Behind the Scenes of a Priestly Polemic: Leviticus 14 and its Extra-Biblical Parallels

Abstract

This article examines the relationship between disease, pollution and sin in the Priestly writings, focusing on the rites for the purification of ṣara'at in Leviticus 14. In particular, it evaluates the contested question of whether this text is implicitly polemical in light of extra-biblical texts dealing with similar subject matter, especially a ritual for the treatment of skin disease from Emar. These comparisons enable a more precise characterization of the Priestly agenda reflected in Lev 14 and suggest that the traditional notion of pollution in Israel may have been deliberately reinterpreted.