Book contents
- Purity and Pollution in the Hebrew Bible
- Purity and Pollution in the Hebrew Bible
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Notes on Transcriptions and Translations
- Abbreviations
- Part I Setting the Stage
- 1 Introduction
- 2 What Is Pollution?
- Part II Embodying Pollution through the Life Cycle
- Part III Images, Codes and Discourse
- Works Cited
- Index of Biblical Sources
- Index of Selected Ancient Near Eastern Sources
- Index of Rabbinic and Second Temple Literature Sources
- Subject Index
1 - Introduction
from Part I - Setting the Stage
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 December 2021
Book contents
- Purity and Pollution in the Hebrew Bible
- Purity and Pollution in the Hebrew Bible
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Notes on Transcriptions and Translations
- Abbreviations
- Part I Setting the Stage
- 1 Introduction
- 2 What Is Pollution?
- Part II Embodying Pollution through the Life Cycle
- Part III Images, Codes and Discourse
- Works Cited
- Index of Biblical Sources
- Index of Selected Ancient Near Eastern Sources
- Index of Rabbinic and Second Temple Literature Sources
- Subject Index
Summary
A survey of pollution beliefs from cultures around the world over the span of recorded history reveals a remarkable commonality in the types of phenomena viewed as causing impurity. These tend to include corpses, genital emissions (ordinary and pathological), certain animals and disease. How is this striking commonality in disparate cultures to be explained? Before attempting to answer, let us frame the object of investigation in more familiar terms.
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- Purity and Pollution in the Hebrew BibleFrom Embodied Experience to Moral Metaphor, pp. 3 - 26Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2021