
The Senses of Scripture
Sensory Perception in the Hebrew Bible
Yael Avrahami(Author)
T.& T.Clark Ltd (Publisher)
Published on 23. February 2012
Book
Hardback
328 pages
978-0-567-53092-9 (ISBN)
Description
The Senses of Scripture reveals the essence of biblical epistemology - the ways in which ancient Israelites thought about and used their sensorium. The theoretical introduction demonstrates that scholars need to liberate themselves from the Western bias that holds a pentasensory paradigm and prioritises the sense of sight. The discussion of the biblical material demonstrates that biblical scholars should follow a similar path. Through examination of associative and contextual patters the author reaches a septasensory model, including sight, hearing, speech, kinaesthesia, touch, taste, and smell. It is further demonstrated that the senses, according to the HB, are a divinely created physical experience, which symbolised human ability to act in a sovereign manner in the world. Despite the lack of a biblical Hebrew term 'sense, it seems that at times the merism sight and hearing serves that matter. Finally, the book discusses the longstanding dispute regarding the primacy of sight vs. hearing, and claims that although there is no strict sensory hierarchy evident in the text, sight holds a central space in biblical epistemology.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Edinburgh
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 161 mm
Thickness: 23 mm
Weight
669 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-567-53092-9 (9780567530929)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Yael Avrahami is a lecturer for Biblical Studies at Oranim College and the University of Haifa, Israel.
Content
Lists of tables; Preface; Abbreviations; INTRODUCTION: COMMON SENSE; Chapter One: MAKING SENSE OF THE SENSORIUM; Chapter Two: NUMBER OUR SENSES; Chapter Three: THE SENSORIUM: DEFINITION; Chapter Four: THEOLOGY OF THE SENSES; Chapter Five: THE CENTRALITY OF SIGHT IN BIBLICAL EPISTEMOLOGY; CONCLUSION: THE SENSES OF SCRIPTURE; BIBLIOGRAPHY; INDEX OF REFERENCES.