The land given and the life compelled : interpreting the land as a gift with Leviticus

Numerous biblical scholars have noted that the Promised Land can be understood as a divine gift to Israel. Language such as “free gift” or “pure gift” is readily applied to describe the land. More recent biblical scholarship gives grounds to revisit this vocabulary, however. John Barclay’s work Paul and the Gift revealed the problematic use of the words “free gift” or “pure gift,” due to their tendency to be misconstrued by modern audiences. This project attempts to clarify what it means for the land to be a gift through the exploration of the land’s portrayal in Leviticus, with specific attention to the conditions for living in the land. More specifically, this project seeks to answer the question: “If the land is a gift, why are conditions present for life in the land?” This question is answered through comparative analysis between the biblical text and Marcel Mauss’ anthropological work as well as with ancient Near Eastern conceptions of divine gift. Furthermore, a close reading of the Levitical text is employed, which analyzes the usage of gift and favor as well as the reasons for the conditions in the text. Leviticus is read canonically, with attention to the surrounding narrative context. That is, as part of a narrative sequence from Genesis to Deuteronomy. Where pertinent, texts outside of Leviticus are brought in for clarification. The prevailing argument of this project is that the land can be understood as a conditional gift, where the reasons for conditions are a direct result of God’s holy presence and his possession of both the land and the people of Israel. Conditions are thus subsequent to the reception of the land-gift which can be perfected in terms of circularity.