Controlling Corporeality: The Body and the Household in Ancient Israel Review
"Jon Berquist's thesis is strikingly original and a significant contribution to the field. He sifts carefully through an impressive range of materials so that the ubiquity of the social system emerges with clarity and force. Hence, the reader is provided with an inner logic to ancient social meanings."--David M. Gunn, A. A. Bradford Professor of Religion, Texas Christian University Human bodily existence--from birth to death--is at the core of the Torah and many other books of the Hebrew Scriptures. From God's creation of Adam out of clay to the narratives of priests and kings whose regulations governed bodily practices, the Hebrew Bible focuses on the human body. Ancient Israel's understanding of the human body has rarely been studied and, until now, has been poorly understood. In this beautifully written book, Jon L. Berquist guides the reader through the Hebrew Bible, examining ancient Israel's ideas of the body, the role of gender, the deployment of sexuality, and the cultural practices of the time. Conducting his analysis with reference to contemporary theories of the body, power, and social control, Berquist offers a description and clarification of ancient Israelite views of the body. Understood in this light, the familiar Bible takes on a different dimension and becomes open to a wide range of new interpretations. Jon L. Berquist is academic editor at Chalice Press and the author of numerous books, including Judaism in Persia's Shadow: A Social and Historical Approach and Incarnation.
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Feb 01, 2012 00:21:34
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