Sacrifice and Gender in Biblical Law
Sacrifice and Gender in Biblical Law
$128.00
USDThis book examines the Hebrew Bible's numerous laws about sacrificial procedure to understand the significance of gender in sacrificial rituals and the reasons that gender distinctions are so vital in these acts. Gender selection of both victims and participants is an intrinsic aspect of the nature and purpose of each rite, affecting its form and function, as well as its legitimacy. Sacrifice and Gender in Biblical Law considers the laws of the firstborn, the rite of the red cow, laws of slaughter, rituals of purification, and other offerings. It shows that these laws regulate material wealth and contribute to the construction of social roles.
- Considers a number of ancient and enigmatic laws from the perspective of gender, giving them new interpretations - this is a new approach
- Focuses on the economic, material and social consequences of particular sacrificial laws
- Combines scholarship about both animal and human sacrifice
- Shows that laws such as separating milk from meat, consecrating the firstborn male, and the ritual of the red cow are all concerned with the establishment of social and gender roles
Reviews & endorsements
"… Sacrifice and Gender in Biblical Law offers a broad investigation of the relationship between the two categories named in the title. Ruane is a close and observant reader of texts, and is careful to ground her readings in both textual scholarship and theories of sacrifice … a valuable contribution to scholarship on gender in ancient Israel."
Rhiannon Graybill, Biblical Interpretation
'… Ruane’s accomplishments in this volume are considerable, and it will be an essential addition to the body of works on biblical sacrifice.' Pamela Barmash, Interpretation: A Journal of Bible and Theology
Product details
August 2013Hardback
9780521877244
278 pages
235 × 158 × 21 mm
0.52kg
Available
Table of Contents
- 1. Introduction
- 2. Women's sacrificial roles in biblical law
- 3. The gendered victimology of animal offerings
- 4. Milk, meat, and mothers: the exclusion of mothers from sacrifice in cultic food laws
- 5. Death and the female: the sacred impurity of the red cow
- 6. Impurity and the creation of difference
- 7. Fathers and firstlings
- 8. Conclusion: child sacrifice and animal sacrifice.
