Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 12.djvu/192

LEVITICUS. birth and regulations for purification arc given. Chapter .iii. treats of skin diseases as causes of uncleanness, exaniiiiatiim of signs pointing to leprosy, and discriniiiiation between innocent eruptions and genuinely 'unclean' symptoms. Chapter xiv. makes application of the method to stulfs. cloth, leather, lo spots on the walls of houses, and methods of purification. Chapter xv. treats of uncleanness resulting from sexual secre- tions and discharges in men and women. Chapter xvi. contains the ritual for the D.-iy of .Xtonenienl. In i)lacing the origin of the Priestly Code in the post-exilic period it must not be supposed that its ordinances represent innovations belong- ing to this late dat<". The aim of the compiler or compilers of the code in fact was to produce something which might so far as possible appear olil. Hence not only regulations in former codes were taken up, but ancient customs and ritual istic decisions were retained if found consistent with the religious standpoint reached by the pious Yahwists of the Kxile, In the Priestly Code accordingly we can jiick out a large number of smaller ritualistic com])endia end)odying the practice of the .Jerusalem priests before the Kx- ile. So, e.g. within chapters i.-vii., we find (vi. 8-vii. 2) a group of instructions to priests which embody relatively" ancient practices with additions. Chapters i.-vi. are supplements to the subject dealt with in this group of regulations. Again the regulations for 'taboos' of food, persons, and objects rest ujion ancient customs which the Hebrews shared with surrounding nations, and even the fornuilation of the ordinances may be relatively old, though in their present form they betray evidence of having passed through .several editing stages. Chapter xvi. furnishes a good illustration of the manner in which the old and the new have been comliined in the Priestly Code. It is tolil in chapter x. how two priests, represented in tradition as sons of Aaron, incurred the wrath of the deity by a cere- monial error (carrying inhalloved lire in their censers). In connection with this storv — for chapter xvi. is directly connected with chapter x. — the precautions are set forth which must be observed by the priests in order to avoid a simi- lar misfortvme. Incidental to these prescriptions, an old piacular ritual is introduced, involving the sending away of a scapegoat into the wilder- ness. This rite — a survival of demon-worship. and bearing on its face the mark of primitive conceptions of sin — is carried over into the sol- emn .tonement Day. of which no mention is made in the pre-exilic codes, and which is essen- tially a feature of post-exilic .Judaism. The manner in which the atonement rites are set forth incidental to an actual or supposed occurrence is also a characteristic feature of the literary method pursued in Leviticn.-?, which regards the codes from the point of view of the historian. This point of view prompts the Priest- ly compiler to break olT the Priestly Code at the end of chapter vii., and insert a narrative of the sacred institutions — a description o: the conse- cration and installation rites for the priests at the time of the setting up of the tabernacle and the inaugural sacrifices on that occasion. Chapter vlii. belongs therefore to Kxodus, chap- ter xl.. while chapter xxix. is directly connected with Exodus, chapters xx^'.-xxix. Whatever the other motives of the rearrangement may liave been, involving the tearing apart of com- ponent i)ieces, the desire to give an historical set- ting to the codes was certainly uppermost in the mind of the compiler of the Priestly narrative and of the subsequent school of editors. Into the ])riestly narrative were taken up .JE and the Priestly Codes, while the Code of Holiness was added by later redactors, who also endeav- ored, though without complete success, to adjust the two codes to one another.

BlBLlOGKAiMlY. Consult : the commentaries of Baentsch, Svack, Keil. Kalish, and Dillmann (3d ed., by Rys.sel) : Driver and White, "Leviticus," in Haupt, Sacred Boohs of Ihc Old Testament (I^ipzig, 18!)4; in the new Eng. trans., New York, 1808) ; Addis, Documents of the Hexatcuch, vol. ii. (London. 18!)8) : Carpenter and ISattors- Iv. The llexalciich (London, 11100) ; Ilacntsch, Das HeUuiU-ritsiieNetz, Lrr. 17-.>tl (1803); and the introductions to the Old Testament of Driver, Kuenen, Cornill, Kdnig, and Holzinger.

LEVKOSIA, lef-ko'se-a. Another name for Nicosia ( i|.v. ).

LEV'UIiOSE. See Sugars.

LEVY. See. MiES; Conscription; Recruit- ment.

LEVY (OF. levee. Ft., levie, a raising, em- bankment). In its legal sense, the seizure and taking possession of the property of a person, by a proper oflicer. under a writ or other process of law. It was formerly specifically used to des- ignate the proceedings in connection with a fine (q.v.) of lands, but tliis has fallen into disuse. The most common employment of the term in the law is to describe the act of a sheritT. marshal, or other officer, whereby he seizes the property of a judgment debtor under an execution (q.v.), or fieri facias (q.v.), for the satisfaction of the judgment. To constitute a valid levy the ofTicer must take actual possession of the property. In case of personal pioperty he should retain actual custody of it. either by locking it up or putting a deputy in charge of it; in case of real property he should enter and show by open and unequivocal acts that he has taken legal possession vmder his process, but in most States the judgment debtor is not ejected from the property, as his posses- sion is subject to the levy and subsequent sale. The term levy is also applied to the seizure of property under a writ of attachment. The rules as to taking possession of the property of the person named prevailing under this writ are similar to those under an execution against property. See Attacii.ment; Execution; Sale; Sheriff: and consult the authorities there re- ferred to.

LEVY, Wvy. Emile (1820-90). A French genre and portrait painter. He was born in Paris. August 29. 1826. He was a pupil of Abel de Pujol and Picot, and studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. He won the Grand Prix de Rome in 1854. On his return from Italy he settled in Paris, and devoted himself to portrait painting. He exhibited in the Salon, receiving a first-class medal in 1878. and the Legion of Honor in 1867. Among the more important of his works are: "Noah Cursing Canaan" (18.5.5) ; "Supper of the Martyrs" (1859): "Death of Orpheus" (1866), Luxembourg Museum: "Love and Folly" (1874); "Infancy" (1885); "The Elements," Salon of