Barrick: LEVITICUS 26

LEVITICUS 26: ITS RELATIONSHIP TO

COVENANT CONTEXTS AND CONCEPTS

William D. Barrick

Submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements

for the degree of Doctor of Theology in

Grace Theological Seminary

May 1981

Title: LEVITICUS 26: ITS RELATIONSHIP TO COVENANT CONTEXTS

AND CONCEPTS

Author: William D. Barrick

Degree: Doctor of Theology

Date: May, 1981

Adviser: D. Wayne Knife

No other pericope of the Old Testament possesses the affinity

which Leviticus 26 has for the Palestinian Covenant (Deuteronomy 27-30).

The blessings and curses contained in the two pericopes are the most

extensive in the Old Testament. Some Bible expositors have classified

Leviticus 26 as a prophetic preview of the Palestinian Covenant. This

study tests that hypothesis. A brief consideration of the Mosaic author-

ship of the pericope and a development of the covenant concept in the

book of Leviticus initiates the study. The exegesis commences with a

text-critical analysis which supports the reliability of the Massoretic

Text and demonstrates the unreliability of the textual apparatuses of

Biblia Hebraica (Kittel) and Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia. The verse

by verse treatment of the interpretation of the pericope directs atten-

tion to the grammatical, contextual, and literary elements. A compara-

tive analysis of Leviticus 26 and similar extra-biblical materials (the

Esarhaddon vassal treaties and the Sefire inscriptions) supplements the

exegesis. The writer concludes the study by systematically summarizing

the key doctrines of Leviticus 26.

Leviticus 26 is parenetic revelation written in an elevated lit-

erary style. It was granted at Sinai on the threshhold of Israel's

wilderness wanderings. The promulgation of the Mosaic Covenant had

caused an apparent tension with the Abrahamic Covenant. After three

disturbing apostasies at Sinai, Leviticus 26 was revealed to explain

the relationship between the two covenants and to reemphasize the exclu-

sive lordship of Yahweh. The Mosaic Covenant did not nullify the prom-

ises of the Abrahamic Covenant. This message in Leviticus 26 antedated

Paul's in Galatians 3:17 by fifteen centuries. The Mosaic legislation

emphasized the recipients of the land promised to Abraham. The bless-

ings and curses of the pericope are developed with both covenants and

their respective emphases in mind. Loyalty to Yahweh would initiate

blessings. These are described in terms of the landedness promised by

the Abrahamic Covenant. Disloyalty would initiate cursing. This is

described as a five-stage process of Mosaic Covenant vengeance with the

exile as the ultimate chastisement. The purpose of cursing was to pro-

duce confession of guilt, humility, and restitution. The sabbatical

principle is deeply involved in the restitution. Circumcision was the

seal of the Abrahamic Covenant, but the sabbaths were the seal of the

Mosaic. The sabbatical principle is central to Leviticus 26. Yahweh is

both the lord of space (the land) and time (the sabbaths). The land-

giver and exodus-causer will always be loyal to his covenants. The peri-

cope anticipates but does not reveal the Palestinian Covenant per se.

The extra-biblical treaties were composed seven centuries after

Leviticus 26. Leviticus 26, the Esarhaddon vassal treaties, and the Sefire

inscriptions were independently written. A mutual stream of covenant mate-

rials may have influenced the, but each possesses its own distinctions.

Accepted by the Faculty of Grace Theological Seminary

in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree

Doctor of Theology

D. Wayne Knife

Adviser

John J. Davis

Adviser

James E. Eisenbraun

Adviser

Digitally prepared and posted on the web by Ted Hildebrandt (2004)

with permission.

Please report any errors to: thildebrandt@gordon.edu

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The writer expresses his thanks to those who have contributed

their efforts toward the completion of this dissertation. During the

writing, the writer was engaged in missionary deputation as preparation

for participation in the Old Testament Translation Project of the Bengali

Common Language Bible in Bangladesh. The members of the dissertation

committee exercised patience and good faith while the writer was travel-

ing. Their Christian grace, coupled with their desire for academic

excellence, has been an inspiration.

While on deputation in California, the writer was given the

exclusive use of the office and typewriter of a close friend, Pastor

Jim Parker. Jim's encouragement by word and by supplying space, equip-

ment, and books, will never be forgotten. He and his wife, Ada, were

examples of true Christian hospitality.

Last, but certainly not least, the writer expresses his deepest

gratitude to his wife, Barbara, who has patiently endured to the end

the years of doctoral education and dissertation production. In the

midst of preparing the family for departure to Bangladesh, she did not

neglect to encourage her husband in his writing. Her prudence and grace

are precious. dvbk jmtt NH-twx . . . tklWm hwx hvhym "a wife

possessing good sense/prudence is from Yahweh . . . a gracious woman

attains honor" (Prov 19:14; 11:16).

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii

Chapter

I. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Preliminary Statements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Statement of Purpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Statement of Pertinence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Statement of Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Text-critical analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Exegetical analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Comparative analysis with extra-biblical treaties 17

Systematic theological synthesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

General Introduction to Leviticus 26 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Date and Authorship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Contextual Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

II. A TEXT-CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF LEVITICUS 26 . . . . . 23

Verse 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Verse 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Verse 11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Verse 16 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Verse 17 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Verse 20 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Verse 24 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

viii

Verse 31 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Verses 34 and 35 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Verse 39 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Verse 41 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Verse 42 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Verse 43 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Verse 44 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Verse 46 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

III. AN EXEGETICAL ANALYSIS OF LEVITICUS 26 . . . . . . . . 44

Precept (vv. 1-2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Prohibition of Idols (v. 1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Preservation of Sabbaths and Sanctuary (v. 2) . . . . . . . . . . 47

The sabbath observance (v. 2a). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

The sanctuary reverence (v. 2b) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Promise (vv. 3-13) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

The Prerequisite: Obedience (v. 3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

The Product: Blessing (vv. 4-12) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Productivity (vv. 4-5) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Peace (v. 6) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Power (vv. 7-8) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Population (v. 9) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Provision (v. 10) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Presence (vv. 11-12) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

The Premise: Yahweh's Salvation (v. 13) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

The Summary of Verses 3-13 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Aim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

Penalty (vv. 14-45) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

The Cause: Disobedience (vv. 14-15) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

The Consequence: Retribution (vv. 16-38) . . . . . . . . . . 90

Debilitation and defeat (vv. 16-17) . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

Drought (vv. 18-20) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Devastation by wild beasts (vv. 21-22) . . . . . . . . . 102

Deprivation by siege (vv. 23-26) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

Deportation (vv. 27-38) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

Introduction (vv. 27-28) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

Dehumanization (cannibalism) (v. 29) . . . . . . . . . 116

Desolation (vv. 30-32) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

Dispersion (exile) (v. 33) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126

Desertion of the land (vv. 34-38) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

The Sabbath rest (vv. 34-35) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

The stricken remnant (vv. 36-38) . . . . . . . . . . 134

The Contingency: Repentance (vv. 39-45) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

Repentance: Israel's acceptance of retribution

(vv. 39-41) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142

Remembrance: Yahweh's acceptance of repentance

(v. 42) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150

Repetition: A summary concerning retribution

(v. 43) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152

Reaffirmation: Yahweh's promise to the exiles

(vv. 44-45) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156

The Summary of verses 14-45 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160

Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160

Aim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162

Postscript (v. 46) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166

IV. A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF LEVITICUS 26, ESARHADDON’S

TREATIES, AND THE SEFIRE INSCRIPTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . 171

Dating the Documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

Dependence in the Documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174

The Esarhaddon Vassal Treaties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175

Comparison with Leviticus 26 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176

The Sefrre Inscriptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180

Comparison with Leviticus 26 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181

Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184

V. SYSTEMATIC SYNTHESIS OF THE THEOLOGICAL CONCEPTS

OF LEVITICUS 26 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185

Covenant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185

Abrahamic Covenant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186

Sinaitic Covenant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188

Palestinian Covenant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190

Land . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191

Heilsgeschicht . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193

Breach and Preservation of Covenant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194

Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195

Relation to Covenant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196

Prohibition of Idolatry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196

Observance of Sabbaths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198

Yahweh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199

Selbstvorstellungsformel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200

Relation to Covenant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201

Presence and Sanctuary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202

Promise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202

Blessing and Curse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202

xii

Obedience and Disobedience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203

Guilt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204

Retribution and Chastisement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205

Exile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206

Repentance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207

Restitution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207

Revelation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208

Leviticus 26 and the New Testament . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209

VI. CONCLUSION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211

BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

AB Anchor Bible

Afo