Circumcision and Jewish Identity: Case Studies on Ancient Texts and Their Reception

Published by Gorgias Press 2023

Circumcision and Jewish Identity

Case Studies on Ancient Texts and Their Reception

Edited by: Lieve Teugels and Karin Neutel

Volume 33 in the series Judaism in Context

https://doi.org/10.31826/9781463245801

Overview
Contents

About this book

Male circumcision is one of the oldest and most widespread rituals, it has been practiced for millennia across many parts of the world. Yet this prevalence and long history do not make circumcision self-evident: it has also long been a topic of reflection, discussion, and controversy and continues to be so today. As the cases in this volume show, already in Antiquity, Greeks, Romans, Jews and Christians clashed over male circumcision. Then as now, concerns about identity, ritual, health, masculinity, and sexuality were a factor in these disputes. Very little is known about actual circumcision practices in the ancient world. Apart from depictions in art, the relation of which to daily practice is difficult to ascertain, we have historical access mainly through texts that reveal how the practice was discursively constructed, and that relate circumcision to wider cultural practices and ideas. This book therefore mainly discusses references to circumcision in literary sources, and the way these relate to other known cultural practices and ideas. These sources date from biblical times and Antiquity and their interpretations in medieval Jewish texts and recent scholarship.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
TABLE OF CONTENTS Publicly Available Download PDF	v
INTRODUCTION. LIEVE TEUGELS AND KARIN NEUTEL Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
1. A CULTURAL HERITAGE AS BOUNDARY MARKER: CIRCUMCISION IN THE HEBREW BIBLE Bob Becking Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	7
2. FROM EGYPT TO ISRAEL: EVOLVING PERCEPTIONS OF MALE CIRCUMCISION IN THE GRAECOROMAN ERA Rebecca Harrocks Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	31
3. MISSING FORESKIN IN THE SEPTUAGINT: CIRCUMCISION RELATED METAPHORS LOST IN TRANSLATION Karin B. Neutel Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	63
4. CIRCUMCISING THE MALE MEMBERS OF THE BODY OF CHRIST: A RITUAL ALL THE MORE SIGNIFICANT DUE TO ITS FAILURE IN PAUL OF TARSUS’ LETTER TO THE GALATIANS Peter-Ben Smit Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	93
5. DEAD MAN WALKING: ON GENTILE IMPURITY AND FELLOWSHIP WITH THE UNCIRCUMCISED IN ACTS 10–11 Asha K. Moorthy Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	127
6. PIGS IN A BLANKET?: ON PETER’S VISION, PURITY, AND FELLOWSHIP WITH THE UNCIRCUMCISED IN ACTS Asha K. Moorthy Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	161
7. CIRCUMCISION AND SEXUALITY IN THE JEWISH TRADITION: THE BIBLE, ITS READERS, AND ITS READERS’ READERS Lieve M. Teugels Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	197
8. THE MYSTERY OF ABRAHAM’S CIRCUMCISION: THE CIRCUMCISED GOD ACCORDING TO MIDRASH TANCHUMA AND RELATED TEXTS Ronit Nikolsky Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	227
INDEX OF REFERENCES Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	265

Language: English
Publisher: Gorgias Press
Audience: College/higher education;
Pages
- Main content: 284

eBook

Published: December 6, 2023
ISBN: 9781463245801