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.
517
NEGLECTED PHYSICAL DIMENSIONS “ SHAME â€
OF
opposition to “refuge†language, and that the process described by
a given vwb-synonyms is frequently the removal of one’s assumed
refuge and the resultant vulnerable or exposed state. Also, vwb-
synonyms frequently presuppose a prior state of provision. To be
“ shamed â€, is to lose those elements essential to survival and
therefore to face danger. Accordingly, honor vs. shame is not the
only (or best!) paired opposition for understanding vwb-synonyms.
In many cases, the primary opposition is between safety and
exposure to harm, and between provision and deprivation.
This initial study lays out some key, but relatively under-
developed, physical aspects of vwb-synonyms in the Hebrew Bible.
Future work will need to delineate more precisely that range of these
terms in description of such physical phenomena, and explore
whether other ancient cultures employ cognate terms in congruent
ways.
But beyond philological redefinitions, this study has also
suggested a need to reconsider the processes that so-called shame
terminology describes. In other words, we need to consider occasions
where vwb-synonyms denote physical phenomena that are, at a
secondary connotative level, socially shameful, and other occasions
where at denotative level, those verbs mark psychological or social
shame. Just because an event involves the loss of status, or seems like
it would evoke negative self-evaluation, it does not necessarily follow
that vwb-synonyms describe those processes. In many cases, vwb-
synonyms explicitly mark physical misfortunes that only implicitly
involve such psycho-social processes.
Emory University Matthew J. LYNCH
Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
SUMMARY
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 re-
evaluate whether or not such psychological and social frames are appropriate to
biblical terminology of shame. My essay contends that shame terms, such as vwb,
μlk, and their cognates and synonyms, frequently denote the experience of
“ diminishment †or “harm†in ways far more physical than typically reflected in
modern renderings.