“The Editor was Nodding” A Reading of Leviticus 19 In Memory of Mary Douglas

Abstract

Leviticus 19 was constructed as a true table consisting of two columns and five rows. The columns are inverted parallels; one is ordered from positive to negative and the other from negative to positive. The rows are ordered according to the degree of God’s connection to the specific laws. The five by two table is based on the author’s reading of the Exodus 20 Decalogue as five consecutive pairs according to the division into ten Words that appears in the MT. This arrangement of the Decalogue is “quoted” in Leviticus 19.