The Priestly Torah and the Priests’ Ordination
PARASHAT TZAV (“issue a command”) continues with instructions about sacrificial offerings that began in Leviticus 1–5. However, whereas 1:1–2 began with instructions to all the people of Israel, 6:1 starts with a command specifically addressed to the priests. The first section of the parashah (Leviticus 6–7) contains instructions about the priests’ portions from the sacrificial rituals. The second section (Leviticus 8) records the ordination of the priests.
In establishing a sacrificial system and a professional priesthood, biblical Israel resembled other ancient cultures. One notes, however, two differences. First, priests in most cultures in the ancient world kept the secrets of their profession away from the public eye and transmitted them privately from generation to generation. In contrast, Leviticus reflects a commitment to keep the rules of the trade, as it were, in public view.
A second difference is that neighboring cultures such as Mesopotamia included women priests (even though they did not perform the same rituals as male priests), whereas the Bible recognizes only male priests. Scholars concur, however, that women played an important role in many facets of popular religion in ancient Israel (as did men), even though the priestly teachings in Leviticus do not acknowledge or discuss such roles.
Although parashat Tzav does not mention women explicitly, it treats three areas that do involve women. The first pertains to the roles and possible privileges of women as members of priests’ families. Such women apparently benefit from the priests’ share of sacrificial foods. There is a question, however, whether they may eat the part of the offering designated as “most holy” (see Another View).
The second area concerning women pertains to the highly valued, formal priestly garments (see Exodus 28 and Leviticus 8). Archeological and biblical evidence shows that women excelled in weaving, spinning, and sewing (see at Exodus 35:25; T’tzaveh, Another View; P’kudei, Another View). Therefore, we may assume that women made the priestly garments. According to the book of Samuel, each year Hannah made and brought a special garment for her son Samuel who served at the sanctuary at Shiloh (1 Samuel 2:19). Plausibly priests’ mothers and wives likewise made clothing for their family members.
The third area to consider is whether women were among those who offered the sacrifices that these passages discuss. Biblical references elsewhere do suggest that Israelite women, like Israelite men, worshipped and sacrificed in the shrines—often as part of their households. For example, according to Leviticus 12:6 and 15:29, women are obligated to offer sacrifices after childbirth and irregular bleeding. Proverbs 7:14 presents a female persona who mentions her need to offer the well-being offerings. And in I Samuel 1, Hannah and her husband present and slaughter the offering that she has brought— together with a portion of flour and a jar of wine—to the shrine in Shiloh as payment for a vow.
(On the widespread ancient practice of offering sacrifices and its rationale, and on the role of sacrifices in ancient Israel, see the introduction to the previous parashah, pp. 569–71.)
—Tamara Cohn Eskenazi
Outline—
I. SUPPLEMENTAL INSTRUCTIONS TO THE PRIESTS REGARDING SACRIFICES (6:1–7:38)
A. Instructions for the burnt offering (6:1–6)
B. Instructions for the meal offering (6:7–16)
C. Instructions for the purgation offering (6:17–23)
D. Instructions for the reparation offering (7:1–6)
E. Concluding instructions for the preceding offerings (7:7–10)
F. Instructions for the well-being sacrifice (7:11–21)
G. Prohibitions regarding the fat and the blood (7:22–27)
H. Further details regarding the well-being sacrifice (7:28–36)
I. Affirmation of the Sinaitic origin of the sacrificial practices (7:37–38)
II. THE ORDINATION OF THE PRIESTS (8:1–36)
A. God’s instructions regarding the ordination of the priests (vv. 1–3)
B. Moses’ ordination of the priests (vv. 4–30)
C. Final preparatory steps: seven days of priests’ isolation (vv. 31–36)