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2013-05-23
Oh those sneaky priests! Traditionally, Moses was the attributed author to the Torah because it says so right in the Torah! However, once historians decided to take the same critical approach to the bible that they took on other historical works, they found that this couldn’t possibly be true. As the Documentary Hypothesis suggests, large portions of the Torah are the work, not of the authors of Genesis or the first half of Exodus, but of a third and unique set of authors, the Priestly Source. As the name suggests, the Priestly Source is the work of various priests and the evidence of their contribution is found in their writing style. Compared to the anthropomorphism of the Genesis stories, or the heroic tales in the first half of Exodus, the priests are much more concerned about priestly duties, laws, sacrifices, and genealogies. This source also uses Hebrew words that are more recent than the older portions of Genesis and Exodus, and even the title used for God is different in their work.
And since nearly all of Leviticus has been about priestly duties, it’s safe to say that nearly all of Leviticus can be attributed to the Priestly Source. If you want more proof, Leviticus 22:14-16 makes two new laws that are very much in the favor of the priests. Priests, who are given all the best food to eat, are not allowed to give any of their food away to commoners, and if a commoner does accidentally eat a priest’s food, he must pay the priest back at five times the food’s value!
It’s good to be the priest!
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