Derek Tidball on Leviticus (4)

Derek Tidball, The Message of Leviticus: Free to be Holy, The Bible Speaks Today (Leicester: IVP, 2005).

Leviticus, according to Derek Tidball, is ‘elegantly structured and carefully arranged’ (23). He notes Mary Douglas’ proposed ‘ring structure’, in which the book comes full circle with chapter 19 as the turning point, with the concerns of the opening chapters being matched by the concerns of the later chapters but in reverse order…

But he opts for a more linear structure, as follows:

Part 1. The manual of sacrifice: enjoying God’s presence (1:1 – 7:38)

1. Consecration to God: the burnt offering (1:1–17)
2. A gift for God: the grain offering (2:1–16)
3. Fellowship with God: the peace offering (3:1–17)
4. Forgiveness from God: the sin offering (4:1 – 5:13)
5. Amendment before God: the guilt offering (5:14 – 6:7)
6. Instructed by God: the priests’ responsibilities (6:8 – 7:38)

Part 2. The manual of priesthood: entering God’s service (8:1 – 10:20)
7. Anointed for service (8:1–36)
8. The glory of the Lord appeared (9:1–24)
9. Fire from Lord (10:1–20)

Part 3. The manual of purity: encountering God’s design (11:1 – 15:33)

10. Purity and the diet (11:1–47)
11. Purity and the body (12:1–8; 15:1–33)
12. Purity and disease (13:1 – 14:57)

Part 4. The manual of atonement: ensuring God’s forgiveness (16:1–34)
13. For all the sins of Israel (16:1–34)

Part 5. The manual of holiness: enacting God’s word (17:1 – 26:46)

14. God’s word about life blood (17:1–16)
15. God’s word about family health (18:1–30)
16. God’s word about society’s welfare (19:1–37)
17. God’s word about the penal code (20:1–27)
18. God’s word about spiritual leadership (21:1 – 22:33)
19. God’s word about times of celebration (23:1–44)
20. God’s word about safeguarding the sacred (24:1–23)
21. God’s word about radical economics (25:1–55)
22. God’s word about future prosperity (26:1–46)

Part 6. The manual of dedication: enamoured of God’s grace (27:1–34)

23. God’s word about consecration (27:1–34)