Abstract:
The article focused on the Hebrew root בדל [divide] [bdl] in Priestly and post-Priestly material
of the Pentateuch. In Genesis 1 God is the subject of the verb and often enough in the Holiness
Code, but in many instances in Leviticus (e.g. 10:10 and 11:47) it is expected of priests to
perform the same act. It was argued that in this regard priests were to imitate God. The article
further argued that these texts helped us to describe Jewish identity in the Persian period as an
identity of non-conformity, and they also helped us to describe the priests’ own understanding
of their role in maintaining this identity.
