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.
508 MATTHEW J. LYNCH
For example, in Hos 4,3 we read about that the mourning of a
destroyed earth. Likewise, Jer 4,27-28 depicts the ruin of the land
and mourning of the earth, and Jer 23,10 portrays the land
mourning, and its vegetated pastures becoming choked and dried
up. Isa 50,2b-3a depicts the earth and skies wearing black and
sackcloth in a divinely orchestrated state of mourning. These
statements are not “mere†personification, for like the blood of the
victim that “cries out†from the ground (Gen 4,10; Job 16,18),
environmental disasters serve a communicative, and not just a
“ natural â€, function before the deity 34. Moreover, the ease with
which authors depict the environment’s mourning allows them to
depict the shared distress of humans and the natural world.
Second, the use of rpj elsewhere in Isaiah sheds further light
on 33,9. Notably, Isa 24,23 states that the hnblh (full moon) is
hrpj, which bears acoustic similarity with the rypjh of –wnbl in
33,9. In Isa 24,23, the full moon is reduced and nullified before
Yahweh’s “gloryâ€, just as enemies would tremble and melt before
the awe-inspiring melammu of kings and deities in the ancient Near
East 35. Yahweh’s “glory†shines with an unmatched brilliance that
reduces rivals to nothing 36. When Yahweh reveals his “glory†in
Isaiah, the sun, moon, and other heavenly bodies are consistently
rendered useless or inoperative 37. In short, rpj in 24,23 and 33,9
denotes the process of physical abasement that results from facing
an overpowering force. It denotes loss of power, and not the social
or psychological results that a loss of power might connote.
In summary of this first section, we draw out two key points.
First, vwb, μlk, and rpj provide fitting terminology for depicting
the effects of crushing forces such as droughts and famines. In
particular, these terms denote a physical reduction or diminishment
vis-à -vis those forces. Second, there is a tendency to “act out†the
condition of the earth using mourning gestures, and to describe
For this reason Joel calls the people in ch. 1 to identify with the earth’s
34
voice : “For the land is full of adulterers, The land mourns because of a curse;
The pastures of the wilderness are dried up. For they run to do evil, They
strain to do wrong†(Jer 23,10).
See CAD X, 9-12; T. WAGNER, “The Glory of the Nations: The Idea of
35
dwbk in the early Isaian traditionâ€, SJOT 23 (2009) 195-207 (201-202).
See BLENKINSOPP, Isaiah 1-39, 357.
36
Isa 13,19; 60,19; cf. Ezek 32,7.
37