The Purification Offering In The Priestly Literature

The aim of this incisive study is to clarify the symbolism of the so-called 'sin' (hatta't) offering, better understood as a purification offering. A major concern of the work is to explain the variety of the atonement ceremonies in Leviticus in which the 'purification offering' appears. This variety has hitherto been explained as the result of tradition-historical development (Janowski), or in terms of degrees of uncleanness (Milgrom). Dr Kiuchi presents a new way of looking at the evidence for the offering with special reference to the two incidents in Leviticus 10. The concept of atonement (kipper) includes both purification and guilt-bearing, for when the priest purifies sancta he bears the guilt associated with the uncleanness. The varieties of blood manipulation are determined by the occasion, while the varieties of disposal of the sacrificial flesh hinge on whether the agent of the atonement is also a beneficiary of it.

Through a close semantic analysis of the Hebrew terms hata' and hatta't (commonly translated as 'sin') in Leviticus 4-5, this study reveals their lexical meanings, unknown for two millennia both in Judaism and in Christianity. 'Sin' has been commonly understood as referring mainly to a violation of God's commandment pertaining to personal conduct. However the revision Nobuyoshi Kiuchi proposes for the meanings of the terms has significant and far-reaching implications for other major themes such as uncleanness and atonement, meaning human salvation before God. The author also provides a solution to the question of the relationship between sin and uncleanness.

This volume is intended to introduce university and seminary students and scholars to the neglected field of ritual studies, particularly within the larger context of biblical and theological studies. At the same time, the author hopes to further the discussion by interacting with numerous scholars in the field, providing an extensive bibliography of relevant works. Klingbeil defines the basic terms used in ritual studies and explains the concepts involved in interpreting biblical ritual. He offers a broad history of the study of biblical ritual, beginning with the critiques of ritual found in the Old Testament prophetic books and surveying attitudes toward ritual down to modern times. Drawing on the fields of anthropology and sociology, as well as his decade of work in the field, Klingbeil presents a comprehensive reading strategy for biblical ritual texts. In addition, he explores connections between ritual studies and theological research. This ground-breaking study promises to generate discussion about biblical ritual and provides an excellent introduction to this growing field of study for students and scholars.

Roy Gane critically evaluates Jacob Milgrom's purification-offering theory but ultimately affirms and expands on his seminal insight that theodicy is foundational to the Israelite expiatory system. Gane's conclusions are derived from exegetical study of Hebrew ritual texts and by adapting a systems theory approach to human activity systems.

The sacrificial instructions and purity laws in Leviticus have often been seen as later or secondary additions to an originally sparse Priestly narrative. In this volume, Liane M. Feldman argues that the ritual and narrative elements of the Pentateuchal Priestly source are mutually dependent, and that the internal logic and structure of the Priestly narrative makes sense only when they are read together. Bringing together insights from the fields of ritual theory and narratology, the author argues that the ritual materials in Leviticus should be understood and analyzed as literature. At the core of her study is the assertion that these sacrificial instructions and purity laws form the backbone of the Priestly story world, and that when these materials are read within their broader narrative context, the Priestly narrative is first and foremost a story about the origins and purpose of sacrifice.

This book is a collection of essays on purificaton and atonement in the Hebrew Bible that provides new insights into the discussion of these ideas by looking at the values of sociological and anthropological approaches to the topics. The collection also examines multivalence and polyvalence in ritual and asks to what extent it is possible to speak of the function or meaning of ritual, even within the highly systematic priestly texts.

New directions and fresh insight for scholars and students The single greatest catalyst and contributor to our developing understanding of priestly literature has been Jacob Milgrom (1923-2010), whose seminal articles, provocative hypotheses, and comprehensively probing books vastly expanded and significantly altered scholarship regarding priestly and related literature. Nineteen articles build on Milgrom's work and look to future directions of research. Essays cover a range of topics including the interpretation, composition and literary structure of priestly and holiness texts as well as their relationships to deuteronomic and extra-biblical texts. The book includes a bibliography of Milgrom's work published between 1994 and 2014. Features: Comparisons with Mesopotamian Hittite texts Essays from a diverse group of scholars representing a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and methodologies Charts and tables illustrate complex relationships and structures

Biblical scholars frequently attempt to contextualize the Priestly ritual corpus by comparing it to other ancient Near Eastern ritual traditions. This comparative approach tends to detect a hidden polemic at work in the Priestly Source (P) which was meant to highlight its distinctly monotheistic outlook. Isabel Cranz reframes current understandings of P by comparing Priestly rituals of atonement to their Assyro-Babylonian counterparts. In this way she shows how the Priestly ritual corpus is highly specialized and concerns itself primarily with sanctuary maintenance. Viewing P in this new light in turn helps to demonstrate that the authors of P were not interested in discrediting foreign rituals or pushing a monotheistic agenda. Instead P primarily aimed to confirm the Aaronide priests as the only legitimate priestly group fit for service at the altar. Subsequently if a polemical agenda is present in P it can be shown to be directed against rivals and critics of the Aaronide priesthood, not other rituals of the ancient Near East.