Lev. 1-4 - Well, that explains that...

The readings - day 32 - Leviticus 1-4

Remember yesterday? When I said something about Exodus really not having much of an ending?

I'm not so sure it actually ended... Based on the "beginning" of Leviticus (how many books really begin with the word "Then" anyway?) I've actually got several questions about how these book divisions really came about. I know that the chapter/verse splits were arbitrary and done much later, and I know that the way the text was actually recorded was very different (ALTHOUGHWITHNOREALEVIDENCETHATANYOFTHETEXTSTHATCAMEDOWNTOUSTODAYWEREACTUALAUTOGRAPHEDMANUSCRIPTSITSHARDTOSAYWHETHERTHEALLCAPSANDNOPUNCTUATIONPHENOMENONWASHOWTHEORIGINALTEXTWASLAIDOUTEITHERITCOULDJUSTASEASILYHAVEBEENALATERINNOVATIONLIKETHECHAPTERANDVERSEDIVISIONSALTHOUGHTHATRAISESAQUESTIONOFWHYANYONEWOULDTAKEAPASSAGEWITHSPACESANDPUNCTUATIONANDTURNITINTOAJUMBLEDMESSOFLETTERSTHATAREREALLYHARDTOREADBUTIDIGRESS)



Wow. That's *really* annoying, isn't it. Sorry. Won't do that again.

But my point is, how do we even know these were separate books at all? They're taken as the Torah in the Jewish tradition, but are they just one solid book there? I thought they were still split up into the separate books.

Either way, I'd be curious to find out why these two books were split this way, in this place? Why not make exodus end after the, you know, exodus? It's just weird to have a new book start almost mid-sentence like this.

Anyway, I'm now officially into a bit of the Bible that I've never read. I mean, I know I've read verses from Leviticus before, either as part of the lectionary or as standalone verses, but even then my experience has been sparse, and this is definitely the first time I've just opened up Leviticus, on purpose, to read it.

It's not starting with any particular zazz, I must admit, but it is interesting to note that after all the "instant death" sentences demanded by the laws given down in the latter portion of Exodus here we have four chapters devoted to four different kinds of sacrifices, the last of which is there to give an alternative to the death-for-crime system itself (at least, in some cases).

I also can't help but notice that God must love Him some barbecue. It's all about the "soothing aroma" produced by grilled meat and fat. Good stuff.

Cartoons were wrong (there, I said it) - there's got to be at least a little fire in Heaven. 

This meat's not going to cook itself. Or maybe it will. Maybe that's why it's called Heaven...