Leviticus - Definitions from Dictionary.com

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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

Le·vit·i·cus

Audio Help [li-vit-i-kuh

s] Pronunciation Key

–noun

the third book of the Bible, containing laws relating to the priests and Levites and to the forms of Jewish ceremonial observance. Abbreviation: Lev.

[Origin: < LL Léviticus (liber) Levitical (book) < Gk Leuītikós. See Levite, -ic

]

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Leviticus

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Le·vit·i·cus Audio Help (lə-vĭt'ĭ-kəs) Pronunciation Key
n. Abbr. Lev. or Levit. or Lv
See Table at Bible.

[Middle English, from Late Latin Levīticus, from Greek Leuītikos, Levitical, from Leuītēs, Levite; see Levite.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
Leviticus

third book of the Pentateuch, c.1400, from L.L. Leviticus (liber), lit. "book of the Levites," from Gk. to Leuitikon biblion, properly the part of the Pentateuch dealing with the function of the priests who were of the tribe of Levi (a portion of the tribe acted as assistants to the priests in the temple-worship). The Heb. title is Torath Kohanim, lit. "the law of the priests."

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

leviticus
noun
the third book of the Old Testament; contains Levitical law and ritual precedents

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Leviticus

Le*vit"i*cus\ (-[i^]*k[u^]s), n. [See Levitical.] The third canonical book of the Old Testament, containing the laws and regulations relating to the priests and Levites among the Hebrews, or the body of the ceremonial law.

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Leviticus

the third book of the Pentateuch; so called in the Vulgate, after the LXX., because it treats chiefly of the Levitical service. In the first section of the book (1-17), which exhibits the worship itself, there is, (1.) A series of laws (1-7) regarding sacrifices, burnt-offerings, meat-offerings, and thank-offerings (1-3), sin-offerings and trespass-offerings (4; 5), followed by the law of the priestly duties in connection with the offering of sacrifices (6; 7). (2.) An historical section (8-10), giving an account of the consecration of Aaron and his sons (8); Aaron's first offering for himself and the people (9); Nadab and Abihu's presumption in offering "strange fire before Jehovah," and their punishment (10). (3.) Laws concerning purity, and the sacrifices and ordinances for putting away impurity (11-16). An interesting fact may be noted here. Canon Tristram, speaking of the remarkable discoveries regarding the flora and fauna of the Holy Land by the Palestine Exploration officers, makes the following statement:, "Take these two catalogues of the clean and unclean animals in the books of Leviticus [11] and Deuteronomy [14]. There are eleven in Deuteronomy which do not occur in Leviticus, and these are nearly all animals and birds which are not found in Egypt or the Holy Land, but which are numerous in the Arabian desert. They are not named in Leviticus a few weeks after the departure from Egypt; but after the people were thirty-nine years in the desert they are named, a strong proof that the list in Deuteronomy was written at the end of the journey, and the list in Leviticus at the beginning. It fixes the writing of that catalogue to one time and period only, viz., that when the children of Israel were familiar with the fauna and the flora of the desert" (Palest. Expl. Quart., Jan. 1887). (4.) Laws marking the separation between Israel and the heathen (17-20). (5.) Laws about the personal purity of the priests, and their eating of the holy things (20; 21); about the offerings of Israel, that they were to be without blemish (22:17-33); and about the due celebration of the great festivals (23; 25). (6.) Then follow promises and warnings to the people regarding obedience to these commandments, closing with a section on vows. The various ordinances contained in this book were all delivered in the space of a month (comp. Ex. 40:17; Num. 1:1), the first month of the second year after the Exodus. It is the third book of Moses. No book contains more of the very words of God. He is almost throughout the whole of it the direct speaker. This book is a prophecy of things to come, a shadow whereof the substance is Christ and his kingdom. The principles on which it is to be interpreted are laid down in the Epistle to the Hebrews. It contains in its complicated ceremonial the gospel of the grace of God.

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary

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