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Leviticus

650 bytes added, 16:52, June 2, 2011
Correct referenced date for Moses - Moses certainly didn't live in the fifth century BC
{{OldTestament}}
'''Leviticus'''(Greek;Λευιτικός /"Relating to the Levites) or '''Vayikra''' (Hebrew: ויקרא, literally "and He called"), book of the Christian [[Old Testament]], is the third book of the Pentateuch(/Greek) or Torah(תּוֹרָה/(Hebrew and most scholars agree is written (primarily) by [[Moses]] in c 550-400 BCE.
Leviticus contains extremely specific details of the laws and [[priest]]ly rituals. The first 16 chapters and the last chapter make up the Priestly Code, with rules for ritual cleanliness, sin-offerings, and the Day of Atonement, including Chapter 12 which mandates male [[circumcision]]. Chapters 17-26 contain the Holiness Code, including the injunction in chapter 19 to "love one's neighbor as oneself" as later confirmed by [[Jesus]] in the [[Gospels]]. The book is largely concerned with "abominations", largely dietary and sexual restrictions. The rules are generally addressed to the [[Israelites]], except for the prohibition in chapter 20 against sacrificing children to [[Molech]], which applies equally to "the strangers that sojourn in Israel."
 
Jewish and Christian tradition holds that God dictated the Book of Leviticus to Moses as He did the other books of the Bible.<ref>Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Megillah, p. 31B; see also Rashi on Deuteronomy, Ch. 28:23; see also the commentary of Ohr HaChaim at the beginning of Deuteronomy, where he states, "the first four books God dictated to Moses, letter by letter, and the fifth book, Moses said on his own." See also Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, ''Likkutei Sichot'', Vol. 19, p. 9, f. 6, and additional references there. See Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 11. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911.</ref> Modern scholarship sees it as a product of the Priestly source and the fifth century BC.
== Reference ==
<references/>
 
==Source==
*[[Wikipedia:Book_of_Leviticus]]
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