Journal: Southeastern Theological Review
Volume: STR 16:2 (Fall 2025)
Article: Book Reviews
Author: Anonymous

STR 16:2 (Fall 2025) p. 81

Book Reviews

Jay Sklar. Leviticus. Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the Old Testament. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Academic, 2023. 864 pp. Hardback. ISBN 978–0310942184. $69.99.

Jay Sklar’s commentary on Leviticus successfully achieves the intentions of the Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the Old Testament. The series introduction spells this out in terms of enhancing Bible teachers’ understanding of Scripture—by answering three questions:

1. What are the principal theological points the biblical writers are making?

2. How do biblical writers make those points?

3. What significance does the message of the present text have for understanding the message of the biblical book within which it is embedded and the message of the Scriptures as a whole? (p. xiv)

Additionally, each passage is evaluated in terms of the “Main Idea of the Passage; Literary Context; Translation and Exegetical Outline; Structure and Literary Form; Explanation of the Text; [and the] Canonical and Theological Significance” (p. xv).

To begin, Sklar’s introduction to Leviticus is worth the price of the book. Bible teachers will benefit especially from his discussion of the Book’s theology in which he demystifies its foreign ritual system. He also provides a clear rubric for applying Leviticus to the Christian life today followed by a helpful section on Leviticus and the New Testament. Although his section on its authorship and date may be too brief, he makes two important points relevant to Bible teachers: “Moses was the source and author of much of the book of Leviticus … [and] since it is the final form of the text that is canonical, the commentary … [focuses on that] as it seeks to discern the Lord’s message through this remarkable book to his people today” (p. 9).

As for structure and literary form, Sklar provides useful diagrams of the discourse structure of the Hebrew text of the entire book. These diagrams are especially useful for Bible teachers who know Hebrew. Additionally, he convincingly argues for the frequent use of chiasms throughout Leviticus. He finds them at the micro- and macro-levels. As an example of micro-level chiasm, he argues that Lev 16:29a-31c contains a four-leveled chiasm with a rationale (a day of atonement for purification)

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and reaffirmation (you will be purified before the Lord) at the center (pp. 435–39). As an example of macro-level chiasm, he argues that Lev 18–20 has prohibitions concerning sexual immorality and foreign worship practices...