Chapter Three

A Structural Analysis of Leviticus

Literary analysis of Leviticus indicates that it has twenty-two identifiable units, while our Bibles divide it into twenty-seven chapters. In most cases, these “literary units” are identical with the conventional “chapters,” but in some cases, a unit includes several chapters. In one case, a chapter is divided into two units. Since this book is a literary analysis of the structure of Leviticus, I will sometimes have to refer to the literary units of the text. When I quote or refer to a specific passage, I will use traditional chapter-and-verse notations. In order to make it possible to relate chapter references to units, and visa-versa, here is a simple table:

Table 2: Units and Chapters

Only six of the twenty-two units are not exactly one chapter in length. The first four units all include multiple chapters, while chapter twenty-two is divided between two units. I will explain the reasons for my divisions when I summarize each unit. For now, I will confine myself to the overall significance of the division into twenty-two units. My main argument for working with these units is that they reflect the “natural” division of the text. Without identifying the inherent divisions within the book, there is no way of speaking about its structure. Once the divisions are identified, it is possible to create an overview that reflects the author’s plan.

The plan of Leviticus

  All of the twenty-two units of Leviticus except one can be grouped together into triads, seven triads in all, plus the one singular unit. Here is a table that gives a structural overview of the whole book:

Table 3: Structural Outline of Leviticus

Once the units and triads have been identified, other relationships between parts of the text become apparent. One of the more important of these relationships is common to all of the triads. The middle unit of each triad is a conceptual middle. It can be read as a synthesis between the other two units of the triad. As a lemma to the principle of the conceptual middle, the first and third units of each triad can be read as opposites. Each triad then can be seen in the format of “thesis, antithesis, synthesis” with the synthesis in the middle between the thesis and the antithesis. For example, look at triad G, which consists of chapters 25-27 and units XX-XXII. All three chapter-units deal with different aspects of redemption. Chapter 25 details the laws of redemption connected to the jubilee year. The redemption of land, slaves and debts are civil acts. Their purpose is to ensure social stability, “You shall observe My laws and faithfully keep My rules, that you may live upon the land in security” (25:18). The antithesis of secular redemption appears in unit XXII, chapter 27. It details the redemption of sacrosanct objects which have been dedicated to God. The synthesis between the secular aspect of redemption in unit XX and the redemption of the sacred in XXII appears in the theme of the relationship between God and Israel in unit XXI. This relationship leads to national redemption, facilitated by God. Therefore we can identify triad G as a structural unit and, in a similar manner, each of the other six triads. Here is a preliminary summary of the subjects of the triads, as well as each of the units as part of a triad.

Table 4: Subjects of the Triads and Units

Once the triads have been identified, aspects of the larger plan of the book begin to appear. Six of the seven triads show a strong similarity in the relationship between their first and third units. In triads A, B and D, there is an opposition between holy or divine in the first unit and human or mundane in the third unit. The same opposition is found in triads E, F and G but reversed: the first unit is mundane or human as opposed to the holy/divine third unit. Triad C is a glaring exception. Its content, the impure, indicates that it may be necessary to remove it, just as the lepers are removed from the holy camp. If we ignore triad C for the moment, we are left with the following outline:

Table 5: The Pure Form of Leviticus

We now have two structurally identical blocks of nine units each, which are reflections of each other. (Interestingly, each block has the same structure as the first nine plagues in Exodus, which are also three parallel triads.)  Between the two blocks stands a single unit, XIII, which appears to be a focus or pivot. We are clearly getting closer to the plan. All that remains is to find an overall theme that “fits” the structure as well as explaining the anomaly of triad C. There is a hint in the placement of Lev 19 at the focus. This chapter contains most of the elements of the Decalogue in fragmentary form. It could be a literary representation of the Ark containing the (shattered) stone tablets. That would place it in the “center”, within the Holy of Holies. Following this analogy, triads D and E would be the Holy of Holies, “containing” the Ark. Continuing outward in both directions, triads B and F would represent the outer chamber of the Tent of Meeting, the chamber containing the menorah, the table of the Show-Bread and the incense altar. At the extremes, A and G would be the outer area of the Tabernacle, the courtyard containing the altar upon which the sacrifices were offered. This analogy fits perfectly. The specific objects associated with each area of the Tabernacle are mentioned in the analogous section of the text.

There are still two points to clarify. What is the function of triad C, and why are the two large blocks reversed? A single extension of our analogy answers both questions. We are not looking at a “picture” of the Tabernacle, but rather at a recording of a trip through it. Triads A, B and D record the progress from the outside inward, while triads E, F and G retrace the journey from the inside out. The reversal of direction explains the reversal of the two large blocks: what was on the right going in is on the left going out. Now, for the coup de grace, we can explain triad C. Only the High Priest is allowed to enter the Holy of Holies, and even he only once a year and according to a specific ritual. Before entering the inner sanctum, he is required to fill both chambers with a cloud of smoke. Triad C is a literary smokescreen. Like smoke, it is both there and not there. In order to see the symmetrical structure built around the Ark, we have to ignore, or look through, the smoke screen. Leviticus is a literary conceit constructed according to the path of the High Priest on Yom Kippur. In the following table I have used a color gradient to illustrate the relationships between the units of the book.

Table 6: The Holy Path

[Chapter numbers in parentheses]

The Impure Who Must Leave the Holy Place
(Used as a smokescreen in the text to hide the Holy of Holies)

Now that we have established the overview, we can see how the parts fit into the whole. The format forces our attention on chapter 19, unit XIII, the focus of the book. Because of the obvious importance of this chapter, I have dedicated a large section of this book to analyzing it. For now I want to point out just one structurally-significant element of this unit. Each of the twenty-two units has a clearly identifiable structure. The most common format is like that of the two large divisions of Leviticus, three triads. The structure of Lev 19 is unique in two respects. First it differs in form from all the other units. Second, and more important, it is the only unit in which the author has made a clear effort to define its structural elements for the reader. While the internal division of the other units depends on the reader understanding the subject matter, assisted by a few linguistic hints, unit XIII is pre-divided by the author according to a fixed formula. Each element of this unit ends “I am the Lord” or “I am the Lord your God.” These phrases are simply punctuation marks, dividing the unit into its components. Clearly, it was important to the author that the readers properly identify the structure of unit XIII. Since I discuss this chapter at length elsewhere, I will just lay out its structure here. The fifteen elements of the unit arrange themselves thematically in seven pairs as follows.

Table 7: Structural Outline of Leviticus 19

 There are two large blocks of text separated by a single element, 9. The first block contains four pairs and the second block contains three pairs. If the pairs had been triplets, the structure of this central unit would be absolutely identical to the structure of the book as a whole. One additional factor makes it quite clear that the author did construct the core unit to reflect the structure of the whole. Each individual element in the second block of pairs (10-15) has a solid link to one of the elements in its column in the first block of pairs (1-8). One of the pairs in the first block, like the leper triad, has no connection to the second block. So we can conclude that the core unit, XIII, is the seed or DNA from which the whole of the book grows.

Now let’s see some of the more obvious ways in which the theory of “The Holy Path” explains the features of the Book of Leviticus. The discontinuity between chapters 18 and 20, which according to their content should be successive, is easily explained. Chapter 20 is in the same place on the way out as chapter 18 was on the way in. This same correlation can be seen between other pairs of units, based on the following chart. I will detail the parallels in a separate chapter. For now it should be sufficient to note a few examples. Units VI and XVII both speak of leaving the newborn for seven days. Units IV and XIX contain the only narratives in the book. Units II and XXI describe detailed retribution before God for sins.

Table 8: Paired Units

The 18 units in the nine pairs can also be seen as three pairs of triads (3X2X3).  This is an especially neat arrangement. It is based on the observation that the High Priest visits each triad twice, once on the way in and once on the way out. Moreover, each pair of triads (A and G, B and F, D and E) shares a conceptual realm associated with its relative position, e.g. A and G as the outside pair bring material from the public realm; D and E, the inner pair, from the private realm; and in the middle B and F.

Table 9: The Paired Triads Schematic

Summary

This completes the outline of the formal structure of Leviticus, and we can now summarize it. The description that I have suggested begins in the outer court and reaches the Holy of Holies at the structural center of the book. The flow then reverses itself and finishes at the same place it began. According to this description, the book reads as if the reader enters and exits the Holy of Holies. Since this act is restricted to the High Priest on the Day of Atonement, the text requires the reader to position herself in place of the High Priest. Once the reader has become the priest, she can examine the lepers. The reader, like the priest, must send the lepers out of the holy camp. Once she has done this she can enter the Holy of Holies. If she does not see that sections VII-IX are a smokescreen, she will not see the symmetry of the text and consequently will not know where the Holy of Holies is.