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This summary of the book of Leviticus provides information about the title, author(s), date of writing, chronology, theme,
theology, outline, a brief overview, and the chapters of the Book of Leviticus.
Leviticus receives its name from the Septuagint (the
pre-Christian Greek translation of the OT) and means "relating
to the Levites." Its Hebrew title, wayyiqra', is
the first word in the Hebrew text of the book and means "And
he [i.e., the Lord] called." Although Leviticus does not
deal only with the special duties of the Levites, it is so
named because it concerns mainly the service of worship at
the tabernacle, which was conducted by the priests who were
the sons of Aaron, assisted by many from the rest of the
tribe of Levi. Exodus gave the directions for building the
tabernacle, and now Leviticus gives the laws and regulations
for worship there, including instructions on ceremonial cleanness,
moral laws, holy days, the sabbath year and the Year of Jubilee.
These laws were given, at least for the most part, during
the year that Israel camped at Mount Sinai, when God directed
Moses in organizing Israel's worship, government and military
forces. The book of Numbers continues the history with preparations
for moving on from Sinai to Canaan.
Leviticus is a manual of regulations enabling the holy
King to set up his earthly throne among the people of his
kingdom. It explains how they are to be his holy people and
to worship him in a holy manner. Holiness in this sense means
to be separated from sin and set apart exclusively to the
Lord for his purpose and for his glory. So the key thought
of the book is holiness (see notes on 11:44 ; Ex 3:5 ) -- the
holiness of God and his people (they must revere him in "holiness").
In Leviticus spiritual holiness is symbolized by physical
perfection. Therefore the book demands perfect animals for
its many sacrifices (chs. 1 - 7 ) and requires priests without
deformity (chs. 8 - 10 ). A woman's hemorrhaging after giving
birth (ch. 12 ); sores, burns or baldness (chs. 13 - 14 ); a man's bodily discharge ( 15:1-18 ); specific activities during
a woman's monthly period ( 15:19-33 ) -- all may be signs of blemish (a lack of perfection) and may symbolize human spiritual defects, which break spiritual wholeness. The person with visible skin disease must be banished from the camp, the
place of God's special presence, just as Adam and Eve were
banished from the Garden of Eden. Such people can return
to the camp (and therefore to God's presence) when they are
pronounced whole again by the examining priests. Before they
can reenter the camp, however, they must offer the prescribed,
perfect sacrifices (symbolizing the perfect, whole sacrifice
of Christ).
After the covenant at Sinai, Israel was the earthly representation
of God's kingdom (the theocracy), and, as its King, the Lord
established his administration over all of Israel's life.
Israel's religious, communal and personal life was so regulated
as to establish them as God's holy people and to instruct
them in holiness. Special attention was given to Israel's
religious ritual. The sacrifices were to be offered at an
approved sanctuary, which would symbolize both God's holiness
and his compassion. They were to be controlled by the priests,
who by care and instruction would preserve them in purity
and carefully teach their meaning to the people. Each particular
sacrifice was to have meaning for the people of Israel but
would also have spiritual and symbolic import.
For more information on the meaning of sacrifice in general
see the solemn ritual of the Day of Atonement (ch. 16 ; see
note on 16:1-34 ). For the meaning of the blood of the offering
see 17:11 ; Ge 9:4 and notes. For the emphasis on substitution
see 16:21 .
Some suppose that the OT sacrifices were remains of old
agricultural offerings -- a human desire to offer part of one's
possessions as a love gift to the deity. But the OT sacrifices
were specifically prescribed by God and received their meaning
from the Lord's covenant relationship with Israel -- whatever
their superficial resemblances to pagan sacrifices may have
been. They indeed include the idea of a gift, but this is
accompanied by such other values as dedication, communion,
propitiation (appeasing God's judicial wrath against sin)
and restitution. The various offerings have differing functions,
the primary ones being atonement (see note on Ex 25:17 ) and
worship.
The subjects treated in Leviticus, as in any book of laws
and regulations, cover several categories:
From the NIV Study Bible, Introductions to the Books of the Bible, Leviticus
Copyright 2002 © Zondervan. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

What is the "Strange Fire" Mentioned in Leviticus 9?

How Do We See Christ in the Old Testament?

What Is Unique about the Book of Leviticus?

What is the Central Theme of the Torah?

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by Jeffrey Kranz | Jul 1, 2013 | Bible Books
Leviticus is known as a book of rules (which it is). But specifically, it’s a book of rules that the ancient Israelites believed they had to follow in order to be close to their God. That’s why it’s a vital piece of the Torah , the foundation of the rest of Scripture.
You could sum up the book of Leviticus with God’s repeated command: “Be holy, as I am holy.”
God (Yahweh) —This isn’t a cop-out. This whole book is about how the nation of Israel needs to live in order to survive living in the presence of such a powerful, holy being.
Moses —He led the Israelites from Egypt to Sinai. At this point in the story, Moses has already passed along many, many laws to the people of Israel on God’s behalf. In Leviticus, Moses continues to list the ways Israel can stay pure enough to live alongside their God.
Aaron —Moses’ older brother and the high priest of Israel, Aaron is a character to keep an eye on throughout the Pentateuch. Leviticus’s narrative elements have a lot to do with Aaron. In this book, Aaron is consecrated as the high priest, but this is also the book in which God kills Aaron’s sons.
I like to find a passage in each book of the Bible that sums up what that book is all about. Moses makes it easy for me:
“Thus you are to be holy to Me, for I the LORD am holy; and I have set you apart from the peoples to be Mine.” ( Le 20:26 )
“Holy” means “set apart”—but it’s a lot more involved than just being special. God is holy: far greater in love, goodness, power, and justice than humans. Until this point in the Bible, God has been a long way off from the people of earth. Although God has communicated with humans and in some cases even appeared to them privately (think Abraham’s visitors in Genesis 18 ), he has yet to publicly manifest his presence on earth since the garden of Eden.
But all this has changed. God has made Israel his people: a people that now represent him on earth. He has now established his presence in the tabernacle, a portable holy place where God can dwell in the midst of his new nation.
But if people are going to live in the presence of God, some things will need to change. Because God is so “other” from the world, the people associated with him must become “others” too. God is holy, and his people need to be holy as well.
One way that the ancients understood holiness was in terms of whether something was “clean” or “unclean.” This isn’t the same as “good” or “bad.” It’s a sense of purity . Is something aligned with the god we are approaching? Or is it unaligned?
This wasn’t specific to the people of Israel. People of most religions (past and present) have an understanding that there are ways that are appropriate and inappropriate when it comes to interacting with the divine. Those who work and live closest to a divine being are expected to abide by more stringent rules. The rules vary from religion to religion. We even see this within Christianity today: some faith traditions prefer married church leaders, others prefer celibate leaders.
This is a core theme to the book of Leviticus. When someone is operating in alignment with God’s purity laws, they are “clean.” When someone is out of bounds, they are “unclean.” The book of Leviticus has a lot to say about how to stay clean and how to become clean again.
An important thing to note: throughout the Pentateuch, Moses assumes that everyone will be unclean at some point. After all, everybody poops ( Dt 23:12–14 ). The point is to live in a manner that respects the presence of God .
Leviticus is right in the middle of the Torah, the first five books of the Bible. It has a reputation for being boring, harsh, and unpopular. (But it’s not the least-popular book of the Bible .)
In Genesis , we saw Israel’s origin story. At the tower of Babel, God and the other divine beings scattered the families of the world into nations with their own languages. A few generations later, God chooses Abraham as the patriarch of his own special nation.
In Exodus , Abraham’s descendants have multiplied, becoming a mighty people group cohabitating with the Egyptians. The Pharaoh enslaves the people for a few centuries until God rescues them. After a dramatic exit from Egypt, God makes a special agreement with Israel, making them his people and himself their only God. The people then build a tabernacle, and the Creator of the world begins dwelling among his people.
That’s why Leviticus is so important. It’s a new normal: Yahweh is publicly living with humans. This hasn’t happened since the Garden of Eden, when God would visit with Adam and Eve. Last time God shared a place with humans, the humans (with help from an evil serpent) messed it up. How can they get it right this time?
Not a lot of story happens in Leviticus . The people stay camped at Mount Sinai throughout the book. It’s not until the book of Numbers that they resume their journey to the promised land—and that journey isn’t completed until the book of Joshua .
Leviticus is about holiness (being set apart, separate)—both God’s holiness and the holiness He expects of His people.
Whereas Exodus displays God’s holiness on a cosmic scale (sending plagues on Egypt, parting the Red Sea, etc.), Leviticus shows us the holiness of God in fine detail. God spells out His expectations for His priests and people so that the congregation can appropriately worship and dwell with Him.
The call to holiness in Leviticus resounds throughout Scripture, both the Old and New Testaments. Parts of the Levitical law are fulfilled in Jesus Christ, such as distinctions between clean and unclean foods ( Mark 7:18–19 ), but the call to holiness still stands—Peter even cites Leviticus when he encourages us to be holy in all our behavior ( 1 Peter 1:15–16 ).
The whole Torah is a carefully, intentionally edited work. Moses is traditionally credited as the human author of the Old-Testament book of Leviticus. This is because Leviticus is part of the Torah, which is known as the Law of Moses.
That doesn’t necessarily mean Moses penned every single word of this book. However, Moses is the main human character in these books, and since Moses is the one receiving directives from God, the books are usually attributed to him.
You can learn more about the traditional authors of the Bible here .
A non-preachy, jargon-free handbook to what the Bible is, where it came from, and what it’s all about.

1. Blood Link (Essence of a Sacrifice)
2. Bloody Dissonance (Arrogance in the Tabernacle)
3. Elisheva’s Grief (Disaster in the Tabernacle)
4. A Father’s Wager (A bet turning sour)
5. The Gossipmonger (Return from Exile)
7. Metal Deception (Outsmarting a Thief)
8. The Blasphemer (The Man who would Curse God)
9. Insidious Interest (Ending loansharks)
10. “Seven Times More Plagues” (Images of the Curses)
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