Lev 24:1-9 Sabbath and the Temple (original) (raw)
Related papers
The Sabbath Year and Socio-Economic Issues in Lev 25:2-7
Ndikho Mtshiselwa, “The Sabbath Year and Socio-Economic Issues in Lev 25:2–7,” Old Testament Essays 36 no. 2 (2023): 384–411, 2023
Leviticus 25:2–7 has its closest parallel in the Pentateuchal and other post-exilic texts, namely Exod 23:10–11; Deut 11:8–17; 15:7–18 and Neh 5; 9:32–37 and 13. The texts are about the Sabbath year, YHWH, the land and socio-economic issues. A convincing consensus on the directionality of influence and dependence between Lev 25:2–7 and these texts is hardly reached. In addition, there is room for further research on the function and significance of Lev 25:2–7. The article argues that inner-biblical exegesis shows that Lev 25:2–7 depended on some Pentateuchal texts and served to legitimise the Sabbath tradition and to address socio-economic issues in the Persian period. In addition, the text influenced the production of some texts in the book of Nehemiah. First, the essay considers the grammatical features, style and content of Lev 25:2–7. Second, the article discusses the dating of the Pentateuchal scribal activity with specific focus on the Covenant Code (CC), versions of Deuteronomy and the Holiness Code (H). Third, the reception of Exod 23:10–11 and Deut 11:8–17; 15:7–18 in Lev 25:2–7 is examined. Lastly, the study probes the reception of Lev 25:2–7 in Neh 5; 9:32–37; and 13 and submits that Lev 25:2–7 depended on earlier Pentateuchal texts and subsequently influenced post-exilic texts on the subject of the Sabbath year in order to address the socio-economic issues of the time.
2011
Exodus 31 places a brief divine speech regarding the weekly Sabbath (vv. 12-17) immediately after the Lord’s detailed instructions for building him a sanctuary (25:1-31:11). The Sabbath pericope begins: “The LORD said to Moses: You yourself are to speak to the Israelites: “You shall keep my sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, given in order that you may know that I, the LORD, sanctify you” (31:12-13; NRSV). The basic appropriateness of the Sabbath as a sign that the Lord sanctifies his covenant people seems fairly transparent. “Israelites imitate God and partake of his Holiness” by participating in cessation from work on the seventh day (cf. Lev 19:2-3), which he sanctified when he ceased from his work at the end of the creation week (Gen 2:2-3; cf. Exod 31:17). In this way they acknowledge to God and to other peoples that he is the intrinsically holy Creator and Source of holiness, and that he shares his holiness with time, people, and things, such as the sanctuary, that he bonds to himself. Just as consecrated priests have access to the holy sanctuary in space (e.g., Lev 8; Num 18), all Israelites enjoy access to the holy temple in time—the Sabbath—because God makes them holy.
Misconceptions of the Sabbath as Rest: The Social Interpretation of Exodus 23:1-12 and Its Relevance
Evangelikal: Jurnal Teologi Injili dan Pembinaan Warga Jemaat
This article is driven by the many problems related to Sunday activities and land problems in the Moluccas. According to J.H Elliott, the authors analyze the text of Exodus 23:1–12 using the social sciences critique method. Meanwhile, the theory used as an analytical tool is the Structural-Functional theory proposed by Emile Durkheim and Jean Jacques Rousseau’s social contract theory. The results of the analysis are then discussed in relation to the church context in the Moluccas. The study's results found that originally, Sabbath meant to rest within the context of work. "Work," as understood by the concept of Sabbath, means working with God in promoting social care, economic sustainability, and environmental concern. Misunderstandings of the Sabbath as Rest cause certain elements in the structure of Moluccan society not to function as they should because the Sabbath is misconstrued to perpetuate laziness, ignore others, hinder economic growth, and ignore the environm...
This article examines the innovative focus on sabbath observance that characterizes the Holiness legislation (“H”). By comparing H’s conception of the sabbath with what is known about this sacred time from other biblical and extrabiblical sources, the article demonstrates that H creatively blends two aspects of the sabbath that were not always connected; first, the idea, already present in the Decalogue and Gen 2:2–3, that the sabbath is a time of cessation held every seventh day, and second, more traditional associations of sabbath with sacrificial rites at the shrine. The article concludes by assessing the implications of H’s dual requirements of the sabbath observance—that is, both the cessation of labor and the accompanying sanctuary rituals—for contextualizing the H materials in the history of ancient Israel. It suggests that the prominence of sabbath in Lev 17–26 may not reflect H’s origins in the “templeless” situation of the Babylonian exile, as is often argued. H’s distinctive concept of sabbath may rather reflect a Persian period context, when collective obligations to the cult were renegotiated to ensure the success of the Second Temple.
The Sabbath is an important theological concept in the book of Isaiah. The significance attached to the Sabbath does not only find expression in the prediction of its observance in the renewed conditions following the captivity, but also in the fact that continual possession of the promised land would depend upon proper Sabbathkeeping. The final verses connect Sabbath-keeping with eschatology by implying that Sabbath will be observed in the "new heavens and new earth." Through contextual analysis, however, it is suggested that the eschatology in this text is best understood in a postexilic sense (i.e., an extended period following the return from captivity) rather than in an apocalyptic sense. Further, the creation of "new heavens and new earth" is to be understood as a highly poetic expression anchoring the redemption and restoration of Judah from the Babylonian captivity. Sabbath-keeping sums up righteousness.