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.
514 MATTHEW J. LYNCH
denotes a facial manifestation, it is that of horror or fear. This is a
subtle, but significant, distinction from the physiology of shame.
Namely, rpj and vwb are responses appropriate to calamity,
whether from famine or punishment (Isa 33,9), as suggested in the
following translation of Isaiah 1,29:
Indeed you will be diminished (wvbt)
because of the terebinths you pursued;
You will melt in fear (wrpjt)
because of the gardens which you chose 56.
III. Borderline Case
This study would be imbalanced if it did not account for texts
where the psycho-social and physical planes overlap heavily. In
this section, I will analyze Num 12,14 in order to show the benefits
and limits of my attention to denotative and connotative values.
This verse occurs in the context of Aaron’s and Miriam’s
challenge of Moses’ authority after Miriam becomes smitten with
leprosy. In Num 12,14 God tells Moses that if Miriam’s father had
“ spit †in her face she would have “borne her shame [ni. μlk] for
seven daysâ€. Therefore, she should be shut outside of the camp
(ni. rgst) for seven days just like someone with a skin disease. To
explain the analogy of a father spitting in a daughter’s face,
commentators usually turn to Deut 25,9, Isa 50,6 and Job 30,10,
where spitting serves as a way to shame another person 57. In Deut
25,9, a woman whose brother-in-law refuses to carry on his
brother’s lineage would “pull [the brother-in-law’s] sandal off his
foot [and] spit in his faceâ€. These public acts shun that brother-in-
law and bring a cursed name upon his household: “The Family of
the Unsandaled†(Deut 25,10). In Isa 50,6-7 the speaker can only
avoid “being humiliated†or “shamed†by the enemy’s “spit†and
“ insults †because of the Lord’s help. Job 30,10 depicts Job’s
alienation from his friends by their willingness to spit in his face.
This translation of mine accords most readily with WILLIAMSON, Isaiah
56
1-27, 147-148, more objective rendering.
B . A . L E V I N E , N u m b e r s 1-20 ( A B 4a ; New York 1993) 333 ;
57
T.R. ASHLEY, The Book of Numbers (NICOT ; Grand Rapids, MI 1993) 228;
J. MILGROM, Numbers (Philadelphia, PA 1990) 98.