Page 76 - Pentateuch - Student Textbook

Study Section 10: Pentateuch Part IV:
Unclean and Clean: Holy and Common: Leviticus 11-15, 18-22

10.1 Connect

As we enter a new section of Leviticus, we must notice the connection with what has gone
immediately before. Nadab and Abihu died because they did not “distinguish between the
holy and the common, between the unclean and the clean (10:10).” Teaching Israel this
difference was the main purpose of the priests. The activity of sacrifice was in itself a teaching
tool of the priest to lead each Israelite to God. Our new section uses the words clean and
unclean, along with similar words, over and over. Before and after this section the words are used only a
few times. A proper understanding of clean and unclean was essential for the people to come to God.
Yet, for us, these chapters tend to be puzzling. We have different concepts of “clean and unclean”
depending on our culture. Because of cultural differences we then think of certain people also as “clean
and unclean.”

The topics of unclean and clean (Lev. 11-15) and holy and common (Lev. 18-22) are divided by chapters
on the most important day in the Jewish religious calendar, the Day of Atonement. Yet clean/unclean
and holy/common are the two types of sins requiring forgiveness on the day of atonement. In Lev; 18-
22, the words “clean” and “unclean” fade into the background. They still occur occasionally, but the
references mostly connect with the previous section. (See 17:15 and 18:19 for example.) The new topic
is holiness in everyday activities.

One sentence consistently marks these chapters: “I am the LORD your God.” Before these chapters it
occurs in 11:44, 45. The theme continues through chapter 26, but other elements are added. Over and
over God gives his people instructions based on their relationship with him (18:4, 5, 6, 21, 30; 19:3, 4,
10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 25, 28, 30, 31, 32, 34, 36, 37; 20:8, 24; 21:12; 22:3, 8, 9, 16, 29, 31, 32, 33). This is how
a person lives who knows YHWH. These things distinguish his people from the other nations (18:3).
“Remember,” God says, how you were treated by the Egyptians” (cf. 19:36).

If we go back to the death of Nadab and Abihu, we remember the main function of the priest is to
distinguish between “the holy and the common” and between “the unclean and clean (10:10).” Moses
explains the second distinction first in chapters 11 through 17. Then he takes up the first distinction
which is actually the more important. Our English versions often translate these two Hebrew words
“holy” and “common” differently, yet their meanings are well expressed in these simple ways. In its
noun form, “common” simply means “every day.” Later in the OT in 1 Sam. 21:5, it is used about
journeys that are “not holy.” The terms are opposites. What is holy is “special.” What is common is just
that, “common.”

10.2 Objectives

1. You will become familiar with the categories of clean and unclean.

2. You will be introduced to a variety of theories about clean and unclean.

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