CUT
OFF?
I received the following question on a facebook post a while back: "I'm listening to the Bible on audible. What does it mean when someone is cut off from their people in Leviticus? Is it like a social shun and ejection or their exclusion from God's "people" or something else?"
My reply was "I think that 'cut off' could mean any
of the things you mentioned. I think I
need to dig a big deeper though. I'll
get back with you later."
Then someone else added, "Now I'm curious. Do share your research please."
My reply, "When I get to it."
Well here we are.
Actually this is one of those expressions in the Bible that's quite
troubling, so I suspect that I've ignored its meaning for that reason. So, after doing a bit of study I'm still not
sure. I still feel that the meanings may
vary according to context.
The Hebrew word is KARAT and its simplest meaning is
"cut." The meaning of
"cut off" is usually clear from the context. When used literally the meaning is obvious.
Exodus 4:25:
"And Zipporah took a knife and cut off her son's foreskin
...."
1 Samuel 17:51:
"And David ran up and stood over the Philistine (Goliath), grasped
his sword, pulled it from its sheath and killed him and cut off his head with it."
However, when used metaphorically the exact meaning is
hard to determine. A few passages
clearly speak of capital punishment.
Exodus 31:14:
"You shall keep the Sabbath, for it is holy for you. The one who profanes it shall be put to
death; whoever does work on it, that soul shall be cut off from among
his people.
Leviticus 20:2, 3:
"Any one ... who gives an of his children to Molech shall be put to
death ... I myself will set my face
against that man and will cut him off from among his
people..." All of chapter 20 seems
to equate cutting off with capital punishment, especially in the areas of
idolatry and sexual taboos.
There are many passages that appear to refer to exclusion
from the covenant community for failing to take part in the prescribed rituals.
Genesis 17:14: failure to be circumcised.
Exodus 12:15, 19:
failure to properly celebrate the Passover.
Exodus 30:33, 38:
using the holy perfume for personal use.
Leviticus 7:20, 21, 25, 27; 18:29; 19:8; 22:3: ritual uncleanness, eating non-kosher food.
We could go on and on.
The word is used 100s of times.
While I would like to believe that its normal metaphorical meaning is exclusion
or shunning or excommunication, I have a strong suspicion that it may usually
refer to capital punishment. We don't
like to admit it but the Mosaic Law was extremely harsh, some would even say
cruel. However as we read the rest of
the Old Testament we come to realize that these laws were often ignored and not
regularly enforced; they were frequently broken or ignored, without penalty.
The Mosaic Law (Exodus - Deuteronomy) was given for many
reasons. While many parts of it are
there to demonstrate the holiness of God and the requirements for approaching
him, I believe that much of it was simply given (as laws are today) to regulate
the behavior of sinful (though redeemed) people.
But this Law is not given to regulate the behavior of
these who know Christ. As Jeremiah
promised, God has set aside the Old Covenant with its laws and given a New
Covenant in which He writes His laws on the hearts of His people - including
even us non-Israelites.
The Mosaic Law was also given to show us our lost
condition. It pronounced a curse on
those who fail to follow it. But as the
Apostle Paul said in Galatians 3:13:
"Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the Law by becoming a
curse for us." (Read all of
Galatians 3:10-14.)
2 comments:
Uncle Bill, I appreciate you taking the time to flesh this out a bit more for me. My mind went into a million different directions while reading this, but I'll try to keep my response on point instead of chasing down tangents!
It didn't even occur to me that this phrase might include capital punishment, simply because there were other times where death and its method were more explicitly laid out, and when they were, it was very clearly stated that the person killing them wasn't responsible for bloodshed, that the person being cut off bore the responsibility themselves. For this reason, I don't think it's as troubling as it might be in other contexts. However, I suppose that even if the action taken against those to be cut off wasn't to directly kill them, it amounted to the same thing. It seems that there's a massive amount of people in this nomadic community - hundreds of thousands, if I understand correctly - and being cast out of it is functionally comparable to a death sentence.
I'm viewing a lot of this through the lens of my current understanding of Christianity, where much of the "threat", if you will, of punishment comes in the form of the afterlife, but so far there's been no mention of reward or punishment outside of a human's immediate lifetime, or the immediate lifetime of his family. For example, to punish those who grumbled against him when Caleb stood firm, God swore they'd never reach the land of milk and honey that was promised. The punishment is very tangible rather than ethereal.
The other thread I was following in my mind: As I listen, I try to consider the Mosaic laws as two possible functions: a literal rule of divine law is the surface reading, but a lot of it seems to fit into the idea of... I guess, protection? To avoid the creation or spread of disease? Not quite sure how to phrase it. But being forbidden to eat food or water exposed to a dead body, or avoiding the presence of disfiguring skin conditions, fit in with the idea of trying to stem disease even if the transmission of it isn't entirely understood.
I'm trying to suspend a lot of questions for now, because I know the New Testament fills in blanks between the way things WERE and the way things ARE. I'd welcome your thoughts or input.
Thanks for your thoughts "Unknown". I agree with you that protection is a probable reason for many of the laws.
Thanks, "Unknown" for your thoughts. As I said, I believe the Mosaic Law was given for many reasons. Protection was undoubtedly one of them. Besides the laws about contact with dead persons or animals, the prohibition against pork and other meats that could carry diseases. The laws against eating predators was ecologically beneficial. The laws about sexual misbehavior and incest were also protective.
Keep on thinking. Uncle Bill
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