The role of the priests in Israelite identity formation in the exilic/post-exilic period with special reference to Leviticus 19:1-19a

Abstract

Source-criticism of the Pentateuch suggests that the priests (Source P) alone authored the Holiness Code – the premise being that Source P forms one religious, literate and elite group of several. Through the endeavor to redefine Israelite identity during the Neo-Babylonian Empire of 626–539 BCE and the Achaemenid Persian Empire of 550–330 BCE, various ideologies of Israelite identity were produced by various religious, literate and elite groups. Possibly, the Holiness Code functions as the compromise reached between two such groups, these being: the Shaphanites, and the Zadokites. Moreover, the Holiness Code functions as the basis for the agreed identity of Israel as seen by the Shaphanites and the Zadokites. Specifically, in Leviticus 19:1-19a – as being the Levitical decalogue of the Holiness Code, and which forms the emphasis of this thesis – both Shaphanite and Zadokite ideologies are expressed therein. The Shaphanite ideology is expressed through the Mosaic tradition: i.e., through the Law; and the Zadokite ideology is expressed through the Aaronide tradition: i.e., through the Cult. In the debate between the supremacy of the Law, or the Cult – i.e., Moses or Aaron – the ancient Near Eastern convention of the ‘rivalry between brothers’ is masterfully negotiated in Leviticus 19:1-19a.