LV223 verse choice and its implications
Vickie B
MemberOvomorphJuly 21, 20167339 Views31 RepliesFor those unfamiliar with the verse Leviticus 22:3 :
Say to them "For the generations to come, if any of your descendants is ceremonially unclean and yet comes near the sacred offerings that the Isrealites consecrate to the Lord, that person must be cut off from my presence. I am the Lord."
I know how this verse applies within the Bible, but how might it apply to the Prometheus/Covenant world? I will posit my thoughts and hope to read thoughts of others. I also reserve the right to go in different directions...lol.
Firstly, I want to share what I believe to be the meaning of "ceremonially unclean". Because these Engineers are shown to be masters of manipulating DNA, I believe that "ceremonially unclean" is what you become when your DNA has been modified. When you have been mutated in some way.
Secondly, I would like to discuss the "sacred offerings". But before I can do that, I must tell you that I believe there may be 2 kinds of Engineers. The Engineers we see at the begining of the film look different than the Engineers we see near the end. Their skin is different. Why? I'll come back to this. There also seems to be aged Engineers here at the beginning (shown during a deleted scene) suggesting that they die and that they might also appear differently to one another much like we do, unless you are an identical twin. The Engineers we see near the end look identical to one another. The ships are different, too.
We like to associate the word 'sacred' with 'good', but that's not necessarily the case. 'Sacred' could simply mean 'dedicated to a religious purpose and therefore deserving of respect'. Not all religions are 'good'.
I believe that a "sacred offering" is shown to us at the beginning of the film in the form of an Engineer. He sacrifices, offers, himself in order to bring about intelligent life. Is he a good guy? It would appear so, but looks can be deceiving. They wear clothes. Why? I'll come back to this as well.
Let's skip to the temple, which some call the "head room". Here we see murals and such, as well as urns filled with fluid. This place is definitely a sacred place. Each urn, to me, is a sort of coffin or sarcophagus and it would explain Halloway's "tomb" comment. If we take what we see as a 'sacred offering' at the beginning of the film and apply it here, then what we can conclude here is that inside each of these urns is an Engineer who has consumed the catalyst which breaks them down. We are looking at many, many 'sacred offerings'.
Now to betrack to my 'why'. Recall the story of Adam and Eve. Eve was created from the rib of Adam. (In the genetic sense, a rib bone is a very good candidate of a bone you can remove without hindering the donor in some way. Bone marrow is an excellent source of DNA.) One day Eve broke the rules and ate fruit from the forbidden Tree. They are cast out from the Garden of Eden. They are now sinners. Their lives will be toilsome...they will have to work hard for their needs. They also realize they are naked and, out of shame, create clothing to wear. They are not cut off from God, though. They just have to make offerings to him now to be redeemed.
So my thought is this: I think that it may be very possible that the Engineers we see wearing clothing at the beginning of the film are 'sinners'. They cannot easily make 'sacred offerings' by delivering and emptying urns. They must now perform this on location. And like childbirth will be very painful for the sinner Eve, performing the 'sacred offering' ceremony, which will eventually produce 'descendants', will be painful for the Engineer. They have been 'cast out' and now age...and die. They age because they are 'unclean'. Becoming unclean is quite possibly their sin. Mutating themselves. But it is also possible that aging, then dying, is a form of punishment for their sin. Is the ceremony we see at the beginning of the film an offering to gain redemption?
I'm thinking that we are descendants of this 'sinner' race. We are considered 'unclean' because our makers, whose DNA we share, are 'unclean'. It is because we register as 'unclean' inside the temple that changes begin to occur there. By being in that room, we are breaking a covenant much like the Leviticus verse. The temple is able to recognize that we are inside because we had taken our helmets off. Going into that room in full suit is how the sinner race got in and out. It is this race we see running towards the temple during the holographic playback. It is their bodies we see piled up.
These are my thoughts...and it makes me wonder if there are two home bases to go with the two races of Engineer. Which race's home base did Shaw and David go to?
