Banishment in the Torah

Banishment or Exile can be a form of punishment. It means to be away from one's home (i.e. city, state or country) while either being explicitly refused permission to return and/or being threatened by prison or death upon return. As it is a common theme within the Bible with one of its earliest references, Adam & Eve, continuing with a form of banishment that includes Jesus. Below is a partial list of these exiles as referenced in the Bible.

Genesis

Genesis (Greek: "birth", "origin") is the first book of the Bible of Judaism and of Christianity, and the first of five books of the Pentateuch or Torah. It recounts the Judeo-Christian history of the world from the creation to the descent of the children of Israel into Egypt, and contains some of the best-known stories of the Old Testament, including Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Noah's Ark, the Tower of Babel, and the biblical Patriarchs.

For Jews the theological importance of Genesis centers on the Covenants linking God to his Chosen People and the people to the Promised Land. Christianity has reinterpreted Genesis as the prefiguration of Christian beliefs, notably the Christian view of Christ as the new Adam and the New Testament as the culmination of the covenants.

Structurally, Genesis consists of a "primeval history" (Genesis 1-11) and cycles of Patriarchal stories. The narrative of Joseph stands apart from these. Scholars see the book as the product of anonymous authors and editors working between the 10th and 5th centuries BC.

Genesis Chapter 3

• Genesis 3:23

Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.

• Genesis 3:24

So He drove out the man; and He placed at the east of the garden of Eden the cherubim, and the flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way to the tree of life.
(Adam and Eve expelled from the Garden of Eden for eating the forbidden apple.) The serpent tells the woman that she will not die if she eats the fruit of the tree: "When you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." So the woman eats and gives to the man who also eats. "Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons." God curses the serpent: "upon your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life;" the woman he punishes with pain in childbirth and with subordination to man: "your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you;" and the man he punishes with a life of toil: "In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground." The man names his wife Eve, "because she was the mother of all living." "Behold," says God, "the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil," and expels the couple from Eden, "lest he put forth his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever." The gate of Eden is sealed by a cherub and a flaming sword "to guard the way to the tree of life."

Genesis Chapter 6

File:Gustave Doré - Déluge.jpg

The Deluge by Gustave Doré.

• Genesis 6:7

And the LORD said: 'I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and creeping thing, and fowl of the air; for it repenteth Me that I have made them.'
(The LORD decides to flood the earth due to the evil of men -- just before Noah's Flood.)

The record in the book of Genesis says, "Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and was grieved in His heart. So the LORD said, 'I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky; for I am grieved that I have made them.'"
God selects Noah who "found favor in the eyes of the LORD" and commands him to build an ark. God instructed the ark's construction to be three hundred cubits (450 feet/137 m) long, fifty cubits (75 feet/23 m) wide, and thirty cubits (45 feet/14 m) high. Then God commanded Noah to put one pair of unclean animals and seven pairs of clean animals. After Noah builds the ark, "all the fountains of the great deep burst open, and the floodgates of the sky were opened" by God. It rains for 40 days. "The water prevailed upon the earth one hundred and fifty days." The water recedes for 150 days. On the seventeenth day of the seventh month, the ark rests upon the mountains of Ararat. After 40 days on the mountain, Noah opens up the ark. "Then God spoke to Noah, saying, 'Go out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and your sons' wives with you.'" Everyone and every animal exits the ark to fruitfully repopulate the Earth. See also Noah's Ark.

Genesis Chapter 11

Engraving The Confusion of Tongues by Gustave Doré (1865), who based his conception on the Minaret of Samarra

• Genesis 11:9

Therefore was the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth; and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.
(No longer able to communicate and resolve conflicts, people scatter themselves after the failed Tower of Babel project.)

The Tower of Babel (Template:Lang-he Migdal Bavel Template:Lang-ar Burj Babil) is a structure featured in chapter 11 of the Book of Genesis, an enormous tower intended as the crowning achievement of the city of Babilu, the Akkadian name for Babylon. According to the biblical account, Babel was a city that united humanity, all speaking a single language and migrating from the east; it was the home city of the great king Nimrod, and the first city to be built after the Great Flood. The people decided their city should have a tower so immense that it would have "its top in the heavens." (וְרֹאשׁוֹ בַשָּׁמַיִם). However, the Tower of Babel was not built for the worship and praise of God, but was dedicated to false man-made religion, with a motive of making a 'celebrated name' for the builders. - Genesis 11:4. However God, (written in the Hebrew as YHWH; translated into English as either Yahweh, Jehovah, or most commonly, the Lord), seeing what the people were doing and sinning against him, confused their languages and scattered the people throughout the earth.

Genesis Chapter 13

• Genesis 13:9

Is not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me; if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou take the right hand, then I will go to the left.'
(Abraham and his brother Lot decide to separate their households to avoid conflicts over land and property.)

The story of Lot is told in the Book of Genesis. Lot is mentioned in chapters 11-14 and 19.

Lot was the son of Abraham's brother Haran. Lot and his family went with Abraham and his family from Ur of the Chaldees to Egypt. When Abraham traveled to the Land of Canaan at the command of God, Lot accompanied him. (Gen 12:1-5). Abraham had always a great affection for him, and when they could not continue longer together in Canaan because they both had large flocks and their shepherds sometimes quarrelled (Gen 13:6,7) he gave Lot the choice of his abode. Lot went southeast to plains near the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, since the land there was well watered. (Gen. 13:10-12).

About eight years after this separation, Chedorlaomer and his allies attacked the kings of Sodom and the neighbouring cities, pillaged Sodom, and took many captives, including Lot. Abraham armed his servants, pursued the confederate kings, and overtook them near the springs of Jordan. He recovered the spoils they had taken and brought back Lot with the other captives. Abraham was offered a reward by the King of Sodom, but refused even a shoelace.

In Gen. 19, when God decided to overturn and destroy the five cities of the plain, he sent angels to rescue Lot and his family. The men of Sodom sought to rape (in some translations, meet) the angels (19:5). Lot offers the men his daughters instead, whom he says are virgins (19:8), but the men are not interested.

When the sins of the Sodomites and of the neighboring cities had called down the vengeance of God to punish and destroy them, two angels were sent to Sodom to forewarn Lot of the dreadful catastrophe about to happen. The angels took Lot, his wife, and his daughters by hand and drew them forcibly out of their house, saying, "Save yourselves with all haste. Look not behind you. Get as fast as you are able to the mountain, unless you be involved in the calamity of the city." Lot entreated the angels, who consented that he might retire to Zoar, which was one of the five doomed cities. His wife, looking back on Sodom, was turned into a pillar of salt.

Genesis Chapter 16

"The dismissal of Hagar", 1612 by Pieter Pietersz Lastman

• Genesis 16:6

But Abram said unto Sarai: 'Behold, thy maid is in thy hand; do to her that which is good in thine eyes.' And Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her face.
(Sarah deals harshly with her Egyptian maid Hagar, forcing her to run away.)

The story of Hagar is found in the Bible in the book of Genesis, chapters 16 and 21. The narrative states that Hagar was an Egyptian servant belonging to Sarah, who, being barren, gave Hagar to her husband Abraham as a concubine, so that he might still have children. She gave birth to a son, whom she named Ishmael.

Fourteen years after this, following Sarah's repentance to God for her sins, God allowed Sarah to give birth to Isaac. According to Judaic teachings, God commanded Abraham to obey his wife's wishes and expel Hagar and Ishmael into the desert alone. It is believed that Sarah was motivated by Ishmael's sexually frivolous ways ("making merry" Gen. 21:9) at a party, which has been translated as a reference to idolatry, sexual immorality or even murder; some rabbinic sources claim that Sarah worried that Ishmael would negatively influence Isaac, or that he would demand Isaac's inheritance on the grounds of being the firstborn.

Abraham is reluctant to send his son away, but God promised to make a great nation out of Ishmael, because he was Abraham's seed. Rising early in the morning, therefore, Abraham took bread and a container of water and sent his former consort, Hagar and his son, Ishmael away.

Hagar intended to return to Egypt, but lost her way, and wandered in the desert of Beersheba. The water in her container failing, she placed Ishmael under one of the trees in the wilderness to cry as she went in search of water a small distance away from him. God ended up rescuing them by showing Hagar a well. Hagar eventually settled in the Desert of Paran.

Genesis Chapter 17

An angel prevents the sacrifice of Isaac. Abraham and Isaac

• Genesis 17:14

And the uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken My covenant.'
(The LORD talks to Abraham just before telling him that Sarah will bear Isaac, proclaiming that uncircumcised males shall be "cut off".)

The name Abraham was given to Abram (and the name Sarah to Sarai) at the same time as the covenant of circumcision (chapter 17), which is practiced in Judaism and Islam to this day.. The Lord said to Abraham “ go from the country and your kindred and your fathers house to the land that I will show you.” And I will make of you a great nation and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you. And by you all the families of the earth shall bless themselves. At this time Abraham was promised not only many descendants, but descendants through Sarah specifically, as well as the land where he was living, which was to belong to his descendants. The covenant was to be fulfilled through Isaac, though God promised that Ishmael would become a great nation as well. The covenant of circumcision (unlike the earlier promise) was two-sided and conditional: if Abraham and his descendants fulfilled their part of the covenant, Yahweh would be their God, give them the land, and make a great nation and kings out of Abraham's line.

The promise of a son to Abraham made Sarah "laugh," which became the name of the son of promise, Isaac. Sarah herself "laughs" at the idea because of her age, when Yahweh (God) appears to Abraham at Mamre (18:1-15) and, when the child is born, cries "Yahweh has made me into laughter; every one that hears will laugh at me" (21:6).

Genesis Chapter 21

Expulsion of Ishmael and His Mother, from Gustave Doré's illustrated Bible of 1866.

• Genesis 21:14

And Abraham arose up early in the morning, and took bread and a bottle of water, and gave it unto Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and the child, and sent her away; and she departed, and strayed in the wilderness of Beer-sheba.
(Abraham 'divorces' Hager after being advised to do so by Sarah, sending her into the desert with only her son Ishmael. Afterwards, the water is depleted, and Hagar sits down to die. An Angel of the LORD then appears and rescues Hagar and Ishmael, and promises to make Ishmael "a great nation".)

Abraham is reluctant to send his son away, but God promised to make a great nation out of Ishmael, because he was Abraham's seed. Rising early in the morning, therefore, Abraham took bread and a container of water and sent his former consort, Hagar and his son, Ishmael away.

Hagar intended to return to Egypt, but lost her way, and wandered in the desert of Beersheba. The water in her container failing, she placed Ishmael under one of the trees in the wilderness to cry as she went in search of water a small distance away from him. God ended up rescuing them by showing Hagar a well. Hagar eventually settled in the Desert of Paran.

Genesis Chapter 37

Joseph reveals himself to his brothers, by Peter von Cornelius

• Genesis 37:28

And there passed by Midianites, merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. And they brought Joseph into Egypt.
(Joseph sold to slavery by his own brothers after their father Isaac sent him to check up on them.)

The eleventh son of Jacob and the elder of the two sons of Rachel was born at Haran. The meaning given to the name (l.c.) is "shall add": "The Lord shall add to me another son. It seems probable, however, it has God as its first element, and is a contraction, the original form being "Jehoseph", while in Gen. xxx. 23 there is an allusion to the connection of "Joseph".

Upon Joseph centered the love of his father, Jacob, who showered upon "the son of his old age" many tokens of special favor, and arrayed him in a "coat of many colors". This favoritism, however, excited the envy of his older brothers, and Joseph increased their envy by telling them of two dreams which prognosticated his ruling over them (Gen. xxxvii. 2-11).

When a lad of sixteen or seventeen, Joseph was sent by his father to inquire after his brothers, who were pasturing the flocks in Shechem. He found them at Dothan, and when his brothers saw him approaching they planned to kill him. Reuben, however, took his part, and, in order to remove him from the fury of the others, advised them to throw Joseph into a pit (Gen. xxxvii. 13-24). He intended to rescue Joseph and return him to Jacob later.

Different accounts are given of the sale of Joseph, which immediately followed; according to one, the brothers, while eating at some distance from the pit, sighted a caravan of Ishmaelites, to whom they decided to sell Joseph.In the meantime some Midianite merchants passing the pit drew Joseph out and sold him for twenty pieces of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took Joseph to Egypt (Gen. xxxvii. 25-28). The last statement is repeated in Gen. xxxix. 1, while in Gen. xxxvii. 36 it is said that the Midianites (Hebr. "Medanites") sold him to Potiphar in Egypt.

Exodus

Exodus (Greek: "departure") is the second book of the Jewish Torah and of the Christian Old Testament. It tells how Moses leads the Israelites out of Egypt and through the wilderness to the Mountain of God (Mount Sinai). There Yahweh, through Moses, gives the Israelites their laws and enters into a covenant with them, by which he will give them the land of Canaan in return for their faithfulness. The book ends with the construction of the Tabernacle.

According to tradition, Exodus and the other four books of the Torah were written by Moses in the latter half of the 2nd millennium BC. Historians and archaeologists have been unable to verify any of the events recounted in Exodus, and modern biblical scholarship sees it reaching its final form around 450 BC.

Exodus Chapter 12

Moses before the Pharaoh, a 6th century miniature from the Syriac Bible of Paris.

• Exodus 12:15

Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread; howbeit the first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses; for whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel.

• Exodus 12:19

Seven days shall there be no leaven found in your houses; for whosoever eateth that which is leavened, that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a sojourner, or one that is born in the land.
(The LORD speaks to Moses and Aaron just before the Exodus from the land of Egypt, proclaiming that anyone who eats leavened bread during a certain period of time will be "cut off".)

The Exodus begins. The Israelites, 600,000 men plus women and children and ä mixed multitude,"with their flocks and herds, set out for the mountain of God. But Yahweh, to demonstrate his power, makes Pharaoh pursue the Israelites, destroys his army at the crossing of the Red Sea. The Israelites celebrate their deliverance with the Song of the Sea.

The Israelites continue their journey, but immediately begin to complain of the hardships. In the Wilderness of Sin they complain about the lack of food and speak with longing of Egypt, and Yahweh sends them quail and manna to eat. At Rephidim, he provides water miraculously from the rock of Meribah. The Amalekites attack the Israelites, and Yahweh orders an eternal war against them. The Israelites arrive at the mountain of God, where Moses' father-in-law Jethro visits Moses; at his suggestion Moses appoints judges over Israel.

Exodus Chapter 17

"The Children of Israel Crossing the Jordan" by Gustave Doré (d. 1883)

• Exodus 17:14

And the LORD said unto Moses: 'Write this for a memorial in the book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.'
(After the Amalekites attacked the Israelites in the desert and the Israelites retaliated under the command of Joshua.)

According to the Bible, Joshua was the son of Nun, of the tribe of Ephraim, which would become known as the most militaristic of the tribes of Israel, largely through Joshua's campaigns. He was born in Egypt during the Israelite enslavement, and was probably the same age as Caleb, with whom he is generally associated.

Joshua shared in all the events of the Exodus. He was Moses' apprentice, and accompanied him part of the way when he ascended Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments (Exd. 32:17). He was also one of the twelve spies who were sent on by Moses to explore the land of Canaan (Num. 13:16, 17), and only he and Caleb gave an encouraging report. He was commander at their first battle after exiting Egypt, against the Amalekites in Rephidim (Ex. 17:8-16), in which they were victorious.

Joshua was appointed by Moses to succeed him as leader of the Israelites upon Moses' death. The first major part of his book is when he commanded the subsequent conquest of Canaan. As the Israelites came to the Jordan River, the waters parted, as they did for Moses at the Red Sea. The first major battle was in Jericho, a heavily fortified city just five miles west of the Jordan River, northwest of the Dead Sea which he took by following God's instruction, ordering his host to march around the city for seven days, whereupon the city walls fell, just as God said they would. The Israelites then slaughtered "every living thing" inside Jericho and completely destroyed the city except for Rahab and her family, who had aided the two spies sent by Joshua to check out the city. Although they had been forbidden by God to take any of the spoils, Achan disobeyed and took some garments and silver, hiding it in his tent. When Israel tried to conquer Ai, a small neighboring city just West of Jericho, they were defeated and 36 Israelite warriors were killed. Achan's sin was exposed, he and his family and his animals were stoned to death, and the favor of God was again restored towards His people. Next, through clever ambush tactics, Joshua defeated Ai. The Israelites faced a Southern alliance of the Amorite kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon. At Gibeon Joshua defeated them by causing the Sun to stand still at Gibeon, and the moon in the valley of Ajalon, so that he could finish the battle in daylight. Then Joshua faced a northern Canaanite king, Jabin of Hazor, whom he defeated at the Waters of Mermon, possibly referring to Lake Huleh.

In the second main part of his book, Joshua divided the conquered land among the tribes of Israel as dictated to him by God. The framing narrative, describing the process by which the land was divided (12:1-6, 13:1-14, 13:21b-22, 13:32-14:3, 15:63, 16:10-17:6, 17:12-18:10, 19:51, and 22:1-9). First a description is given of the domains east of the Jordan which were conquered and given to Reuben, Gad, and Machir (half of Manasseh). After God gave Joshua a gloss concerning the unconquered region, he reminded him about Reuben, Gad, and Machir (half of Manasseh), already having been allocated land by Moses, and about the Levites not being given territory, only cities. The territory was handed out by lot, Judah gaining the first lot, although they failed to drive out the Canaanites living in Jerusalem. Then the house of Joseph got its territory, Ephraim failing to drive out the Canaanites of Gezer, and it is pointed out that the daughters of Zelophehad, part of the tribe of Manasseh, were also given territory of their own. The house of Joseph was given the mountain region, including the forest, and they are told that they will be able to drive out the Canaanites living there despite the presence of iron chariots. The Israelites then assembled at Shiloh, and Joshua sent out a survey team. When the survey was complete, the remaining land was divided amongst the lesser tribes. Finally, the tribes whose lands are east of the Jordan were allowed to go to their lands.

When he was "old and stricken in age" Joshua convened the elders and chiefs of the Israelites and exhorted them to have no fellowship with the native population. At a general assembly of the clans at Shechem he took leave of the people, admonishing them to be loyal to their God, who had been so mightily manifested in the midst of them. As a witness of their promise to serve God, Joshua set up a great stone under an oak by the sanctuary of God. Soon afterward he died, at the age of 110, and was buried at Timnath Serah.

Exodus Chapter 30

File:Aaron high priest.jpg

18th-century Dutch oak statue portraying the high priest

• Exodus 30:38

Whosoever shall make like unto that, to smell thereof, he shall be cut off from his people.'
(Short time after the LORD commands the Israelites to anoint Aaron and his sons as priests. Proclamation to "cut off" anyone who tries to make their own offering -- anyone who does not recognize Aaron and his sons as priests.)

At the time when the tribe of Levi was set apart for the priestly service, Aaron was anointed and consecrated to the priesthood, arrayed in the robes of his office, and instructed in its manifold duties Exodus 28 KJV, and Exodus 29 KJV.

On the very day of his consecration, his sons; Nada and Abidjan, were consumed by fire from the Lord for having offered incense in an unlawful manner Leviticus 10 KJV

All scholars admit that in Aaron's High Priesthood the sacred writer intended to describe a model, the prototype, so to say, of the Jewish High Priest, "phod". God, on Mount Sinai instituting a worship, and also instituted an order of priests.

According to the patriarchal customs, the First Born son in every family used to perform the functions connected with God's worship, "phod". It might have been expected, consequently, that Rueben's family would be chosen by God for the ministry of the new altar. However, according to the biblical narrative, it was Aaron, however, who was the object of God's choice. To what jealousies this gave rise later, has been indicated above. The office of the Aaronites was at first merely to take care of the lamp that should ever burn before the veil of the tabernacle Exodus 27:21. A more formal calling soon followed (Exodus 28:1). Aaron and his sons, distinguished from the Common People by their sacred functions, were likewise to receive holy vestments suitable to their office.

Aaron offered the different sacrifices and performed the many ceremonies of the consecration of the new priests, according to the divine instructions (Exodus 29), and repeated these rites for seven days, during which Aaron and his sons were entirely separated from the rest of the people. When, on the eighth day, the High Priest had inaugurated his office of sacrifice by killing the animals, he blessed the people, very likely according to the prescriptions of Num., vi, 24-26, and, with Moses, entered into the tabernacle so as to take possession thereof. As they "came forth and blessed the people. And the glory of the Lord appeared to all the multitude: And behold a fire, coming forth from the Lord, devoured the holocaust, and the fat that was upon the altar: which when the multitude saw, they praised the Lord, falling on their faces" (Leviticus 9:23, 24). So was the institution of the Aaronic priesthood inaugurated and solemnly ratified by the Lord.

Exodus Chapter 31

File:PB100047.JPG

The Shabbat table is set: two covered challot, a kiddush cup, two candles, and flowers.

• Exodus 31:14

Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore, for it is holy unto you; every one that profaneth it shall surely be put to death; for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people.
(Proclamation to "cut off" anyone who does not observe the Sabbath.)

The Sabbath in Judaism arises from the fourth of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:8–11) -

Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. For six days you shall labour and do all your work. But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work... For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it.

The commandment to observe the Sabbath is mentioned many times in the Tanakh, the Hebrew Bible, most notably as the fourth of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:8–11 and Deuteronomy 5:12–15).

Other instances are Exodus 31:12–17 and Exodus 35:2–3, Leviticus 19:3 Leviticus 19:30 and Leviticus 23:3 and Numbers 28:9–10 (the sacrifices).

It is referred to directly by the prophets Isaiah 56:4,6, Ezekiel 20:13 Ezekiel 22:8 Ezekiel 23:38 and Nehemiah 9:14.

Exodus Chapter 32

The Worship of the Golden Calf by Filippino Lippi (1457–1504)

• Exodus 32:32

Yet now, if Thou wilt forgive their sin--; and if not, blot me, I pray Thee, out of Thy book which Thou hast written.'
(Moses begs the LORD to forgive the Israelites for the Sin of the Golden Calf, or to otherwise, "blot out" him as well.)

• Exodus 32:33

And the LORD said unto Moses: 'Whosoever hath sinned against Me, him will I blot out of My book.
(Proclamation just before additional Israelites are smitten/blotted out by the LORD for making the Golden Calf.)

When Moses went up onto Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments (Exodus 19:20), he left the Israelites for forty days and forty nights (Exodus 24:18). The Israelites feared that he would not return and asked Aaron to make gods for them (Exodus 32:1). The Bible does not note Aaron's opinion of this request, merely that he complied, and gathered up the Israelites' golden earrings. He melted them and constructed the golden calf.

Aaron also built an altar before the calf, and the next day, the Israelites made offerings and celebrated.

The Lord told Moses that his people had corrupted themselves, and that he planned to eliminate them, but Moses argued and pleaded that they should be spared (Exodus 32:11); the Lord relented. Moses went down from the mountain, but upon seeing the calf, he too became angry. He threw down the tablets upon which God's law had been written, and broke them. Moses then burnt the golden calf in the fire, ground it to powder, scattered it on water, and forced the Israelites to drink it. He questioned Aaron about the event, who admitted to collecting the gold, throwing it into the fire, and out came a calf. Then Moses gathered the sons of Levi and set them to slaying a large number of adult males (3000). A plague then struck the Israelites. Nevertheless, the Lord stated that he would one day visit the Israelites' sin upon them.

Since Moses had broken the tablets, the Lord instructed him to return to Mount Sinai yet again (Exodus 34:2) to receive a replacement.

Leviticus

Leviticus (from Greek Λευιτικός, "relating to the Levites") is the third book of the Hebrew Bible, of the Old Testament, and of the Torah (five books of Moses).

Many of the quotes here are basic laws of kashrut are derived from the Torah's Books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy, with their details set down in the oral law (the Mishnah and the Talmud) and codified by the Shulchan Aruch and later rabbinical authorities. The Torah does not explicitly state the reason for most kashrut laws, and many varied reasons have been offered for these laws, ranging from philosophical and ritualistic, to practical and hygienic.

The main points of the book are concerned with legal rules, and priestly ritual. The first 16 chapters and the last chapter describe the Priestly Code, detailing ritual cleanliness, sin-offerings, and the Day of Atonement, including Chapter 12 which mandates male circumcision.[1] Chapters 17-26 describe the holiness code, including the injunction in chapter 19 to love one's neighbor as oneself.[2] Among its many prohibitions, the book uses the word "abomination" 16 times, including dietary restrictions prohibiting shellfish, certain fowl, and "Whatsoever goeth upon the belly, and whatsoever goeth upon all four, or whatsoever hath more feet among all creeping things that creep upon the earth, them ye shall not eat; for they are an abomination"(chapter 11); and sexual restrictions prohibiting lying "with mankind, as with womankind" (chapter 18, see also chapter 20); the book similarly prohibits eating pork and rabbits because they are "unclean."[3] The rules in Leviticus are generally addressed to the descendants of Israel, except for example the prohibition in chapter 20 against sacrificing children to rival god Molech, which applies equally to "the strangers that sojourn in Israel".[4]

According to tradition, Moses authored all five books of the Torah. According to the documentary hypothesis, Leviticus derives almost entirely from the priestly source (P), marked by emphasis on priestly concerns, composed c 550-400 BC, and incorporated into the Torah c 400 BC.

Kashrut (also kashruth or kashrus, כַּשְרוּת) refers to Jewish dietary laws. Food in accord with halakha (Jewish law) is termed kosher in English, from the Hebrew term kashér, meaning "fit" (in this context, fit for consumption by Jews according to traditional Jewish law). Jews may not consume non-kosher food (but there are no restrictions for non-dietary use, for example, injection of insulin of porcine origin). Food that is not in accord with Jewish law is called treif, (טרייף or treyf, Hebrew טְרֵפָה trēfáh). Treif meat is meat from a non-kosher animal or a kosher animal that has not been properly slaughtered according to Jewish law, but the term is applied by extension to all non-kosher food.

By extension, the word kosher means legitimate, acceptable, permissible, genuine or authentic, in a broader sense.

Islam has a related but different system, named halal, and both systems have a comparable system of ritual slaughter (shechita in Judaism and Ḏabīḥah in Islam).

Leviticus Chapter 7

A modern interpretation of Azazel as a Satanic, goatlike demon, from Collin de Plancy's Dictionnaire Infernal (Paris,1825).

• Leviticus 7:20

But the soul that eateth of the flesh of the sacrifice of peace-offerings, that pertain unto the LORD, having his uncleanness upon him, that soul shall be cut off from his people.

• Leviticus 7:21

And when any one shall touch any unclean thing, whether it be the uncleanness of man, or an unclean beast, or any unclean detestable thing, and eat of the flesh of the sacrifice of peace-offerings, which pertain unto the LORD, that soul shall be cut off from his people.
(Proclamation to "cut off" anyone who eats certain "unclean" flesh, or the flesh of certain sacrificial offerings.)

• Leviticus 7:27

Whosoever it be that eateth any blood, that soul shall be cut off from his people.
(Proclamation to "cut off" anyone for consuming blood.)

Leviticus Chapter 13

• Leviticus 13:46

All the days wherein the plague is in him he shall be unclean; he is unclean; he shall dwell alone; without the camp shall his dwelling be.
(Proclamation to quarantine persons exhibiting illness.)

Leviticus Chapter 16

• Leviticus 16:10

But the goat, on which the lot fell for Azazel, shall be set alive before the LORD, to make atonement over him, to send him away for Azazel into the wilderness.
(The goat is sent away to die alone in the desert in the place of a person, who according to the Leviticus ideology deserves the same punishment due to his sins, and would have had to bare this punishment, had the punishment not been "transferred" onto the goat.)

Leviticus Chapter 17

• Leviticus 17:4

and hath not brought it unto the door of the tent of meeting, to present it as an offering unto the LORD before the tabernacle of the LORD, blood shall be imputed unto that man; he hath shed blood; and that man shall be cut off from among his people.
(Proclamation to "cut off" anyone who kills an animal for this own benefit.)

• Leviticus 17:9

and bringeth it not unto the door of the tent of meeting, to sacrifice it unto the LORD, even that man shall be cut off from his people.
(Proclamation to "cut off" anyone who attempts to make a sacrifice by himself rather than have the recognized priests do it.)

• Leviticus 17:10

And whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among them, that eateth any manner of blood, I will set My face against that soul that eateth blood, and will cut him off from among his people.

• Leviticus 17:14

For as to the life of all flesh, the blood thereof is all one with the life thereof; therefore I said unto the children of Israel: Ye shall eat the blood of no manner of flesh; for the life of all flesh is the blood thereof; whosoever eateth it shall be cut off.
(Proclamations to "cut off" anyone who consumes blood.)

Leviticus Chapter 18

A painting of God watching as an angel and a demon fight for a man's soul

• Leviticus 18:29

For whosoever shall do any of these abominations, even the souls that do them shall be cut off from among their people.
(This follows descriptions of various sexual offenses.)

Leviticus Chapter 19

• Leviticus 19:8

But every one that eateth it shall bear his iniquity, because he hath profaned the holy thing of the LORD; and that soul shall be cut off from his people.
(Proclamation to "cut off" anyone who eats a certain kind of peace offering on the 3rd day or later.)

Leviticus Chapter 20

Yom Kippur
Yom Kippur in the synagogue, painting by Maurycy Gottlieb (1878)
Official name	Hebrew: יוֹם כִּפּוּר or יום הכיפורים
Date	10th day of Tishrei
2024 date

Yom Kippur (Hebrew:יוֹם כִּפּוּר , IPA: [ˈjɔm kiˈpur]), also known in English as the Day of Atonement, is the most solemn of the Jewish holidays. Its central themes are atonement and repentance. Jews have traditionally observed this holiday with a 25-hour period of fasting and intensive prayer.

• Leviticus 20:3

I also will set My face against that man, and will cut him off from among his people, because he hath given of his seed unto Molech, to defile My sanctuary, and to profane My holy name.

• Leviticus 20:5

then I will set My face against that man, and against his family, and will cut him off, and all that go astray after him, to go astray after Molech, from among their people.

• Leviticus 20:6

And the soul that turneth unto the ghosts, and unto the familiar spirits, to go astray after them, I will even set My face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people.
(Proclamations to "cut off" anyone who "gives his seed to Molech" -- sacrifices his children onto a foreign god.)

• Leviticus 20:17

And if a man shall take his sister, his father's daughter, or his mother's daughter, and see her nakedness, and she see his nakedness: it is a shameful thing; and they shall be cut off in the sight of the children of their people: he hath uncovered his sister's nakedness; he shall bear his iniquity.

• Leviticus 20:18

And if a man shall lie with a woman having her sickness, and shall uncover her nakedness--he hath made naked her fountain, and she hath uncovered the fountain of her blood--both of them shall be cut off from among their people.
(Proclamations to "cut off" anyone engaging in various sexual offenses.)

Leviticus Chapter 22

• Leviticus 22:3

Say unto them: Whosoever he be of all your seed throughout your generations, that approacheth unto the holy things, which the children of Israel hallow unto the LORD, having his uncleanness upon him, that soul shall be cut off from before Me: I am the LORD.
(Proclamations to "cut off" anyone for incorrectly using objects used for worship.)

Leviticus Chapter 23

• Leviticus 23:29

For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from his people.
(Proclamation to "cut off" anyone who does not atone on the Day of Atonement -- Yom Kippur.)

Leviticus Chapter 26

• Leviticus 26:33

And you will I scatter among the nations, and I will draw out the sword after you; and your land shall be a desolation, and your cities shall be a waste.
(Proclamation to expel the Israelites from the land if they fail to adhere to the ideology of the book of Leviticus. Follows descriptions of various related curses.)

Numbers

The Book of Numbers, (Template:Hebrew, Bamidbar, meaning in the desert), is the fourth book of the Torah, the Tanakh, and the Old Testament. In the Greek Septuagint it is called Arithmoi, or Numbers, because it contains a record of the numbering of the Israelites in the wilderness of Sinai and later on the plain of Moab.

This book may be divided into three parts:

1. The numbering of the people at Sinai, and preparations for resuming their march (1-10:10). The sixth chapter gives an account of the vow of a Nazirite.
2. An account of the journey from Sinai to Moab, the sending out of the spies and the report they brought back, and the murmurings (eight times) of the people at the hardships by the way (10:11-21:20).
3. The transactions in the plain of Moab before crossing the Jordan River (21:21-36).

The period comprehended in the history extends from the second month of the second year after the Exodus to the beginning of the eleventh month of the fortieth year, in all about thirty-eight years and ten months; a dreary period of wanderings. They were fewer in number at the end of their wanderings than when they left the land of Egypt.

According to tradition, Moses authored all five books of the Torah. According to the documentary hypothesis, Numbers, with its dry style and emphasis on censuses, derives from the priestly source, c. 550-400 BC. It was combined with the other three sources to create the Torah c. 400.

Numbers Chapter 5

• Numbers 5:2

'Command the children of Israel, that they put out of the camp every leper, and every one that hath an issue, and whosoever is unclean by the dead;

• Numbers 5:3

both male and female shall ye put out, without the camp shall ye put them; that they defile not their camp, in the midst whereof I dwell.'

• Numbers 5:4

And the children of Israel did so, and put them out without the camp; as the LORD spoke unto Moses, so did the children of Israel.
(Proclamation to "put out" anyone afflicted by leprosy, as this is considered to "defile" the camp. This is done according to 5:4.)

Tzaraath (tzaraas, tzaraat, tsaraas, tsaraat; Hebrew צרעת) is a disfigurative condition named by the masoretic text of the Priestly Code in the Tanakh. The word is used for both skin conditions and for discolorations that affect clothes and buildings. Tzaraath is translated by the Septuagint as lepra, and was consequently translated by older English translations of the Bible as leprosy, with which lepra is cognate. Several of the symptoms mentioned by the biblical text are inconsistent with tzaraath being leprosy, and additionally, the most obvious features of leprosy - the strong disfigurement of the face due to its swelling, and the rotting of limbs - are unmentioned in the description of tzaraath.

Leprosy, or Hansen's disease, is a chronic infectious disease caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium leprae. Leprosy is primarily a granulomatous disease of the peripheral nerves and mucosa of the upper respiratory tract; skin lesions are the primary external symptom. Left untreated, leprosy can be progressive, causing permanent damage to the skin, nerves, limbs, and eyes. Contrary to popular conception, leprosy does not cause body parts to simply fall off, and it differs from tzaraath, the malady described in the Hebrew scriptures and previously translated into English as leprosy.

Historically, leprosy has affected humanity since at least 600 BC, and was well-recognized in the civilizations of ancient China, Egypt and India. In 1995, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that between two and three million individuals were permanently disabled because of leprosy. Although the forced quarantine or segregation of patients is unnecessary—and can be considered unethical—a few leper colonies still remain around the world, in countries such as India, Japan, and Vietnam.

Numbers Chapter 9

• Numbers 9:13

But the man that is clean, and is not on a journey, and forbeareth to keep the passover, that soul shall be cut off from his people; because he brought not the offering of the LORD in its appointed season, that man shall bear his sin.
(Proclamation to "cut off" anyone for not observing Passover.)

Numbers Chapter 15

• Numbers 15:30

But the soul that doeth aught with a high hand, whether he be home-born or a stranger, the same blasphemeth the LORD; and that soul shall be cut off from among his people.
(Proclamation to "cut off" anyone who disagrees with the ideology of the Book of Numbers.)

Numbers Chapter 19

• Numbers 19:13

Whosoever toucheth the dead, even the body of any man that is dead, and purifieth not himself--he hath defiled the tabernacle of the LORD--that soul shall be cut off from Israel; because the water of sprinkling was not dashed against him, he shall be unclean; his uncleanness is yet upon him.
(Proclamation to "cut off" anyone who does not "purify" himself after being around a dead body before attempting to worship.)

Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy (Greek deuteronomion,Δευτερο-νομιον "second law") is the fifth book of the Hebrew Bible and of the Old Testament. In form it is a set of three sermons delivered by Moses reviewing the previous forty years of wandering in the wilderness; its central element is a detailed law-code by which the Children of Israel are to live in the Promised Land.

In theological terms the book constitutes a covenant between Yahweh, the God of Israel, and the "Children of Israel", his "chosen people"; this is the culmination of the series of covenants which begins with that between Yahweh and all living things after the Flood (Genesis 9). One of its most significant verses constitutes the shema ("Hear, O Israel, the Lord (YHWH) is our God, the Lord (YHWH) alone!"), which today serves as the definitive statement of Jewish identity.

The bulk of the book appears to have been composed in the late 7th century BC, during the religious reforms carried out under king Josiah of Judah, with later additions from the period after the fall of Judah to the Neo-Babylonian empire in 596 BC. Its essential concerns mirror the thrust of Josiah's reforms: Yahweh is to be accepted as the sole God of Israel, and worshipped only in one place.

The title is derived from the Greek Deuteronomium, "second law", from to deuteronomium touto, "this second law", from the erroneous Septuagint rendering of the Hebrew phrase mishneh ha-torah ha-zot, "a copy of this law" (Deuteronomy 17:18). Its Hebrew title is Devarim, Template:Hebrew, "words", specifically spoken words. , from the opening phrase Eleh ha-devarim, "These are the words...".

Deuteronomy Chapter 29

• Deuteronomy 29:19

the LORD will not be willing to pardon him, but then the anger of the LORD and His jealousy shall be kindled against that man, and all the curse that is written in this book shall lie upon him, and the LORD shall blot out his name from under heaven;
(Proclamation to "blot out" "from under heaven" anyone who "turns away from the LORD".)

• Deuteronomy 29:27

and the LORD rooted them out of their land in anger, and in wrath, and in great indignation, and cast them into another land, as it is this day'.--
(Strange switch to past-tense as if the time-line suddenly jumped fast-forward into the future some time after the expulsion of Israelites from the land of Canaan or parts of it. According to conventional religious wisdom, this text had to have been written before the Israelites initially entered the land of Canaan by crossing the Jordan river.)