Leviticus - Concordia Commentary

Concordia Commentary

by John W. Kleinig

In This Volume Leviticus may not be the obvious first choice for Old Testament reading for the faithful today, but in this original translation Rev. Dr. John W. Kleinig makes a case for the fundamental importance of the Levitical codes of purity and holiness even in today's church. God speaks in Leviticus to give Israel a divine service and a method to fruitfully receive God's holiness through the sacrificial rites. Kleinig explores how each chapter of Leviticus finds its fulfillment in Jesus Christ and the present worship live of the church. Using the method of ritual analysis, he examines the agents, enactment, and theological purpose of each of the Levitical laws. Features Sectional Essays
About the series The Concordia Commentary A Theological Exposition of Sacred Scripture is written to enable pastors and teachers of the Word to proclaim the Gospel with greater insight, clarity, and faithfulness to the divine intent of the Biblical text. The series will cover all the canonical books of the Old and New Testament, with an original translation and meticulous grammatical analysis of the Hebrew, Aramaic, or Greek of each text. The foremost interpretive lens centers on the unified proclamation of the person and work of Christ across every Scriptural book. The Commentary fully affirms the divine inspiration, inerrancy, and authority of Scripture; Each passage bears witness to the confession that God has reconciled the world to Himself through the incarnation, ministry, death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ His Son. Authors expose the rich treasury of language, imagery, and thematic content of the Scripture, while supplementing their work with additional research in archaeology, history, and extrabiblical literature. Throughout, God's Word emanates from authors careful attention and inculcates the ongoing life of the Church in Word, Sacrament, and daily confession.

Genres: Theology

656 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 2003

Reviews

[R.L.S.D · Rating 5 out of 5]

Seven ideas from this commentary that will contribute to my religious imagination.

1. Leviticus is Divine speech more than any other book in the Bible - almost every section begins with "The Lord spoke to Moses."

2. Many attempts have been made to define the concept of holiness - they all founder because holiness has to do with God's being, that which makes Him from all other beings. It cannot be defined by analogy with anything in the order of creation, whether by similarity or dissimilarity, by excellence or transcendence. The OT Scriptures therefore do not attempt to define God's holiness in the abstract, but treat it as something that is experienced by personal contact and ritual interaction with him at the sanctuary.

3. (For those who've read East of Eden) The sentence "You are/will be/shall be holy" can be read polysemously - a statement of fact (You *are* holy), a promise (You *will be* holy), and a demand (You *shall be* holy). (Steinbeck tied himself in knots unnecessarily.)

4. Judged by ancient standards, Leviticus is a literary masterpiece.

5. Whether we acknowledge it or not, all humans are creatures of ritual (a word that evokes pattern and rhythm and beauty) In Leviticus God *speaks* and by that Word institutes and empowers rituals so that they actually accomplish something. God's Word -not our emotions- is what makes a ritual alive or dead.

6. Leviticus is all about the institution of the Divine Service and the creation of what Kleinig refers to as a liturgical community - a people whose life walking with God is defined by His ordering of time for them - cycles of fasting and feasting, high holy days of celebration, and a weekly Sabbath at which He serves them a meal for their sustenance. The critical distinction between pagan and Christian ritual is that in the former, worshippers provide for their deity, whereas through Christian rituals the Deity is actually providing for us. (My church refers to all Sunday services as Divine Service so as to emphasize the fact that God is the primary actor serving us on Sunday mornings - although our active worship of Him is a part of that service, worship can *only* refer to our activity.)

7. The entire book is concerned with forgiveness and atonement - more than any other book of the Bible.

[Chad · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve used this commentary on and off through the years, but this is the first time I’ve worked my way all the way through it. In preparation for every episode of my podcast, 40 Minutes in the Old Testament, I consulted it. Kleinig is thorough, clear, practical, Christological, and scholarly. If there’s one commentary on Leviticus you need, this is it.

[Adam Chandler · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great treatment of an often neglected book in the Old Testament. Kleinig makes the point in the introduction that this book of rules is meant as a book of holiness for God's people. It is the Lord who has made them holy, therefore they must act holy and offer sacrifices to retain their holiness from sin. Each section of the book follows the format:

Translation
Textual Notes
Structure
Ritual Agents, Materials, Occasion, Enactment
Theological Function
Fulfillment by Christ

This helps explain what is going in the text and the historical situation of the Israelites before putting it into context with Jesus.