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.
516 MATTHEW J. LYNCH
side the camp for seven days (Lev 13,4.45). That the text draws an
analogy between spitting and skin disease (Num 12,12-14) might
favor the physical-ritual interpretation of the verb μlk, though we
cannot be certain in light of the parallels that refer to social
exclusion.
A third option emerges, however, if we consider the possibility
that a social infraction was treated according to the rules of purity
because that social infraction affected the body. It is possible that
her father’s spit rendered her impure and for the designated period
of seven days. According to this third option, spitting was a social
act that rendered a person physically impure, just as Miriam’s
challenge of Moses’ authority was a social infraction that resulted in
a defiling skin disease. The verb μlk is thus appropriate for denoting
a social process with physical effects. A woman is “diminished†by
her father’s spit in both a social and physical sense.
In sum, μlkt in Num 12,14 may denote social and/or ritual
diminishment. Social diminishment marks the nature of an
individual’s relationship to the community (a relational process).
Ritual diminishment marks the ontological status of an individual
vis-Ã -vis the cult and their ritualized physical state of abasement (an
ontological state). While at a secondary level, ritual exclusion may
mark social relationships, we must be careful to specify whether we
are talking about the denotation or connotation of a particular act.
Whether we settle on a social or physical interpretation of μlkt, the
importance of this exercise is to observe the kinds of questions that
open up when we resist the confines of the social-psycho “shameâ€
paradigm when analyzing the vwb-synonyms.
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This essay calls attention to the physical dimensions of vwb-
synonyms in the Hebrew Bible. Again, my purpose is not to rule
out social or psychological conceptions of vwb-synonyms, but
rather to set such meanings in concert with their physical
dimensions. I argued that physical diminishment is primary to vwb-
synonyms in at least two contexts: First, in contexts of drought or
famine, writers employ the vwb-synonyms to depict states of
deprivation. Second, I suggested that vwb-synonyms often occur in