His statement applies to the entire purity system. Otherwise, what goes into a man
does defile him.
I believe that the egalitarian morality of Jesus and the Enlightenment is greater than the patriarchal, racist, sexist, blood-thirsty morality of the early Hebrews. Just because they thought God commanded them to do such things doesn’t mean he did.
So the author of Deuteronomy claims that the entirety of the Pentateuch was given by God. How very convenient for him. Do you find the claims of the Koran to have been given by God to be as equally convincing? If the author claims to have been speaking for God, well, then he must be!
As for the Pentateuch being the product of numerous hands over a period of time, scholarship agrees:
Roland J. Faley writes: "In its present form, Lv is post-exilic, the work of the Priestly school during the period of cultic reorganization after the Exile's termination (538). The Holiness Code, which had taken on some additions during the Exile, was once more re-edited and became the nucleus of Lv. To it were added the sacrificial code (chs. 1-7), the ordination rite (chs. 8-10), and the legal purity code (chs. 11-16). Chapter 27, dealing with the commutation of vows, comes from a still later edition. The purpose of Lv was to supply directives on all aspects of religious observance for the post-exilic community, especially as they related to the Temple liturgy." (
The Jerome Biblical Commentary, p. 67) (
source)
Jay G. Williams writes: "It is this emphasis [on one central shrine], in particular, which has led scholars to identify Deuteronomy as the scroll of the law found in the Temple during the reign of King Josiah in the seventh century. According to II Kings 22-23 this scroll led Josiah to initiate a reform of the religion of Judah which, in particular, involved the destruction of all places of sacrifice except the Temple in Jerusalem. Since only Deuteronomy, of all the books of the Torah, calls for such a reform and since it is inconceivable that such an important book of the law would have been lost after Josiah's time, it is likely that the identification of Deuteronomy as the discovered scroll is correct. The fact that Deuteronomy often reflects both the language and the thought of the eighth century prophets helps to confirm this identification." (
Understanding the Old Testament, p. 137) (
source)
I’m afraid that’s you, friend.
A revealing statement if I ever heard one.
No doubt. “Biblical slavery” is just as bad.