TAZRIA “THE RABBI-KILLER”

LEVITICUS 12:1 - 13:59

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“— Conservative Bible Believer

ALL I NEED IS MY BIBLE

וידבר יהוה אל־משה לאמר׃דבר אל־בני ישראל לאמר אשה כי תזריע וילדה זכר 2

ותה תטמא׃ וטמאה שבעת ימים כימי נדת דוביום השמיני ימול בשר ערלתו׃ 3

ושלשים יום ושלשת ימים תשב בדמי טהרה בכל־קדש 4לא־תגע ואל־המקדש לא תבא עד־מלאת ימי טהרה׃

ואם־נקבה תלד וטמאה שבעים כנדתה וששים יום וששת 5ימים תשב על־דמי טהרה׃

ובמלאת׀ ימי טהרה לבן או לבת תביא כבש בן־שנתו 6לעלה ובן־יונה או־תר לחטאת אל־פתח אהל־מועד

אל־הכהן׃

והקריבו לפני יהוה וכפר עליה וטהרה ממקר דמיה זאת 7תורת הילדת לזכר או לנקבה׃

ואם־לא תמצא ידה די שה ולקחה שתי־תרים או שני בני 8יונה אחד לעלה ואחד לחטאת וכפר עליה הכהן וטהרה׃

TAZRIA - LEVITICUS 12

THE NEW MOTHER

• When a woman gives birth to a male child, she shall be unclean 7 days as the days of her niddah.

• On the 8th day, the male child is circumcised. • New mother remains impure for 33 days, she cannot enter the Miqdash or

touch any consecrated thing until her purification is complete. • If she bears a female child, she shall be unclean for “two sevens”, as in her

Niddah • and she shall remain in impure for 66 days.

• When the days of her purification are complete, she shall bring a 1 year old lamb for a burnt offering and a young pigeon or turtle dove for a “sin” offering to the Tabernacle/Temple.

• The priest shall offer them and make kipper on behalf of her, and she shall be cleansed from the flow of her blood

• If she is poor, the male lamb may be reduced to a second bird.

TAZRIABACKGROUND TO THE TEXT

Let them build a Miqdash for Me

that I may dwell among themמקדש

שכנתי

Exodus 25:8

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— Joshua Berman, The Temple

SET APART FOR THE SERVICE OF GOD BY FORMAL, LEGAL RESTR ICT IONS AND LIMITATIONS…ISRAEL IS AM KADOSH N O T B E C A U S E T H E Y A R E M O R E RIGHTEOUS THAN OTHERS, BUT BECAUSE THEY HAVE ENTERED INTO A COVENANT RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD.

What does “Holy” (Kadosh) actually mean?

IMPURITY ASSOCIATED WITH CHILDBIRTH

BACKGROUND TO THE TEXT

• Cultures all around the globe have been found to have impurity connected with human reproduction

• Unique to Israel, this impurity arises from its part in the birth-death cycle that comprises mortality (Maccoby, Ritual and Morality, 49)

• Childbirth is an especially dangerous time period for both mother and baby.

• Egyptian, Anatolia-Hittite, and Mesopotamian cultures all believed that these impurities were caused by demons and that the blood attracted demons, thus they had rituals to appease and/or avert the demons.

• Also, both mother and baby were impure in pagan cultures

• In Israel, the rituals were only performed after the period of impurity and after the most dangerous period had passed.

InUgarit,thereisatextwhichwasusedfor cul6c plays in their temple liturgywhere El, the head of the Canaanitepantheon, impregnates and marriestwowomen.Oneofthesewomengivebirthtotwins,ShacharandShalim,andthe wives and children go into thedesertanderectasanctuary.

JohnC.L.GibsonandGodfreyRollesDriver,CanaaniteMythsandLegends,2nded.(London;NewYork:T&TClarkInternaDonal,2004),28-29

RITUAL OF PAPANIKRI OF KUMMANNI

The patili-priest speaks thus to the woman: “Investigate the means of oracle the sign that occurred to you in the karimmi-sanctuary.” She consults an oracle: If any god is angry with her, she sacrifices to him. Then [the priest] makes two basins into birth stools and a lid for each of them…Then he smears each birth stool and its pegs separately with the blood of two birds. And before the birth stool he offers a flesh-offering twice of two sheep and four birds.

Yitchaq Feder, Blood Expiation in Hittite and Biblical Ritual, 9-10.

TAZRIA

8TH DAY CIRCUMCISION

• Other cultures circumcised (Jer 9:25), but unique to Israel is infant circumcision on the 8th day

• Significance of the 8th day

• Priests, Leper, dedication of the altar, Sukkot

• Shavuot

• Jubilee

• Early believers in Yeshua

JONATHAN MAGONET. "'BUT IF IT IS A GIRL SHE IS UNCLEAN FOR TWICE SEVEN DAYS…' THE RIDDLE OF LEVITICUS 12.5", READING LEVITICUS, PP. 144-153.

WHY IS THE IMPURITY DOUBLED FOR A BABY GIRL?

• Lots of theories…

• Lev 15:24, if a man has intercourse with a woman in her Niddah, he is unclean with her for 7 days in the same manner.

• Lev 14:18, normal intercourse (the two become one flesh) the impurity is only until evening.

• There is a phenomenon that sometimes affects a new-born girl following the withdrawal of the maternal hormones—namely vaginal bleeding (pg 152)

• Thus, the mother receives a 2nd impurity from the female child => 80 days.

WHY DOES THE NEW MOTHER BRING A “SIN” OFFERING?

WHY WAS PAUL OKAY WITH OFFERING A SIN SACRIFICE IN

ACTS 21:20-26?

TAZRIA

WHY A “SIN” OFFERING

• Some rabbis claim that the woman probably swore a rash oath in childbirth.

• But others see a problem with this:

• Leviticus 4:27-28

• Numbers 6:9-11

• Also, note the outcome of Leviticus 12:7…

Could we possibly be misunderstanding ancient Near Eastern context?

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— Jacob Milgrom, Leviticus: A Continental Commentary

VALUES ARE WHAT LEVITICUS IS ALL ABOUT. THEY PERVADE EVERY CHAPTER AND ALMOST EVERY VERSE. MANY MAY BE SURPRISED TO READ THIS, SINCE THE DOMINANT VIEW OF LEVITICUS IS THAT I T C O N S I S T S O N LY O F R I T U A L S . H O W E V E R , UNDERLYING THE RITUALS, THE CAREFUL READER WILL FIND AN INTRICATE WEB OF VALUES THAT PURPORTS TO MODEL HOW WE SHOULD RELATE TO GOD AND TO ONE ANOTHER. ANTHROPOLOGY HAS TAUGHT US THAT WHEN A SOCIETY WISHES TO EXPRESS AND PRESERVE ITS BASIC VALUES, I T ENSCONCES THEM IN RITUALS.

HONOR&

SHAME CULTURE

wernermischke.org

Cleanliness/Purity Faithfulness/Loyalty Benefaction/Strength

Defilement/Impurity Unfaithfulness/Infidelity Frailty/Weakness

Honor

Shame

Acceptance Inclusion

Rejection Exclusion

Moreover, [the priests] shall teach My people the difference between the holy and

the profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.

Ezekiel 44:23

Holy Profane

Clean Unclean

Impurity as Demon Possession

Holiness = Righteousness

Sin ImpurityIsaiah59:1-3Behold, YHVH’s hand is not so short

that it cannot save; nor is His ear so dull that it cannot hear.

But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.

Ezekiel8:5-13And He said to me, “Son of man, do

you see what they are doing, the great abominations which the house of Israel are committing here, to drive Me far from My sanctuary? But yet you will see still greater abominations.”

Leviticus15:31

“Thus you shall keep the sons of Israel separated from their uncleanness, so that they will not die in their uncleanness by their defiling My tabernacle that is among them.”

Numbers19:20

‘But the man who is unclean and does not purify himself from uncleanness, that person shall be cut off from the midst of the assembly, because he has defiled the sanctuary of YHVH; the water for impurity has not been sprinkled on him, he is unclean.

Unintentional SinIntentional, Non-Rebellious Sin Rebellious Sin

• Treason - Death• Num 15:30-31• 1 Kgs 11:26

• Atonable• Lev 5:1, 6:1-7• Short step to

rebellious sin

• Atonable• Unaware of the law• Unaware of

breaking the law• Psalms 19:12-13

1 John 5:17 All unrighteousness is sin, and there is a sin not leading to death

Capital Punishment• Murder,

Adultery, etc• Purges evil

from the midst

Sin, Iniquity, Transgression

Romans 6:23 The wages of sin is death…

WHAT IS KIPPER?

• Lev 5:11-13 - Atonement for sin through grain offering of the poor

• Exod 30:11-16, Num 31:48-54 - Half Shekel• Exod 32:9-14, 30-33 - Mediation/righteousness (Mosheh)• 2 Chron 30:17-20 - Prayer/preparation of heart• **1 Kings 8:46-52 - Prayer towards the Temple (even

when destroyed)• Num 16:44-48 - Through incense• Lev 16:22 - Goat escaping to the wilderness• Num 25 - Death of the guilty leadership• Prov 16:6 - Mercy and truth• Isaiah 27:9-11 - Physical punishment • Ninevah, Babylonian Exile• Yeshua healing

Atonement & Forgiveness without Blood

Exodus 29:36-37

“Each day you shall offer a bull as a sin offering (חטאת) for atonement, and you shall purify (חטאת) the altar when you make atonement for it, and you shall anoint it to consecrate it. “For seven days you shall make atonement for the altar and consecrate it; then the altar shall be most holy, and whatever touches the altar shall be holy.Leviticus 8:15 Next Moses slaughtered it and took the blood and with his finger put some of it around on the horns of the altar, and purified (יחטא) the altar. Then he poured out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar and consecrated it, to make atonement for it.

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— The Audience

BUT WHAT ABOUT HEBREWS 9:22?

AND ACCORDING TO THE LAW, ONE MAY ALMOST SAY, ALL THINGS ARE CLEANSED WITH BLOOD, AND WITHOUT SHEDDING OF BLOOD THERE IS NO FORGIVENESS.

7 Day Journey

3 Week Journey

4 Month Journey

LEVITICUS 4:27-33, 6:25-29

BRINGING THE CHATTA’T - PURIFICATION OFFERING

• Bring your offering to the Miqdash/Mishkan

• Lay your HAND on the head of the purification offering and slay the offering.

• Notice: no confessions, no ritual formula to recite. Done in silence!

• The priest collects the blood, takes to the altar, places some of its blood on the horns of the altar, the remainder is poured out at the base of the altar.

• The suet-fat is burnt on the altar for a soothing aroma to YHWH.

• The priest who offers it shall eat the flesh of the animal, he may share it with his fellow male priests.

Single-hand hand leaning • Performed with larger animals of the olah, shelamim, chatta't, and

asham offerings. Not done on bird or grain offerings• Ritual action connecting offerer with animal -> links offerer as

recipient of benefits• Due to the animal’s size, and there being multiple animals in the

tabernacle, the possibility to make mistake could occur• Thus “this is mine”, not “this is me” – eliminates confusion of

ownership• Judaism teaches binyan av’ to always use 2 hands based off Lev

16 (actual text in Lev 1-6 speaks of single hand).

“The Gesture of Hand Placement in the Hebrew Bible and in Hittite Literature”Author(s): David P. Wright

Hand-Leaning Ritual

Function of the chatta't offering What is chatta't

• Case of the parturient (Lev 12) • Case of the Nazarite with sudden death (Num 6) • "Waters of purification", (Num 8:7)

What does the blood actually do? • Cleanses the altar (Lev 8:14-15)

• removes shameful stain, restores honor to the House

• Numbers 6:13-14. cf. Acts 21 • Higher office, greater cost • Lower income, lower cost

Holy of Holies

Holy Place

ArkAltar of Incense

Table of Shewbread

Menorah

Laver

Altar of Burnt

Offering

Courtyard

Penetration of Sin/Impurity

Involuntary Individual Violation

Involuntary Communal Violation

Brazen, Unrepentant

Violation

What if impurity is not removed from altar?

• Ezekiel 8:5-6, Isa 59:1-3, Lev 15:31, Rom 6:23

Meat must be eaten

• Justice and Righteousness to the priest (Lev 10:16-20)

The Ger is required to sacrifice as well

Forgiveness isn't just about removing guilt, it is about restoring honor!

Function of the chatta't offering

TAZRIA

CONCLUSIONS WITH THE TORAH PORTION

• New mother has not committed a sin. Her human condition of mortality has become visible and God is distinct from humanity.

• Due to her prolonged impurity, she must bring an offering to cleanse the Miqdash.

• Rituals in Leviticus are for the maintenance of God’s presence in the Mishkan, Israel did not have to protect YHWH from demons.

• The “sin” sacrifice is actually a purification offering. Yeshua’s shedding of blood was to enact a Jubilee-release from sin.

• There is no conflict with Paul offering a sin sacrifice in Acts 21:20-26.

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