In this work, Julia Rhyder provides new insights into the relationship between the Holiness legislation in Leviticus 17-26 and processes of cultic centralization in the Persian period. The author departs from the classical theory that Leviticus 17-26 merely presume, with minor modifications, a concept of centralization articulated in Deuteronomy. She shows how Leviticus 17-26 use ritual legislation to make a new, and distinctive case as to why the Israelites must defer to a central sanctuary, standardized ritual processes, and a hegemonic priesthood. This discourse of centralization reflects the historical challenges that faced priests in Jerusalem during the Persian era: in particular, the need to compensate for the loss of a royal sponsor, to pool communal resources in order to meet socio-economic pressures, and to find new means of negotiating with the sanctuary at Mount Gerizim and with a growing diaspora.

Born 1987; 2011 BA (University of Melbourne, Australia); 2012 BTheol (Hons) (University of Divinity, Australia); 2018 PhD (University of Lausanne, Switzerland); currently Assistant Professor of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at Harvard University, USA.

Autorentext

Born 1987; studied Liberal Arts at the University of Melbourne, and Theology at the University of Divinity, Melbourne, Australia; 2018 Dr.theol. from the University of Lausanne, Switzerland; currently Swiss National Science Foundation senior researcher (Hebrew Bible) at the University of Basel, Switzerland.