Category Archives: Leviticus

Small in Number, the Temple Tax and Offense, a Good Way

Posted on October 19, 2012 by jamesbradfordpate

There were three issues that stood out to me in last night’s Bible study at church: 1.  The pastor and his wife were talking about a religious retreat that they attended last week.  They met other pastors , and they … Continue reading →

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Hermeneutical Questions After Last Night’s Bible Study

Posted on October 4, 2012 by jamesbradfordpate

My church started its Fall Bible study yesterday.  We’re going through A Fragile Stone, Peter: Jesus’ Friend. I’m having a hard time writing today.  Maybe it’s because I’m tired after seeing Barack Obama do so poorly in last night’s debate.  … Continue reading →

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Convicting or Encouraging?

Posted on September 14, 2012 by jamesbradfordpate

For my post on preaching today, my topic will be the question of whether a message should be convicting or encouraging, or if it can be both.  A sermon that I heard a while back comes to my mind. I … Continue reading →

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Halakah from God? Eating Ordinary Food in Purity?

Posted on August 7, 2012 by jamesbradfordpate

In my latest reading of E.P. Sanders’ Jewish Law from Jesus to the Mishnah, Sanders did two things. 1. Sanders asks a question on page 104: “Did anyone think that halakah was divine and as binding as the biblical law?”  … Continue reading →

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Levine on Leviticus 11

Posted on May 6, 2011 by jamesbradfordpate

In this post, I’ll quote Baruch Levine’s discussion of the rationale behind Leviticus 11’s food laws.  It’s on pages 247-248 of his Jewish Publication Society commentary on Leviticus. “The dietary laws of the Torah institutionalize the basic distinction between pure … Continue reading →

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Problems and Hope Before the Exile; Water

Posted on September 30, 2010 by jamesbradfordpate

1.  In my reading today of Randall Heskett’s Messianism Within the Scriptural Scrolls of Isaiah, the following passage on page 47 stood out to me: [Jacques] Vermeylen suggests that Isaiah 11:1-5, which depends upon the preceding oracles, comes from the … Continue reading →

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The Bright Spot and Skin Color

Posted on September 23, 2009 by jamesbradfordpate

Jacob Neusner, Invitation to Midrash: The Workings of Rabbinic Bible Interpretation (Atlanta: Scholars, 1998) 73. Neusner discusses a passage from the Sifra (third century C.E.), specifically Negaim 1:4. The topic is the laws in Leviticus about the leper, or whatever … Continue reading →

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The Rich Getting Their Hands Dirty

Posted on September 14, 2009 by jamesbradfordpate

Jacob Neusner, The Midrash: An Introduction (Northvale: Jason Aronson, 1990) 59. Neusner quotes Sifra Leviticus, Parashah 7:14:1 (fourth century C.E., according to the Encyclopedia Judaica), which interacts with Leviticus 1:14-17: “The priest shall bring it to the altar, pinch off … Continue reading →

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Leviticus for Toddlers?

Posted on August 27, 2009 by jamesbradfordpate

H.L. Strack and Gunter Stemberger, Introduction to the Talmud and Midrash: Second Edition, trans. and ed. Markus Bockmuehl (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1996) 260. Sifra, Aramaic ‘book’, designates the book of Leviticus, because in the old Jewish school system this was the … Continue reading →

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Beyond Patriarchy

Posted on May 3, 2009 by jamesbradfordpate

I said in Female Offerings that I might wrestle today with the theological ramifications of gendered sacrifices, particularly the issue of why the more important sacrifices had to be male. Was the Old Testament mindset patriarchal? Yes, but the Hebrew … Continue reading →

Posted in Bible, Deuteronomy, Leviticus, Religion | 2 Comments