Leviticus is such a fun book to read. So many specific rules, and covering a plethora of topics too!
Leviticus 15.2,3 When any man has a discharge from his penis, the discharge is unclean, whether the penis runs with it, or is stopped by it.
-Leviticus 11.1-8 You may eat any land animal that has divided hoofs and that also chews the cud, but you must not eat camels, rock badgers, or rabbits. These must be considered unclean for they chew the cud but do not have divided hoofs. Do not eat pigs. They must be considered unclean for they have divided hoofs but do not chew the cud.
-Leviticus 11.9-12 You may eat any kind of fish that has fins and scales, but anything living in the water that does not have fins and scales must not be eaten. You must not eat them or even touch their dead bodies. You must not eat anything that lives in the water and does not have fins and scales.
Leviticus 11.13-19 You must not eat any of the following birds: eagles, owls, hawks, falcons, buzzards, vultures, crows, ostriches, seagulls, storks, herons, pelicans, cormorants, hoopoes, or bats.
Leviticus 11.20,21 All winged insects are unclean, except those that hop.
Leviticus 15.16 When a man has an emission of semen, he must bathe his whole body and remains unclean until evening.
Leviticus 15.19 When a woman has her monthly period, she remains unclean for seven days. Anyone who touches her will remain unclean until evening.
And my favorite Deuteronomy verses;
Deuteronomy 25.7-10 But if the dead man's brother does not want to marry her, she is to go before the town leaders and say "My husband's brother will not do his duty; he refuses to give his brother a descendant among the people of of Israel." Then the town leaders are to summon him and speak to him. If he still refuses to marry his brother's widow, she is to go up to him in the presence of the town leaders, take off one of his sandals, spit in his face and say "This is what happens to the man who refuses to give his brother a descendant." His family will be known in Israel as 'the family of the man who had his sandal pulled off.'
Deuteronomy 25.11-12 If two men are having a fight and the wife of one tries to help her husband by grabbing hold of the other man's genitals, show no mercy; cut off her hand.
1 comment:
I just can't help but comment here even though I'm certain it will inspire much more discussion on an already over-discussed issue among us...
Okay so if "man was created in God's image" (I need a source here but I don't keep a bible laying around the office), how is it that any part of man can be considered unclean? And why is it that penial discarge, some of which is half the necessary ingredients to creating a new life, which of course results in another being created in God's likeness? Why is saliva not considered unclean in the same sense when it is saliva that is used to defile the dead man's brother that won't marry his brother's widow?
Why are some animals okay to eat when others aren't? Weren't all animals created by God and wasn't man given dominion over them all? (another source is needed here)
Why are some insects unclean when others aren't? What good are those 'clean' insects? What bad are those 'unclean' insects?
Why are periods and ejaculations considered unclean? It's not like the woman can control that and ejaculations are necessary to create life and carry on the human species. Is this saying that the design and functioning of some part of the human body is somehow flawed? How can that be if humans were designed and created by God?
And why is it that a person stays unclean until evening? What's so special about evening that suddenly cleanses a body? Are the unclean chemicals some sort of phototoxin that go inert after sunset?
And what's this stuff about cutting the hand off a woman who tries to help her husband in a fight? Aren't women supposed to serve their husbands at all costs? And why can a widow spit on her brother-in-law after her husband dies but she couldn't have helped her husband in a fight when he was alive? Or is the offense committed when she grabs the other man's genitals? If that's so bad, then there must be some sort of value to a man's genitals, the same thing that, when it discarges, is considered unclean.
Such questions deserve answers! Or could it be that this is perfect evidence that the bible was written (and thought up) by man and isn't actually the word of God at all (at least I don't see how these parts could be). Here's my suspicion: Certain animals are okay to eat because those are the animals that can be provided by the institution (the church) that wrote these words - or can be provided by the lands and waters which the institution controls. By keeping society dependent on these animals, society remains dependent upon the institution and the institution retains its power.
I can't figure out how that applies to insects and some birds so I can only assume that those passages are the result of people's fears. Fear is a powerful motivator, we know that.
These rules reek of control mechanisms. History has showed us that societal control is parmount to an institution's maintenance of power. Hmmmm....interesting.
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