What has Leviticus 17 to do with Deuteronomy 12.20–27? The literary relationship between the Deuteronomic and Holiness Codes on cult centralization and animal slaughter

Abstract

This article examines the literary connection between the laws of cult centralization and animal slaughter in Lev. 17 and Deut. 12.20–27. After establishing a set of criteria for determining the literary connection between two texts, the author compares and analyzes the textual evidence in Lev. 17 and Deut. 12.20–27. This study concludes that the connection between the two passages may not be one of literary dependence of one text upon the other as has been widely assumed by many scholars. Instead, even though both texts attempt to deal with the same socio-religious issues, they may have been literarily independent of each other.