Purposeful parallels: Revision-through-introduction in Leviticus 18 and 20

The so-called ‘incest laws’ of Lev. 18 and 20 present an interesting problem. These chapters appear to contain two lists of the same prohibitions. Scholars have assumed that either ch. 20 uses ch. 18 as its source or that the chapters are independent of each other. I argue, instead, that ch. 18 uses and revises ch. 20 through a process called ‘revision through introduction’ (S. Milstein). This argument attempts to explain why Lev. 18 and 20 seem to be nearly identical in terms of the issues they address, why they are structured differently, and why they are separated by unrelated material in Lev. 19. In the redaction process of P and H, Lev. 18 appears to be placed before Lev. 20 to influence how it is understood. The effect is to smooth the ideological tension between P and H and create the appearance of literary cohesion in Leviticus.