The Priestly Writer

Originally posted on August 22, 2013

“A source, marked by the style and cultic interests of the priestly circle, which comes from the period after the fall of the nation in 587 B.C.–that is, the time of the Babylonian Exile.”~Bernhard Anderson, Understanding the Old Testament

It is understood by historians and scholars of all the main religions that the Torah, the first five books of the Old Testament, also called the Pentateuch, was composed of various sources blended together.  The books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy give attribution to Moses, but since Moses was preliterary, by the time the Oral Torah gave way to the Written Torah, Moses had long been gone.  Four main sources have been identified:  A Judean source (who calls God Yahweh), an Ephraimitic source (who calls God Elohim), a Deuteronomy source (who is responsible for the whole book of Deuteronomy), and a Priestly source, as described above.

The oral tradition began, as far as we can tell, around 1800 B.C.  Moses arrived on the scene in 1391 B.C.  The Israelite story was shaped orally during all this time, and only began to be written down in King David’s time, 1000 B.C.  The Judean source is credited to 950 B.C., The Ephraimitic source to 850 B.C., the Deuteronomic source to 650 B.C. and later, and finally the Priestly source to 550 B.C. and later.  The Priestly source was the last to shape the story because by 400 B.C., the Pentateuch was in its present and final form.

How much of the Torah was shaped by the most original Mosaic story?  About half?  The book of Genesis, chapters 19 through 24, and 32 through 34 of Exodus, and the book of Numbers 10:10 through chapter 36.  Because the last half of the book of Exodus, all the book of Leviticus, and the book of Numbers up to 10:10 are attributed to the late Priestly Writer.

As I am compiling God’s Law from His Word, I began to detect a definite cultish feel in the Priestly Writer material.  I don’t think he functioned alone, but represented the whole circle of priests who had probably, over time and persecution, shaped the backstory of Moses’ experiences on Mount Sinai into something esoteric, which only they could understand.  For example, whereas the old epic traditions of the Judean source and the Ephraimitic source are more concerned with who, beyond the years of longevity (which I suspect was also later influenced by the Priestly Writer), it becomes obvious to any astute reader that the Priestly source is more concerned with how many.  Reading how many cubits the tabernacle had to be, and how many bowls the Gold Lampstand had, seems somewhat overkill and nonsensical for our time, so it is natural to want to skim over that part, leaving it to a bygone era.  But when one delves deeper in the numbers, we find that The Priestly Writer is definitely into numerology, as was related in my post in this blog on The Gold Lampstand a month or so ago…And especially the concept of pi and the circle represented by the numbers 1/22/7/3, and 12/400 and 40.

Without a doubt, one must necessarily abandon literalism as the primary methodology for interpreting the Old Testament, for to understand the full meaning of the Priestly Writer, one must view much of the Old Testament content as symbolism.  Yet, no doubt some things were to be taken literally, such as the concept of offering and sacrifice as it relates to forgiveness.  But those who choose to just view it literally are at the least missing great teachings (see post on Out of Captivity and Into the Wilderness, for example), and at the most missing the heart of the statutes, as Jesus so aptly expressed and demonstrated.

For myself, I will have to work out whether these hidden meanings are of more of a Godly influence, or a worldly one.  Are they meant to inspire a higher echelon of worshipers, those who desire to study and delve deeply into God and His Word; or are they the ego-fixations of a Pharisaical group who wanted to sequester special knowledge?  Jesus spoke in parables for a reason.  To avoid rapid persecution, yes.  But he states there is a deeper reason:

And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?”

He answered and said to them, “Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.  Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.  And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says:

‘Hearing you will hear and shall not understand,
And seeing you will see and not perceive;
For the hearts of this people have grown dull.
Their ears are hard of hearing,
And their eyes they have closed,
Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears,
Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn,
So that I should heal them.’  ~Matthew 13:10-15

There is an implication woven into the bible, conspicuously stated in the New Testament as above, and more inconspicuously in the Old Testament, that there are levels to understanding and knowing God.  And a further implication, based on Jesus’ example, that the people should not be told outright, but that they have to work for the knowledge from out of a heart that wants to know God.  We are supposed to let our light shine to be a beacon for God to others, but that does not mean we should cast our pearls before swine, but allow people to come to God’s Word via our Lighthouse as they will.

“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.  Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”  ~Matthew 5:14-16

 

Even Luke admits to secret knowledge:

”For all that is secret will eventually be brought into the open, and everything that is concealed will be brought to light and made known to all.”  ~Luke 8:17  

It was when I began to discern this knowledge myself, from reading the Bible, that I also realized God was really calling me to be a priest, because I was uncovering priestly knowledge of those highest priests represented in the Bible.

In conclusion, the Priestly source is responsible for MUCH of the Law that God emphatically states for us to follow in His Word.  So the question becomes, if the Priestly Writer embellished the Mosaic story with numbers, to relate a hidden code or message (which doesn’t seem very Godly), what else has he embellished?  Does his writing represent well the actual Word of God, or another agenda, one of the fraternity of priests, who held themselves aloft and sequestered, holding a sacred and special knowledge?  A sort of mouthpiece of God, but instead of a golden beacon of light shining for all to see, some reverberation shaped by the horn of a Baalish goat or ram which the pagans might have worshiped in their polytheism?