Atonement and the Afflicted

Leviticus 23 has five speeches of Yahweh:

A. Sabbath, Passover, Unleavened Bread, vv 1-8

B. First Sheaf, Pentecost, Gleaning, vv 9-22

C. Trumpets, vv 23-26

B’. Day of Coverings, vv 26-32

A’. Booths, vv 33-44

Several links in this structure are worth noting.

First, the chapter begins and ends with a discussion of seven-day feasts, Unleavened bread at the beginning and Booths at the end.  The first month is matched by the seventh month, suggesting a creation-week scheme (there are seven feasts: Sabbath, Passover/Unleavened Bread, First Sheaf, Pentecost, Trumpets, Atonement, Booths).

Second, the B sections both deal with “affliction.”  Verse 22 “intrudes” into the chapter with instructions about harvest and generosity to the afflicted and strangers, and verse 27 requires that Israelites “afflict” their souls during the Day of Coverings.  The proximity of the same word, and the structural link between these sections, suggests that a link between mercy to the afflicted and the Day of Coverings.

This could work several ways: On the day of coverings, Israel as a whole identifies with the afflicted; on the day of coverings, Israel memorializes her own affliction in Egypt, which is often the basis for Yahweh’s exhortations to show mercy to the afflicted; perhaps Yahweh is acting the part of a generous landowner on the Day of Coverings, providing a means for “afflicted” Israel to remain in the land, enjoy its harvests, eat from the crumbs that fall from Yahweh’s table.