Purity and Pollution in the Hebrew Bible

Purity and Pollution in the Hebrew Bible

In this book, Yitzhaq Feder presents a novel and compelling account of pollution in ancient Israel, from its emergence as an embodied concept, rooted in physiological experience, to its expression as a pervasive metaphor in social-moral discourse. Feder aims to bring the biblical and ancient Near Eastern evidence into a sustained conversation with anthropological and psychological research through comparison with notions of contagion in other ancient and modern cultural contexts. Showing how numerous interpretive difficulties are the result of imposing modern concepts on the ancient texts, he guides readers through wide-ranging parallels to biblical attitudes in ancient Near Eastern, ethnographic, and modern cultures. Feder demonstrates how contemporary evolutionary and psychological research can be applied to ancient textual evidence. He also suggests a path of synthesis that can move beyond the polarized positions which currently characterize modern academic and popular debates bearing on the roles of biology and culture in shaping human behavior. ‘Overall, this monograph is a significant step forward for the study of priestly ritual and the concepts of purity and pollution. … [It] is a powerful argument against the scholarly creation of abstract symbolic systems, and a testament to the messiness of lived experience the religious and ritual practices that emerge from it. Such a corrective is extremely necessary, and it is one which I enthusiastically welcome.’ Liane M. Feldman, Journal of Near Eastern Studies ‘… Feder’s application of cognitive theories to biblical pollution regulations and rhetoric calls into question the ancient and continuing efforts to explain them systematically. These very important contributions to the field should be engaged by everyone working on these issues.’ James W. Watts, Vetus Testamentum ‘Feder places the biblical purity laws in their ancient Near Eastern context while also using insights from psychology, anthropology, and cognitive linguistics to illuminate aspects of the biblical purity rules, showing how similarly/differently contagion and pollution are thought about today. Some of Feder’s arguments will be contested, but any scholar interested in this topic will need to reckon with Feder’s nuanced, thought-provoking approach. Summing Up:***’ J. S. Kaminsky, Choice A novel account of pollution in the Hebrew Bible, from its embodied origins, to its metaphorical expression in moral discourse. Yitzhaq Feder is a lecturer at the University of Haifa. His research integrates textual study with advances in psychological and anthropological research. He has received numerous prizes, including the 2012 SBL David Noel Freedman Award for Excellence and Innovation in Biblical Studies. His most recent research focuses on biblical and ancient Near Eastern notions of taboo and their implications for understanding the emergence and historical development of morality.