Abstract
This volume acknowledges the major role of Jacob Milgrom (1923–2010) in putting the book of Leviticus and Priestly literature in general on the agenda of research. Against Wellhausen’s judgement on these text as reflecting an inferior legalistic form of religion, Milgrom deserves credit for demonstrating that they represent profound systems of rituals and laws that convey consistent theological and ethical values (p. xiii). Taking stock at a time, when Milgrom’s last publications are in press, the present volume seeks to give an overview of current developments and debates, and outline future questions. Different from a Festschrift, this collection of articles is designed as a resource for study on Priestly and related literature that should appeal both to the specialist and to the newcomer, who wants to get a first idea about what are the ‘hot topics’ in Priestly research.
Starting from an introduction by Roy E. Gane and Ada Taggar-Cohen that is supplemented with a bibliography of Milgrom’s publications, the contributions in the main body are organised into five parts. They mostly comprise contributions that have been presented in four SBL Pentateuch sessions, honouring Milgrom at the 2011 International Meeting in London, and another session at the 2011 Annual Meeting in San Francisco. The first part (‘Interpretation of Priestly and Holiness Texts’) assembles chapters by Michael B. Hundley (Tabernacle or Tent of Meeting?), Naphtali S. Meshel (What Is a Zoeme?), Elizabeth W. Goldstein (Women and the Purification Offering), Elaine Adler Goodfriend (Leviticus 22:24), and Daniel I. Block (‘The Meeting Places of God in the Land’). Part 2 discusses ‘Composition of Priestly and Holiness Texts’ with contributions by David P. Wright (Profane Versus Sacrificial Slaughter), Megan Warner (The Holiness School in Genesis?), Jeffrey Stackert (The Composition of Exodus 31:12–17 and 35:1–3 and the Question of Method in Identifying Priestly Strata in the Torah), and Roy E. Gane (Didactic Logic and the Authorship of Leviticus). The third part consists of four contributions that focus on ‘Literary Structure of Priestly and Holiness Texts’ with chapters by Moshe Kline (Structure is Theology), Deborah L. Ellens (Fundamental Structure as Methodological Control for Evaluating Introverted Literary Structures in Leviticus), David Tabb Stewart (Leviticus as Mini-Torah), and Susan Zeelander (The End of Korah and Others: Closural Conventions in Priestly Narratives of Numbers). A smaller part 4 (‘Relationships between Priestly, Holiness, and Deuteronomic Texts’) consist of contributions by Esias E. Meyer (Leviticus 17, Where P, H, and D Meet), and Georg Fischer SJ (A Need for Hope?), while the final section on ‘Extrabiblical Texts Relating to Priestly Texts’ features four chapters by Victor Avigdor Hurowitz ז’’ל (‘For Instruction Shall Come Forth from Zion’), Ada Taggar-Cohen (Between Ḥerem, Ownership, and Ritual), Thomas Kazen (Purity and Persia), and Hannah K. Harrington (Intermarriage in the Temple Scroll).