Author Topic: The History of the Bible (Read 1564 times)

ubipetrus · « **on:** October 12, 2015, 06:10:19 AM »

I would like this thread to be about the Bible, the history of how it was written, what it meant to the people while its writing was still in progress, how the Canon was selected, why some books are omitted or rejected by Jєωs, Protestants, and so forth, and what other books almost made it, or are even honored by certain (ancient schismatic) groups of Christians such as the Coptics, the Ethiopians, and even the East Orthodox and what the Church thinks of such books, and the various biblical texts, and so forth.

As St. Jerome says, "ignorance of scripture is ignorance of Christ," and I believe that goes as much for the Old Testament as it does for the New. Whatever Catholics may think about modern Jєωs (all who did not follow Christ), the ancient Jєωs of the Bible days (especially Old Testament times) were our spiritual progenitors and as such deserve our highest regard and veneration, and it is they and their religion which fascinates me.

I'd like to start with the Biblical book of Genesis. By tradition, Genesis is attributed to Moses, even called the "First Book of Moses." Some scholars have speculated that it was actually written much later by others, and often go on about "Jahwist, Elohist, Deuteronomic, and Priestly" sources for it. However, there is another explanation which makes more sense and which I think these scholars have overlooked.

I really don't think Moses just sat down and wrote Genesis from scratch, either from his own personal wisdom or even with an angel at his side giving dictation. Clearly he appears to have been assembling it from a variety of sources, perhaps some written and others oral or even familial, as known among the Jєωs of his own time. So let's look at this time.

The Jєωs were then currently enslaved to the Egyptians, foreigners to them who rarely interacted socially with their Egyptian slavemasters but kept to themselves, evidently believing in there being a sacred promise made out to them by God, to deliver them and bring them to the Promised Land one day. It was this belief from God which sustained the ancient Israelites, through the drudgery of their servitude. It is mind-boggling to me to realize that at that time the only "Bible" as existed thus far was what would amount to the book of Genesis - all of the rest, Exodus on through the Torah (Law), the Prophets, the Psalms and various other later writings, and finally the New Testament were all in the future, as of yet unrealized.

While God (and Moses) were raining the various plagues against Egypt and its Pharaoh, how would have "my people" (as in "let my people go") have known that it was their God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that was punishing Egypt and setting them free? How would they have even known who Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob even were, unless Genesis existed, whether as a book already assembled more or less in its current form, or still as the various oral and family traditions and various scattered sacred docuмents treasured by them?

I think this traditional material - in whatever form the enslaved Jєωs knew of it - had a lot to do with why it was that even after some centuries (and many generations) of living in Egypt they never assimilated into the Egyptian culture, never accepted it gods, never (or virtually never) intermarried with the Egyptians, and socially pretty much kept to themselves, even living by a different means (sheep herding) than at least most Egyptians. I believe these accounts which we find in Genesis formed a big part of what gave them their identity as a society, race, and nation separate and distinct from the Egyptians, the Canaanites, and everyone else of the ancient lands.

Any thoughts, before moving on to Exodus?

Peter15and1 · « **Reply #1 on:** October 12, 2015, 09:31:23 AM »

It is an interesting question. You are correct that there is a well-established tradition of Mosaic authorship of the five books of the Pentateuch. Moses being the author of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy is not hard to believe, given that he was a direct eyewitness to everything described in those books, but he clearly was not born yet for any of the events described in Genesis. So, did he receive some kind of revelation from God about Genesis, did he piece together existing Hebrew tradition, or some combination of the two? I don't think the Church has ever spoken authoritatively on the matter.

Indeed, the exact nature of Moses' authoring the Pentateuch is not even settled. See the following from the Catholic Encyclopedia:

Quote

The Jєωιѕн tradition concerning the Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch was brought in to the Christian Church by Christ Himself and the Apostles. No one will seriously deny the existence and continuance of such a tradition from the patristic period onward; one might indeed be curious about the interval between the time of the Apostles and beginning of the third century. For this period we may appeal to the "Epistle of Barnabas" (x, 1-12; Funk, "Patres apostol.", 2nd ed., Tübingen, 1901, I, p. 66-70; xii, 2-9k; ibid., p. 74-6), to St. Clement of Rome (1 Corinthians 41:1; ibid., p. 152), St. Justin ("Apol. I", 59; P.G., VI, 416; I, 32, 54; ibid., 377, 409; Dialogue with Trypho 29), to the author of "Cohort. Ad Graec." (9, 28, 30, 33, 34; ibid., 257, 293, 296-7, 361), to St. Theophilus ("Ad Autol.", III, 23; ibid., 1156; 11, 30; ibid., 1100), to St. Irenæus (Cont. haer., I, ii, 6; P.G., VII, 715-6), to St. Hippolytus of Rome ("Comment. In Deut.", xxxi, 9, 31, 35; cf. Achelis, "Arabische Fragmente etc.", Leipzig, 1897, I, 118; "Philosophumena", VIII, 8; X, 33; P.G., XVI, 3350, 3448), to Tertullian of Carthage (Adv. Hermog., XIX; P.L., II, 214), to Origen of Alexandria (Contra. Cels., III, 5-6; P.G., XI, 928; etc.), to St. Eustathius of Antioch (De engastrimytha c. Orig., 21; P.G., XVIII, 656); for all these writers, and others might be added, bear witness to the continuance of the Christian tradition that Moses wrote the Pentateuch. A list of the later Fathers who bear witness to the same truth may be found in Mangenot's article in the "Dict. de la Bible" (V, 74 seq.). Hoberg (Moses und der Pentateuch, 72 seq.) has collected the testimony for the existence of the tradition during the Middle Ages and in more recent times.

But Catholic tradition does not necessarily maintain that Moses wrote every letter of the Pentateuch as it is today, and that the work has come down to us in an absolutely unchanged form. This rigid view of the Mosaic authorship began to develop in the eighteenth century, and practically gained the upper hand in the nineteenth. The arbitrary treatment of Scripture on the part of Protestants, and the succession of the various destructive systems advanced by Biblical criticism, caused this change of front in the Catholic camp. In the sixteenth century Card. Bellarmine, who may be considered as a reliable exponent of Catholic tradition, expressed the opinion that Esdras had collected, readjusted, and corrected the scattered parts of the Pentateuch, and had even added the parts necessary for the completion of the Pentateuchal history (De verbo Dei, II, I; cf. III, iv). The views of Génebrard, Pereira, Bonfrere, a Lapide, Masius, Jansenius, and of other notable Biblicists of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries are equally elastic with regard to the Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch. Not that they agree with the contentions of our modern Biblical criticism; but they show that today's Pentateuchal problems were not wholly unknown to Catholic scholars, and that the Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch as determined by the Biblical Commission is no concession forced on the Church by unbelieving Bible students.

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11646c.htm

Because of the long passage of time from Moses to the present day, I'm not sure this is a question we will ever have a clear answer to this side of Heaven.

ubipetrus · « **Reply #2 on:** October 16, 2015, 12:25:42 PM »

Moving on to Exodus: This begins with what could be called "the life and times of Moses," first describing the situation in Egypt as it had become one of outright slavery of the Israelites, and then even that wasn't enough as they wanted to eliminate them altogether by having every male child cast into the Nile (there to be eaten by alligators). How clever of the mother of Moses to have "complied" with the law by having Moses also thrown into the Nile, but with a protective basket in which he ended up floating right into Pharaoh's own household! But though being raised in Pharaoh's household and being treated extremely well, his real identification remained with his own native people the Israelites, as evidenced by his failed attempt to protect his fellow Israelite by killing the Egyptian. This happens when he is about 40 (mid-life crisis?) and he then flees into exile out in the desert. But at about age 80 God calls him.
One thing I really like is his skepticism, despite being in the presence of the burning bush. It basically amounts to "they didn't listen to me before; why should they listen to me now?" God's response shows exactly why: miracles. It is not enough that miracles might occasionally happen as has occurred for the Church down through the ages and doubtless continues with traditional Catholics today - but that sort of thing is extremely rare and not under anyone's control. The true sign is the "miracle worker," one who works them practically "at will" like Jesus and the original Apostles. Moses is made one of these, and on the strength of that returns to Egypt, displays Gods glory and judgment on Pharaoh, brings the Israelites out of Egypt and even destroys the Egyptian army. Leading the Israelites through the wilderness towards the promised land, they stop first at Mount Horeb where Moses received the original Ten Commandments, carved by the finger of God.
Yet all of this is only the first half of Exodus. The second half however takes on a very surprising turn, as they do not simply make normal preparations for entering the promised land, but instead devote nearly all the rest of the book to extremely detailed commandments regarding the place of worship, how it is to be constructed, what materials, how many pieces and what color, and all manner of details about the Ark of the Covenant (as in like "Raiders of the Ark), the altar, other tables and furnishings, the menorah (lamp), and even the priestly vestments, right down to the twelve stones to go on the breastplate of the High Priest, to represent the twelve tribes of Israel.
But in hindsight, perhaps it is not so surprising. Ten times does Moses demand of Pharaoh to "let my people go, that they may worship God." Now that they are free (free to do what is right, as encapsulated in the ten commandments) they are also free to worship God exactly as God directs, hence all the excruciating detail regarding these things.
So, where Genesis told the "backstory" as it were of the Israelite people (and who they were and why they should wish to worship their God), and the first nearly half of Exodus mostly recounts the history of Egypt and Moses and the liberation of the Israelites, the latter part of Exodus begins the more intensive part of what is called the "Law." The first five books of Moses (and of the Bible) are called the Law because of the laws given in them. Yet (and I just looked this up), of the 613 "laws" as recognized by the Jєωs only three of them come from Genesis, two of which one can probably guess, but the third is truly obscure:
1) To be fruitful and multiply (Genesis 1:28)
2) To circuмcise every male offspring (Genesis 17:12)
3) Not to eat the sinew of the thigh vein which is upon the hollow of the thigh (Genesis 32:33 - in honor of the injury to Jacob when he contended with the (angelic or divine) man of God in the desert (Genesis 32:25-33)
A few more laws emerge from the narrative first half of Exodus, mostly pertaining to the observance of the Passover, though there are also a few about firstborns and Sabbaths (27 in all). These were the very first parts of the Law (as specified by Moses) as were imparted to the Israelites, and given to them even before their departure from Egypt, in anticipation of their subsequent freedom.
In contrast, the latter half of Exodus has very little as narrative: The people have Aaron make the golden calf and worship it, Moses comes down from the mountain and dashes the commandment tablets in anger, new tablets are made and the sinners are punished, and then the people gather the correct components for the making of the true altar.

ubipetrus · « **Reply #3 on:** October 16, 2015, 01:15:30 PM »

A note on the textual sources:
Over the past several centuries, scholars came to rely most heavily on the Jєωιѕн Masoretic text, a set of the "24" (or actually 39) books that comprise the Jєωιѕн Holy Scriptures to this day, and which alone Protestants accept as their Old Testament. But this text was not finalized until at least a century after Christ, and by Jєωs who had rejected Him.
But in older times (and again in the very most recent times, especially since the discovery of the Dead Sea scrolls), the flaws of the Jєωιѕн Masoretic text have shown themselves, at least in comparison to other versions. The Masoretic text is of course only one source, and certainly worth taking into account, scholastically speaking. But of more account is that version of the Biblical books as found (sadly in only fragmentary form) in the Dead Sea scrolls. Though fragmentary, there is enough in them to see validity to the other versions, namely the Samaritan Pentateuch (good only for Genesis through Deuteronomy) and those versions which only exist in foreign languages, most notably the Greek Septuagint (which the New Testament writers all used) the Latin Vulgate, but there are other texts as well, such as the Syriac Peshitta and various Coptic versions, etc.
One of the most interesting things is that the Jєωs of the time of Christ and the original Apostles actually had more books in their "Bible" than they do today. Chief of these in importance would be what Protestants call the "Apocrypha," those books found in Catholic Bibles which are not found in Jєωιѕн and Protestant Bibles (unless separated off as Apocrypha). These books occur in the foreign language editions and some Hebrew texts, but because of the manner in which they bridge the ancient Mosaic Jєωιѕн times and ways to the Christian times and ways, showing the transition from an ancient Judaism which focused exclusively upon the physical Israelite nation to a broad-based form which actively proselytized throughout the world (hence the existence of all those "Jєωιѕн proselytes" who turn up over and over again in the New Testament) and (for example) properly understood (translated) the "young woman" (Hebrew: "`almah") of Isaiah chapter 7 to be actually the "consecrated virgin" (Greek: "Parthenos") who bears the Messiah. The account of the Maccabees also comprises a significant part of Jєωιѕн (and therefore our (Catholic) shared) history, which also occurs only in these books.
The Catholic Old Testament, with its 46 books (7 more than modern Jєωs and Protestants) therefore represents a more accurate snapshot of the Bible as it was known in the First Century, to Jesus and the Apostles, and even for that matter to Caiaphas, and also to the Jєωιѕн proselytes, and in which St. Timothy was raised (2 Timothy 3:15)

ubipetrus · « **Reply #4 on:** October 17, 2015, 02:51:01 PM »

Having different "versions" of the Ten Commandments actually goes back a lot further than one might expect. Scripture shows (John 4:21) that the Samaritans focus their worship (Temple sacrifice, etc.) on Mount Gerizim rather than Jerusalem. This is no mere differing location; the Samaritan Pentateuch actually differs from the Pentateuch of everyone else in having a last commandment which specifically mentions Mount Gerizim:
And God spoke all these words, saying [numbered per the Samaritan scheme and here sourced exclusively from the Samaritan Pentateuch]:
[Preamble] I am the LORD your God , who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
[1] You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any image, of what is in heavens above, or on the earth beneath, or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them. For I the LORD your God am a devoted God, counting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, and showing loving kindness to thousands, to those who love me and keep my commandments.
[2] You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain. For the LORD will not leave him unpunished who takes his name in vain.
[3] Keep the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work. And the seventh day is a Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male or your female slave, your cattle, or your proselyte who stays in your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
[4] Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the LORD your God gives you.
[5] You shall not murder.
[6] You shall not commit adultery.
[7] You shall not steal.
[8] You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
[9] You shall not covet your neighbor's house, and you shall not covet of your neighbor his field and wife or his male slave or his female slave, his bull and his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.
[10] And when the LORD your God will bring you to the land of the Canaanite which you are going to inherit it. You shall set yourself up great stones and lime them with lime. And you shall write on them all the words of this law. And when you have passed over the Jordan you shall set up these stones, which I command you today, in Mount Gerizim. And there you shall build an altar to the LORD your God, an altar of stones. You shall lift up no iron on them. And you shall build the altar of the LORD your God of complete stones. And you shall offer burnt offerings. And you shall offer burnt offerings, thereupon to the LORD your God. And you shall sacrifice offerings and shall eat there. And you shall rejoice before the LORD your God. That mountain, in the other side of the Jordan, beyond the way toward the sunset, in the land of the Canaanite who dwell in the prairie, before the Gilgal, beside the Aalone moora, before Ashkem.

It is interesting to see the commandments numbered as Catholics number them, other than not including the one about the altar and splitting out the one about coveting into two, one about coveting the wife and the other about coveting the possessions. Contemporary Jєωs also omit the tenth about the altar and shift everything up by one, therefore counting the preamble as the first commandment. It is not clear whether the Jєωs of the time of Christ and before then also so numbered the Ten Commandments. The Protestants, seeing the preamble as preamble, instead split the first commandment into two, one about other gods and the other about making idols.

Kephapaulos · « **Reply #5 on:** October 17, 2015, 06:01:05 PM »

Of course, we do indeed have from the words of Our Lord Himself that Moses authored the Torah, i.e. Pentateuch. Generally speaking, he did anyway. According to what was said earlier in this thread, the manner in which the Pentateuch was authored and written is another matter. We would not know for sure, but for all we know, Moses maybe had some hand by divine intervention in the small part that were written after he died since his death is spoken in Deuteronomy. An unusual idea I know, but that is just something I thought of.

ubipetrus · « **Reply #6 on:** October 18, 2015, 09:55:13 PM »

Quote from: Kephapaulos

Of course, we do indeed have from the words of Our Lord Himself that Moses authored the Torah, i.e. Pentateuch. Generally speaking, he did anyway. According to what was said earlier in this thread, the manner in which the Pentateuch was authored and written is another matter.

That said, whatever "editing" as may - possibly - have occurred in the time of Ezra would probably be rather slight. Ezra could be the source of the report of the death of Moses, but more likely (to me) seems that Moses may have commissioned scribes to do the actual physical writing of what he dictated to them, and these scribes may well have supplied the details of his death. Interesting concept you have about a revelation, though. But if there had been a revelation to Moses about his own death, I would have expected something along the lines of "And the LORD said unto Moses, write the following account which is to be that of your death and burial..."

poche · « **Reply #7 on:** October 21, 2015, 04:41:53 AM »

Quote from: ubipetrus

Having different "versions" of the Ten Commandments actually goes back a lot further than one might expect. Scripture shows (John 4:21) that the Samaritans focus their worship (Temple sacrifice, etc.) on Mount Gerizim rather than Jerusalem. This is no mere differing location; the Samaritan Pentateuch actually differs from the Pentateuch of everyone else in having a last commandment which specifically mentions Mount Gerizim:
And God spoke all these words, saying [numbered per the Samaritan scheme and here sourced exclusively from the Samaritan Pentateuch]:
[Preamble] I am the LORD your God , who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
[1] You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any image, of what is in heavens above, or on the earth beneath, or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them. For I the LORD your God am a devoted God, counting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, and showing loving kindness to thousands, to those who love me and keep my commandments.
[2] You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain. For the LORD will not leave him unpunished who takes his name in vain.
[3] Keep the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work. And the seventh day is a Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male or your female slave, your cattle, or your proselyte who stays in your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
[4] Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the LORD your God gives you.
[5] You shall not murder.
[6] You shall not commit adultery.
[7] You shall not steal.
[8] You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
[9] You shall not covet your neighbor's house, and you shall not covet of your neighbor his field and wife or his male slave or his female slave, his bull and his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.
[10] And when the LORD your God will bring you to the land of the Canaanite which you are going to inherit it. You shall set yourself up great stones and lime them with lime. And you shall write on them all the words of this law. And when you have passed over the Jordan you shall set up these stones, which I command you today, in Mount Gerizim. And there you shall build an altar to the LORD your God, an altar of stones. You shall lift up no iron on them. And you shall build the altar of the LORD your God of complete stones. And you shall offer burnt offerings. And you shall offer burnt offerings, thereupon to the LORD your God. And you shall sacrifice offerings and shall eat there. And you shall rejoice before the LORD your God. That mountain, in the other side of the Jordan, beyond the way toward the sunset, in the land of the Canaanite who dwell in the prairie, before the Gilgal, beside the Aalone moora, before Ashkem.

It is interesting to see the commandments numbered as Catholics number them, other than not including the one about the altar and splitting out the one about coveting into two, one about coveting the wife and the other about coveting the possessions. Contemporary Jєωs also omit the tenth about the altar and shift everything up by one, therefore counting the preamble as the first commandment. It is not clear whether the Jєωs of the time of Christ and before then also so numbered the Ten Commandments. The Protestants, seeing the preamble as preamble, instead split the first commandment into two, one about other gods and the other about making idols.

It was forbidden to make images until the coming of Christ.

poche · « **Reply #8 on:** October 21, 2015, 04:44:34 AM »

The Ten Commandments are referred to as the Decalogue, or the ten words. Since Moses was leading the people out of Egypt, which at that time used Hieroglyphs, it would be interesting to know how that looked.

ubipetrus · « **Reply #9 on:** October 22, 2015, 11:36:46 AM »

Quote from: poche

The Ten Commandments are referred to as the Decalogue, or the ten words. Since Moses was leading the people out of Egypt, which at that time used Hieroglyphs, it would be interesting to know how that looked.

Interesting question. I have never heard the idea ventured that the Hebrews during their Egyptian servitude ever abandoned their own language and script, though doubtless it looked different from Hebrew as it is known today.

As to the other, Moses was also commanded to have made "cherubim" made for the Ark of the Covenant (Exodus 25 versus 16 (or 17) through 21 (or 22)), so it cannot have been the making of images which was forbidden but the worshipping thereof.

ubipetrus · « **Reply #10 on:** November 29, 2015, 03:27:47 PM »

Moving on to Leviticus: Unlike Genesis with all the fascination of the history of God's people from the very beginning clear until their beginning of their life in Egypt, and Exodus with its miraculous deliverance story of Moses and the ten plagues, and finally the assembling and construction of the Tent of God which even Moses could not enter when the glory of God shone there, all preparatory for Israel to finally worship God out in the wilderness as Moses requested permission of Pharaoh, Leviticus has practically nothing in the way of narrative. While the nation of Israel remained at the base of Mount Sinai (or Horeb), Moses gives a significant amount of the Law as intended as such, and one can see in the many laws the holiness of the Lord.
With the first seven chapters God give much instruction in the giving of burn offerings, for sin offerings and guilt offerings, how they are to be done. Chapters 8 and 9 docuмent the formal and inaugural of the dedication and consecration of Aaron and his sons to be the priests of the Tent of God, and of the Altar. But in chapter 10 we have our first bit of narrative, namely when two of the sons of Aaron sinned against the holiness of God by using "strange fire" in their offering which was not as God directed, and for which they died, and others, the sons of others from Aaron's family, take their place.
Chapters 11 through 15 list numerous detailed laws regarding being a cleansed people fit to approach God near or in His Tent, what foods are clean versus which are not clean, the cleansing of childbirth, the cleansing and quarantining of those with contagious diseases ("leprosy") that the tribe not be sick or with diseases, and even for cleansing from the various bodily (sɛҳuąƖ) emissions. All of these laws serve to cleanse the life of man from birth (childbirth) through life (food), through generations (bodily emissions) and in sickness and death ("leprosy" and also respect for touching the dead).
Chapters 16 and 17 detail the ceremonies associated with the Day of Atonement, and of the various sacrifices thereof, and of the role of blood being the life of the being which has it. Chapters 18 through 20 drill into more practical ethics and practical laws, relating to respect for women and sɛҳuąƖ purity, kindness to strangers and neighbors, and yet more on offerings to cleanse from where one might fail in these ethical laws. It is in the middle of this where there occurs the second greatest law, as attributed by Christ, namely that we must "love your neighbor as yourself" (Leviticus 19:18)
The book continues with special laws only for the Levitical priests who must adhere to a higher standard that even the rest of Israel, that they may be pure enough to enter into the most sacred places of the Tent of God, and then in Chapter 24 resumes its only other bit of narrative, namely when a man curses God in the course of his fight with another man, it must be decided what is to be done with him, and the decision is that he must die.
Leviticus then discusses the use of land, a Sabbath year for the land, and Jubilee for the land, in which it must lie fallow, and of the treatment of slaves (servants).
Chapter 26 lays out the blessings for keeping the Law and the curses for not keeping the law. Finally it concludes with the rules for the redemption of persons, lands, and animals, exchange of like for like in offerings and respect for that which is devoted exclusively to God, for that which others of Israel sacrifice for themselves may be partaken of by the priests, but what the priests similarly sacrifice for themselves is devoted to God alone, and must be burned up in full, not being for anything or anyone else.
Needless to say, being so slim on narrative detail, so tediously detailed in each and every law, it is a much more difficult read, yet each detail has some symbolic value relating to God's holiness and our need to be pure and holy and cleansed before the Lord in order that we may exist in peace in His presence.

ubipetrus · « **Reply #11 on:** December 02, 2015, 01:49:29 AM »

A little bit more on Leviticus: There are good reasons to believe that its content was substantially written in the time period of Israel's wanderings near Mt. Sinai (or Horeb) where Moses received the tablets with the Ten Commandments. While parked at this spot for at least a year, that would have been time for all of the events portrayed in the latter part of Exodus, all of Leviticus, and the first part of Numbers, clear until it was time for them to move on. The small amount of narrative in Leviticus does at least show that during that year, at least some laws may have been occasioned by events occurring during that time, which is why the events (other than the dedication of priests and altar) are mentioned.
And again, where before (in all of Genesis and the first about half or so of Exodus) events move right along in a rapid and riveting narrative, from a point in Exodus onward and all through the remainder of the Torah, all manner of much smaller detailed and day-by-day events are recorded, which doubtless would not have been recorded had it been a matter of preparing the record some time later on, such as some time after they entered the Promised Land. So again, this is strong evidence that the account dates from the time of the events themselves, probably commenced when they reached Mt. Sinai and when the details pass from swift and general to detailed and tedious. As we move into the book of Numbers we see this tedious detail again with more narrative details to report, but which someone writing well after the fact (e. g. after Israel is established in the Promised Land) would doubtless have largely passed over in silence. Of course, none of this rules out the possibility of any "tweaking" or polishing of the record at some later time, for example by Ezra and company after returning from exile. But the underlying account is substantially that which originated in the time portrayed.