The Oxford Handbook of Ritual and Worship in the Hebrew Bible by Samuel E. Balentine -- Read -- Imperial Library of Trantor

Index

Cover Halftitle page Title Page Copyright page Contents List of Figures List of Contributors 1. Introduction Part I: Historical Contexts

2. Mesopotamian Religion

The Basis of Mesopotamian Religiosity The Mesopotamian Pantheon Magical Cult (Cult of the Individual) The Epic of Gilgamesh

3. Ritual and Worship in Ancient Egypt

Characteristics of Egyptian Religion The Egyptian Pantheon Ritual and Worship The Hierarchy of Offering Rituals Creating a Sacred Space Development of Rituals of the Funerary Cult Worshipping the Gods and the King Rituals Associated with the Divine Cult Festivals and Rituals for the Deities Social and Economic Impact of Worship Informal Worship Conclusion

4. The Hittites Serve Their Gods

The Hittite Archives The Sources The Beneficiaries The Officiants The Ceremonies Occasion Time of Day Location The Offering Materials Types Vocabulary Substitute or “Scapegoat” Rituals

5. Syria-Palestine: Worship and Ritual

1. General Setting 2. Ugarit (Ras Shamra) 3. Texts: Mythical 4. Texts: Legends or Epics 5. Texts: Cultic and Ritual 6. Conclusion

6. The Greeks and Their Rituals

Introduction What Is Ritual for the Greeks? Myth and Ritual The Wealth of Sacrifice Chorus and Community The Joy of Festivals Processions Dedications Individual and Community Abbreviations

Part II: Interpretive Approaches

7. History of Religion

The Discipline of History of Religions Study of the History of Israelite Religion Historical Outline of Israelite Religion Conclusions

8. Rituals and Ritual Theory: A Methodological Essay

Preliminary Methodological Considerations Rituals of Washing, Bathing, and Full Immersion Rituals and Theology Christian Baptism and Its Scriptural Background Repentance, Baptism, and Atonement The Ritual of Baptism in the Early Church Artistic and Linguistic Domains of Rituals Further Developments of the Ritual of Baptism

9. Social and Cultural Anthropology

Introduction Anthropology and the Hebrew Bible Anthropology and Ritual Theory Defining and Theorizing Ritual Ritual and Representation Biblical Ritual as Symbolic Action Critiques of Symbolic Interpretation Ethnography of Textual Ritual Conclusion

Part III: Ritual Elements: Participants, Places, Times, Objects, Practices

10. God, Gods, and Humankind (Worldview)

1. Introduction 2. What Is a God? 3. Concepts for Understanding the Communication with the Divine 4. Summary

11. Sacred Space and Common Space

Sacred and Common Space in the Ancient Near East Sacred Spaces in the Hebrew Bible Sacred Spaces after the Temple

12. Ritual Experts and Participants in the Ancient Near East and the Hebrew Bible

Ritual Experts and Participants in the Ancient Near East Ritual Experts in the Bible (Hebrew Bible/Old Testament) Cult Participants (“Lay People”) in the Hebrew Bible Historical Development in the Levant within the First Millennium bce Summary

13. Sacred and Ritual Times

I. Introduction II. Mircea Eliade and Sacred Time III. Sacred Times of the Year IV. Conclusions

14. Ritual Objects and Artifacts

Introduction Cult Statues The Ark The Altar of Burnt Offering Altar of Incense and Censers The Lampstand and the Table of the Bread of the Presence Wash Basins and the Molten Sea The Ephod and Urim and Thummim Illicit Ritual Objects Conclusion

15. Ritual and Religious Practices

1 Background to Ancient Near Eastern Religious Practices 2 Prayer 3 Sacrificial Rituals 4 Non-Sacrificial Ritual Activities 5 Ritual Gestures 6 Conclusion

16. Ritualizing Iconic Jewish Texts

Iconic Books Ancient Iconic Texts Iconic Texts in the Pentateuch Ritualizing Torah Scrolls Ritualizing Other Jewish Texts Legitimation from Ritualizing Iconic Jewish Texts Iconic Jewish Texts

17. Ritualizing Christian Iconic Texts

The Theology of the Early Christian Book The Technology of the Early Christian Book Early Christian Book Rituals Bibles and Icons as Ritual Objects during the Iconoclastic Controversies Ritualizing Relic Books in the British Isles in the Middle Ages The Reformation and the Ritual Display of Christian Iconic Texts Christian Iconic Texts as American Political Images Ritualizing Christian Iconic Texts in a Digital Age

18. Ritualizing Muslim Iconic Texts

Iconicity and the Qur’an Conceptual Blending and Psychological Essentialism Respecting, Protecting, and Desecrating Essentialism Modified Kinship and Appearance The Importance of Language The Iconic Dimension of the Qur’an and Social Prestige The Power of the Text Concluding Remarks

Part IV: Cultural and Theological Perspectives

19. Sin and Expiation

Responses to Sin The Worldview behind Priestly Concepts of Sacrifice and Expiation The Priestly Presentation of Sacrifice and Expiation

20. Clean/Unclean, Pure/Impure, Holy/Profane

Introduction Vocabulary Range of Settings for Clean/Unclean Understanding the Purity System Dating and Development of the Purity System and Purification Practices

21. Sickness and Healing

Methodological Difficulties Definitions of Sickness and Healing Vocabulary of Sickness in the Hebrew Bible Concepts of Sickness and Healing in the Hebrew Bible Epidemic versus Individual Sickness Treatment for Afflicted Individuals Women’s Diseases Summary

22. Death and Afterlife

Introductory Remarks Sheol: Experienced Space—Spaced Experience Death’s Irreversibility Death: Reuniting with Family Lost Netherworld as Consummation Death’s Double “Indemnity” The Nature of Deathly Existence Hebrew ʾÔb: Beyond the Necromantic Rite in 1 Samuel 28 Ritual Agency: Human or Divine 1 Samuel 28 in the Major Versions Final Observations: Nepheš (“Life”), Rûach (“Spirit”), Šeol (“Sheol”) in Absentia Summary

23. Divine Presence and Absence

Introduction How to Describe Divine Presence How to Describe Divine Absence Manifestations of YHWH’s Presence: Standing Stones, Ark, Throne, Temple, and Calves Manifestations of Divine Presence: The Question of Divine Images Reworking Traditional Presence Theologies in and after the Babylonian Exile The Name of God (šēm) The “Glory” (kābôd) The Shekhinah The Holy Spirit (Rûaḥ) Heaven Post-exilic Transfers and Re-materializations of Divine Presence Conclusion

Part V: History of Interpretation

24. Ritual and Worship at Qumran

Introduction Materials for Study Temple, Sacrifice, and Priesthood Prayers and Psalms Liturgies and Rituals Directions for Further Study

25. Influence on Early Christian Worship

Priesthood The Offering of Sacrifice . . . in All Places . . . and at All Times Eucharist as Sacrifice Ritual Gestures Psalms Sabbath Holy Days Conclusion

26. Ritual and Worship in Early Judaism

The Jewish Body: Individual Ritual and Liturgical Practices The Liturgical Body: The Community and the Temple Ritual Innovation: The Rise of Scripture and the Ritualization of Torah Suggested Reading

27. Rabbinic Judaism

Questions Temple Formulas Ma’amad Temple Rejection Synagogue Personal Prayers Liturgical Notions Theological Priorities Pietism Scriptural Readings Rabbinic Prayers ‘Amidah Other Prayers Passover Haggadah Synagogal Expansion Land of Israel Liturgical Poetry Hekhalot Midrash Babylonian Innovations Reasons First siddurim

Part VI: Social-Cultural Functions

28. The Politics of Worship

Introduction 1. National Religion and Centralization 2. The Nature of Political Rituals 3. The Politics of the Domestic Cult 4. Between the Family and the Nation 5. Kingship and Cult 6. Sacrifice and Its Substitutes

29. The Ethics of Worship

Worship and the Moral Life Ethical Aspects of God’s Character The Essence of Acceptable Worship Liturgical Celebration of Israel’s Past The Prophetic Critique of Worship Problematic Aspects of Israel’s Worship Conclusion

30. Socio-Religious Functions of Worship

The Constructive Social Effects of Israelite Worship: Four Examples Failure, Misappropriation, and Conflict in the History of Israel’s Worship Hermeneutical Challenges in Studying Israel’s Worship and Its Social Functions Worship and Prophecy: Tension and Cooperation Worship, Social Ethics, and the Inculcation of Virtue The Varied Group Provenances of Scripture’s Understandings of Worship

31. The Economics of Worship in Ancient Israel and Judah

1. Introduction 2. Temples as Hubs of Economic Activity in the Ancient Near East 3. Temples as Places of Economic Activity in Israel and Pre-exilic Judah 4. The Transformation of the Economics of Worship from the Late Pre-exilic Period Onwards 5. The Jerusalem Temple as a Place of Economic Activity in Yehud and Judaea

Part VII: Theology and Theological Heritage

32. Ritual Theology in/and Biblical Theology

1. Introduction 2. Ritual as an Integral Part of Human Existence 3. Ritual as a Vehicle for Complex Concepts 4. Ritual as a Medium of Worship 5. Ritual and Biblical Theology 6. Conclusion

33. Welcoming the Sabbath on the Kibbutzim: Secular Religiosity

A. The Kibbutz and Judaism B. Sabbath on the Kibbutz C. The Kibbutz Kabbalat Shabbat D. Conclusion

34. One God, Multiple Rituals and Theologies: Christianity

Introduction Prayers, Songs, and Psalms The Eucharist Baptism Offerings Priesthood Selected Features of Ash Wednesday and Holy Week Liturgies Ritual Theory and Use of Hebrew Bible Worship

35. Islamic Ritual

1. The Five Pillars and other Building Blocks of Islamic Ritual 2. Ritual Variations 3. Religious-Social Dimensions of Islamic Ritual: Internal and External Boundaries 4. Scholarly Discussions of Islamic Ritual and Future Directions for the Study of Islamic Ritual

Index

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