Drinkable Ink or Womb-Destroying Words?-Reference-Cited by-同舟云学术

Drinkable Ink or Womb-Destroying Words?

Published:2023-07-18 Issue:1 Volume:14 Page:
ISSN:1743-8888
Container-title:Postscripts: The Journal of Sacred Texts, Cultural Histories, and Contemporary Contexts
language:
Short-container-title:POST

Author:

Liebermann Rosanne

Abstract

The biblical text of Numbers 5:11–31 describes a ritual designed to determine the guilt or innocence of a woman suspected of adultery: she must drink a mixture of water, dirt, and the ink of written curses given to her by a priest. This article analyses how the ritualized use of a material sacred text as described in Numbers 5:11–31 – and the ways it interacts with the bodies of the people involved – impacts the biblical construction of gender identities. Using concepts introduced by R. W. Connell, I argue that the ritual makes use of a material sacred text to reinforce a hegemonic masculine identity for the Israelite priesthood, while encouraging the complicit masculinity of laymen and the subjugated feminine identity of women. In doing so, the ritual of Numbers 5:11–31 bolsters the hierarchy of gender identities constructed by the book of Numbers and the Pentateuch more broadly.

Publisher

Equinox Publishing

Subject

General Medicine

Reference45 articles.

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4. Britt, Brian. 2007. “Male Jealousy and the Suspected Sotah: Toward a Counter-Reading of Numbers 5:11–31.” The Bible and Critical Theory 3(1): 5.1–5.19. https://doi.org/10.2104/bc070005

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