Hebrew Slave Research Articles

Down by the Riverside: A Collusion of Mothers for Moses

Abstract: The story of Moses's birth and salvation entails a collusion between three female figures: his biological mother (a Hebrew slave), his sister, and his Egyptian adoptive mother, Pharaoh's daughter. Through a close reading of the biblical text, the author shows how mother and daughter deliberately place the reed basket (or "ark") where it might be found by Pharaoh's daughter; the princess then defies her father's decree not only by saving the infant but in adopting him and raising him within the palace precincts. While rabbinic midrash sees the Egyptian princess as exceptional, portraying her anachronistically as a model convert and renaming her Bityah (that is, Batyah, daughter of Yah, God), the author conjectures that this collusion between Hebrew slavewomen and Egyptian aristocracy to save the infant Hebrew boy may very well have been a prevalent phenomenon. The essay closes with an original midrashic retelling of the narrative that highlights the alliance between Moses's Egyptian/Hebrew mothers.

Sermons on Exodus, Chapters 1–20 by Martin Luther

Reviewed by: Sermons on Exodus, Chapters 1–20 by Martin Luther Mark Mattes Sermons on Exodus, Chapters 1–20. By Martin Luther. Luther's Works, volume 62. Edited by Benjamin T. G. Mayes. Translated by Kevin G. Walker. Saint Louis: Concordia, 2022. xxiii + 454 pp. This volume offers not only Luther's sermons on Exodus 1–20 (1524–25) but also two shorter writings, namely, his introduction to the sermons on Genesis (1523) and his preface to the first volume of his lectures on Genesis (1544). Arguably, Luther is at his best as a preacher. His preaching packages his Reformation theology by presenting the results of his exegesis for a popular audience. It focuses less on polemics, though his disagreements with others is not absent, and more on the care of souls. This volume is filled with numerous gems of Luther's understanding of the gospel. In the brief sermon and introduction to Genesis, Luther highlights his well-known conviction that God did not merely create the world at a point of time, but instead creates it daily (6), that God is "always making and creating" and that God continues to work on it (5). He affirms that as creator God "works everything in me," but that does not necessarily trigger gratitude and joy. For sinners, that truth can horrify since "our nature cannot bear to accept it" (6). Humans are not as autonomous as they think, since their agency exists only due to God's sustaining of it. Humans are not in control of their own lives. In his sermons on Exodus 1–20 Luther reminds us that God works to convert sinners to faith by means of an alien work, breaking down their self-centeredness before he accomplishes his proper work of giving mercy. God works paradoxically: "through foolishness He makes wisdom; through illness He makes strength and health; through nothing He makes everything" (95). Since Exodus [End Page 218] 1–20 deals significantly with God meting out wrath upon the Egyptians because they refused to liberate their Hebrew slaves. Luther raises the question of God's goodness. He touches upon the notion of God ex lege (outside of the law), suggesting that God is not equivalent to law, even eternal law, but instead transcends his own law: "no one ought to measure God or make a law for Him because God is entirely ex lex … By doing this measuring, however, you deprive yourself of your life and of our Lord God" (136). In a word, God is not to be measured by the law. That said, Luther's view of God outside the law is by no means arbitrary. God's goodness originates from within God himself and not from those works which express his goodness. "God is the doer and does not get the goodness from the work or Law. We get the goodness not from doing something good and being esteemed by people for it, but because the law is kept. So it must be fulfilled through the Holy Spirit; then we, too, are called good" (137). While usually commentators present Luther's view of Christ's benefits as primarily forgiveness, the Luther that emerges here focusses not only on forgiveness but also on empowerment. He admonishes his listeners to "eat" or absorb Christ in a spiritual eating: "He enters you, so that the two of you become one thing spiritually, having the same thoughts and mind, also the same will, wisdom, strength, and benefit, so that you become a new man, who daily thrives and grows, becoming big, sleek, and strong in the knowledge of the Lord Christ" (174). This volume contributes to greater knowledge of Luther in the English-speaking world and is a welcome addition to Luther's Works. Mark Mattes Grand View University Des Moines, Iowa Copyright © 2023 Johns Hopkins University Press and Lutheran Quarterly, Inc.

King Zedekiah’s Release of Slaves for the Strategic Harmony of a Besieged Jerusalem (Jer 34)

Abstract King Zedekiah of Judah’s covenant to release Hebrew slaves during the siege of Jerusalem by the Babylonians in 588/587 and Jeremiah’s idealistic denunciation of the reclaiming of those slaves in Jer 34 has been the subject of interesting scholarly debate. For all the proposed foreign and intra-Biblical parallels, the policy was purely pragmatic and can be understood as a recognizable strategy from ancient texts that recommend procedures during a siege. Therefore when the siege is temporarily lifted, the policy is reversed.

The sinister story of a gauche deliverer and his corrie-fisted tribesmen: Ehud and the left-handed artillery

ABSTRACT Bias against left-handers is well-documented and seen in the etymology of “left” and “right” in most languages. The subject of this study, Ehud, lived between the exodus of the Hebrew slaves from Egypt and the establishment of the Israelite kingdom (c1200–1000 BC), at the transition between the Late Bronze Age and Iron Age 1. His left-handedness was crucial to his deliverance of the proto-nation from tyranny, recorded in Judges in the Hebrew Bible. The description of Ehud as left-handed (’iṭṭēr yaḏ-yεmînô) is used once more in the Hebrew Bible, also in Judges, to describe the artillery of Ehud’s tribe. The words apparently mean “bound/restricted in the right hand”, sometimes interpreted as “ambidextrous”. This is unlikely: ambidexterity is uncommon. The artillery used the sling with either hand, but Ehud used his left (śεm’ōl) hand to draw his sword. śεm’ōl, used throughout the Hebrew Bible, means left, without bias or derogatory implications. We suggest that ‘iṭṭēr yaḏ-yεmînô was a right-handed bias towards left-handed people, but Ehud’s left-handed victory was recognized as significant. Significant enough that (a) the language changed and the biased description was dropped in favour of simple description, and (b) the army changed with the development of left-handed slingers (artillery).

Moses’s Slow Speech: Hybrid Identity, Language Acquisition, and the Meaning of Exodus 4:10

Abstract In changing our focus to examine the children and the childhoods of the characters in the Bible we can gain new insights into the biblical text. This essay applies childist interpretation to a question that has long puzzled scholars: What did Moses mean when he said: “I am heavy (כבד) of speech and heavy (כבד) of tongue” (Exod 4:10). Scholars have suggested it meant Moses had a speech impediment or that he lost his ability to speak Egyptian eloquently during his years in Midian. I suggest, however, that these previous answers have overlooked a crucial stage in Moses’ development: his childhood. Moses’ unique childhood and transition from Hebrew slave child to adopted Egyptian prince creates within him a hybrid identity. His hybrid identity, in turn, manifested itself in Hebrew language attrition, which causes him to protest that he is “heavy of speech and tongue.”

The Violence of the Biblical God: Canonical Narrative and Christian Faith by L. Daniel Hawk

Reviewed by: The Violence of the Biblical God: Canonical Narrative and Christian Faith by L. Daniel Hawk Eric A. Seibert l. daniel hawk, The Violence of the Biblical God: Canonical Narrative and Christian Faith (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2019). Pp. xviii + 222. Paper $35. In his newest book, Dan Hawk addresses one of the most challenging theological issues in the Hebrew Bible: divine violence. H. is well positioned to write on this subject given his extensive scholarship on the Book of Joshua throughout his career. The Violence of the Biblical God consists of nine chapters, a bibliography, and indexes (author, subject, and Scripture). In chap. 1, H. acknowledges the difficulties many readers have with the violence of God in the OT. He then reviews a number of approaches (e.g., allegorical, historical-critical) that have been taken to remove, or resolve, the problems these texts ostensibly create. H. finds these approaches unsatisfactory and proposes an alternate way forward. He believes we should read the Bible “with a focus on how it narrates [End Page 482] God’s experience of and work in a violent world” (p. 17; emphasis mine). Therefore, H. focuses exclusively on the world of the text. With this approach, the majority of the book, chaps. 2–7, is devoted to a close reading of selected OT narratives. H. attempts to explain Yhwh’s relationship to the violence narrated in the text, and he offers various explanations for why God gets entangled in warfare and killing. H. sees God learning, growing, changing, and adapting to events and people along the way. In chap. 2, H. explores Genesis 1–11, emphasizing that human violence was not God’s original intention for the world but rather results from “humanity’s determination to make the world in its own image and likeness” (p. 23). H. challenges the notion that God responds angrily to Adam and Eve’s disobedience, Cain’s murder, the violent antediluvian population, or the tower builders. Rather than seeing God’s actions as primarily punitive, H. believes God reacts to the world and engages it for the purpose of restoration. In chap. 3, H. describes the way Yhwh binds himself to Abraham in a move that will necessarily embroil Yhwh in further acts of violence. Yhwh will be faithful to Abraham even if that means behaving violently toward those, like Pharaoh, who inadvertently “wrong” Abraham (see Gen 12:10–20). H. also regards the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, like the flood, as “an acceleration of a process of ruination” rather than an act of divine judgment (p. 60). In chap. 4, H. discusses how Yhwh must deliver the Hebrew people from Egyptian oppression in order to honor the divine promise made to the patriarchs. Yet sending plagues, hardening Pharaoh’s heart, and decimating Egypt’s army do more than liberate Hebrew slaves; they demonstrate Yhwh’s absolute supremacy. The destruction of chaotic human powers and structures makes way for Yhwh to reorder the world and to make space for a new creation in and through the people of Israel. Chapter 5 deals with the second part of Exodus, briefly noting the covenant made between Yhwh and Israel and mostly concentrating on the golden calf debacle, which represents the covenant being broken. H. emphasizes how this represents the first time divine anger is connected to divine violence (p. 104). In chap. 6, H. explores Yhwh’s deepening involvement in violence through Yhwh’s allowance of a king in Israel. Because of this decision, H. believes “Yahweh is drawn into the contests of power and violence that define the ends and means of monarchies” (p. 117). In chap. 7, H. turns his attention to the conquest narrative in the Book of Joshua. He disputes the commonly held assumption that the slaughter of the Canaanites was an act of divine judgment. Instead, he argues it is a necessary step Yhwh must take to clear the land so that an alternative kind of community can be formed. Yet, for all this effort and the massive amount of violence it required, H. says, “Yahweh’s grand plan, to heal the world by identifying with a people, ends in disaster” (p. 169). In light...

The Bible's Greatest Meme?

The Bible's Greatest Meme? Peter Heinegg The Book of Exodus: A Biography. By Joel S. Baden, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2019. xv + 215 pp. $26.95. No serious reader, student, or teacher of the Bible can fail to see that the Book of Exodus is the key to the Hebrew Bible‐Old Testament and perhaps to all of Sacred Scripture. Genesis has many more appealing folkloric tales and mythic moments, but Exodus is absolutely indispensable. Here, we meet God as the Lord of history, the force that created and saved his own people, the Israelites, and bound himself to them forever in a solemn, all‐encompassing Covenant. Baden is a professor of Hebrew Bible at Yale Divinity School, and his work is part of the Princeton Press's “Lives of Great Religious Books”; but he focuses less on the text of Exodus (or Shemot) than on the astonishing power of the Exodus story to shape and enrich religious traditions not just in Judaism, but in a bewildering variety of Christian churches. At the heart of the narrative is something like a complete historical blank. Exodus 12.37 claims that the Israelites had 600,000 foot soldiers, which translates into a minimum total population or two million; and scholars are agreed that there is no archeological or written evidence of such a mighty horde having lived in Egypt or survived for forty years in the Sinai desert. And was Moses himself an actual personage or a fictional hero? What to make of his Egyptian name and his supposed royal upbringing? Why did Yahweh want to kill Moses (in Ex. 4.24) shortly after the sublime theophany on Mt. Sinai/Horeb? How is it that God's grandest spokesman had a speech defect and was told to let his highly flawed brother Aaron occasionally take his place? Was Moses really barred from entering the Promised Land, after all his years of toil and travail, simply because he struck a rock to make it gush water (Num. 20.11‐12) instead of just bidding it to do so? As for the mass departure from Egypt, the most one can say is that a group of runaway Hebrew slaves may have escaped from Egypt (at some time in the thirteenth‐century BCE?) and made their way into Canaan, where they joined up with some distant tribal kin. And the confusion thickens when we consider the incompatible or contradictory elements in Exodus supplied by the J, P, and E strands of tradition that have been woven together. (E.g., were there seven plagues or ten?) The eating of matzah is an essential feature of Passover, but it turns to have nothing to do with the Exodus, only connected to it by the invented detail that the fleeing Israelites had no time to bake normal leavened bread. And the problems go on, but no matter, because in the Exodus God both makes his tremendous intervention in the life of Israel and establishes the core of Judaism forever. Once again, historical realism has to admit that Moses himself could no more have delivered the vast body of specific legal material in the Torah (much of which refers to conditions in a future settled country, rather than the wasteland of Sinai) than he could have described his own mysterious death and burial in Deuteronomy 34). And finally, there are the painful issues of the death of the Egyptian first‐born and the army of Pharaoh, which we'll get to later (Baden doesn't deal with them). The point is that, historical disputes aside, Pesach joins all Jews celebrating it into an organic symbiosis with a primordial liberation (whatever it may have exactly been) and all past generations who have ever liturgically participated in it. Unlike formal, clerically led synagogue services, Passover is a home‐based, democratic affair, with a unique focus on children. The Seder replaces the obsolete (since the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE) Passover sacrifice. Baden calls the Passover Seder “an act of commiseration and of communal redemption,” whose relevance never fades. And, of course, it flowed into the life blood of Christianity. Jesus is at once the new Moses (especially...

Julian Tudor Hart: an appreciation: Born 9 March 1927; died 1 July 2018.

Visiting Julian and Mary Hart at Glyncorrwg in South Wales in the 70s and 80s, as hundreds did, and experiencing their rich mixture of hospitality, fine food, and brilliant conversation, was to live life temporarily on a higher plane. As a visiting medical student in 1975 on my first night out, listening to men in a pub singing ‘Delilah’, ‘Myfanwy’, and Verdi’s ‘Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves’, I got an early taste of the strength in depth of a mining community. Dr ‘Art (without an H) lived in such a community with his patients: ‘From many direct and indirect contacts, in schools, shops and gossip, I have come to understand how ignorant I would be if I knew them only as a doctor seeing them when they were ill.’ (1973) Julian hated when bad things happened to his patients, especially when …

The Pentateuch: Exodus–Deuteronomy

The PentateuchExodus–Deuteronomy Christopher T. Begg, Fred W. Guyette, Thomas Hieke, David Leiter, Paul R. Redditt, and John Thomas Willis 1126. [Exodus–Deuteronomy] John Kurichianil, "Moses the Servant of the Lord (Part II)," ITS 54 (2017) 153-77. In this second installment of a two-part article, K. continues his survey of the biblical presentation of Moses as Yhwh's servant in its various dimensions. In so doing, he focuses, in turn, on five additional features of the multifaceted depiction of Moses's person, life, and ministry in the Books of Exodus–Deuteronomy: (a) Moses's life-long suffering (above all at the hands of the people); (b) Moses who survives as a person and a leader thanks to his constant prayer; (c) the ever-greater intimacy Moses attains with God through this prayer; (d) Moses's final failure in trust and obedience to God in his striking the rock twice rather than simply speaking to it as enjoined by Yhwh (see Numbers 20) with the result that Yhwh condemns him to die outside the land; and (e) God's ultimate display of solicitude for Moses in showing him the land before his death and then burying him with his own hands once he does die (see Deuteronomy 34).—C.T.B. 1127. [Exodus; Deuteronomy; Temple Scroll; Jubilees] Dominik Markl, "Sinai: the Origin of Holiness and Revelation in Exodus, Deuteronomy, the Temple Scroll, and Jubilees," Holy Places, 23-44 [see #1510]. Sinai's hermeneutical role in early Jewish literature has attracted considerable interest in recent scholarship. The innerbiblical relationship between Sinaitic law and Deuteronomy has triggered a discussion about legal hermeneutics in the Pentateuch. Against the backdrop of these discussions, in this paper I will attempt to show that both Jubilees and the Temple Scroll derive their authority from their reception of the books of Exodus and Deuteronomy, albeit in clearly different ways. The article will unfold in three phases, moving from the stage of Sinai/Horeb as the origin of law in Exodus and Deuteronomy, to hermeneutical transformations of its role in the Temple Scroll and Jubilees before arriving at a conclusion (pp. 23-24, adapted).—C.T.B. 1128. [Exodus] Francis Nataff, "Shemot's Missing Names," JBQ 45 (2017) 193-99. The first two chapters of Exodus are not very forthcoming with the names of its characters. Consider Moses. If anyone should be introduced at birth, it is he. And yet we only hear his name after he is brought into the house of Pharaoh (Exod 2:10). A similar anomaly is found in the case of Moses's family. Though we eventually find out the names of Moses's parents (Exod 6:18-20), they are initially introduced to us with striking anonymity: "And a man of the House of Levi took to marry a daughter of Levi" (Exod 2:1). Moses's sister, Miriam, who plays a significant role in the story, watching over her brother and serving as the go-between between Pharaoh's daughter and Moses's parents, is not named until chap. 15. By contrast, two minor characters, the midwives Shifrah and Puah, [End Page 387] are named in Exod 1:15. Why? It may be because they disobeyed Pharaoh and showed basic human decency. The Israelites came into Egypt as men of stature, with names they could be proud of. But later on, the Hebrew slaves were treated as a faceless crowd, as people who had no names at all.—F.W.G. 1129. [Exodus: P] Konrad Schmid, "Taming Egypt: The Impact of Persian Imperial Ideology and Politics on the Biblical Exodus Account," Jewish Cultural Encounters, 13-29 [see #1524]. S. argues that the Priestly texts in Exodus evidence the notion of Egypt standing outside the divine world order. This notion seems to reflect the peaceful world order of the Persian Empire at a time around 525 b.c.e. when it included the whole Near Eastern world except for Egypt. In this instance, a particular political and cultural context, that of the early Persian Empire, may help us understand the impact this had on the shaping of literary or religious traditions, the...

Páscoa ou páscoas judaicas?

A celebração da Páscoa em Israel relembra o evento histórico no qual os hebreus, escravos do Egito, foram libertados pelas mãos forte de Iahweh e conduzidos para a Terra Prometida. Apesar da prescrição de uma memória a ser celebrada perpetuamente, nota-se que nem sempre foi observado tal prescrição e os motivos e ritos sofreram mudanças substanciais no decorrer da história de Israel conforme se observa nos relatos sobre a Páscoa nos livros sagrados do Antigo Testamento.

Uncovering midrash: the Hebrew slave in the Mekhilta deRabbi Ishmael

Two sets of biblical verses deal with the Hebrew slave’s refusal to be set free at the end of his servitude (Exodus 21:5–6; Deuteronomy 15:16–17). I examine a series of derashot from Mekhilta deRabbi Ishmael dealing with these two passages. I will claim that difficulties evident in this section stem from its derivative nature, and I will support this claim by showing that this passage is in fact using material from an earlier non-extant midrash on the parallel verses in Deuteronomy. The midrash in the Mekhilta adapts the earlier material in order to conform to the verses in Exodus, and demonstrates a Halakhic viewpoint that is in conflict with the midrash on Deuteronomy. The study has ramifications for wider scholarly issues, including the possibility of reconstructing lost midrashic material from later, reworked texts using careful philological examination and the findings of recent studies in the field of legal midrash.

Jeremiah 34:8-22 – a call for the enactment of distributive justice?

This article seeks to determine whether the author of Jeremiah 34:8-22, in his critique of the events relating to the manumission of Hebrew slaves in 589/588 BCE during Nebuchadnezzar’s siege of Jerusalem, called for the enactment of distributive justice. Since the book of Jeremiah has a very strong intertextual character, the intertextual link between Jeremiah 34:8-22 and Deuteronomy 15:1-18 is explored. When Jeremiah 34:8-22 is read through the lens of Deuteronomy 15:1-18, it is clear that brotherliness does not tolerate debt slavery. By using Deuteronomy 15:1-18 as a supplementary text to Jeremiah 34:8-22, the author inspires visions of a counter-community, in which the debt slaves should be set free and be enabled to make a fresh start.

The Beauty of Charisma Introduction: From Golden Calves to Gold Bling

The Beauty of Charisma Introduction: From Golden Calves to Gold Bling

Law of the Hebrew Slave: A Continuing Debate

The law regarding the treatment of the Hebrew slave, as reflected in its three different versions in Ex 21,2–11, Lev 25,39–46 and Deut 15,12–18, has always been at the forefront of the discussion about the relationship of between the law codes of CC, D and HC. In my recent book »A Law Book for the Diaspora« (2003) I challenged the consensus view and suggested that the CC version of Ex 21, 2–11 was later than, and dependent upon, the other two versions. In a series of critical reviews and articles by Jackson, Otto and Levinson, reasons have been offered that seek to question and overturn my analysis of this law. In this article I seek to respond to my critics in support of my thesis that the CC, as reflected in this law of the Hebrew slave, was composed in the exilic period as a deliberate qualification of the D and HC versions of the law. Abstract La loi relative au traitement de l'esclave hébreu, telle qu'elle est retracée dans ses trois différentes versions en Ex. 21, 2–11, Lév. 25, 39–46 et Deut. 15, 12–18, s'est toujours trouvée au centre des discussions quant aux inter-relations entre les codes de lois LA, D et LS. Dans mon récent livre »A Law Book for the Diaspora« (2003), j'ai remis en question le consensus actuel et proposé que la version-LA d'Ex. 21, 2–11 soit plus tardive que les deux autres, et dépendante d'elles. Dans une série de recensions critiques et d'articles (Jackson, Otto et Levinson), des arguments ont été avancés en vue de contredire mon analyse de cette loi. Par la présente étude, l'A. tente de répondre à ses critiques et de mieux fonder sa thèse, à savoir que LA, tel qu'il se reflète dans la loi de l'esclave hébreu, a été rédigé durant la période de l'Exil – en tant que nouvelle interprétation consciente de D et de LS. Abstract Das Gesetz über die Behandlung des hebräischen Sklaven, wie es in seinen drei verschiedenen Fassungen in Ex 21,2–11, Lev 25,39–46 und Dtn 15,12–18 vorliegt, stand immer im Zentrum der Diskussion über das Verhältnis der Gesetzessammlungen von BB, D und HG. In meinem neuen Buch »A Law Book for the Diaspora« (2003) habe ich den bisherigen Konsens in Frage gestellt und vorgeschlagen, dass die BB-Fassung von Ex 21,2–11 später als die beiden anderen Fassungen und von ihnen abhängig ist. In einer Reihe von kritischen Besprechungen und Artikeln von Jackson, Otto und Levinson sind Argumente genannt worden, die meine Analyse dieses Gesetzes in Frage stellen und widerlegen sollen. Im vorliegenden Artikel versuche ich auf meine Kritiker zu antworten und meine These zu untermauern, dass das BB, wie es sich im Gesetz über den hebräischen Sklaven spiegelt, in der Exilszeit verfasst wurde als eine bewusste Neuinterpretation der Gesetzesfassungen von D und HG.

The "effected object" in contractual legal language: the semantics of "If you purchase a Hebrew slave" (Exod. xxi 2)

AbstractThis article investigates the semantics of the protasis of the manumission law of the Covenant Code (Exod. xxi 2a). Despite the proposal by John Van Seters that the slave there purchased must "already" have been a slave, such a restriction of meaning goes beyond the evidence. Critical for understanding the semantic issue is the overlooked distinction between two types of verbal object: "affected" and "effected" objects. Moreover, verbs of creation and appointment are frequently ditransitive. Such verbs may also leave the affected object implicit while specifying only the effected object. This construction emphasizes the change in status undergone by the grammatical patient, as in the case of the manumission law. Attention to the contractual language of biblical law permits, in turn, a more adequate concept of the grammatical concept of effected object.

The Birth of the Lemma: The Restrictive Reinterpretation of the Covenant Code's Manumission Law by the Holiness Code (Leviticus 25:44-46)

The jubilee laws of the Holiness Code contains a previously unrecognized restrictive reinterpretation of the Covenant Code’s law requiring manumission of the Hebrew slave (עבד עבר) after six years of service. This case, which involves studied lemmatic citation and reformulation of the earlier law, has important implications for contemporary pentateuchal theory, where the question of the dating of the Holiness Code relative to the other literary sources has been reopened during the last quarter century. The reasons why this case has escaped the attention of scholarship are equally significant. The Septuagint translator failed to recognize the reuse of two technical legal idioms relevant to manumission law and misconstrued the syntax and punctuation of the Hebrew Vorlage of Leviticus 25:44, 46. That ancient misunderstanding has had a lasting impact upon the way this unit has subsequently been understood. Seeing the text in its own light opens up a significant new perspective on the sophistication of the Holiness Code and its literary relation to the other pentateuchal sources. The techniques for legal reinterpretation employed in Leviticus 25 include the use of the Wiederaufnahme and pronominal deixis. These techniques, as well as their larger goal of textual reapplication, reveal an emergent form of the methods that are well attested in the pesher and other more formalized exegetical literature of the later Second Temple period. That they occur here in a text that presents itself as revelatory rather than as exegetical, however, raises a series of fascinating hermeneutical issues.

An-Other Woman: Joseph and Potiphar's Wife. Staging the Body Politic

This article is an attempt to use a number of rabbinic texts that portray the sexual encounter between Joseph and Potiphar's wife in order to focus on the transformation of the semiotics of the body in late antiquity. Rabbinic literature, following the lead of Second Temple literature, evinces a sustained interest in the erotic aspects of the seduction scene (Genesis 39). Peter Brown ascribes such a change to a paradigm shift in the very meaning of sexuality itself Following up on this insight, I try to show that when the body's sexuality becomes a dominant vehicle for religious and social discourses, it becomes necessary to read it politically, as an arena for displaying and contesting those plays of power and knowledge that constitute identity and experience. In certain rabbinic texts that represent this encounter (esp. bSot 36b), the biblical moral code is preempted by a gendered cultural code. Thus, the sexual nature of the seduction recedes into the background, and in its place emerges the theme of a cultural seduction. In this new paradigm, Potiphar's wife functions not only as Joseph's sexual other but as his cultural other as well, and the story of the trials and tribulations of a Hebrew slave in a foreign and hostile environment becomes emblematic of rabbinic culture itself The dramatic situation portrayed in this reconstituted Joseph narrative would have been easily recognized as one of the most popular stock plots of Greco-Roman culture-the seduction plot, most notably found in the Greek romances and adultery mime. When the Rabbis re-imagine the biblical text they do so using the theological, theatrical, and literary models provided by the culture of late antiquity. Through a cross-coding of the gender and cultural codes in the Joseph narrative, the hegemonic discourse of the theater is exploited to denigrate the dominant foreign culture as a form of deviant identity. By founding ethnic differences upon a gendered dichotomy the seduction scene is transformed, and erotic attraction becomes a trope for cultural congress, dramatizing the transgression of cultural boundaries as mirrored in the body. The phenomenon I address is this use of gender discourse to establish cultural identity, and how discourses of gender were employed to produce and police discourses of identity in the social formation of rabbinic Judaism.

The Law of the Hebrew Slave

Contrary to the broad consensus among scholars, the version of the law in Ex 21:2-11 is later than the parallel laws in Deut 15:12-18 and Lev 25:39-46. The consensus view has led to a serious misunderstanding of the meaning and purpose of the law in Exodus vis-a-vis the other laws. A proper ordering of these laws supports the thesis that the Book of the Covenant is later than the Deuteronomic Code and the Holiness Code. In Ex 21:2-6 the law deals not with debt-slavery but the purchase of Hebrew slaves from foreigners as reflected in Neh 5:8. Ex 21:7-11 deals with impoverished fathers selling their daughters into marriage, a practice confirmed from cuneiform sources

The Hebrew Slave According to Deuteronomy 15:12-18: His Lot and the Value of His Work, with Special Attention to the Meaning of Mishne

The Hebrew Slave According to Deuteronomy 15:12-18: His Lot and the Value of His Work, with Special Attention to the Meaning of Mishne

How Much for a Hebrew Slave? The Meaning of Misneh in Deut 15:18

How Much for a Hebrew Slave? The Meaning of Misneh in Deut 15:18