Beyond Today Bible Commentary: Leviticus

Moses evidently wrote much of Leviticus sometime in the first month [Abib or Nisan on the Hebrew calendar, corresponding to March-April] of the second year of the wandering of Israel (compare Exodus 40:17; Numbers 1:1; Numbers 10:11)—perhaps putting it in its final form shortly before his death nearly 40 years later. The book's Hebrew name, Wayyiqva, meaning "And He Called," is taken from the first words of the book. The Greek title, from the Septuagint, is Leuitikon—Latinized in the Vulgate as Leviticus—which means "pertaining to Levites." However, this title is somewhat misleading as the book does not deal with the Levites as a whole but more with the priests, the family of Aaron, a segment of the Levites. (The Levites as a whole are not sanctified until the book of Numbers.) Perhaps more appropriate titles for the book would be those found for it in the Jewish Talmud—"The Law of the Priests" and "The Law of the Offerings."