Scholars don’t agree on a single exact date, but there are two main answers people give to “when was Leviticus written?”

Traditional view (Moses’ time)

In Jewish and Christian tradition, Leviticus is attributed to Moses and placed in Israel’s wilderness period soon after the Exodus from Egypt.

On that view, it was written around the mid‑2nd millennium BCE , often narrowed to about 1440–1400 BCE (15th century BCE), during the 40 years of wandering before entering the promised land.

A simple way to picture this: if you imagine the Exodus as a big turning point, Leviticus is the “instruction manual” given right after that event, while Israel is still camped and organizing its worship and communal life.

Critical scholarly view (later composition)

Many modern critical scholars think Leviticus, especially its priestly and holiness laws, reached its final form much later.

A widely held proposal is that major editing and compilation happened in the exilic or post‑exilic period , roughly in the 6th–5th centuries BCE , when Israel was under Babylonian and then Persian rule.

In that view, some older materials and traditions may go back much earlier, but the book as we have it was shaped and finalized centuries after Moses.

Quick forum-style takeaway

If you’re asking “when was Leviticus written?” the traditional answer is “around 1440–1400 BCE, by Moses in the wilderness,” while the modern scholarly answer is “a long literary process that likely culminated in the 6th–5th centuries BCE, using earlier priestly material.”

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When was Leviticus written? Explore traditional dates (c. 1440–1400 BCE, Mosaic authorship) and modern critical views that place its final editing in the 6th–5th centuries BCE, with ongoing forum‑level debate.

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