The so-called purity laws in Leviticus 11-15 reflect a cultic and social view on the male and female body. These texts do not give detailed physiological descriptions. Instead, they prescribe what to do in the cases of skin disease, delivery and wo/man's genital discharges, but the particular way of dealing with the body and the language used in Leviticus 12 and 15 ask for clarification: How do these texts construct the male and female body? Which roles does gender play within this language? By means of themes like menstruation and circumcision, the author unfolds the language used for the body in Leviticus and its interpretation history. The study provides material for a contemporary anthropology of bodies which relates the human sexed body to God's holiness.
Autorentext
Dorothea Erbele-Kuester is currently visiting professor at Heidelburg University in Germany. She is a member of the Centre for Ethics in Antiquity and Christianity at Mainz University, Germany, and has been teaching n Belgium and the Netherlands.
Inhalt
Chapter 1: Mapping
Part 1: Exegetical Analysis
Chapter 2; Leviticus 12
Chapter 3: Leviticus 15
Part 2: Biblical Anthropology as Discourse of the Body
Chapter 4: Flesh
Chapter 5: Bodily Fluids
Chapter 6: Menstruation
Chapter 7: The Cultic Perspective
Chapter 8: Prospects
Bibliography