Why Not MIxing Seeds, Breeds, and Fabrics Might Mean Something Important to Us Today
Herma and Herman Neutics Always try to determine the intent or function of a biblical law or prohibition before laughing it off as strange and irrelevant and wondering why such a thing is in the Bible. Probably the prohibitions in the Holiness Code in Leviticus (chs.17-26) give the best examples. And they are very peculiar to our ears: Don't mix breeds, seeds. or fabrics (Lev.19:19). What can these things mean to a people who do all three and don't see anything wrong with them? What not just laugh as these primitive ideas and move on to something else that seems more relevant? In these kinds of cases, better ask about the intent or function of the text than laugh it off. Dig a bit and you might discover some surprisingly relevant material! In the case of our trio noted above: “These and other prohibitions were designed to forbid the Israelites to engage in the fertility cult practices of the Canaanites. The Canaanite believed in sympathetic magic, the idea that...