\n<\/p>
Leavings from a paper on Leviticus 18. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Leviticus 18 is a chiastic structure consisting of smaller chiasms. <\/span> 18:1 is an introductory formula, announcing the beginning of a new section of Leviticus. <\/span> Verses 2-5 form the first section of the chapter, which repeats \u201cI am Yahweh\u201d three times and also contains a neat small-chiasm of judgment\/statutes around the central declaration of the Lord\u2019s Name. <\/span> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n A. <\/span> I am Yahweh your God <\/p>\n <\/p>\n B. <\/span> Do not do what <\/span> Egypt <\/span> and <\/span> Canaan <\/span> do <\/span> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n C. <\/span> Do my judgments <\/span> <\/strong> and statutes <\/span> <\/strong> <\/span> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n D. <\/span> I am Yahweh your God <\/span> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n C\u2019. <\/span> Keep statutes <\/span> <\/strong> and judgments <\/span> <\/strong> <\/span> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n B\u2019. <\/span> To live <\/span> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n A\u2019. <\/span> I am Yahweh <\/span> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The next section, 18:6-23, provides a detailed list of prohibitions, mostly prohibited sexual relations (but cf. v. 21). <\/span> Generally, the sexual rules move from incest with direct relatives, to incest with relatives by marriage, to prohibited sexual relations with people other than relatives. <\/span> Within this section, verses 6-19 form a unit, focusing on incest by providing detailed rules for excluded degrees of consanguinity. <\/span> These verses share a common terminology: The word \u201cnakedness\u201d is used twenty-four times between verses 6 and 19, but not elsewhere in chapter 18. <\/span> Surrounding verses 6-19 is the verb \u201capproach\u201d or \u201cdraw near\u201d ( qarab <\/em> ; vv. 6, 19). <\/span> \u201cApproach\u201d is also used in verse 14, subdividing 6-19 into two sections: <\/span> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n A. Flesh of flesh, v 6 ( approach <\/em> ) <\/span> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n B. Mother, v 7 <\/span> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n C. Father\u2019s wife, v 8 <\/span> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n D. Sister, v 9 <\/span> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n E. Granddaughter, v 10 <\/span> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n D\u2019. Half-sister, v 11 <\/span> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n C\u2019. Father\u2019s sister, v 12 <\/span> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n B\u2019. Mother\u2019s sister, v 13 <\/span> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n A\u2019. Aunt (father\u2019s brother\u2019s wife), v 14 ( approach <\/em> ) <\/span> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The second subsection matches the first subsection to some degree, but deals (mainly) with more distant in-law relations: <\/span> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n E\u201d. Daughter-in-law, v 15 <\/p>\n <\/p>\n D\u201d. Sister-in-law, v 16 <\/span> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n C\u201d. Woman and daughter, v 17 <\/span> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n B\u201d. Woman and sister, v 18 <\/span> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n A\u201d. Woman during menstruation, v 19 ( approach <\/em> ) <\/span> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n For the first time in the chapter, verse 20 introduces concerns with \u201cdefilement\u201d ( tame <\/em> ). <\/span> The word is used eight times in verses 20-30, never before, and the word frames this final section (vv. 2-0, 30). <\/span> Moreover, the declaration \u201cI am Yahweh,\u201d found in 21 and 30, frames the last section, and also points us back to the repetition of similar phrases at the beginning of the chapter. <\/span> A semi-chiastic inclusio <\/em> surrounds the concluding verses of chapter 18: <\/span> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n A. I am Yahweh, v. 21 <\/p>\n <\/p>\n B. Abomination of lying with male, v. 22 <\/span> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n C. No lying with beast\/standing before beast: defiled, v. 23 <\/span> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n B\u2019. No abominable customs, v. 30a <\/p>\n <\/p>\n C\u2019. To be defiled, v. 30b <\/span> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n A\u2019. I am Yahweh, v. 30c <\/span> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Within this last section are two subsections. <\/span> Verses 20-23 form the first unit, which has two structures operating simultaneously. <\/span> The first is based on the repetition of the word shkbt <\/em> (\u201clying with\u201d), used in only two verses of this chapter (vv. 20, 23). <\/span> Based on this usage, these verses form a small chiasm: <\/p>\n <\/p>\n A. Give seed to neighbor\u2019s wife (defiled; \u201clying-with,\u201d Heb. shkbt <\/em> , v. 20) <\/p>\n <\/p>\n B. Not give seed to Molech, v. 21 <\/span> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n B\u2019. Lie with male as with female, v. 22 <\/span> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n A\u2019. Give your lying to animal (defile; \u201clying-with,\u201d Heb. s hkbt <\/em> , v. 23) <\/span> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n This outline links Molech-idolatry with sodomy, perhaps emphasizing the destruction of seed involved in both. <\/span> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n On the other hand, \u201cI am Yahweh\u201d bisects these verses into two parallel sections: <\/span> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n A. No giving lying-with to seed neighbor\u2019s wife, v. 20 <\/p>\n <\/p>\n A\u2019. No giving seed to Molech, v. 21a <\/span> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n I AM YAHWEH, v. 21b <\/span> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n B. No lying-with with male as with female, v. 22 <\/span> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n B\u2019. No giving your lying-with to animal, v. 23 <\/span> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The first two prohibitions are linked by references to \u201cseed,\u201d and specifically to \u201cgiving seed.\u201d The first \u201cgiving seed\u201d describes adultery (the Hebrew, woodenly translated, is \u201cTo the woman of your neighbor you shall not give your lying-with to seed, to defile with her\u201d), the seed being semen given to another man\u2019s wife; the second use of the phrase is concerned with the idolatrous \u201cgiving seed\u201d to Molech. <\/span> This phrasing forges a link between idolatry and adultery often exploited by the prophets. <\/span> The B sections link homosexual sodomy with bestiality, the parallel that draws howls of protest from today\u2019s gay lobby. <\/span> Presumably, they are similar in that both violate the sexual order established by the creation of Eve. <\/span> Genesis 2 implicitly rejects both bestiality and homosexuality: Adam finds no suitable partner among the beasts, and his suitable partner is a woman not another man. <\/span> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n That leaves verses 24-30 as the final unit of the passage. <\/span> These verses form a complex structure that combines chiastic and parallel elements. <\/span> The frame refers to defilement, and specifically to the defilement of the Canaanites who are about to be spewed out by the land. <\/span> The B sections both use the verb \u201cguard,\u201d and refer to the guarding of laws, enactments, public norms. <\/span> At the center is the threat that anyone who does abominations will be \u201ccut off,& <\/p>\n A. Do not defile <\/strong> <\/span> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Nations became defiled <\/span> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n -defiled land <\/span> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n -land spewed <\/span> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n B. <\/span> Guard <\/span> <\/span> <\/strong> statutes and judgments; no abominations, native and stranger <\/span> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n men did abominations <\/span> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n -land defiled <\/span> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n -land spewed <\/span> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n C. Anyone who does abominations <\/span> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n -Cut off <\/span> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n B\u2019. Do guard <\/span> <\/strong> duty <\/span> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n A\u2019. Do not do abominable customs <\/span> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n So you are not defiled <\/strong> <\/span> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n I am Yahweh <\/span> <\/strong> <\/span> <\/p>\n\n <\/p> <\/p><\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Leavings from a paper on Leviticus 18. Leviticus 18 is a chiastic structure consisting of smaller chiasms. 18:1 is an introductory formula, announcing the beginning of a new section of Leviticus. Verses 2-5 form the first section of the chapter, which repeats \u201cI am Yahweh\u201d three times and also contains a neat small-chiasm of judgment\/statutes […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3021,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4877","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible-ot-leviticus"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nrdquo; the only occurrence in the chapter of that phrase. <\/span> <\/p>\n