticus 26.1-13
If God's statutes and commandments are observed faithfully, God will:

• Give rain so the land will yield produce
• ...Make that a lot of produce, as well as food and personal security: "Your threshing shall overtake the vintage, and the vintage shall overtake the sowing; you shall eat your bread to the full, and live securely in your land." (Lev. 26.5)
• There will be peace for you in the land - no enemies or dangerous animals
• You will kill your enemies, even outnumbered 5 to 100 or 100 to 10,000
• You will be fruitful and multiply
• The harvest will be so good that you will have to clear out old grain to make room for the new harvest
• God will place God's dwelling in the midst of the people, and not abhor them

The rewards end with a reminder that forms the tail end of the envelope with Leviticus 25.55 (see above):

"I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be their slaves no more; I have broken the bars of your yoke and made you walk erect."
(Lev. 26.13)

Penalties for Disobedience: Leviticus 26.14-46
God lists five stages of disobedience - and in so doing provides six opportunities for the Israelites to repent if they desire. The final stage of disobedience results in near-obliteration for the Israelites.

1. If the commandments and ordinances and statutes are not observed and the covenant is broken:

• God will bring terror upon you: consumption and fever that waste the eyes, causing life to pine away
• Your enemies will eat what you sow
• Your enemies will rule over you
• And you will "flee though no one pursues you"

2. If you continue to disobey:

• God will continue to punish your sins sevenfold
• "I will break your proud glory, and I will make your sky like iron and your earth like copper"
• Your strength will be spent without purpose
• Your land will not yield produce

3. If you continue to disobey:

• God will continue to plague you sevenfold
• Let loose wild animals that will kill your children and livestock and people ("they shall make you few in number, and your roads shall be deserted")

4. If you even then continue to disobey in spite of the punishments, God will continue to be hostile to you:

• Continue to strike you sevenfold for your sins
• "Bring the sword against you, executing vengeance for the covenant" [note that God is serving retribution on behalf of the broken covenant]
• You will withdraw to your cities (due to war), only to be struck with pestilence and delivered into your enemy's hands
• Bread, and ovens to bake it in, will become scarce, "and though you eat, you shall not be satisfied"

5. If you continue to disobey:

• God will punish you himself ("myself") sevenfold for your sins:
• "You shall eat the flesh of your sons, and you shall eat the flesh of your daughters" (due to lack of food)
• God will cut down the places of worship (presumably even those dedicated to YHWH! In his fury, God would destroy the very altars devoted to him
• "I will heap your carcasses on the carcasses of your idols"
• I will abhor you
• God will destroy your cities and sanctuaries and ignore sacrifices
• The land will be devastated, so that the enemies that come to settle it are appalled

From this final disobedience, the land will finally recovery from the vile people that lived on it, and enjoy a sabbath in desolation (the ones the Israelites did not properly give it) while the Israelites are in exile. The survivors will be so faint of heart in the land of their enemies that "the sound of a driven leaf shall put them to flight, and they shall fall though no one pursues them. They shall stumble over one another, as if to escape a sword, though no one pursues" (Lev. 26.36-37). The Israelites will die out, conquered by their enemies. The survivors will languish because of their own iniquities and those of their ancestors. [This last piece emphasizes the importance of following commands so that future generations will live well.]

Redemption
If the people confess to their iniquities and those of their ancestors - and admit that they acted hostile toward God so that God acted hostile toward them - then God will remember his covenants with Abraham and Jacob, and the land.

The land is purified in its sabbath when the Israelites are in exile, making amends for their iniquities:

"Yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not spurn them, or abhor them so as to destroy them utterly and break my covenant with them; for I am the Lord their God; but I will remember in their favor the covenant with their ancestors whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, to be their God: I am the Lord.
(Lev. 26.44-45)

The chapter ends:

"These are the statutes and ordinances and laws that the Lord established between himself and the people of Israel on Mount Sinai through Moses."
(Lev. 26.46)

Leviticus 25

Important Years: Leviticus 25

The Sabbatical Year: Leviticus 251.-7

Every seventh year the Israelites should observe a sabbath for the land, in which there is no sowing of fields or pruning of vineyards, nor any official harvest. Anyone may eat what the land bears during that year, and what is left will go to the livestock, then the wild animals.

The sabbatical year rewrites the sabbatical year described in Exodus 23.10-13. In Exodus, the field is to lie fallow in the seventh year, but it is in order to provide food for the poor, and after them the wild animals. The author of Leviticus still offered a provision to feed the poor: the field is not to be harvested to the edge, and the gleanings of the harvest are not to be gathered. These provisions ensure that the pure have food.

The Year of Jubilee: Leviticus 25.8-55

Every 49 years (or "seven weeks of years") the Israelites are to sound a trumpet on the tenth day of the seventh month - the day of atonement. This shall mark the jubilee for the next year* and liberty shall be proclaimed for all the inhabitants of the land. There shall be no sewing or reaping. The Israelites should eat only what the field produces. In the year of the jubilee every person should return his property.

[*There is debate over whether the cycle is 49 years or 50 years.]

The year of the jubilee sets a date by which economic transactions may be determined. You should pay for harvests from another person's field from the date they lay fallow - namely, the jubilee year.

Since the 49th year will be a sabbath year, the harvest in the 48th will be equal to three years' crops, to provide for the 48th, 59th, and 50th.

Land Ownership
Since land ownership is such an important feature of the jubilee year, it is no surprise that general regulations are provided here. The year of the jubilee serves as a sign that the land belongs to God, and the Israelites are only tenants. Do any business people read this blog? You might find this interesting...

If a kin member falls into debt and sells a piece of property, the next of kin should redeem it. This keeps the property within the family. If the person does not find a redeemer, but prospers and is able to do so himself, the property should be returned and the value of the property over the years should be given to the original buyer. If there is no redeemer, and the person cannot redeem the property, the property shall be returned during the jubilee. That's an interesting bit of social law - property comes back to you every 49 years for a sort of second chance. Of course, who knows if you would be alive by then, or if your family would live in the same place. In all likelihood, you would only see one jubilee in your lifetime. But still, the implications of continual ownership (excluding God's, of course) is an interesting proposition.

A house sold in a walled city may be redeemed for a year after its sale. If not redeemed it becomes the property of the buyer and will not be returned at the jubilee. Houses in unwalled towns may be redeemed, as may be the houses of the Levites, which are in actuality the collective property of all Israel. The land of the Levites, however, may never be sold.

You shall help your next of kin who fall into financial difficulties, but shall not profit financially in supporting them. They shall live as a resident alien.

Any Israelite dependent on you who becomes so impoverished that they sell themselves to you shall serve as a hired laborer, not a slave, until the jubilee, when they and their families will be free. After all, the Israelite's are the servants of God, who brought them out of Egypt. The Israelites do not own one another.

Male and female slaves may not be Israelites. They may be inherited by your children as property.

Resident aliens who encounter financial difficulties and sell themselves to other resident aliens may be redeemed by a family member (brother, uncle, cousin, etc.). The price of the sale shall be based on the amount of time until the next jubilee. Resident aliens may not treat hired resident aliens harshly, just as Israelites shall not treat hired Israelites harshly. The hired resident alien and his family shall be freed in the jubilee year.

Isn't that some interesting social justice?

Leviticus 23-24

Festivals / Miscellaneous

Today's reading is divided into two parts. The first part concerns the various festivals of the Israelites. The second part concerns miscellaneous regulations.

Festivals: Leviticus 23

The Lord speaks to Moses, telling him to inform the Israelites of the appointed festivals of the Lord...

The Sabbath, Passover, and Unleavened Bread: Leviticus 23.1-8
The sabbath is the seventh day of the week and no work should be done on it.

Families should make a passover offering to the Lord on the evening of the fourteenth day of the first month of the year. The fifteenth day marks the beginning of the week-long festival of unleavened bread. Each day offerings by fire should be made to the Lord. A holy convocation should be held on the first and seventh day, and no one should work at his occupation on these days.

The Offering of First Fruits: Leviticus 23.9-14
When the Israelites enter Canaan, they are to bring a sheaf of the first fruits of the harvest to the priest. The pries will raise the sheaf before the Lord on the day after the sabbath, in order to gain acceptance. On this day, a year-old lamb without blemish should be sacrificed as a burnt offering, along with a grain offering and drink offering. The Lord commands that the Israelites "shall eat no bread or parched grain or fresh ears until that very day" (Lev. 23.14).

The Festival of Weeks: Leviticus 23.15-22
A second festival will occur seven weeks after the day of the elevation offering of the sheaf - 50 days after the sabbath. This shall consist of two loaves of leavened bread as first fruits. Seven one-year-old lambs, a young bull, and two rams should be offered alongside, as well as a drink offering.

One male goat should be offered as a sin offering, and two male lambs as a sacrifice of well-being. These shall all be raised with the bread as an elevation offering.

On this day no one should do work

A previously stated commandment then appears in the midst of festival descriptions: fields should not be reaped to the edges and the gleanings should be left for the poor.

The Festival of Trumpets: Leviticus 23.23-25

On the first day of the seventh month the Israelites should observe a day of complete rest, commemorated by trumpet blasts. Offerings to the Lord are still required, though unnamed.

The Day of Atonement: Leviticus 23.26-32
The tenth day of the seventh month is the day of atonement (actually, starting the evening of the ninth day and ending the evening of the tenth day). People are to do no work and fast the entire day to make atonement before the Lord. Those that do not fast will be cut off, and those that work will be killed by God.

The Festival of Booths: Leviticus 23.33-44
The fifteenth day of the seventh month marks the first day of the week-long festival of booths. The first and eighth days are days of holy convocation; no one should work. On the first day the Israelites should take fruit, palm branches, and boughs of leafy trees and willows, and rejoice before the Lord for seven days.

For this week the congregation is to live in booths as a reminder that the Israelites lived in booths when they were first brought out of Egypt.

Miscellaneous: Leviticus 24

The Lamp: Leviticus 24.1-4

The people of Israel are to provide pure olive oil so the lamp may be kept burning regularly from dusk until dawn. Aaron should set the lamp up in the tent of meeting, outside the curtain of the covenant, so that it burns "before the Lord."

The Bread for the Tabernacle: Leviticus 24.5-9

The bread of the tabernacle consists of twelve loaves (one for each tribe of Israel), each made with 2/10 ephah of choice flower. The loaves should be arranged in 2 rows of six on a table of pure gold. Frankincense should be put with each row as an offering by fire.

Every sabbath Aaron shall arrange the loaves thus to show the commitment of the people of Israel. Aaron and his family may eat them in a holy place.

Blasphemy and Its Punishment: Leviticus 23.10-23

This set of instructions differs from much of Leviticus in that an anecdote of the crime is given, which prompts an explanation of the penalty. Throughout the rest, there has been little narrative in explanation of laws. The story goes like this:

Shelomith, daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan, has a son. One day the son is speaking with a man whose father is an Egyptian. They begin to fight, and the Israelite son curses the Egyptian, uttering the divine name in the process (the Tetragrammaton; YHWH). The Israelite is brought to Moses and put into custody until a decision comes from the Lord.

The Lord tells Moses to take the blasphemer out of the camp, where those who heard him should lay their hands on his head, while the rest of the congregation stones him. (The laying of hands served to transfer the sin from the blasphemy back to its source, much as a priest transfers sin to a sacrifice.)

God commands Moses to speak to the people of Israel: Anyone who blasphemes shall be stoned by the entire congregation. The law applies to both aliens and citizens.

God gives further commandments regarding death and injury, these applying to alien and citizen alike. Anyone who kills a human being should be put to death. Injuries should be dealt with in kind, "fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; the injury inflicted is the injury to be suffered" (Lev. 24.20).  Anyone who kills an animal should make restitution, but anyone who kills a human or blasphemes God should be killed.

We're getting to the end of Leviticus. Tomorrow: Time, time, time.