Bechukotai

Bechukotai (alternately Bechukosai, B'hukkothai, etc.; Hebrew: בחוקותי, "by my decrees” — the second word, and the first distinctive word, in the "parshah") is the 33rd weekly Torah portion ("parshah") in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading and the 10th and last in the book of Leviticus. It constitutes )

Those who survived would be removed to the land of their enemies, where they would become heartsick over their iniquity, confess their sin, and atone. (),
*for a woman from 20 to 60 years, 30 shekels (),
*for a boy from 1 month to 5 years, 5 shekels (), and
*for a woman 60 years or over, 10 shekels () If the vow concerned an unclean animal that could not be brought as an offering, the vower was to present the animal to the priest, the priest was to assess it, and if the vower wished to redeem it, the vower was to add one-fifth to its assessment. ()

If one consecrated a house to God, the priest was to assess it, and if the vower wished to redeem it, the vower was to add one-fifth to the assessment. () If the vower wished to redeem the land, the vower was to add one-fifth to the assessment and retain title, but if the vower did not redeem the land and the land was sold, it was no longer to be redeemable, and at the jubilee the land was to become the priest’s holding. ()

All tithes from crops were to be God’s, and if one wished to redeem any of the tithes, the tither was to add one-fifth to them. ( result from particular transgressions. Rabbi Eleazar the son of Rabbi Judah read the word “"behalah"” (“terror”) in to teach that as punishment for vain oaths, false oaths, desecration of God’s Name, and desecration of the Sabbath, wild beasts multiply, domestic animals cease, population decreases, and roads become desolate. Using to teach that as punishment for idolatry and failure to observe the Sabbatical ("Shmita") and Jubilee ("Yovel") years, the Jews are exiled and others come to dwell in their land. (Babylonian Talmud Shabbat 32b–33a.)

The Gemara reconciled apparently discordant verses touching on vicarious responsibility. The Gemara noted that to teach that God punishes children only when they follow their parents’ sins. The Gemara then questioned whether the words “they shall stumble one upon another” in [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0506.htm#10 6:10;] [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0509.htm#5 9:5,] [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0509.htm#27 27;] [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0529.htm#12 29:12] (English 29:13); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0530.htm#20 30:20;] [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0534.htm#4 34:4.] ) But to teach that God did “not reject” the Jews in the days of the Greeks, nor “abhor them” in the days of Nebuchadnezzar, nor “destroy them utterly” in the days of Haman, nor “break [God’s] covenant with them” in the days of the Persians; “for [God will be] the Lord their God” in the days of Gog and Magog. Similarly, a Baraitha taught that God did “not reject” them in the days of the Chaldeans, for God sent them Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah; God did not “abhor them” in the days of the Greeks, for God sent them Simeon the Righteous, the Hasmonean and his sons, and Mattathias the High Priest; and God did not “destroy them utterly” in the days of Haman, for God sent them Mordecai and Esther; and God did not “break [God’s] covenant with them” in the days of the Persians, for God sent them the house of Rabbi and the generations of Sages; “for [God will be] the Lord their God” in the time to come, when no nation or people will be able to subject them. (Babylonian Talmud Megillah 11a.)

Leviticus chapter 27

Tractate Arakhin in the Mishnah, Tosefta, and Babylonian Talmud interpreted the laws of dedicatory vows in )
*Not to substitute another beast for one set apart for sacrifice ()
*To estimate the value of consecrated houses ()
*To carry out the laws of interdicting possessions ()
*To separate the tithe from animals every year ( are matched by a curse on “the man that trusts in man” in and a blessing on “the man that trusts in the Lord” in Goswell argues that this supports the thesis that "the Pentateuch is a unified composition focusing on faith as its central theme." (Gregory Goswell, "The Hermeneutics of the Haftarot," "Tyndale Bulletin" 58 (2007), 94.)

Further reading

The parshah has parallels or is discussed in these sources:

Ancient

* [http://web.archive.org/web/20030816212418/www.bol.ucla.edu/~szuchman/Sources.htm Vassal treaties] of Esarhaddon

Biblical

*Deuteronomy [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0527.htm#9 27:9–28:69] (blessings and curses).
*2 Kings [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt09b06.htm#25 6:25–30] (cannibalism).
*Isaiah [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt1009.htm#19 9:19] (cannibalism).
*Jeremiah [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt1119.htm#9 19:9] (parents eating children).
*Ezekiel [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt1205.htm#10 5:10] (parents eating children); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt1206.htm#3 6:3–14] (sword, famine, pestilence; destroy high places; bring the sword against; cast slain men before idols; make the land desolate; make cities a waste; the savor).
*Zechariah [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt2311.htm#9 11:9] (cannibalism).
*Psalms [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt2601.htm 1:1–6] (blessings and curses); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt2603.htm#6 3:6] (to lie down in peace); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt2644.htm 44:12] (scattered among the nations); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt2650.htm#14 50:14–15] (performing vows); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt2665.htm#2 65:2] (performing vows); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt2676.htm#12 76:12] (performing vows); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt2678.htm#59 78:59] (God abhorred Israel); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt2697.htm#7 97:7] (graven images); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt2698.htm#2 98:2] (in the sight of the nations); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt26a6.htm#41 106:41,] [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt26a6.htm#45 45] (they that hated them ruled over them; but God remembered God’s covenant); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt26c7.htm 127:1] (labor in vain); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt26d6.htm#23 136:23] (God remembered).
*Lamentations [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt3204.htm#10 4:10] (mothers eating children).

Early nonrabbinic

*Josephus. "The Wars of the Jews", Circa 75 C.E. Reprinted in, e.g., "The Works of Josephus: Complete and Unabridged, New Updated Edition". Translated by William Whiston, 737–38. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Pub., 1987. ISBN 0-913573-86-8.

Classical rabbinic

*Mishnah: Challah 4:9; Taanit 3:5; Megillah 3:3, 3:6; Chagigah 1:4; Menachot 9:7, 12:1; Bekhorot 1:7, 9:1–8; Arakhin 1:1–9:8; Temurah 1:1–7:6. Land of Israel, circa 200 C.E. Reprinted in, e.g., "The Mishnah: A New Translation". Translated by Jacob Neusner, 157, 312, 320–21, 329, 752, 759, 790, 807–36. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1988. ISBN 0-300-05022-4.
*Sifra 260:1–277:1. Land of Israel, 4th Century C.E. Reprinted in, e.g., "Sifra: An Analytical Translation". Translated by Jacob Neusner, 3:345–409. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1988. ISBN 1-55540-207-0.
*Leviticus Rabbah 6:5; 10:7; 11:3; 15:1; 34:9; 35:1–37:4. Land of Israel, 5th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., "Midrash Rabbah: Leviticus". Translated by H. Freedman and Maurice Simon, 4:84, 131, 137, 189, 435, 446–71. London: Soncino Press, 1939. ISBN 0-900689-38-2.
*Babylonian Talmud: Berakhot 47b; Shabbat 32b–33a, 77b, 104a, 136b, 148b; Eruvin 2a, 31b, 50a; Pesachim 37b, 63a, 66b; Yoma 50b, 66a, 80a; Beitzah 36b; Rosh Hashanah 2a, 4a; Taanit 7b, 22b; Megillah 2b, 11a, 23b, 25b, 28a, 31a–b; Chagigah 10a; Yevamot 20a, 84a; Ketubot 37b, 46a, 54a; Nedarim 18b, 20a, 36b, 69b; Nazir 25a, 31a–b, 61a, 62a; Gittin 12a, 37a, 38b, 48a; Kiddushin 5a, 7a, 17a, 24a, 29a, 32a, 53a, 54b, 61a–b; Bava Kamma 10a, 13a, 40a, 68b, 69b, 73b, 78a, 102b, 109b, 110b, 115b; Bava Metzia 6a, 7a, 46a, 47a, 53b–55a, 57a, 67b, 91a, 106a, 113b; Bava Batra 71a, 72a–b, 75a, 88b, 91b, 103a, 108b, 112a, 121b; Sanhedrin 14b–15a, 27b, 52b, 63b, 70a, 87a, 88a, 100a; Makkot 13a–b, 16a, 19a, 21b, 22b, 24a; Shevuot 11b, 16b, 21a, 22a, 39a; Avodah Zarah 5a, 13a, 63a; Zevachim 5b–6a, 9a, 12a, 30a, 56b, 81b; Menachot 6a, 79b, 81a, 82a, 87b, 92a, 93a, 101a; Chullin 2a, 25b, 30a, 41b, 69a–b, 84a, 114a, 130a, 133b, 135a, 136b, 139a; Bekhorot 4b, 10b–11a, 12a, 13a, 14a–b, 15b, 31b–32b, 36b, 37b, 41b–42a, 49a, 50a–b, 51b, 53a–b, 54b, 57a, 58b, 59b–60b; Arakhin 2a–34a; Temurah 2a–34a; Keritot 27a; Meilah 10b, 13a; Niddah 4b, 28b, 48a. Babylonia, 6th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., "Talmud Bavli". Edited by Yisroel Simcha Schorr, Chaim Malinowitz, and Mordechai Marcus, 72 vols. Brooklyn: Mesorah Pubs., 2006.
*Tanhuma Bechukotai. 6th–7th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., "Metsudah Midrash Tanchuma: Vayikra." Translated and annotated by Avraham Davis; edited by Yaakov Y.H. Pupko, 5:531–58. Monsey, N.Y.: Eastern Book Press, 2006.

Medieval

*Tanna Devei Eliyahu. Seder Eliyyahu Rabbah 16, 56, 95–96, 130–31. Eliyyahu Zuta 171. 10th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., "Tanna Debe Eliyyahu: The Lore of the School of Elijah". Translated by William G. Braude and Israel J. Kapstein, 34, 129, 212, 283, 365. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1981. ISBN 0-8276-0634-6.
*Rashi. "Commentary". [http://www.chabad.org/library/article.asp?AID=9927&showrashi=true Leviticus 26–27.] Troyes, France, late 11th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., Rashi. "The Torah: With Rashi’s Commentary Translated, Annotated, and Elucidated". Translated and annotated by Yisrael Isser Zvi Herczeg, 3:347–86. Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, 1994. ISBN 0-89906-028-5.
*Zohar [http://www.kabbalah.com/k/index.php/p=zohar/zohar&vol=36 3:112a–115b.] Spain, late 13th Century. Reprinted in, e.g, "The Zohar". Translated by Harry Sperling and Maurice Simon. 5 vols. London: Soncino Press, 1934.

Modern

*Thomas Hobbes. "Leviathan", England, 1651. Reprint edited by C. B. Macpherson, 503–04. Harmondsworth, England: Penguin Classics, 1982. ISBN 0140431950.

External links

Texts

* [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0326.htm#3 Masoretic text and 1917 JPS translation]
* [http://Bible.ort.org/books/torahd5.asp?action=displaypage&book=3&chapter=26&verse=3&portion=33 Hear the parshah chanted]