The Law of Jealousy : Anthropology of Sotah / / Adriana Destro.

• Author: Brown University.
• VerfasserIn: Destro, Adriana,
• TeilnehmendeR: Brown University.
• Place / Publishing House: Atlanta : : Scholars Press,, 2020.; ©2020.
• Year of Publication: 2020
• Edition: Second edition.
• Language: English
• Series: Brown Judaic studies; 181
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (xii, 189 p. )
• Notes: The text of this book is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/bync-nd/4.0/. To use this book, or parts of this book, in any way not covered by the license, please contact Brown Judaic Studies, Brown University, Box 1826, Providence, RI 02912.

This book applies anthropological insights to the understanding of an ancient and puzzling ritual, that of the sotah, or suspected adulteress. The ritual, initiated by a suspicious husband, was first described in Numbers 5, is elaborated by the later rabbis. Destro argues that the rabbis patter the sotah ritual to emphasize its, and the woman’s, anomalous nature and the symbolic work that this patterning does for the rabbinic system as a whole.

Table of Contents

The Bitter Waters -- Historical Background and ‘Topical’ Problems -- The Setting of the Ordeal -- The Ritual in Front of the Sanctuary -- The Epilogue of the “Judgment Of God” -- Outside The Rules.