Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Book Overview - Leviticus
by Charles John Ellicott
THE THIRD BOOK OF MOSES, CALLED
LEVITICUS.
_____________
Leviticus.
BY
THE REV. C. D. GINSBURG, LL.D.
INTRODUCTION
TO
LEVITICUS.
I. Name and Signification.—The name Leviticus, by which the third book is called, is taken from the Greek Version (LXX) of the Old Testament. It properly denotes the Levitical book, or the volume treating on Levitical matters. In Hebrew it is called “the Book Vayikra” or simply “Vayikra,” from the word with which it commences, and which denotes and he called. It is by this name that the Book is always quoted in Jewish writings. In the Hebrew manuscripts of the Old Testament, Leviticus is not only always a book by itself marked off from the rest both at the beginning and at the end by the space of four vacant lines, but like the other four books of the Pentateuch it begins a new column, whilst the other books of the Old Testament, though having the same vacant space to separate them from each other, do not begin at the top of a new column.
II. Division.—In accordance with the practice which obtained from time immemorial, the Book is divided, both in the most ancient MSS. and in the earliest printed editions of the Hebrew Scriptures, into the following ten sections: —
Leviticus 1:1 to Leviticus 5:19.
Leviticus 6:1 to Leviticus 8:36.
Leviticus 9:1 to Leviticus 11:47.
Leviticus 12:1 to Leviticus 13:59.
Leviticus 14:1 to Leviticus 15:33.
Leviticus 16:1 to Leviticus 18:30.
Leviticus 19:1 to Leviticus 20:27.
Leviticus 21:1 to Leviticus 24:23.
Leviticus 25:1 to Leviticus 26:2.
Leviticus 26:3 to Leviticus 27:34.
These are ten of the fifty-four sections into which the whole Pentateuch is divided in order to furnish a lesson for each Sabbath of those years which, according to Jewish chronology, have fifty-four Sabbaths, so that the whole Law of Moses should be read through once every year. This division and the reading through of the Law in the manner here indicated are observed by the Jews to this day, and it is to these weekly lessons, in conjunction with portions from the Prophets, that reference is made in the New Testament (Acts 13:15, &c.). Besides this division, which is designed for the weekly lessons, the Book of Leviticus is also divided into twenty-three larger sections, which correspond more nearly to our modern chapters, and which are as follows:—
Leviticus 1:1 to Leviticus 3:17.
Leviticus 4:1 to Leviticus 6:11.
Leviticus 6:12 to Leviticus 7:38.
Leviticus 8:1 to Leviticus 10:7.
Leviticus 10:8-20.
Leviticus 11:1-47.
Leviticus 12:1 to Leviticus 13:28.
Leviticus 13:29-59.
Leviticus 14:1-32.
Leviticus 14:33-57.
Leviticus 15:1-24.
Leviticus 15:25 to Leviticus 16:34
Leviticus 17:1-16.
Leviticus 18:1-30.
Leviticus 19:1-22.
Leviticus 19:23 to Leviticus 20:27.
Leviticus 21:1 to Leviticus 22:16.
Leviticus 22:17 to Leviticus 23:14.
Leviticus 23:15 to Leviticus 25:13.
Leviticus 25:14-38.
Leviticus 25:39 to Leviticus 26:2.
Leviticus 26:3-46.