AMAMIHE Journal of Applied Philosophy

Social inclusion remains a significant ethical concern in contemporary Africa, where poverty, economic inequality, disability, unemployment, displacement, ethnic divisions, migration and unequal access to social resources continue to restrict the participation of vulnerable persons in communal life. African ethical traditions have frequently been interpreted through the category of communalism, which emphasises relationality, mutual responsibility, solidarity, reciprocity and the common good. Yet communalism must also be critically examined because communities can reproduce exclusion, favouritism and structural inequality. This article offers a contextual and exegetical reading of Leviticus 19:9–10 and 15–16 through the framework of African communalism. The study employs historical-literary, lexical and contextual analysis of the selected Hebrew texts before bringing their ethical claims into dialogue with contemporary African communitarian thought. The exegesis demonstrates that Leviticus 19:9–10 establishes limits upon agricultural accumulation and the gleanings of harvest for the poor and the resident alien. Leviticus 19:15 prohibits judicial partiality toward both the poor and the powerful, while verse 16 prohibits slander and commands members of the community not to stand passively over the blood or life of a neighbour. When placed in dialogue with African communalism, the texts provide resources for an ethic in which individual flourishing is inseparable from communal responsibility. The article concludes that a contextual reading of Leviticus 19 can contribute to an African Christian ethic of social inclusion that moves beyond charity toward participation, justice, dignity and communal responsibility.

Open Full Text (PDF)