Body, Gender and Purity in Leviticus 12 and 15

The so-called purity laws in Leviticus 11-15 reflect a cultic and social view on the male and female body. These texts do not give detailed physiological descriptions. Instead, they prescribe what to do in the cases of skin disease, delivery and wo/man's genital discharges, but the particular way of dealing with the body and the language used in Leviticus 12 and 15 ask for clarification: How do these texts construct the male and female body? Which roles does gender play within this language? By means of themes like menstruation and circumcision, the author unfolds the language used for the body in Leviticus and its interpretation history. The study provides material for a contemporary anthropology of bodies which relates the human sexed body to God's holiness.

Professor Dorothea Erbele-Küster, PhD, teaches Hebrew and the Hebrew Bible at the Protestant Faculty in Brussels (B) and in Kampen (NL).

A. Opening the Space 1. Localization a. Overview of research b. Re-readings: discourse analysis in gender perspectiveB. Explorations 2. Exegetical Topography of Lev 12 a. Translation (MT) b. The surface structure c. Zooming d. The text of the LXX 3. Exegetical Topography of Lev 15 a. Translation (MT) b. The surface structure c. Zooming d. The text of the LXXC. Anthropology as Discourse of the Body 4. Flesh a. One body model b. Circumcision 5. Corporal Liquids a. The genital flow b. The seed (male and female) c. The blood 6. Menstruation 7. Relations to the CultD. Perspectives 8. Anthropology of the Gendered Body a. Body-language b. Constructions of gender c. Leviticus as fictional room