Shame and Mutilation of Enemies in the Hebrew Bible

Lemos, T. M.

doi:10.2307/27638359

Cited by 16 publications

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“…In that story, Nahash threatened to make a covenant with the Jabesh-Gileadites through mutilation: “On this condition, I will make a treaty with you, namely that I gouge out everyone’s right eye, and thus put disgrace upon all Israel” (1Sa 11:2 NRS). As Lemon (2006, p. 229) notes, “[t]his text explicitly states that it is a desire to shame the Israelites that moves Nahash to mutilate them.” Thus, in the ancient Near Eastern context of armed conflict, the mutilation was intended to bring shame to the conquered and to serve as a symbol of terror for the rebellious. For example, the Balawat gate of Shalmaneser III (858-824 BC) depicts prisoners of war being tortured and mutilated.…”

Section: Disability: Symbol Of Terror In the David Narrativementioning

confidence: 99%

Disability as a Symbol of Terror: Rereading the David Narrative in Light of Armed Conflicts in Africa

Ramantswana

2023

Biblical Theology Bulletin: Journal of Bible and Culture

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Armed conflict situations are more than just sites of violence, destruction, scars, torture, rape, and death; they are also sites of disability production through direct causes and indirectly through disruption of societal services, which would otherwise prevent disabilities. In this paper, the David Narrative in 2 Samuel is reread as an armed conflict text centered on power, disempowerment, and control issues. In this rereading, the imagery of disability is viewed as a symbol of terror to instill fear and deter rebels and traitors.

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Section: Disability: Symbol Of Terror In the David Narrativementioning

confidence: 99%

Disability as a Symbol of Terror: Rereading the David Narrative in Light of Armed Conflicts in Africa

Ramantswana

2023

Biblical Theology Bulletin: Journal of Bible and Culture

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Shameful Ambivalences: Dimensions of Rabbinic Shame

Crane

2011

AJS Rev.

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According to a ninth-century midrash, God asks the wicked of the world why they did not come closer to God. Each person responds, “I was so steeped in my wickedness that I was ashamed.” Too ashamed, it seems, to muster sufficient courage to admit failures, change behaviors, and move closer—ritually if not spiritually—to God, and so they wallowed deeper into wickedness. Had these people not been so wicked, their shame might have spurred a return to God. A few centuries later, Moses Maimonides prefaces his introductory remarks to theMishneh Torahwith a quotation from Psalms: “Then I would not be ashamed when I regard all Your commandments.” This verse, coming after and completing the psalmist's prayer, “Would that my ways were firm in keeping your laws,” suggests that between action and complete lawfulness shamefulness exists. It is unclear whether the shamefulness Maimonides speaks of inspires fidelity to the law or impinges it. Either way, shame precedes (seeing) the law both lexicographically and phenomenologically. Before lawfulness, shame facilitates both regard of self as well as regard of notions of uprightness and of wickedness. At least according to these two sources, shame intertwines self-consciousness with self-evaluation; it mixes a sense of dark depths with a notion of ascent toward righteousness. Shame breeds inwardness and otherness, and can debilitate as well as empower. In short, shame simultaneously damns and redeems.

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Three Blind Vices?

Jones

2020

Biblical Interpret.

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Frequently Samson’s blindness is linked with newfound spiritual insight, with physical humiliation, and occasionally with instrumental talion. Few question the role of blindness in the text through other lenses or with knowledge of ancient theories of vision. Balancing this, I investigate Samson’s sight and blindness in the context of Judges 13-16, asking what his sensation and sensory impairment signified in the broader context of the Hebrew Bible (HB) and wider Ancient Near East (ANE).

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Shame and Mutilation of Enemies in the Hebrew Bible

Cited by 16 publications

References 0 publications

Disability as a Symbol of Terror: Rereading the David Narrative in Light of Armed Conflicts in Africa

Disability as a Symbol of Terror: Rereading the David Narrative in Light of Armed Conflicts in Africa

Shameful Ambivalences: Dimensions of Rabbinic Shame

Three Blind Vices?

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