Leviticus 17-18 & the Jerusalem Letter

2. Leviticus 17-18& the Jerusalem Letter

3. Leviticus 17-18 & the Jerusalem Letter 5The reason is so that the sons of Israel may bring their sacrifices which they were sacrificing in the open field, that they may bring them in to the Lord… 3“Any man from the house of Israel who slaughters an ox or a lamb or a goat in the camp, or who slaughters it outside the camp, 4 and has not brought it to the doorway of the tent of meeting to present it as an offering to the Lord before the tabernacle of the Lord, bloodguiltiness is to be reckoned to that man…. 7They shall no longer sacrifice their sacrifices to the goat demons with which they play the harlot. This shall be a permanent statute to them throughout their generations.”’ Leviticus 17 Is Lev. 17-18 the basis of the letter? Order Applicability to Gentiles • Lev. 18:24“for by all these the nations which I am casting out before you have become defiled.” • 18:25“therefore I have brought its punishment upon it, so the land has spewed out its inhabitants.” • 18:27“for the men of the land who have been before you have done all these abominations, and the land has become defiled.” Jerusalem Letter • Things Sacrificed to Idols • Blood • Things Strangled • Fornication Lev. 17:13 So when any man…in hunting catches a beast or a bird which may be eaten, he shall pour out its blood and cover it with earth. View presented in outline ABORT! ABORT! ABORT! • LEVITICUS 17-18 • Idolatry • Eating Blood • Improper Slaughtering • Sexual Sin • LEVITICUS 19 • Peculiar to Israel • Sabbath, • mixing seed/fabric/etc. LEVITICUS 16 Day of Atonement Romans 1 Genesis 9

4. Leviticus 17-18 & the Jerusalem Letter James’ rationale (Acts 15) 19 Therefore it is my judgment that we do not trouble those who are turning to God from among the Gentiles, 20but that we write to them that they abstain from things contaminated by idols and from fornication and from what is strangled and from blood. 21For Moses from ancient generations has in every city those who preach him, since he is read in the synagogues every Sabbath. Is Lev. 17-18 the basis of the letter? Order Applicability to Gentiles A Needed Caveat Due to Knowledge of Jewish Law We won’t require… We will write… Jerusalem Letter • Things Sacrificed to Idols • Blood • Things Strangled • Fornication Why we will write… Not, “abstain because…” But, “we write because…” • LEVITICUS 17-18 • Idolatry • Eating Blood • Improper Slaughtering • Sexual Sin Romans 1 Genesis 9

5. Leviticus 17-18 & the Jerusalem Letter • Conclusion: • God prohibits these things for all men at all times • The prohibitions were “essentials” • The Holy Spirit concurred • The alternative makes James and the rest out to be hypocrites Acts 1528 “For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these essentials: 29 that you abstain from things sacrificed to idols and from blood and from things strangled and from fornication Acts 1528 “For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these essentials: 29 that you abstain from things sacrificed to idols and from blood and from things strangled and from fornication Jerusalem Letter • Things Sacrificed to Idols • Blood • Things Strangled • Fornication • LEVITICUS 17-18 • Idolatry • Eating Blood • Improper Slaughtering • Sexual Sin Romans 1 Genesis 9

6. Prohibitions, or Merely Requests? Acts 1528 “For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these essentials: 29 that you abstain from things sacrificed to idols and from blood and from things strangled and from fornication F.F. Bruce: “The conditions stipulated in the apostolic decree…had to do, not with the basis of the gospel or the terms of church membership, but with the facilitating of social fellowship between Jewish and Gentile Christians.” F.F. Bruce: “If Gentile Christians found that their practices in food matters raised difficulties for the weaker consciences of Jewish Christians, then let them abstain from these practices, not indeed under compulsion but by their free choice, as a gesture of Christian charity.” • Weizsäcker: • “The decree…only imposes on the Gentiles the avoidance of a few things, in order to enable the Jews to hold intercourse with them without causing grave offence.” compulsory not indeed under compulsion Jerusalem Letter • Things Sacrificed to Idols • Blood • Things Strangled • Fornication • LEVITICUS 17-18 • Idolatry • Eating Blood • Improper Slaughtering • Sexual Sin Romans 1 Genesis 9

7. Why Thought To Be Merely Requests? • Misconstruing James’ rationale • Misconstruing “things sacrificed to idols” 21  “For Moses from ancient generations has in every city those who preach him, since he is read in the synagogues every Sabbath.” i.e. The Jews are still zealous for the law Jerusalem Letter • Things Sacrificed to Idols • Blood • Things Strangled • Fornication • LEVITICUS 17-18 • Idolatry • Eating Blood • Improper Slaughtering • Sexual Sin Romans 1 Genesis 9

8. Why Thought To Be Merely Requests? Mt. 19 exception clause only about incest • Misconstruing James’ rationale • Misconstruing “things sacrificed to idols” Incest is okay Eating blood is okay Eating things sacrificed to idols is okay 1 Cor. 8-10 warning Jerusalem Letter ’27 Anglican W. K. LowtherClarke ‘27 F. Gavin ’48 Rom. Catholic Bonsirven c. ’49 Hauck & Schulz in TWNT ’59 Rom. Catholic H. J. Richards c. ‘65 Haenchen ’76 Rom. Catholic Joseph Fitzmeyer merely advisory merely advisory Calvin on Acts 15:28 But we know that this law was foredone by Paul so soon as the tumult and contention was once ended, when he teacheth that nothing is unclean, (Romans xiv. 14;) and when he granteth liberty to eat all manner [of] meats, yea, even such as were sacrificed to idols, (1 Corinthians x. 25.)” 1 Cor. 5 “fornication” = incest Clarke “In Corinth St. Paul felt at liberty to urge [the Jerusalem letter’s] food regulations on the ground of charity only (1 Cor. viii).” LEVITICUS 18 Marriage prohibited within degrees of consanguinity Rabbinic lit. referred to marriages in violation of Lev18:7ff as “zenut” Dead Sea scrolls alleged to refer to incest as “zenut”

9. Why Thought To Be Merely Requests? • Misconstruing James’ rationale • Misconstruing “things sacrificed to idols” • Defining “fornication” as “incest” Eating things sacrificed to idols is okay Jerusalem Letter merely advisory 1 Cor. 5 “fornication” = incest LEVITICUS 18 Marriage prohibited within degrees of consanguinity Rabbinic lit. referred to marriages in violation of Lev18:7ff as “zenut” Dead Sea scrolls alleged to refer to incest as “zenut”

10. REBUTTALS • Misconstruing James’ rationale • Misconstruing “things sacrificed to idols” • Defining “fornication” as “incest” In 1 Cor. 5:1, “Incest” is indicated only by the subsequent explanation, “and such fornication as is not even among the Gentiles, that one of you hath his father’s wife.” Eating things sacrificed to idols is okay Jerusalem Letter Incest is not the only sexual sin mentioned in Leviticus 18! Πορνεία, used “of every kind of unlawful sexual intercourse,” (BAG, 693) suits the diverse sexual sins in Leviticus 18. merely advisory 1 Cor. 5 “fornication” = incest LEVITICUS 18 Marriage prohibited within degrees of consanguinity • LEVITICUS 17-18 • Idolatry • Eating Blood • Improper Slaughtering • Sexual Sin Rabbinic lit. referred to marriages in violation of Lev18:7ff as “zenut” Dead Sea scrolls alleged to refer to incest as “zenut” =“fornication”

11. REBUTTALS • Defining “fornication” as “incest” Isaiah 24:7 Terror and the pit and the snareare upon you, O inhabitant of the earth! zenut πορνεία • Qumran Literature: • Codex Damascus • “three nets of Belial” • Zenut • Wealth • Defiling the Sanctuary Jerusalem Letter Jerusalem Letter • “the builders of the wall are trapped in zenut in two ways…” • Zenut • Multiple wives • Incest • Defiling the Sanctuary • Intercourse during menstruation • “the builders of the wall are trapped in two…” • Zenut • Multiple wives • Defiling the Sanctuary • Intercourse during menstruation • Incest merely advisory merely advisory FITZMYER DAVIES • Is zenut a technical term for incest? • CD explains: • “they take each one the daughter of his brother and the daughter of his sister” • CD quotes Lev. 18: • “whereas Moses said, ‘You shall not approach your mother’s sister…’” Is zenut a technical term for incest? How can it be a technical term for incest when it includes polygamy?? • LEVITICUS 17-18 • Idolatry • Eating Blood • Improper Slaughtering • Sexual Sin Dead Sea scrolls alleged to refer to incest as “zenut” =“fornication”

12. REBUTTALS • Misconstruing James’ rationale • Misconstruing “things sacrificed to idols” • Defining “fornication” as “incest” εἰδωλόθυτον Eating things sacrificed to idols is okay Jerusalem Letter merely advisory • LEVITICUS 17-18 • Idolatry • Eating Blood • Improper Slaughtering • Sexual Sin =“fornication”

13. REBUTTALS • Misconstruing James’ rationale • Misconstruing “things sacrificed to idols” ειδωλο εἴδωλον θυω θύω εἰδωλόθυτον Idol + sacrifice

14. REBUTTALS not called εἰδωλόθυτον though a pagan may attach religious significance, describing it as ἱερόθυτον • Misconstruing James’ rationale • Misconstruing “things sacrificed to idols” 1 Corinthians 8-10 “now concerning things sacrifice to idols” Ch. 8Ch. 9Ch. 10 8:1-13 9:1-23 9:24-10:22 10:23ff just plain wrong Love vs. Knowledge act out of love for others Israel Overthrown in the Wilderness Flee Idolatry Cannot partake of the table of the Lord & of demons Meat in the Market Don’t worry about it “eat, asking no question” Paul’s own Example foregoing financial income from Corinth Sitting at meat in the idol temple The Table of Demons Paul’s example wrong attitude

15. REBUTTALS • Misconstruing James’ rationale • Misconstruing “things sacrificed to idols” • Things Sacrificed to Idols • & • Fornication • Every context that mentions the former also mentions the latter • Revelation 2:14 • Revelation 2:20 • The Jerusalem letter (Acts 15:29, 21:25) • 1 Corinthians 8-10 • Two contexts allude to Balaam story, where idolatry & fornication combined Revelation 2 14 But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there some that hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit fornication. Numbers 25 is about PARTICIPATION IN IDOLATRY not about EATING LEFT-OVER MEAT with an imaginary taint ταῖς θυσίαις τῶν εἰδώλων αὐτῶν to thesacrificesof theidolsof them 1 Corinthians 10 7 Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. 8Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand.

16. Conclusion • The exception clause in the divorce passages is not merely a reference to incest. • Only clear NT prohibition of incest is the Jerusalem letter interpreted in light of Leviticus 17-18. • Acts 15 prohibitions applicable to all peoples of all times • They served as a caveat to the exemption from the Law, noting that some things mentioned in the law have always been prohibited to all men. • The issue involving “things sacrificed to idols” pertains to participation in the idol feast. Jerusalem Letter • LEVITICUS 17-18 • Idolatry • Eating Blood • Improper Slaughtering • Sexual Sin =“fornication”

17. Conclusion • Some difficulties remain: • sexual relations during a woman’s menstrual period • It seemsthis too was part of what God found detestable in the Canaanites.

18. Conclusion • Some difficulties remain: • Abraham married his half-sister (or not?) • marriage between siblings at the beginning • Possible solutions to this problem include the following: • Lev. 18 condemns illicit(i.e., non-marital) relations between certain relatives, or marital relations following a divorce; but licit marriage in such cases is not condemned by God. Lev. 18:16 vs. Dt. 25:5 • K&D argue from Lev. 18:18 that the text condemns marriage between the specified • One may argue from the same passage that licit marriageis not in view prior to 18:18 • Abram’s marriage to Sarai was not in accordance with God’s will, but was one of those things that God overlooked