Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Ray Clendenen" <rclende AT lifeway.com>]

Ray Clendenen@BSSBNOTES
12/20/99 09:39 AM

<<Leviticus 17 prohibits profane slaughter in general and allows it only
in the case of game animals; all other animals must be brought to tha
altar for slaughter. This presupposes a situation in which altars are
conveniently available to all; i. e., before centralization of cult.>>

This is an example of begging the question. The point being made is only
valid if the critical model of Israel's history is presupposed. According
to the biblical text as it stands, not only was the cult already
centralized when Lev. 17 was written, but Israel was living at the time
surrounding the sanctuary. If this was actually the case, this would
explain why profane slaughter could be forbidden, since it could all be
done at the sanctuary. Deuteronomy was written in preparation for entry
into the land when the tribes would be dispersed. This is why Deut. would
change the law for animal slaughter. In the historical context within which
the Pentateuch is written, the point of Deut 12 is not the institution of a
centralized cult but the maintaining of it in the face of Canaanite
pressure.

Ray Clendenen
Broadman & Holman Publishers