וידבר יהוה אל־משא לאמר

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

God’s Holy Name

Since this is my first entry, I am going to offer an explanation of the capital word Lord here so that lay readers can understand what I am doing; it is a convention very common in religion, but not one everyone knows about.

As in many English Bibles, the word Lord in all capital letters indicates that in Hebrew, the ancient name of the God of Israel is used. I will use it now (and only now; skip to the next paragraph if you already understand and want to skip reading God’s name for yourself)—or at least, the closest we can come to it, in our modern scholarship: Yahweh.

We are certain of the four consonants in this word, but less certain of the vowels. This is, in large part, because it is customary, especially in Judaism, to refrain from speaking the name aloud, because of its extreme holiness. Instead, when reading the Torah aloud, Jews (and some Christians) usually say adonai, which means, “my Lord.” Consequently, most English Bibles translate the word as “Lord,” so that the text can be useful for anyone who wants it, but write it in small capital letters so that it is clear what the actual Bible text says.

Some translations, like the original and New Jerusalem Bibles, use the holy name as I wrote it above, and much of English language scholarship will do the same for the sake of precision. A few others, especially older translations or those intended for particular Christian groups because of their theology, will say “Jehovah,” which is a mix-up of the consonants from the holy name with the vowels of adonai. I will continue to use Lord instead, so anyone can be comfortable reading this.

And

In Hebrew narrative, it is common to start an new section with the word “and.” This is part of Hebrew’s time system. Technically speaking, there is no tense in ancient Hebrew grammar (although there are forms that, despite having other purposes, are often used for past, present, and future). The “and,” then, is used to tell the reader that what comes next is the very next part of the same story. In a way, it can feel very much like a child’s way of telling a story in English, but its use in Hebrew is one sign of a skilled and fluent author.

Because it sounds so childish and repetitive in English, most Bible translators look for ways to vary the conjunction or leave it out altogether, making the language seem more natural. Both the NRSV and the NIV versions skip the “and” here, while the NASB and the Amplified Bible both translate this little particle as “Then”. I like keeping the “and”. While it sounds awkward, it does so in a way that simply sounds like a non-native English speaker, something I myself have been in other languages, without sacrificing my ability to communicate. If it serves, then, as a constant reminder that the Bible was written in other languages, that is a benefit, in my opinion. Occasionally, too, the process of making it too natural in English obscures something in the narrative, as in Jonah 1:3—a topic for another day.

(But if you want to, go read the first few verses of Jonah, and compare: What if verse 3 starts with the word “And”? What if it starts with “But”? How does that change the flow of the story?)

In Leviticus 19:1, like most places, this little word simply tells us that what is coming is linked to what came before. It is the next thing that happens in the story.

Discontinuity

That link makes the rest of the verse surprising. There is very little narrative in the book of Leviticus; most of it is made up of God talking to Moses, and occasionally Aaron. In Leviticus 10, there is a short story where two of the High Priest Aaron’s four sons, Nadab and Abihu, enact an incense offering to God that, somehow, is not acceptable; they die because of it. (In the same chapter, Aaron’s other two sons have made a mistake about the details of a sacrifice of a goat, but are spared.) At the beginning of chapter 16, the death of Aaron’s first two sons is referenced as the immediate preceding event before the God’s instructions in that chapter.

But in that chapter, God is speaking to Moses. Chapter 17 begins by saying, “And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying…” And then chapter 18 begins the same way. And now, Chapter 19. Chapter 20 will as well.

The words of the Bible came hundreds of years before the chapter numbers and divisions. It is no wonder, then, that the ancient editors chose to begin new chapters in these places. The words “And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying…” give us a hint that a new section is beginning. This may be a change of topic; it might also indicate a section of instructions that God gave to Moses at a different time in the narrative than the one that came before. This latter is made more likely because of the story of Aaron’s two sons; it takes place in the narrative in chapter 10, but five other chapters full of instructions are given before the narrator says God is addressing Moses directly afterward. When do chapters 11–15 take place? The Bible does not make that clear, but it looks, in any case, like the instruction in Leviticus is not recorded in narrative chronological order. Something else must dictate the sequence of the book.

Sequence

There are, of course, lots of theories about the structure of Leviticus. The one I find most helpful—at least so far—comes from a British anthropologist whose name was Mary Douglas. In a short article on the laws about the types of animals that can and cannot be eaten, she says that she thought the book of Leviticus was written in a loop. The book starts with offerings to God, and near the end, talks about things that belong to God. Later it discusses diseases and blemishes in chapters 11–15, and it will do so again in chapters 21–22. There are sections about sexuality and child sacrifice in chapters 18 and 20. That leaves us with chapter 19 as the center of the book, the very heart of what makes the book of Leviticus important and holy. (And since Leviticus is the middle book of the Pentateuch, it is also the heart of the whole Torah.)

(Douglas, 1993, page 11)

This is why I began with chapter 19 when I decided to memorize and comment on the book of Leviticus. It is the heart of everything in the Hebrew Bible, and in the chapters ahead, I will say why.

Douglas, M. (1993). The forbidden animals in Leviticus. Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, 59, 3–23.