{"id":18244,"date":"2016-07-28T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-07-28T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/leithart.level2d.com\/?p=20"},"modified":"2016-07-28T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2016-07-28T00:00:00","slug":"culture-of-canaan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/2016\/07\/culture-of-canaan\/","title":{"rendered":"Culture of Canaan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

L<\/span>eviticus 18 consists largely of rules on sex-permitted degrees of consanguinity, prohibited sex acts like homosexual sodomy and bestiality and adultery. The chapter begins, though, with a more general warning against conforming to Egyptian and Canaanite ways of life. Verse 3 puts this in a series of parallel clauses (the translation follows the Hebrew word order):<\/p>\n

a. According to the ma\u2019aseh<\/em> of the land of Egypt where you dwelt in her, do (\u2018asah<\/em>) not;<\/p>\n

b. according to the ma\u2019aseh<\/em> of the land of Canaan where I am bringing you there, do (\u2018asah<\/em>) not;<\/p>\n

c. in their statutes you shall not walk.<\/p>\n

Israel is supposed to make a break with Egypt, the place they are leaving; but they are also to resist conformity to Canaan, the place they are entering. Yahweh commands a break with the past, and an ongoing struggle against the world in their immediate future.<\/p>\n

Verse 4 puts the positive alternative:<\/p>\n

a. My judgments you shall do;<\/p>\n

b. my statutes you shall guard;<\/p>\n

c. to walk in them.<\/p>\n

As indicated in the translation above, the first two clauses use different forms of the root \u2018asah<\/em>, \u201cto make or do.\u201d The lifestyle of Egypt and Canaan is described as the ma\u2019aseh<\/em> of Egypt and Canaan, their makings or doings, and Israel is forbidden to \u2018asah<\/em>, to make or do, according to the pattern of their makings or doings.<\/p>\n

This is the only use of ma\u2019aseh<\/em> in Leviticus, but the word is used thirty times in Exodus, the vast majority in the context of tabernacle construction. The tabernacle curtains are the ma\u2019aseh<\/em> of a weaver, and the furniture is the ma\u2019aseh<\/em> of woodworkers and goldsmiths. The uses in Exodus reflect the use in the first chapter of Genesis, where the verb form \u2018asah<\/em> describes the creative work of God (1:7, 11, 16, etc.) and occasionally the \u201cmaking\u201d done by created things (\u201cbearing\u201d in 1:12 is \u2018asah\u2014<\/em>trees \u201cmake\u201d fruit). <\/p>\n

The tabernacle texts in Exodus lead directly into Leviticus; the latter starts with a waw<\/em>, \u201cand,\u201d and its Hebrew name means \u201cAnd He called.\u201d Leviticus is a distinct book, but from another angle is a continuation of Exodus. Against this background, the \u201cma\u2019aseh<\/em> of Egypt and Canaan\u201d refers to something more than \u201cthe moral standards of Egypt and Canaan.\u201d The term takes on connotations of made-things as well as done-things. The word matches the Greek poiesis<\/em>, a term that in its most expansive sense comes close to the modern concept of \u201cculture.\u201d Israel is called to resist the pressure of the things that Egypt and Canaan make\/do; they are called to resist Egyptian and Canaanite habits, institutions, artifacts, and ways. Positively, they are supposed to conform to the customs (judgments, mishpatim<\/em>) of Yahweh.<\/p>\n

In Pauline terms, Leviticus 18:3-4 says: Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Leviticus 18 consists largely of rules on sex-permitted degrees of consanguinity, prohibited sex acts like homosexual sodomy and bestiality and adultery. The chapter begins, though, with a more general warning against conforming to Egyptian and Canaanite ways of life. Verse 3 puts this in a series of parallel clauses (the translation follows the Hebrew word […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3021,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57,1149],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18244","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible-ot-leviticus","category-culture"],"yoast_head":"\nCulture of Canaan<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Leviticus 18 consists largely of rules on sex-permitted degrees of consanguinity, prohibited sex acts like homosexual sodomy and bestiality and adultery.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/leithart\/2016\/07\/culture-of-canaan\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" 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