Priestly Literature

This article argues that in Ben Sira 50 the high priest is a representative office, not a person. That office sums up and binds together in worshipful unity (at-one-ment), through liturgical and civil duties, multiple identities: those of Adam, Israel, Lady Wisdom, God the Creator and the whole cosmos. The high priest is a multiple personality order. Chapter 50 is the literary and theological climax of the work. And the text is a vital witness to the shape of Israel's Temple theology in the Hellenistic and Persian periods, and to the way the Pentateuch was read and interpreted.

The topic of the Jubilee is a significant one, both in size and importance.  In the present paper, I seek to trace its emergence and evolution in the course of Scripture, from Ararat to Sinai, Jericho to Judah, Naboth’s vineyard to Jeremiah’s field, and Nazareth to the new heavens and earth.  The Jubliee is, in a nutshell, a declarative act of restoration.  It is an eschatological peak in Israel’s calendar, and, although it is typically viewed as a priestly abstraction, it actually turns out to be reflected in the ebb and flow of Israel’s history.

In terms of its theological and cultic significance, the Jubilee is grounded in three important principles:  the perfection of God’s plans, the purity of God’s person, and the sovereignty of God over the earth.  The Jubilee cycle is first initiated in the late 15th cent. BC in the aftermath of Jericho’s fall, once the land of Canaan has been divided among the Israelites.  While the land of Israel is a microcosm of God’s new Creation, it is nevertheless part of a fallen world.  As such, it is subject to the normal process of decay, decline, and pollution, and must be ‘rebooted’ (in Yom Kippur style) every seven weeks of years in order to bring the land of Israel back into line with its divine blueprint.  Aside from such reboots, Israel would go the way of the world, as is depicted in Nebuchadnezzar’s colossus.  The land would become progressively polluted, disordered, and removed from Yahweh’s Edenic ideal, until it reached a point of total de-creation and returned to dust.  Grounded in the day of Atonement, the Jubilee provides an antidote to such entropic decline.  But, of course, a reboot can never advance Israel beyond her initial condition.  The notion of a Jubilee ‘cycle’ therefore seems inherently frustrated, plagued by a kind of Qoheleth-like futility.

In the NT, Jesus cranks the notion of a Jubilee up a notch.  For Jesus, the Jubilee is not merely a reset of Israel’s initial conditions;  it is a reversion of all Creation to its initial (Edenic) condition.  As such, Jesus’ Jubilee is inextricably bound up with the defeat of Satan and the release of Israel and the nations from Satan’s dominion.  It is set against the backdrop of a chaotic wilderness, a worldwide day of atonement, and a cosmic showdown with the world’s powers and principalities, all of which notions are latent in ‘the Nazarean pericope’ (Luke 4.16-21), and are inherently connected with the person of Melchizedek and the conclusion of the Jubilee cycle in Second Temple literature.

The analysis of Ex 16 and Gen 1:1–2:4a shows that the Sabbath played no part in the early literary strata of the priestly text (P 1). Both the seven-day-pattern of the creation account and the priestly portions of the Manna story belong to a late priestly editorial layer (P 2). In Ex 16, this priestly editor has reworked a late dtr Grundbestand, which had already established a connection between the Manna and the Sabbath and can be linked with the Sabbath commandment in Ex 20:8–10. In contrast, the earliest priestly references to the Sabbath belong to the Holiness Code (Lev 17–26), while the priestly Sabbath texts in the books of Gen and Ex are entirely of late priestly origin (P 2).

The chief aim of this essay is to posit a well-known Mesopotamian royal and divine epithet, ušumgallu "great dragon," as the source behind Ezekiel's enigmatic description of Pharaoh in 29.3, hattannīn haggādôl, "the great dragon." This relationship sheds new light and meaning on an old problem: why does Ezekiel refer to Pharaoh as a dragon? Rather than viewing this prophetic expression as a pejorative, the cognate evidence argues for the converse by rooting it in an enduring tradition of regal titles. Replicating Akkadian ušumgallu (Sumerian UŠUM.GAL) as efficiently as possible and drawing upon Israelite cosmological history (viz. Gen 1.21a), Ezekiel feigned including Pharaoh within a venerable, long line of Mesopotamian kings and deities to receive this title. Instead, and as is characteristic of Ezekiel's rhetoric, he upended the putative associations of the "great dragon," thereby exposing its true subordinate position under the hegemony of YHWH

The research presented in this book aims to interpret Exod. 3:14 within the context of Exodus and its literary composition. The story of how this verse was received in the West shows that it has more often than not been read through the lens of its Greek and Latin translations and almost systematically taken out of the literary context it belongs to. This thesis views and interprets Exod. 3:14 in light with the pericope of the burning bush (Exod. 3:1-4:18) and links it to the other two parts of the book of Exodus where God/YHWH reveals and explains his name to Moses (Exod. 6:2-7:7; 33-34). The detailed exegesis of these three passages leads to the identifying of four aspects of the revelation of the divine name, which corresponds to four singular moments of the composition of the book.

Anthropologists and biblical scholars have long sought to understand the rationale for the categorization of animals in Leviticus 11.  The text itself provides no overt answer; rather, it presents the reader with a systematic taxonomy.  This paper seeks to demonstrate how the priestly authors conceptualize ṭāmēʾ (unclean”) and šeqeṣ (“detestable thing”) as identifications for different sets of animals in Leviticus 11.  The system of differentiation and classification itself, as it is expressed in the compositional layers of Leviticus 11, provides the best way forward for determining the Priestly justification for distinguishing between permissible and impermissible animals for eating.  After tracing the compositional history of Leviticus 11, I argue that the taxonomy has a clear focus on land quadrupeds, which may hint at the agenda of the Priestly authors, namely to theologically undergird Israel’s sacrificial practices.  Additionally, the taxonomy directly corresponds to the systematic ordering of the world in Genesis 1, reflecting the Priestly ideal that Temple life is woven into the fabric of the created cosmos.

The Hebrew Bible contains a variety of traditions concerning which meat cuts from animal sacrifices comprised the "priestly portion. " The variant textual traditions invite questions related to the historical situations that gave rise to these traditions and fostered their incorporation in the present form of the Pentateuch. This article identifies these traditions and explores questions of priority and provenance, first, from text-critical and source-critical perspectives, and, second, by considering the traditions in light of textual, iconographic, and zooarchaeo-logical data from the broader ancient Near Eastern world. Text-critical and source-critical approaches highlight the complexity of the issue and affirm two dominant systems: one assigning the hindlimb to the priests and another the forelimb, presumably from the right side of the animal in both cases. Ancient Near Eastern texts, iconography, and archaeology suggest that the origins of both traditions stretch deep into the Late Bronze and Iron Ages, the forelimb tradition perhaps the earlier of the two and rooted in southern regions, and the hindlimb tradition rooted in northern regions. A point of coalescence is identified geographically in the southern Levant and chronologically in the Iron Age II, con-comitant with the rise of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. In this light, any assumption that Priestly cultic literature is a unified, postexilic, Jerusalem-centered corpus may need to be reexamined. An important aspect of the Israelite sacrificial system, as described in the Hebrew Bible, was the provision of the "priestly portion. " As in other societies in which sacrifice was a fundamental aspect of the cult, this allowance-a portion of the meat, grain, or other offered substance-served to maintain the sacrificial JBL 138, no. 2 (2019): 263-284 doi: http://dx.

Dieser wichtige Beitrag zur Pentateuchforschung zeigt paradigmatisch, wie aus Gen 14 die politisch-geographischen und aus Gen 15 die verheißungstheologischen Konzepte in Gen 17 und der Endkompositionsschicht aufgenommen und spezifisch umgeprägt werden. Die Hypothese einer Priestergrundschrift wird für die Genesis ad acta gelegt und Gen 17 stattdessen als Schluss-Stein gewürdigt, der eigens für die endkompositionelle Systematisierung der Genesis im unmittelbaren Vorfeld der Veröffentlichung der Tora (um 400 v.Chr.) geschaffen worden ist und das biblische Abrahambild nachhaltig bestimmt.

This publication is the first complete obituary of the Košice Archdiocese. The book contains the names of almost 1,700 diocesan priests, bishops, deacons, and seminarians who have died since the founding of the diocese to this day (1804 - 2022). The book is intended primarily for prayer for these deceased. All data have been verified by several years of historical-archival research, so this obituary is a reliable and authentic source for the cultivation of historical memory and Košice's identity.

Ez a kiadvány a Kassai Főegyházmegye első teljes nekrológiumja. A könyv közel 1700 egyházmegyei pap, püspök, diakónus és kispap nevét tartalmazza, akik az egyházmegye megalapítása óta máig hunytak el (1804-2022). A könyv elsősorban ezekért a halottakért való imádkozáshoz szolgál. Minden adat többéves történeti-levéltári kutatás eredménye, ezért a nekrológium egyben a történelmi emlékezet és a kassai identitás ápolásának autentikus és hiteles forrása.

Diese Publikation ist das erste vollständige Nekrologium der Erzdiözese Košice (Kaschau). Das Buch enthält die Namen von fast 1.700 Diözesanpriestern, Bischöfen, Diakonen und Seminaristen, die seit Gründung der Diözese bis heute (1804 - 2022) verstorben sind. Das Buch ist vor allem zum Gebet für diese Verstorbenen bestimmt. Alle Daten wurden durch mehrjährige historisch-archivische Forschung verifiziert, daher ist dieses Nekrologium eine zuverlässige und authentische Quelle für die Pflege des historischen Gedächtnisses und der Identität von Košice.

Priestly leadership according to the Book of Leviticus emerges subtly from the narrative of history led by God and by the specific way in which this narrative presents the legislation. According to the two-tiered introductory formula (see, e.g., Lev 1:1–2), the prescriptions stem from divine authority and hence are unquestionable. Thus, the leading role of the priests as indispensable intermediaries, deciders, and teachers together with the related privileges appears to be an eternal concept. However, the close connection of priestly leadership to the cult at the sanctuary led to an almost immediate break-off after the destruction of the Jerusalem temple by the Romans in 70 CE. As the Torah replaced the temple, the leadership moved to those who transmitted and interpreted the written sanctuary. Members of priestly families no longer executed their original tasks; they kept their leading role only if they joined the movement of rabbinic scholarship.

This article responds to two gaps in the scholarship on the priestly or Aaronic blessing of Num 6,24-26. First, prior research has identified the later societal mediums through which the priestly blessing was performed, whereas the author of this article instead attempts to clarify the origins of the literary form of the blessing itself. Second, many have noticed that Num 6,24-26(27) diverges from P’s style, but have not provided a convincing argument for the tradition of its authors. Through a lexical and ideological analysis, the author argues that Holiness (H) priests adopted the form of a common divine blessing from the epistolary genre in order to supplement and revise P.

Wstęp: Od przynajmniej 150 lat dokument kapłański (P) znajduje się w centrum zagadnień związanych z autorstwem i przesłaniem Pięcioksięgu 2. Co prawda, w XX wieku ustępował w przyciąganiu zainteresowania dokumentom uważanym wówczas za starsze, jak Jahwista (J) czy Deuteronomista (D), jednak ostatnie dziesięciolecia przyczyniły się do docenienia roli i wkładu teologicznego P w finalną postać Pentateuchu. Dokument kapłański przestał być postrzegany jako zasadniczo zbiór technicznych i rytualnych norm kultycznych. Badacze, także dzięki inspiracjom płynącym spoza biblistyki, jak studium rytuału, badania antropologiczne, etnograficzne i kulturoznawcze, rozpoznali w schematycznej i silnie skoncentrowanej tematycznie wokół świątyni i kultu literaturze kapłańskiej pokłady znaczeń kosmologicznych, antropologicznych i teologicznych. Nowych inspiracji do studiowania kapłańskiego piśmiennictwa dostarczyło też załamanie się klasycznej hipotezy dokumentów Pięcioksięgu (J, E, D, P).

W tych nowych warunkach warto na nowo zdefiniować dokument kapłański (P) i jego miejsce w kompozycji Tory.

Exact days are rarely identified in Scripture. Events we might think of as highly significant--the coronation of kings, victories in battle, etc.--are not assigned to particular days. Events of particular concern to the priesthood, however, are. The sanctuary is like a clock which was assembled in the wilderness and deposited in Jerusalem, and, when the Biblical narrative enters its vicinity, day-stamps frequently appear. As such, the presence of day-stamps in Scriptural texts has the potential to tell us about their place of composition and/or preservation, and reflects the way in which time was kept in the sanctuary, measured by its sacrificial and liturgical timetable.

Purity is a cultural construct that had a central role in the forming and the development of religious traditions in the ancient Mediterranean. This volume analyzes concepts, practices and images associated with purity in the main cultures of Antiquity, and discusses from a comparative perspective their parallel developments and transformations. The perspective adopted is both synchronic and diachronic; the comparative approach takes into account points of contact and mutual influences, but also includes major transcultural trends. A number of renowned specialists contribute a large variety of perspectives and approaches, combining archaeology, epigraphy and social history; in addition, particular attention is given to concepts of purity in ancient Israel and early Judaism as a ‘test-case’ of sorts. Through its extensive coverage, the volume contributes decisively to the present discussion about the forming of religious traditions in the ancient Mediterranean world.

Abstract: Num 16 is a composite rebellion narrative that consists of three different strands: a non-P story of Dathan and Abiram and two stories with priestly flavor – one concerning the 250 chieftains of Israel and one involving Korah with
the Levites. A redaction-critical analysis suggests that the first two stories had existed separately and were combined by a redactor responsible for the addition of the passage about Korah and the Levites. The layers of the 250 chieftains
and Korah represent, respectively, two phases of the Zadokites‹ struggle for their priestly prerogatives in the Jerusalem temple against the elders of the community and the powerful Levites in the Persian period. Along with those layers, Zadokite compositional and redactional passages are found throughout Exodus-Leviticus-Numbers and focus mainly on the Zadokites‹ own socio-religious interests. These passages are located in post-Priestly strata, constituting the latest layers in the Pentateuch.

For know the controversial history of the Druids in the Celtic world, will investigate the sources of its origin, through stories of classic texts and medieval legends of Gaul, Britain and Ireland. His role in Celtic society surpassed the religious sphere, covering war, politics, medicine and the law. Almost unknown is the participation of women in this institution.

forthcoming in: The Textual History of the Bible from the Dead Sea Scrolls to the Biblical Manuscripts of the Vienna Papyrus Collection: Papers from the Fifteenth International Symposium of the Orion Center for the Study of the Dead Sea Scrolls and Associated Literature, Cosponsored by The University of Vienna Institute for Jewish Studies and The Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies,10–13 April, 2016, ed. Ruth A. Clements, Russell E. Fuller, Armin Lange, and Paul Mandel (Studies on the Texts of the Desert of Judah 137; Leiden: Brill, 2022), 219–240

The paper is devoted to one ostracon from Masada. It offers a new interpretation of the name that was part of the so-called “Lots” and suggests that it derives from Greek. This reading positions the ostracon as part of a large group of names that comprised the onomasticon of Judaea during the Hellenistic and Early Roman periods: the nicknames and, more notably, the masqueraded nicknames. Moreover, the paper further reflects on the physiognomic aspect of the nickname under discussion in the context of the “physiognomic consciousness” of the period. Such nicknames formed statutory markers, both in Judaea and Rome, most notably amongst the elite circles. In addition, they were most popular in military institutions and even more so among close militia groups, in particular during periods of crisis such as the days leading up to and during the revolt. The paper suggests that these extreme conditions served as a catalyst and were conducive to the large number of nicknames uncovered at Masada.
Finally, archeological data, revised and updated through advanced testing and dating methods, has not provided a clear-cut answer. Although most scholars believe that the Bar Kokhba Revolt did not spread to the Galilee, there are others who consider this to be a realistic scenario. In this article, I focus on the latter point of view, and seek to present a comprehensive review of the data, accumulated from a wide range of studies, in support of this theory. I also provide possible interpretations of references to places in the Galilee linked to the revolt, as echoed in the literature of the Talmudic sages. In addition, I review archeological findings from the Galilee, albeit scarce, that relate to this period. Above all, I focus on new evidence emerging from studies undertaken of the Galilee hiding complexes that provides a valuable, comparative perspective in relation to the Judean hiding complexes that have been dated to the time of the revolt. With respect to these hiding complexes, there is value in further examination of their geographical distribution across the Galilee, as well as an analysis of archeological findings unearthed there. For example, recent excavations undertaken in two ancient settlements in the Galilee have uncovered evidence pointing to the period of the revolt. This further research may shed significant light on the Galilee’s part; even if the Galilee may not have taken part in this event, hiding complexes were prepared for the possibility it would, like in the Judea region.

This article presents the evidence that Num 20:1–13, 22–29; 27:1–13; 36:1–10; and Deut 32:48-52 were Holiness (H) scribal contributions that represent the language and conceptuality of the Holiness core of Lev 17–26. H has formulated and deposited for posterity its own enduring version of the Hexateuch narrative by presenting Moses’ death outside the land and the second wilderness generation’s assured entry into the land as direct fulfillments of Yhwh’s covenant with the people of Israel in Lev 17–26.

The paper was read in June 2015 at Velletri's congress dealing with the relationship between food and holy,  It attempts to analyze the priestly shares in the Bible, as described in the Book of Leviticus 6-7 as well as in 1 Sam 2. 

The paper has eventually seen the light. You can quote accordingly the items listed among the papers and the book. "Il cibo tradizioni e simbologia" Quasar, Roma 2020, pag 59-73.

Genesis 17 is routinely identified as P’s covenant between God and Abraham. After reinvestigation of a few key exegetical features of Gen 17:1-22, I offer a different interpretation in light of recent developments in the study of the Pentateuch’s priestly materials. Instead of P’s version of the covenant, I argue here that the chapter is a unified composition of Holiness scribes, who were conjunctive theologians, preserving the old Yahwistic epic and tying it together with their venerated P materials, borrowing terminology from both. These Holiness authors revised, rewrote, and expanded upon an older P as “innovators of the basic platform of the Priestly code” (Israel Knohl). Especially in Gen 1 and 17, they produced new compositions moving the old priestly agenda beyond the purely cultic interests of P in a more ethical and moral direction. The Holiness scribes exhibit a moralizing tone lacking in P and most evident in the editorial layers of Genesis. Genesis 17, then, is a product of the Holiness School, which produced more than a single, unified pentateuchal source – the Holiness Legislation of Lev 17-26. They also contributed far more to Genesis than we have previously identified, and perhaps served also as the final redactors of the Pentateuch.

The silken garments of the High Priest are an indication of just how specific G-d is regarding the necessary work of intercession. Intercession links the divine with the earthly and both interface in the process. Man is not able to rid himself of sin. He is a simpleton in the web of evil cleverly designed by its progenitor and mobilizer, a former covering cherub precociously referred to as “the adversary” Ha-Satan in Numbers 22:22, 1 Samuel 29:4, and Psalms 109:6. The methodology that God chose for its elimination may seem convoluted to the casual observer; but the nature of sin is such that G-d did not risk trivializing its eradication from among His own. While simplicity has its place, sin has no rival for its tortuous complexity when its fibrous roots and shoots intertwine with human affairs and existence.

Since the days of Wellhausen, pentateuchal scholarship has essentially agreed that Gen 1 and Gen 2 are from two distinct sources. Furthermore, they agree that Gen 1 was added in front of Gen 2 at a relatively late period during the pentateuch’s compositional history. Moving beyond these agreements, this thesis asks why Gen 1, and its cultural memory of creation, was added in front of Gen 2? In other words, what motivated a later group to come along and add Gen 1?

To address this question, this thesis approaches Gen 1 methodologically as a cultural memory. A cultural memory is an authoritative representation of the past that is formed by the needs, concerns, and hopes of a particular group and also formative in constructing that group’s collective identity. But as a memory, it is interpreted as much as it is recalled through the context of the present. That is, the present circumstances, hopes, concerns, needs of the group shape and colour the way the past is remembered and therefore, the way the past is described.

As such, this thesis argues that Gen 1 was intentionally added in order to primarily elevate the Sabbath to a position and status equal to the Temple/Tabernacle. In mnemonic terms, then, Gen 1 is a countermemory that resulted in a shift away from sacred space toward sacred time. A mnemonic shift from the sanctuary in Jerusalem to a sanctuary in time.

With this countermemory and its resulting mnemonic shift from space (i.e. Temple) to time (i.e. Sabbath), exilic Israelites were provided with a much needed legitimization for Sabbath practice in a foreign land without their temple. The Holiness Group (H), not the Priestly Group (P), was much more motivated to shift the focus from sacred space to sacred time; and therefore, are the likeliest group to have added Gen 1 to the beginning of the Pentateuch.

This article argues that Ben Sira chapters 24 and 50 are composed according to a carefully worked intratextuality between each other and according to a deeper intertextual relationship with Genesis 1 and Exod 25–40. These multi-directional literary relationships explain the apparent lack of thematic order and sequence in the two chapters. They also lead to the conclusion that Ben Sira knows and develops the idea that the temple is a microcosm of the universe and its liturgy a celebration and reenactment of the Creator's original work. Within that temple cosmology, Ben Sira presents the high priest Simon (ch. 50) as both the true Adam, the image and likeness of God, and the real presence of the Creator, in his cultic and civil duties.

Since we cannot determine with certainty the method used by the authors of the Pentateuch, this calls for independent examination of each biblical unit, rather than a priori determination of the authorial method employed in the whole Pentateuch. In this article I assess which of the three principal approaches to the Pentateuchal text and its composition best applies to, and is most persuasive in, the case of Num 32:1-38. The similarity between the two literary parts of the story makes it more plausible that the narrative contains an original core with Priestly additions.

This paper examines how the Chronicler treats the Pentateuchal tradition of the priestly Tent of Meeting. The Chronicler consistently mentions the Tent of Meeting, but its cultic significance is reduced and put in an inverse relationship to the Davidic cultic system in Jerusalem. Such ambivalent treatment of the Tent of Meeting in Chronicles can be understood in the socio-historical context of the Persian period, especially within the Levites’ ideological struggle against the dominant, Zadokite priestly group.

Lev 9:1–10:3 contains two of the most memorable events in the priestly narrative: a public theophany at the tabernacle, and the deaths of Nadav and Avihu. It also contains a long sequence of sacrifices, the importance of which has often been overlooked. This article argues that the ritual acts described in Lev 9 follow established and identifiable patterns, and that only by understanding the ritual logic in this episode is it possible to understand the rhetorical aims of the narrative.

This article considers texts in the Priestly Source and the Holiness Code that assign liability for wrongdoing by means of the clause nāśā’ ‘āwōn (“he will bear guilt”). It argues that some uses of this clause form a distinct group with particular characteristics. These uses all occur in conditional statements, always refer to only one or two lay individuals in the third person, and point to a liability that is in addition to the general liability for having committed an act that these texts consider sinful. Moreover, these additional li-abilities are limited in the sense that the danger they represent cannot spread beyond the individual perpetrator and affect the community at large. The Priestly Source and the Holiness Code acknowledge the additional liabilities but appear to have little in-terest in them otherwise.

The sixth commandment has been translated into English as either, "You shall not murder," or, "You shall not kill," but the Hebrew word that has been translated as "murder" or "kill" is a relatively rare root throughout the Hebrew Bible in comparison with the many other Hebrew words for the taking of life. Other than the prohibitions (the sixth commandment) in Exodus 20:13 and Deuteronomy 5:17, every time that the root appears in the Hexateuch, it is in the very specific context of the cities of refuge. Outside of the Hexateuch, the root occurs only three times in the Deuteronomistic History, and two of those times are directly related to each other. All other occurrences of the root are in a limited number of passages throughout the rest of the Hebrew Bible, and they provide little insight into the meaning of the root. While the meaning of the root still eludes us, it is important to recognize the problems of our present English translations of the sixth commandment. Given the limited scope of the root as well as its relative obscurity in other parts of the Bible, by systematically walk through every case in the Hebrew Bible where the root appears, I demonstrate that the Hebrew root in the sixth commandment should not be understood as either "murder" or "kill."

This article evaluates Jacob Milgrom's widely-cited argument that the Biblical Hebrew offering term חַטָּאת, by virtue of its derivation from a *qattalt noun pattern with gemination of the second root consonant, is intrinsically connected in its semantics to the Piel of ‫חטא√‬ ('to purify, purge')--an argument often used to support a rendering of חַטָּאת as 'purification offering' (instead of the traditional 'sin offering'). This argument is untenable, not only because it is based on an outmoded approach to the Semitic noun system, but also because it fails to explain how חַטָּאת came simultaneously to denote 'sin' in Biblical Hebrew. Instead, the most plausible account of the term sees the 'sin' meaning as primary, with the 'offering' usage derived via metonymy, i.e., 'an offering that deals with חַטָּאת.' Also, given the explanations of the *qattal(a)t pattern in the comparative Semitic literature , ‫חַטָּאת‬ ('sin') is best understood as an abstract substantive derived from, or viewed as a counterpart to, the *qattal noun חַטָּא ('sinful', '[habitual] sinner'), with perhaps a secondary association with malady-another common semantic connotation of Biblical Hebrew *qattalt.

Olfaction, namely the sense of smell, is a liminal sense that is difficult to name, describe, or localize. This difficulty is also what makes incense a complex, ambiguous, and richly implicative ritual means. The ancient Egyptian practices regarding incense are by far the closest precedence of and comparative materials for the ancient Israelite counterparts, and they actualized the most intricate symbolisms through its funerary use of incense. The Egyptian symbolic system, however, could not be absorbed into the Israelite faith, because the latter was founded upon monotheism and the ontological chasm between the divine and the human.
Israel accepted the significance of incense as a marker of the divine realm and a communicative medium between God and man, and accommodated it into Hebrew ritual system in ways that would allow at once the transcendence and immanence of Yahweh. This was fitting because incense was the best conduit to mark the elusive presence of God, which, although overwhelming, is not to be localized, which is both ambiguous and conspicuous, and which is conductive of danger as well as grace.

후각은 묘사와 명명은 물론 그 소재를 특칭하기 어려운, 전형적인 경계선적 감각(liminal sense)이다. 후각의 이러한 특성으로 인해 향(incense)은 매우 복합적이고 애매하면서도 풍성한 함의를 담기 적절한 제의적 도구가 되었다. 이스라엘의 향 사용과 가장 근접하는 패턴과 역사적 영향력을 보여주는 이집트의 경우는 일상적 사용보다도 장례와 관련된 향 사용을 통해 가장 풍성한 상징성을 구현했다. 그러나 향의 움직임과 물성을 망자가 신의 영역으로 들어가 불멸의 존재가 되는 과정의 반영이자 그 과정을 수행하는 매개체로 보는 이집트의 상징체계는, 유일신주의이자 신-인간의 본질적 간극을 전제로 하는 이스라엘의 신앙체계에 그대로 흡수될 수 없었다. 이스라엘은 신적 영역의 표지이자 신-인간의 소통매체라는 향의 지시관계를 수용하면서도, 그것을 야웨의 초월성과 내재성을 동시에 품는 방식으로 제의체계에 반영했다. 그것은 향이야말로 강렬한 존재감에도 불구하고 국지화할 수 없고, 모호하지만 엄연히 현존하며, 은혜와 더불어 위험도 전송하는 하나님의 현묘한 임재를 나타내기에 가장 적절한 매개물이었기 때문이다.

An analysis of the Priestly story about the man caught gathering wood on the Sabbath. Highlighted are generic, intertextual, and ideological aspects of the passage and of the Priestly History. It also argues that though the story was composed with the Priestly History in mind, to be counted as part of the history, it was formulated on the premise it would not be incorporated into the scroll or set of scrolls that contained the History.

Leviticus scholars debate the reasons for the differences between the Old Greek (OG) and Hebrew witnesses. Leviticus 16:1 offers an intriguing example that raises the literary question, Did Nadab and Abihu draw near before Yhwh (MT, SP) or only offer strange fire before Yhwh (OG, Tgs., Syr., Vg. and possibly 11Q1)? In this article, I explore the internal evidence of the OG, assess the targums, and give particular attention to reevaluating the fragmentary evidence from Qumran. My conclusions illuminate another dimension of the mystery of the biblical traditions of Aaron's oldest sons.

Theoretical considerations about law and narrative and their combination in biblical literature lead to a brief overview of biblical texts, prophetic and historiographical, advancing law (broadly construed), then to an analysis of four Priestly stories about the generation of new law, Lev 24:10-23 (about cursing the deity), Num 9:1-14 (about the secondary date for performing the Pesah), Num 15:32-36 (about Sabbath observance), and Num 27:1-11 (about inheritance by women), with implications for understanding the Priestly history.