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Jay's Leviticus Stuff in One Place
The following is a collection of books, articles, lectures, sermons, and blogposts I've done over the years.
Books
Leviticus Commentary in the Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the Old Testament series
This series is meant to be more like NICOT or Word in terms of its academic level, though I have written it such that one can make use of the main body of the text even if one has not had Hebrew (or if Hebrew is only a distant memory!). Each chapter ends with an application section that is broken down into two to four points that could serve as guidance for those preaching or teaching on the book.
Additional Notes on Leviticus in the Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the Old Testament Series
My original manuscript for the ZECOT commentary was 160,000 words too long (which means I no longer have any moral authority to require my students to stay within assigned page limits!) As I trimmed it down to size, I kept many of the more secondary notes and observations and turned those into this book. It is freely available as a pdf and is also published (for those liking to have an actual book in their hands).
Leviticus Commentary in the Tyndale Old Testament Commentary series
In 2014, I published a commentary on Leviticus in the Tyndale Old Testament Commentary series. That series is meant to give a solid exposition of the text but not be as academic in orientation as the NICOT or World Biblical Commentary series.
Leviticus Bible Study
A friend and I wrote a Leviticus Bible study that is meant to be used alongside the Tyndale commentary for groups wanting to study Leviticus together.
Sin, Impurity, Sacrifice, Atonement: The Priestly Conceptions
This is a revision of my doctoral dissertation, completed under Professor Gordon Wenham. Highly technical, it examines the question, "Why is sacrificial atonement required in contexts of both sin and impurity?" It answers the question by arguing on the one hand that sin not only endangers, requiring ransom, it also defiles, requiring purification. It argues on the other hand that major impurities not only defile, requiring purification, they also endanger, requiring ransom. Finally, it argues that the act of atonement (Hebrew kipper) is an act that both ransoms and cleanses, thus explaining why atonement is called for in contexts of sin as well as impurity. (A summary of the dissertation may be found in the article below, "Sin and Impurity: Atoned or Purified? Yes!")
Articles
Jay Sklar, "The Prohibitions against Homosexual Sex in Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13: Are They Relevant Today?", BBR 28.2 (2018), pp. 165-198
This article explores whether the prohibitions against homosexual sex in Lev 18:22 and 20:13 have ongoing relevance today. It begins by noting that the use of the term abomination in these verses does not settle the question and then turns to consider three different types of responses to the question: (1) the prohibitions do not apply today because Leviticus does not apply today; (2) the prohibitions do not apply today because the reason this activity was prohibited in Leviticus no longer applies today; and (3) the prohibitions do apply today because the reason the activity was prohibited in Leviticus still applies today. The conclusion notes that multiple moral rationales may be at work behind a single command and considers why this is significant when discussing whether these particular verses have ongoing relevance.
Jay Sklar, “Sin and Atonement: Lessons from the Pentateuch,” BBR 22.4 (2012), pp. 467-91
This paper explores atonement in the Pentateuch, focusing especially on Exodus-Numbers. Since the means of atonement differs according to the category of sin being addressed, the paper begins by describing the number and nature of these categories. It then considers which categories may be atoned for by means of sacrificial atonement, which categories may be atoned for by other means, and what lessons about sin and atonement are being communicated in each instance.
Jay Sklar, “Sin and Impurity: Atoned or Purified? Yes!” in Baruch J. Schwartz, David P. Wright, Jeffrey Stackert, and Naphtali S. Meshel, eds., Perspectives on Purity and Purification in the Bible (London; New York: T&T Clark International, 2008), pp. 18-31
This article is a summary of my dissertation: Sin, Impurity, Sacrifice, Atonement: The Priestly Conceptions. See further above at book description for detail.
Jay Sklar, “Pentateuch,” in T&T Clark Companion to the Doctrine of Sin, eds. Keith L. Johnson and David Lauber. Bloomsbury/T & T Clark, 2016, pp. 3-25
This chapter gives an overview of the topic of sin in the Pentateuch.
Jay Sklar, “Sin,” in Samuel E. Balentine (ed), The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Bible and Theology vol. 2, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015, pp. 297-308
This article gives an overview of sin in the Bible.
Lectures
For a series of ten lectures I gave on Leviticus, along with a 45-minute overview on Leviticus I did for an adult Sunday School class, go here.
Sermons
A first-person inductive sermon on the Day of Atonement passage in Lev 16. (Note: you will hear the switch into the first person partway into the sermon. I simply stepped back from the pulpit, turned my back briefly to the congregation, then turned back to the congregation, stepped towards the pulpit and adopted the first-person. To switch out of this at the end of the sermon, I simply did the same in reverse.