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.
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NEGLECTED PHYSICAL DIMENSIONS “ SHAME â€
OF
within the domain of “mourning behaviorsâ€, (b) is acoustically
related to the physical desiccation of the earth, and (c) is motivated
by a lack of goods (agricultural and cultic). These three aspects cast
vwb as an embodied behavior that takes on and responds to the
diminished conditions of its surroundings. In other words, vwb
denotes a reaction to famine and drought that embodies its full
effects 30.
2. Isaiah 33,9: The Mournful Earth
It is notable that the prophets also give voice to the “cry†of the
land using other so-called “shame†terminology. Notably, Isa 33,9
describes the desiccation of the land using the verb rpj, which in
context, suggests that the Lebanon is “wasting away†physically 31.
In the first place, it is important to note the lead role of the phrase
“ the land pines away in mourningâ€, a topicalizing statement that
takes specific shape in the rest of the verse. Specifically, Lebanon,
Sharon, Bashan and Carmel exhibit behaviors consonant with
mourning rituals. And like other “environmental lamentations†in
the prophets, Isa 33,9 describes an embodied event, for the land has
no other communicative “voice†than its physical landscape with
which to decree its plight. When the prophets assert that the land
“ mourns †(lba), they often include examples of the physical
disasters (often including drought) 32. The implication is that a
desolate state constitutes the land’s mournful cry 33.
A parallel phenomenon in the Hebrew Bible is the reaction to disaster
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through embodied type-scenes in the prophetic literature: “We have heard
news of them, our hands fall helpless; anguish has taken hold of us, pain as of
a woman in labor†(Jer 6,24). See D.R. HILLIERS, “A Convention in Hebrew
Literature : The Reaction to Bad Newsâ€, ZAW 77 (1965) 86-90.
According to the standard lexica, the verbal root rpj II belongs to the
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semantics of “shameâ€, and most versions translate accordingly: “... the
Lebanon is withering with shame ... †(NJB). J. GAMBERONI, “rpj hpr â€,
Ë™
TDOT V,110. HALOT’s (ad loc) suggestion of “feel abashed†psychologizes
the land in Isa 33,9.
HALOT (ad loc) suggests a homonymic root lba II, related to the Akk.
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abalu, which means to “dry upâ€. However, this suggestion is refuted based on
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the imagery, e.g., in Isa 50 and elsewhere, which depict the land’s drying up
as a form of mourning.
Isa 3,26; Jer 4,28; 12,4.11; 23,10; cf. Jer 9,10.
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