Leviticus 23 - Introduction

Leviticus 23. The Sacred Calendar (pp. 103- 105). The chapter, though reading as one whole, has been considerably expanded by a later priestly writer. The original sections apparently referred to the three great feasts: (passover and) unleavened bread (Leviticus 23:9 ff.), weeks (Leviticus 23:15 ff.), ingathering (Leviticus 23:39 ff.). That the chapter is not a unity is shown by the new commencement in Leviticus 23:9, the repetition of Leviticus 19:9 in Leviticus 23:22, the reference to Leviticus 16:30 in Leviticus 23:26 ff., and the parallel sections in Leviticus 23:33 ff. and Leviticus 23:39 ff. The festivals now belong to the whole community (not to a family or village, 1 Samuel 16:5); H emphasizes their connexion with agriculture (Leviticus 23:10; Leviticus 23:42); to P their three characteristics are rest, assemblage at the sanctuary, and the set sacrifice.