Matthew J. Lynch, «Neglected Physical Dimensions of “Shame” Terminology in the Hebrew Bible», Vol. 91 (2010) 499-517
Psychological and social paradigms have dominated translations and interpretations of shame terminology in the Hebrew Bible. Scholars often adopt modern notions of shame as either internal feelings of worthlessness or external social sanction, and then apply those notions to the biblical text. I suggest that there is need to reevaluate whether or not such psychological and social frames are appropriate to biblical terminology of shame. My essay contends that shame terms, such as #$wb, Mlk, and their cognates and synonyms, frequently denote the experience of 'diminishment' or 'harm' in ways far more physical than typically reflected in modern renderings.
500 MATTHEW J. LYNCH
denotes sanctioning of behavior for purposes of social control. Loss
of status or reputation frequently coexists with social shame, though
the sanctioned person may not even recognize the social norms
being reinforced through shame 5.
These modern conceptions of social and psychological shame
have dominated discussions of shame terminology in the Hebrew
Bible 6, which includes verbs like vwb, μlk, rpj, and their cognates
and synonyms (hereafter the vwb-synonyms). While psychological
and sociological studies offer significant insights into the nature of
these terms in the Hebrew Bible, they obscure basic physical
meanings that frequently inhere in such terminology. While the
present study does not rule out the social or psychological con-
notations associated with these terms, it does aim to reconfigure
such conceptions in consideration of their physical meanings in the
Hebrew Bible.
But before delving into exegesis of example texts that
substantiate this claim, I want to highlight the methodological
importance of distinguishing between the denotative and connotative
meaning of vwb-synonyms. Distinguishing such meanings will prove
important for this study. The denotative meaning refers to the
standard lexical definition of a word while the connotative refers to a
recasting of the denotative meaning within a frame external to its
scholars in the humanities, especially moral philosophers. See M. LEWIS,
“ Self-Conscious Emotions: Embarrassment, Pride, Shame, and Guiltâ€,
H a n d b o o k of Emotions ( e d s . M. L E W I S – J.M. H AV I L A N D - J O N E S –
L.F. BARRETT) (New York 32008) 742-756; M.L. MORGAN, On Shame (New
York 2008). For the positive role of shame in Ezekiel, see J. LAPSLEY,
“ Shame and Self-Knowledge: The Positive Role of Shame in Ezekiel. View of
the Moral Selfâ€, The Book of Ezekiel. Theological and Anthropological
Perspectives (eds. M.S. ODELL – J.T. STRONG) (SBL Symposium 9; Atlanta,
GA 2000) 143-173.
BECHTEL, “Shame as Sanctionâ€, 48.
5
Decidedly social and psychological conceptions of vwb and its synonyms
6
have only increased since the more nuanced study of M.A. KLOPFENSTEIN,
Scham und Schande nach dem Alten Testament. Eine begriffsgeschichtliche
Untersuchung zu den hebräischen Wurzeln bôs, klm, und hpr (ATANT 62;
ˇ
Ë™
Zürich 1972) 48-49. The weakness of Klopfenstein’s approach is his insistence
that “shame†is a manifestation of “guilt†in the Hebrew Bible. For critique of
this position, see L.M. BECHTEL, The Biblical Experience of Shame/Shaming.
The Social Experience of Shame/Shaming in Biblical Israel in Relation to its
use as a Religious Metaphor (Ph.D. diss. Drew University 1983) 24-29.