ORCID

James W. Watts: 0000-0002-4872-4986

Document Type

Book Chapter

Date

2021

Keywords

ritual, textualization, scripturalization, Leviticus 12, mothers, purification

Language

English

Funder(s)

University of Lausanne

Disciplines

Biblical Studies | Comparative Methodologies and Theories | Religion

Description/Abstract

Biblical scholars have increasingly realized that textual representations of rituals do not have the same function or meaning as the ritual performances that they describe. A survey of this theoretical distinction in biblical scholarship over the last 25 years shows the impact of this realization, and also several points of resistance. The significance of the distinction between ritual text and ritual performance can be illustrated clearly in Leviticus 12, which describes the rituals required of new mothers after giving birth. The chapter mandates practices that are unique in the Bible and, possibly, novel in ancient Israel’s religious culture. However, they take the ritual form of standard rising and sin offerings, as described previously in Leviticus 1, 4-5. Thus Leviticus 12 simply announces a payment schedule for standard offerings after every human birth. Its textualization and then scripturalization as part of the Torah has led interpreters to ponder the significance of periods of blood purification long after, perhaps especially after temple offerings had fallen into abeyance. This text about new mothers’ offerings thus took on a life of its own and even stimulated new ritual practices, quite apart from the function and meaning of the ancient practices that it describes.

ISBN

9781646021413

Source

submission

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