The color “scarlet” is named most often in the Bible in connection with the tabernacle curtains and the garments of the High Priest. It’s also, of course, the color of the whore of Revelation. That means: Only a people already clothed in scarlet can become a prostitute clothed in . . . . Continue Reading »
Yesterday, I suggested that the sequence of sacrifice in the Bible, reflected in Leviticus and the Song, is this: Like the original Adam, adams are divided and pass through the fire into order to be transformed into fiery bridal food, fragrance satisfying to God. That is only an extension of . . . . Continue Reading »
Leviticus 26 uses the verb “make desolate” ( shamem ) seven times (vv. 22, 31, 32 [2x], 34, 35, 43). Yahweh threatens to de-create the land. The link between the curses of Leviticus 26 and creation is not merely numerical. The desolations follow, roughly, the events of the . . . . Continue Reading »
In the tabernacle system, oil is used for light on the golden menorah . The priest receives aromatic oil that spread fragrance. Cakes and breads baked or spread with oil become a sweet savor, soothing the heated nose of Yahweh. In both cases, oil bestows radiant power. In the . . . . Continue Reading »
In a 1996 article, Angel Manuel Rodriguez offers a close structural analysis of the day of coverings rite in Leviticus 16. Overall, he finds that the chapter is a chiasm: “Yahweh said to Moses” ——- “And Yahweh said to Moses” |A Aaron should not go into most . . . . Continue Reading »
Leviticus 23 has five speeches of Yahweh: A. Sabbath, Passover, Unleavened Bread, vv 1-8 B. First Sheaf, Pentecost, Gleaning, vv 9-22 C. Trumpets, vv 23-26 B’. Day of Coverings, vv 26-32 A’. Booths, vv 33-44 Several links in this structure are worth noting. First, the chapter begins and . . . . Continue Reading »
Pentecost is a bread feast, a feast of leaven (Leviticus 23:17). Animals are brought as offerings, plenty of them, but these are brought “with the bread,” accompaniments to the bread rather than the other way round. It’s quite fitting, then, that after the leaven of the . . . . Continue Reading »
The presentation of the first sheaf (Leviticus 23:9-13) provides a neat little allegory of redemption. The first sheaf is presented on the day after the sabbath, the day of resurrection. It is the “beginning” of the harvest (v. 10), and Leviticus uses the same word as is . . . . Continue Reading »
When Paul talks about the “fullness of time,” he’s likely alluding back to the calendar of Leviticus 23. Pentecost is calculated from the day of the first sheaf, and the time is described as a “complete” set of sabbaths. The word translated as . . . . Continue Reading »
Esau is a “hairy man” ( sa’iyr ), something we learn only when Jacob dresses himself in goat hair to approach his father (Genesis 27:11, 23). Jacob becomes a hairy one, subbing in for his brother. The only other use of the word in Genesis is in 37:31, where it describes the “kid” killed . . . . Continue Reading »
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